She Always Wore Red (Fairlawn #2) by Angela Hunt

 

Synopsis :

Jennifer Graham--mother, student, and embalmer's apprentice-- could use a friend. She finds one in McLane Larson, a newcomer to Mt. Dora, and is delighted to learn that the young woman is expecting a baby. 

While McLane's soldier-husband serves overseas, Jen promises to support McLane and then learns that her tie to this woman goes far deeper than friendship. 

When a difference of opinion threatens their relationship, Jennifer discovers weaknesses in her own character . . . and a faith far stronger than she had imagined.

This is what I say :

This is the second book in the story of Jennifer Graham and her funeral house business. She and her family live on the top floor of the house and the ground level is where her business is.  Readers might generally feel rather morbid about the whole arrangement but the author tries to normalise death and life and that everything is natural and there should not be anything morbid about the arrangement.

Personally, I like this second story better than the first book.  Jennifer and family are more settled.  However, I felt that some storyline is rather rushed especially where McLane is involved.  I like the storyline of Clay and his friends but was rather sad about it.

To me, the takeaway in this book is on choice and prayers and how God answers prayer is not necessary our ways but His ways.  It is also about acceptance especially accepting someone whom you are not keen to accept in the first place.  The choice we make is a reflection on ourselves and sometimes we cannot force our  view point on others and expect them to react in the same way.

You can read this as a stand alone title too if you happen to have a copy and not the first book.  It's quite easy to understand and follow the plot.

After this would be book #3 which is the final book in the series.  Review coming up next!

Doesn't She Look Natural? (Fairlawn #1) by Angela Hunt

 

Synopsis :

How do you cope when God asks you to bury a dream? In this new series by best-selling author Angela Hunt, readers will meet Jennifer Graham, the no-nonsense chief of staff for a Virginia senator who quits her job after a divorce and finds herself an unemployed single mom. 

Forced to live with her mother until she can find work on Capitol Hill that does not involve her gregarious ex-husband, her efforts are stymied until she learns that she has inherited a funeral home in picturesque Mt. Dora. 

Jennifer journeys to the small Florida town with her two sons and her mother, never dreaming that within a mortuary she will discover she has inherited a rewarding career that teaches her far more about life than death.

This is what I say :

It's been a while since my last post. Much has happen to the family as the dreaded covid paid a visit and caused some serious damage in the health of myself and a family member.  Am glad that we are all recovering although some side effect still lingers on.  You would have thought that I would be reading a lot during the time of forced rest but no, I was so exhausted most of the time and just too sick to read or do anything.  The fact that a beloved family member was admitted in hospital and there's nothing much I can do except to grab stuff over and to pray.  It was during those times that I do try to read a bit and I was drawn to the Fairlawn Series by Angela Hunt.

A series of 3 titles, the book are in extremely new condition as I bought them from the floating bookstore years ago and have been keeping them on my bookshelves all these while.  Am glad I started on the series during the above challenging time as these are Christian novels and certainly most uplifting with the messages of encouragement, forgiveness, trusting in divine intervention and such.

I didn't quite like the first title which is this one Doesn't She Look Natural? as I thought too much happened in just one book but then, I do like the message in this book.  Indeed let go and let God made a lot of sense here.

I always believe there's a time a season for everything, even what we read and this was the time and season for me to read these titles.

One down two to go.

The Yada Yada Prayer Group Gets Caught (#5) by Neta Jackson

 

Synopsis :

For the Yada Yadas, gettin' caught up in troubles isn't the problem; it's how to get free.

Only weeks ago, we Yadas toughened our prayer knees when one of our own was the victim of a vicious racial attack. Now it seems each household is being thrown into even bigger and badder circumstances. It especially worries me, Jodi Baxter, because I'm a fixer by nature, and the prayer list is getting out of control . . .

