Book Review: The Deal of a Lifetime

My favorite novel from my 2017 reading was probably Fredrik Backman's A Man Called Ove. When my library acquired his Christmas novella, The Deal of a Lifetime, I quickly added my name to the hold list. The timing was perfect! The novel begins with a letter declaring it is Christmas Eve and I read the book on December 23rd in one brief sitting. While I can't say I enjoyed it as much as Ove's tale, it was certainly thought-provoking and well-written.

Backman has such a skill for tapping into human emotions and creating relatable characters. The father's letter to his son outlines a deal he has been offered on the night before Christmas. This deal, involving a five-year-old girl fighting cancer, will cause him to re-evaluate his values, his motives, and his legacy. Once again, Backman has taken a character readers might have difficulty liking and used him to communicate what is really important in life. This was a lovely little holiday novella.

Book Review: The Impossible

Boys pull the craziest stunts! I well remember the January day, ten years ago, when Bryce and his buddies decided to walk across the icy pond in a friend's neighborhood. Bryce was a daredevil and even his friends tried to reason with him. His friend, Cameron, sat on the bank refusing to join them on the ice, saying "Dude, I'm not stupid!" But Bryce was eager to impress a new friend. Not surprisingly, the ice collapsed under his weight and he found himself in frigid water over his head. Another friend tried to rescue him, but the ice simply broke under him, as well. I thank the Lord that both of them made it safely back to the shoreline and were unharmed by the experience (apart from the inconsequential loss of a cell phone).

In The Impossible: The Miraculous Story of a Mother's Faith and Her Child's Resurrection, Joyce Smith (with assistance of co-writer Ginger Kolbaba) tells a similar tale. Her 14-year-old son, John, together with some buddies, walked on a frozen lake one January night to take photos of themselves standing on the sheer-glass surface. With the boosted confidence of success, the next morning, with the sun shining down upon them, they decided to attempt it again. This time, the ice gave way and despite efforts to retrieve solid ground on the ice again, John's body succumbed to the icy waters and he was submerged for twenty minutes before a rescue team located his body and pulled him from the water. By the time Joyce arrived at the hospital to see her son, he had been without a pulse for an hour and the doctors were simply waiting for her viewing to declare the time of death. She stood before his body and cried out to God to save her son. Miraculously, his heart began to beat and a semblance of life returned to him. But, he wasn't out of deep water yet. He had plenty of hurdles to overcome (lungs full of dirty water, blood system compromised, unexplained fever, etc.).

The story was truly riveting as she recounted the numerous difficulties John faced throughout his ordeal. Time and time again, God's people prayed and miracles occurred. This book is an important testament to the importance of faith and the power of prayer. I fully believe her tale of God's miraculous intervention. The things that happened in John's journey could not be explained scientifically and medical intervention was clearly not cutting it. However, the first 200 pages of the book still left me with a niggle of discomfort.

The way events were communicated made it sound as if the mother boldly demanded that God return her son to her and "God answered" her prayer and the prayers of those lifting John before the throne. I guess what rankled was the idea that if things had not gone in their favor, God would have been leaving their prayers unanswered. I kept comparing my own miracle story to this one. When my father was faced with the imminent loss of my life, he recognized his position in relation to God and changed his desperate pleading tone to one of acquiescence to God's will. Even  Christ submitted himself to the Father when he prayed, "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will but yours be done." Yet, repeatedly, it is presented as if Joyce Smith's bold determination won God over to do things her way.

I agree that we must boldly approach God's throne and make our requests fully believing He is capable of making the impossible possible. I recognize this series of events as a miracle only God could have accomplished. I admire Joyce's tenacity to insist that on-lookers only speak life, when faced with numerous scientific reports declaring her son was destined for a reduced life or death. Indeed, only God was capable of taking a dead boy and allowing him to walk out of that hospital unscathed! I simply wish God's sovereignty had been mentioned more in the earlier parts of the book for readers who may have set the book aside because God's answer to their own prayers didn't look like the miracle they expected or demanded.

Finally, on page 207, the issue of God's sovereignty is addressed. The author recounts an incident where a Christian approached her son and asked what made him so special that God answered his prayers, yet left this Christian's prayers "unanswered" in regard to the life of a loved one. In addressing this fellow Christian, the author argues she had prayed personally for a miracle in the life of a boy with leukemia. Her prayers, in her words, went "unanswered." She writes, "I don't know why God decided to answer my prayers for John when He didn't answer my prayers for Mitchell. I can't explain that. I'm not God. The only thing I know is that He is sovereign." My hesitations lifted somewhat when the author proclaimed, "I praised God when He saved John because I knew God was good and faithful and loving and true. But had He not saved John, God  would still be just as good and faithful and loving and true."

