Together at the Table: A Novel of Lost Love and Second Helpings by Hillary Manton Lodge

Together at the Table is the third book in Hillary Manton Lodges's Two Blue Door series. I have read (and reviewed) all three and very much enjoyed all three. The main character in each book, Juliette D'Alisa is back again.  She and her brother, Nico, have successfully launched a new restaurant, Two Blue Doors--hence the series title.  She loves her job as restaurant manager and is dating the restaurant's sous-chef, Adrian.  Life is mostly good, although she is still mourning the loss of her mother to cancer.

[spoiler alert] Things are turned upside down however when Juliette and Adrian run into Juliette's ex boyfriend, Neil, in the park.  It is obvious to Adrian that Neil still loves Juliette and he questions Juliette's feelings for Neil. Adrian panics and asks Juliette to marry him in front of her entire family at her birthday party.  Unprepared and unsure of her own heart, Juliette refuses and not long after the two break up.  Juliette soon admits that Neil does still hold a place in her heart and they start their relationship anew. When a fire damages Two Blue Doors and Juliette's apartment above the restaurant, Juliette comes to see that she is in love with Neil and the two elope just before a family trip to Italy.

I like the fact that things are nicely wrapped up in this third book.. It's good to see Juliette happy and in love. In the first book of the Two Blue Door series, A Table by the Window, Juliette had discovered love letters written by her grandmother.  They revealed a family mystery that Juliette is determined to solve.  She makes a trip to her family's chateau in Italy in each book, attempting to put the pieces together.  In this book, the truth is finally uncovered. I think the series could continue, but I was pleased that the author didn't string us along with either Juliette's love life or the family mystery. 

My only complaint with Together at the Table is that I really wouldn't classify it as Christian fiction.  Juliette goes to church a handful of times and is married by clergy, but that's about it.  It is clean fiction and has good lessons in it about the value of family and sacrificial love, but barely any reference to God and none to Scripture.

I received this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital by Sheri Fink

The five days that author Sheri Fink writes about in Five Days at Memorial were five VERY long days.  At first the book was interesting, but after a while it really started to drag for me.  I found myself looking to see how many more pages I had to read.  Honestly, I might not have finished it if not for my commitment to read and honestly review it for Blogging for Books. I will also say that I'm glad I received it for free in exchange for that honest review.

Except for a few main characters, it was very difficult to keep the various doctors, nurses, and patients straight.  There were so many of them, on top of relatives of the staff, families of the patients, law enforcement, government officials, helicopter pilots, lawyers and prosecutors, etc. etc. The names became a blur rather quickly.

I did appreciate the questions that the book raised: which patients should be prioritized (during a catastrophic emergency) and can health professionals ever be excused for hastening death?  These questions may seem very black and white under ordinary circumstances, but in the midst of a disaster such as a hurricane they become much more gray.  Faced with oppressive heat, loss of electricity, the stench of overflowing toilets, the threat of looting and other criminal misbehavior, lack of sleep, water and food shortages, fear and even panic, what would you do?  How would I act?

I found that I could see things from both sides.  I could imagine how overwhelming it must have been for the hospital staff who undertook the care of so many critically ill patients in such dire conditions.  I could also empathize with the families who wanted answers as to how and why their loved ones died. I think the author did a decent job of trying to present circumstances from both groups.

Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond

Evicted is a fascinating read:  True stories of both tenants and landlords in the inner city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  The author, Mathew Desmond, spent years following and interviewing eight families living in the poorest neighborhoods in the country.  Four of the families live in multi-family apartments owned by Sherrena, a seasoned black landlord who is tough and often heartless.  The other four families live in a decrepit rat-infested trailer park owned by Tobin, a hardened white landlord who is gutsy and sometimes willing to negotiate, yet is all about the bottom line.

The stories of these eight families are both enlightening and heartbreaking.  They get under your skin and are hard to get off your mind. They are in many ways bound by their pasts, childhoods usually riddled with abuse, neglect, and violence.  Often ruled by addiction, they make poor choices in how to spend their money and who to trust. They misuse alcohol and drugs, both prescription and street. They waste opportunities and blow second and third chances. They seem bound to live in poverty forever, one generation after another.

Yet, there are glimmers of hope.  They love their children and grandchildren. They still dream of more.  They understand the value of a quality education. They hope for good jobs. They want a better tomorrow for themselves and their families. Just like you and just like me.

That is the main lesson I take away from this book.  The poor, the downtrodden, those who are standing at the curb with their belongings in a heap around them, the drug-addicted, the filthy, the alcoholic, the mentally ill could be me.  As a Christ follower, I often pray that I will see others through God's eyes.  That I will learn to love them as he does.  This book helped me to do just that, and I am grateful for it.

The Quality of Silence: A Novel by Rosamund Lupton

The Quality of Silence was a very interesting, often strange novel. Parts of the story were indeed interesting, but honestly I had borrowed this book from the library instead of having received it for free from Crown Publishers in return for my honest review, I may not have finished it.  I just found the main characters hard to relate to at first.  I thought they were delusional and ridiculous for the risks they were taking, but the surprise ending changed those initial impressions.  I don't want to spoil anything for other readers, so I won't elaborate any further.  Let's just say the book has plenty of twists and suspense and is a great example of the power of love and the resilience of the human spirit.

When I look at the Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data in the front of the book, it lists the following topics: Widows, deaf children, mothers and daughters, wilderness survival-Alaska.  I agree the book was about all those topics, but I honestly thought more than anything it is a discourse against fracking. 