Ruth and Ben are caught up in an unplanned pregnancy--in their fifties! Chanda is deluded by the glitter of her lottery dream come true. Florida wants to move her family, hoping to leave trouble behind, but it looks like it may catch up to her anyway. And I'm finding that even good things like prayer group can consume me in no time flat.

If there is an upside, it's that all this trouble is revealing the subtle lies we Yadas believe about God, ourselves, each other, and life. Maybe our best hope is to catch on to what God's doing--and catch on quick!--before the enemy can take any prisoners. That'd be a freedom worth celebrating. And celebrating is what my spiritual sisters and I do best. 

This is what I say :

The Yada Yada Prayer Group Gets Caught is a Christian novel on the power of prayer.  It's actually the fifth book in the series but it's still readable as a single book by itself.  

It's not my first time reading what Neta Jackson wrote.  The last time was ten years ago when I read Who is My Shelter?  

It was really nice reading such book at this time.  Reminded me of the importance of prayer and the need to pray at all times for all things.  Something positive and edifying God that speaks on the power of God.  It would have been nice to be able to read the titles in sequence in order to follow the lives and developments of the characters but even if not, the single book alone is a blessing in itself.

I don't mind reading the other titles in the series in future if I can get hold of them.

The Devil and The River by R. J. Ellory

 

Synopsis :

When Sheriff John Gaines is called to the riverside, it is to supervise the recovery of the body of a teenage girl. The corpse is perfectly preserved, she could have died yesterday. But the locals of Whytesburg are in for a shock. For Nancy Denton, missing for two decades, has come back to them from the cold embrace of the riverbank.

This is what I say :

I wasn't really sure what I would be in for when I decided to start on this title.  Actually, I had meant to start on this title for quite a while but I kinda favor other titles over this until about a month ago that I decided to just go ahead with it.

This is my first time reading R. J. Ellory.  I was pleasantly surprise as I quite like the way this author writes.  He is quite eloquent with his writing and thus with an interested premise of a body that was preserved naturally for twenty years by nature itself, I thought this title as great potential.

Indeed, it was a good read.  Again, I really like the way this author writes and the way he described situation.  That is the saving grace for the book, for as the story develops, the plot kinda took a downward dive and I didn't like the progression of the story as much as when I first started reading it.

I didn't like the way the sheriff investigated the case. To me he didn't do much investigation. He practically just zeroed in on his hunch and bulldozed his way through without much consideration.  He kinda thought this person was the murderer and tried for the most part of the book to proof himself right.  Well, he was wrong!  Extremely annoying person!

Anyway, The Devil and The River is worth reading just to experience the way R. J. Ellory writes.

October Musing

 

Image from web

To think that it's October already and in less than 3 months, we would say good bye to this year.  I have been wfh on and off too these few months since June and life rhythm has been pretty disrupted these few months and life was actually starting beating to a new tune and rhythm.  

Couple of months ago also saw a shift to the current norm that we have been experiencing in the homefront and things will continue to change and shift again.  This is especially so over the last two months to say the least and honestly I have not really come to terms with the change.  Maybe as I slow down to think and muse, I can be in touch with myself. Maybe I am being dramatic here but whatever it is, I just want to keep note here as a note-to-self.

I might be back to update this post and to correct my thoughts again.

I also wasn't aware that October is the National Book Month.  So, ya happy national book month to all!  I really should catch up with my reading again. It's not that I stop totally but I have been slowing down in my reading habits and a book that used to take me about 1 week to complete is now taking me about 3 to 4 weeks.

I also want to start to declutter my books again.  I used to be able to sell them at my local flea market but I have not been doing so for the past 2 years due to covid.  I used to post them to sell at social media but I have not done so for quite a while.  I should start again soon. It's a lot of work to list them and post them but I guess there's no choice unless I can come up with another way to sell them.  Let me muse further on this.

Hopefully I can post on a book review  by the next post within the next few days as I have a book that I have almost finish reading.