God doesn't "answer" only when the result favors our requests. Christ's death was indeed an answer. The Father's will demanded that, despite Christ's wishes to be relieved of the cross, He must endure it for the good of all mankind and the salvation accomplished in that important act. Yes, we must fully believe God is capable of intervening and turning the tide, but we also must be fully willing to accept God's chosen plan, a plan that might involve suffering and pain for a will we might not understand. If only the book had communicated that more thoroughly.

Then again, in this particular story, God obviously wanted His miraculous power to be demonstrated in the life of John Smith. Many individuals were drawn closer to God because of his story. If this book influences even one person to put their trust in God and to fully commit themselves to pursuing His will, then who am I to question the way it was communicated? God has the ability to woo His children to Himself through both good outcomes and bad. I think of the lives of Coleman Larsen's family. Coleman died of brain cancer just a few days after his fifth birthday, yet the Larsen family has demonstrated unwavering faith in God despite His decision to take their child home long before they were ready. Coleman's death was as much God's "answer" as John's resuscitated life. It brings to mind that old Amy Grant chorus, "The Lord has a will, and I have a need, to follow that will, to humbly be still, to nest in it, rest in it, fully be blessed in it, following my Father's will."

Oh, that we Christians may all have the ability to boldly approach God's throne with our requests and then, having voiced them, to humbly accept His sovereignty and His will in our lives, to praise Him in the sun and in the rain. God's plan far outstrips our own. He can accomplish what He will in any outcome. If you are looking for the flip-side to this book's equation, read the riveting memoir, Colors of Goodbye, a book that proves both good and bad can bring about God's glory.

Book Review: The Letter

The premise of this book, The Letter, hooked me instantly. I love books about letters. What could be better than finding someone else's letter and tracking down the details to discover the identities of the sender and recipient and the meaning of the words? The tag line was an effective hook as well: "In one woman's past lies another woman's future..." How would the letter from the past alter the life of a woman in the future? Moreover, the book held four pages worth of accolades from blog and Amazon reviewers. It is billed as a "Number One E-book Bestseller." All of this boded well for a riveting read.

Tina Craig volunteers at a charity shop to fill even more hours of her week away from her miserable home life with her violently alcoholic husband. One day, while sorting donated clothes, she comes across a letter in a sealed envelope. Despite bearing an address and a stamp, the letter remains undelivered and unread. Tina's curiosity compels her to open the envelope, never knowing how much this missive will change her life. The letter, dated at the outset of World War II, bears an apology and a proposal from Billy Sterling to Chrissy Skinner. How did the letter come to be in a suit-coat pocket? Why was it never sent? Did Chrissy ever know Billy's true feelings?

Although I enjoyed the book, and toward the end did find that I couldn't put it down, I didn't quite share the level of enthusiasm of the many quoted reviewers who claimed goosebumps, buckets of tears, and broken hearts. It was certainly a good story, just not as powerful as I had expected, given the countless raving reviews. Others said, "Best book I've read in a long time," "I feel like I'm a better person for reading it," "one of the finest stories I have ever read," and "I read a lot of books but it has been some time since I read a book as good as this."

For me, it lacked depth and seemed a bit predictable. The final love story didn't radiate with passion as I had expected. The two characters were simply thrown together on a quest, with no underlying tension or romantic gestures to speak of. I don't mean to imply that the book doesn't merit praise - it is a fine execution of a debut novel and I can see why the self-published e-book spread by word of mouth - but I would have given the book four stars if I had reviewed it on Amazon. Great premise. Great potential. Above average execution. Certainly Kathryn Hughes holds promise. She has written a second book, The Secret, with an equally compelling tag line: "The truth she locked away will set another woman free." Moreover, Hachette UK bought book and film rights to The Letter, so we will see if it is ever made into a movie.