It is true that it is about a relationship between a mother and daughter, but it's also about a relationship between a father and daughter, as well as a relationship between a husband and wife.  There is a complexity to each of those relationships in this story that I enjoyed.  Ms. Lupton did a good job developing those relationships and the characters in them.

The Quality of Silence refers to the daughter in the story, Ruby, a ten-year old girl who is deaf.  Her mother, Yasmin, is worried that Ruby will have a hard time in a hearing world if she has no voice and encourages her to speak orally, but her father Matt, a wildlife photographer, understands that she prefers to sign or use her computer and is okay with that. 

It was interesting to learn more about Alaska.  I was especially fascinated with how incredibly cold it is there and the drastic steps the characters had to take to protect themselves against the cold.  It was also rather unbelievable to me the extreme dangers that truckers in Alaska face.  Couldn't pay me enough to do that job!

Miriam: A Treasures of the Nile Novel by Mesu Andrews

I really liked Miriam, the second book of the Treasures of the Nile series.  Mesu Andrews does a wonderful job of making Biblical characters come alive.  I have read about Miriam in Exodus many times, but she was always a two-dimensional person.  Andrews adds the third dimension for me.

Mesu Andrews uses the Bible itself as her primary source, but also studies historical sources for details about food, dress, customs of Egypt, etc.  Then when she adds in her imaginings of how people would have felt, loved, lived, and mourned, it makes for a fascinating read.  In her note to the reader at the beginning of the book, Andrews says that she wants her reader to compare her fiction to the truth of God's Word, and she gave me just such a desire.  That to me is good Christian fiction!

Miriam is such a passionate, gifted woman.  We first meet her in the pages of Scripture as Moses' older sister, sent to watch her baby brother when his parents launch him into the Nile in a basket, in order to save his life. When she grew up she was a midwife, skilled with herbs and plants and knowledge of their healing properties.  She was also a prophetess of El Shaddai and a leader among the Israelites, especially the women.  Miriam was also a worship leader and song leader.  What an amazing woman and a godly example for all believers.

I'm sure you will enjoy this book as I did, as well as the first book in the series, The Pharaoh's Daughter. I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for my honest review.

The Mexican Slow Cooker by Deborah Schneider

I was really excited to receive The Mexican Slow Cooker.  I have a slow cooker (or crockpot) that I use sometimes, but every time I do I think, "That was so easy and delicious, why don't I use it more often?!"  But then, I put it away and don't use it again for a good while.  My husband and I love Mexican food, so I figured this would be the perfect way to make food that we enjoy and to utilize my slow cooker more.

However, when I read through the cookbook, I thought it was great.  The author, Deborah Schneider, takes the time to explain Mexican cooking terms and ingredients, which is helpful to me. In case the reader has never used a slow cooker, she explains how to use the appliance. Deborah includes some very pertinent information, like a chart showing the different kinds of chiles used in Mexican cooking, which dishes they are typically used in and how hot they are.  There is also an index in the back of the book of other common Mexican ingredients. 

The Mexican Slow Cooker features recipes for soups, main dishes, street foods (like tacos and enchildadas), side dishes, and desserts.  Very thorough.  However, when I actually began to read the individual recipes, I was no longer quite so enthused about the book. Many of the recipes, I dare say most of the ones I was personally interested in trying, call for first making either chicken or beef broth (caldo de pollo or caldo de res).  That means first using the slow cooker to cook the meat for the broth for 8 hours, then cooling it, straining it, and chilling it before you can even begin another recipe in which you use the slow cooker for another 4-8 hours. Way too much time and effort!  I use my slow cooker for EASY meals.

So, my overall assessment of The Mexican Slow Cooker is that I probably won't be making very many recipes from it.  Not that they don't sound delicious, but because they are much more complicated that I am looking for. I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for my honest review.

Whatever is Lovely: A Coloring Book for Reflection and Worship

Whatever is Lovely is the most lovely coloring book I have ever seen.  I have wanted an adult coloring book since I first noticed the trend and starting spotting them in book and craft stores.  I've looked at many of them, but had not yet purchased one for myself.  So, when I had the opportunity to review this one from Blogging for Books in exchange for my honest review, I jumped at the chance. 

Many of the coloring books I looked at were nice, but I did want a Christian themed book, so that narrowed the field quite a bit.  Still even among the ones with a Christian theme, not all the pages contained Scripture or were Biblical.  Whatever is Lovely fits the bill of every thing I wished for and so much more!  It goes way beyond just coloring an illustrated Bible verse or a picture of a Bible store. It is really intended to be, as the subtitle reads, for reflection and worship.  I love that!

The introduction, titled Color Your Way to Peace, instructs the (reader? user? colorer?)...worshiper that this book was designed to be a way of "quieting our minds, spending time meditating on the words of the Lord, and entering into a time of quiet reflection  and worship.".  How cool is that?  Way, way better than what my first intention was when I first saw adult coloring books: something to do to relax or to keep my hands busy while watching TV. 

Each page of this gorgeous coloring book contains beautiful hand-drawn and lettered pictures to color with Scripture verses, quotes from Christian authors. teachers and pastors, or hymn writers. There is even a link included for a Whatever is Lovely Spotify playlist to further enhance your worship.I really can't say enough of how great I think this coloring book is.  Check it out, I'm sure you too will love it.