The Girl in the Woods by Camilla Lackberg

 

Synopsis :

A MISSING CHILD…
When a four-year-old girl disappears from in the woods just outside Fjällbacka, the community is horror-struck. Thirty years ago, a young girl went missing from the exact same spot, and was later discovered, murdered.

A MURDER…
Back then, two teenage girls were found guilty of the killing. Could it really be a coincidence that one of the girls – now a world-famous actress – has just returned to Fjällbacka? Detective Patrik Hedström starts investigating, with his fearless wife, Erica Falck, by his side.

A TRUTH BURIED LONG AGO…
But as Patrik and Erica dig deeper, the truth becomes ever murkier. For centuries ago, a woman burned at the stake for witchcraft cursed the Fjällbacka families who accused her, and now it seems the past may be coming back to haunt them…

This is what I say :

This is the tenth title in the universe of Erika and Patrik of Fjallbacka.  I am happy to share that I have read all ten titles and the crime thrillers by Camilla Lackberg are all very good.  They are well written with just enough excitement and also give an opportunity to sleuth out the killer(s).

However, in The Girls in the Woods, it got a bit confusing at times and the back story of yesteryear do not really linked to the current timeline story.  The author try to justify the linkage at the final chapter but I find it rather vague. I mean she can use almost any backstory and it might have worked equally well.  If she had only linked it in earlier chapters and elaborate on it, I feel it might have worked better.  I always loved all this back stories from yesteryear from Camilla so this time round, I am super disappointed.

I also do not know her intention with the story on the refuge (maybe she just want to highlight the plight of refuges) but I can't find the connection to the story and it could have been omitted totally.

Having said that, it was a good story anyhow. It wasn't the best but it was still nice.

I think at this point, there are no other new titles under the Fjallbacka series. By the way, all her titles under this universe are stand alone titles and you can just read them independently.  However, you might then get confuse on the development of the personal stories of the regular characters  but that's quite ok. 

I will be checking out Camilla's other titles which is independent of this series soon. Stay tune!

Forever In Blue (The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood) by Ann Brashares

 

Synopsis :

With unraveled embroidery and fraying hems, the Traveling Pants are back for one last, glorious summer.

Lena: Immerses herself in her painting and an intoxicating summer fling, fearing that the moment she forgets about Kostos will be the moment she sees him again.

Carmen: Falls under the spell of a sophisticated college friend for whom a theatrical role means everything and the heritage of the Pants means nothing.

Bridget: Joins a dig for an ancient city on the coast of Turkey and discovers that her archaeology professor is available in every way except one.

Tibby: Leaves behind someone she loves, wrongly believing he will stay where she has left him.

Join Ann Brashares's beloved sisterhood once again in a dazzling, fearless novel. It's a summer that will forever change the lives of Lena, Carmen, Bee, and Tibby, here and now, past and future, together and apart.

This is what I say :

At one point in my reading habits, I felt like collecting all the titles in the Sisterhood of The Travelling Pants Series just because.  And I want to purchase them second hand and they have to be in pristine condition.

I started with the fourth book because it's the only copy that fitted my conditions.  For a while, I will faithfully be on a lookout for the other titles but after a while I got bored and I ended up with just this sole copy and the last book of the series.

Having spent the past few years living in my bedroom shelf (yes, I have a a book shelf in my bedroom, I have a couple in the study room and I have one in the main hall. Don't judge me.)  I just felt like giving it a read to see if I can just read this last story without knowing the earlier stories.

It was doable.  It will not be the ideal thing to do if you happen to be emotionally invested in the characters but since I was not and with totally no expectations, Forever in Blue was a rather ok read.

It is the last book in the series and the girls are more grown and more matured in their thinking and in dealing with lives.  There are characters who popped out for a while (must be from the other titles) probably to give everything a closure.

It would be advisable for you  to read from the first title, Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants which was made into a motion picture and then progress on from there for different reading experience.