Book Review: A Cedar Cove Christmas

If you are looking for a clean read full of holiday cheer, you cannot go wrong with a Debbie Macomber Christmas story. This tale, A Cedar Cove Christmas, was a simple modern re-telling of the Christmas story, complete with an unwed-mother named Mary Jo, her three brothers, the Wyse men, a shifty king,  and a room over a stable full of barn-yard animals. While absolutely predictable, it was still a sweet story. Plus, I was eager to find something I could listen to while walking that wouldn't offend my own sensibilities or the tender ears of my children (the last audio book I attempted, An Extraordinary Union, started out the first twenty minutes with extremely foul language - somehow I can overlook a few f-bombs and d-mns, but the use of the b-word and the p-word, is a bit too much for me to stomach within the first few minutes of a story).

Book Review: Sing, Unburied, Sing

I don't recall how I stumbled upon this audio book, Sing, Unburied, Sing, by National Book Award-winner Jesmyn Ward. Billed as a Time Magazine "Best Novel of the Year" and a New York Times "Top Ten of 2017," it was beautiful, well-written, and emotionally-stirring. This story of grief and family resilience managed to swing from present to past and back to present seamlessly. Although it won't make one of my favorites for 2017, I enjoyed the listen and it kept me absorbed in a time when my focus has been drifting.

Jojo and Kayla live with their grandparents in Mississippi. Although their mother, Leonie, is a part of their lives, her drug-addiction keeps her on the fringes. Mam, Pap, and Leonie are still struggling with the death of Leonie's brother, Given, at the hands of a white boy during what has been labelled "a hunting accident." When Leonie receives word that the white father of her children will soon be released from prison, she decides to take the kids on a road trip to pick him up.

At times I wondered where things were leading (more character-driven than plot-driven), but my heart strings were definitely tugged as Mam struggled with cancer, Pop told stories of prison life, Leonie grappled with visitations from her brother's spirit, and Jojo grew into a man. The writing was the most outstanding aspect of the book, by far. The prose, like poetry, with each word chosen with precision, brought all the senses to life in its descriptions. There were many times when I wished to copy down passages for their beauty, but I couldn't take the time. Author Ann Patchett offered fine praise, indeed, saying, "The connection between the injustice of the past and the desperation of the present are clearly drawn in Sing, Unburied, Sing, a book that charts the lines between the living and the dead, the loving and the broken." I would happily attempt another book from this author, but in hardback form (the audio version was highly frustrating because the tracks lasted from thirty to forty minutes long and with a player that will not pick up right where you left off, I had to stand and listen for quite a while after I was done with my time on the treadmill).

Book Review: Victoria

When I was studying for my undergraduate and graduate degrees, my primary focus of interest was on Britain in the Victorian era. At one point, I even hoped to write a dissertation on the problem and treatment of orphans during that time. Dickens was my favorite writer and Victorian England my favorite period. But, it has been a while since I devoted any amount of time or energy to those topics. This book was a welcome introduction back into the things that captured my attention most in my twenties.

Victoria: Portrait of a Queen, is a tween biography by Catherine Reef. The pictures accompanying the text will surely bring the time period and the queen to life in the minds of youthful readers. I found myself imagining what it must have been like for Victoria to wake, a few months after her eighteenth birthday, and find that she was the queen of such a vast, grand empire. Although matters of politics and national identity might be a stretch for some young readers to grasp, the vibrant illustrations help to bring the story of Victoria's life into focus. I enjoyed perusing the family tree provided at the end of the book. I would highly recommend this book to homeschooling families and young readers fascinated by British royalty.

My Score of the Season

This Christmas feels as if it will break us. Bryce, who has had his present phone since high school, has asked for an upgraded I-phone. Sean, approaching 11, wants to get his first phone and wants an I-phone, like his brothers. I can no longer budget a couple hundred dollars per boy. We are well beyond that now.

But all is not despair. Today I scored the best Christmas deal I will ever find. My boys are aware that I'm a thrift store shopper and that sometimes their gifts will be second-hand. I've never heard one of them complain, because I do fairly well at finding brand name clothing or books and games in good shape. So far, I've purchased two books and a game for each of the younger boys from the thrift store.

Yesterday, while looking for a tree topper for my small hallway tree, I noticed a really decent pair of  men's Schwinn roller blades in a size 10/11. That is Bryce's size, but I didn't think he'd want them. After I left the thrift store, however, I thought about it more and realized that Trevor would love a pair of roller blades and since his shoe size is 9-1/2, by the time spring rolls around again and he can use them regularly, they will probably fit fine. Besides, they were marked $4.99 and for that price, even if he never used them, it wouldn't be a substantial loss.

So this morning I stood outside the doors waiting for the store to open and praying that nobody else had chanced upon the roller blades and snatched them up. I breathed a sigh of relief as I saw them in the same location and quickly settled them into the basket of my cart. I decided to skim the store again to see if anything new popped out at me. On a top shelf in the electronics section, I noticed a large globe. Sean has been fixated on geography lately. When we ride in the car, he brings up a map on his phone and asks me to try to stump him. Usually, he finds every country I mention.

I pulled the globe down and realized it was supposed to be an electronic one (duh - it was in the electronics section). It had a cord with one prong that looked like a headphone jack. Although I was well aware it might not work at all, I decided to buy it anyway because it was only $3.99. When I got home I looked up the globe on the computer and discovered it is supposed to have a wand. Back I went, explaining to the sales clerk that I had bought the globe but it was missing a piece. Amazingly, I found the wand on a shelf nearby. Whoever checked the item in separated the wand from the globe and priced them separately. The clerk waived me away when I showed her the price tag on the wand, saying "You already paid for the globe and it goes with it." I still didn't know if the thing would work. The battery compartment on the globe had four corroded batteries in it and I had to clean the battery compartment out and put new batteries in. So, I still had my doubts.

But, when I got home, put a fresh battery in the wand and pushed the power button, the thing sprang to life, speaking an introduction to the globe. It is so cool. You press the wand to various locations and can learn all sorts of facts like capitals, population, area, etc. It even has a game asking you to find and touch various cities on the globe (this is sure to appease his love of challenge in finding locations). Plus, here's the kicker. When I googled "smart globe" to find out what piece might be missing,  the first smart globe pictures that came up listed that item as $165. Even though this is a different (and discontinued version), I'm sure I found a Christmas steal!

Book Review: Weird-o-pedia

Weird-o-pedia: The Ultimate Book of Surprising, Strange, and Incredibly Bizarre Facts About (Supposedly) Ordinary Things, by Alex Palmer, is a fun little book of tid-bits and curiosities. It reminds me of a grown-up version of the books my sons love so much - The Weird But True series by National Geographic Kids. Although it has a similar flavor, it is definitely for adults, with a chapter devoted to "Love and Sex."

Although I didn't take notes on some of the more interesting details, I do remember a few sections I enjoyed. After visiting the Colosseum in Rome, it was fascinating to note that Roman soldiers were paid in salt, thus the term "worth one's salt." It seems like I read this before I checked out the book, but another curious travel fact mentioned that "The first toilet in any row of public stalls is the least frequented and contains the least bacteria." Good to know. I loved the section in the animal chapter on the names of groupings of animals: "ballet" of swans, "business" of ferrets, "intrigue" of kittens, and "ostentation" of peacocks. Even though it is highly unlikely that I'll ever use such terms, I love to discover new words like that.

The back cover encourages me to nap more, indicating that "napping can save you from a heart attack," and to surf the Internet more because it supposedly makes you smarter ("but not as smart as reading this book will"). Since my focus was taken up with the catch-up process for the Nanowrimo challenge (beginning ten days behind, due to my trip), this was an easy-to-read, light-hearted book. I think I might like to seek out another by the same author, Literary Miscellany: Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Literature.

European Excursion - Rome

Once again, my intense preparation paid off as I took my seat for the flight from Paris to Rome. I was seated next to another Groupon customer on the same London/Paris/Rome trip. When she explained that she and her husband intended to take a taxi from the airport to the hotel, I whipped out my alternative transportation card and showed her how easy it would be to simply take the train from the airport to the Roma Tuscolana station. It would be a forty five minute ride, as opposed to a lengthier and costlier trip in a taxi required to stop at traffic lights. I pulled up a map of Roma Tuscolana on my phone, before putting it on airplane mode, and was able to show her that the hotel was right around the corner from the station. Later, that afternoon, I ran into her in the hotel lobby and she thanked me for saving them time and money and said the directions were spot on and easy to follow. It felt good to be able to assist others with transportation details.

I was torn between jetting off on my own into the city center of Rome and waiting around to go in with Richard and Linda. I think if I hadn't been so fearful of the graffiti-clad neighborhood and of the prospect of Roman thievery, I would have ventured out on my own. Alas, I waited for Linda, whose phone had not been working during the trip. She had been desperately trying to make contact with her friend in Greece because they were supposed to spend a few extra days there after our time in Rome was over.

By the time we departed the hotel it was already late in the afternoon. Although we easily found the Ponte Lungo subway station a few blocks away, we were growing hungry and the machine refused to take Linda's fifty euro note (perhaps it didn't have enough to make change for the large bill). In the end, we stopped off at a little pizzeria near the station and had pleasant conversation with the proprietor there. His prices were reasonable and we enjoyed our time in his little pizza shop so much that we vowed to return the following evening.

After breakfast the next morning, we set out to find the I Love Rome Hop-on-Hop-off bus company because Linda and Richard had purchased tickets for that particular bus from the front desk. There were numerous city buses at the central Termini station, but eventually we found the bus with the pink heart. Just like the Paris bus, we were handed ear buds and directed to the channel for English translation. Unfortunately, it was raining, so our view was obstructed for the first part of our ride. When the sun appeared, we made our way to the topside of the double-decker bus, but found almost all the seats were filled with rain water. Still, I was able to perch on the edge of a seat and capture a few images of the city as we slowly made our way through the streets:

I loved so many of the solid, intricately-carved giant doors. It was always a thrill to glimpse the tiny side streets crammed with miniature cars and various shops:

The first stop where we actually got off the bus was the stop for Vatican City. We crossed the bridge and approached St. Peter's Basilica:

Unfortunately, by this time it was already close to noon and I knew I had to be at the Arch of St. Constantine, near the Colosseum by 1:25 p.m. for my pre-paid Colosseum tour. I split off from Richard and Linda (who were able to take the tour of the Vatican and see the famous Michaelangelo ceiling painting in the Sistine Chapel). While I waited to re-board the bus, I took a photo of this vendor who was selling the most intriguing collapsible bowl. I thought about purchasing one, but worried it would take up too much room in my luggage. (I found out later that Linda purchased one when she saw it):

It took quite a while to go all the way around the route again to get to the Colosseum bus stop, but I arrived with enough time to find a small side-street restaurant and have a panini:

Finally, I found the tour guide and embarked upon the most interesting aspect of my time in Rome - the Colosseum Ancient Ruins Tour:

Our guide, Stefano, regaled us with tales of how the gladiators rose from 60 stone elevators (cranked up on a coiled mechanism from below) and entered the arena to face animals and other gladiators.

The emperor would give the signal to indicate if he wanted the gladiator to kill or simply maim his opponent. Gladiators received tremendous fame and fortune for their participation in these deadly games. Spectators sat around the amphitheatre on marble seats:

We left the Colosseum and climbed Palatine Hill to view more ruins. The tour guide provided fascinating commentary. How I wish I could remember all of what he taught us!

By the time the tour ended, it was already past 5 p.m. and growing dark. I thought about taking the bus back to the Trevi Fountain stop. I had really wanted to see the fountain and perhaps even toss a coin over my shoulder, but instead I made my way to the closest subway station and returned to the hotel (practically running from the Metro station to the hotel because the neighborhood seemed a bit dodgy to be out in alone at night).

That night, Linda and Richard and I made our way back to the little Voglia di Pizza shop. While we were eating some pasta and trying more of the pizza options, a smart-looking young man entered the shop and I could tell right away that he was English. He said he was from Oxford, so I mentioned that I had studied for a summer in Oxford during my college years. He seemed duly impressed. I went on to tell him more about my past trips to England and of our current London-Paris-Rome trip. He marvelled at the excellent price we paid for such an extensive trip. He explained that he had just landed in Rome with a theatre troupe presenting A Picture of Dorian Gray. At only 21, he was cast in the lead role of Dorian. I felt an instant kinship with the young man, a lover of literature and drama and education. I was really enjoying our conversation until it turned to American politics - groan, my least favorite subject to discuss.

Linda and I met for one last breakfast the following morning and then I was off on my own again to traverse the final leg of my trip - the nine hour flight from Rome to JFK, a three hour layover, and then my final flight from JFK to Chicago. By the time I landed in Chicago, I was beyond tired and quite thankful someone else would be driving me back to the hotel. The clerk upgraded me, at no cost, to a suite, but I could have slept in a broom closet, I was so tired.

My four hour drive home went smoothly and I was thrilled to be back on my own turf. I ran into the leader of my writing group at the library and had such fun sharing tidbits from my travels. Tackling this daunting trip on my own, filled me with a new-found self-confidence and a determination to push into hard things more often.