Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers

February 7, 2021 – February 9, 2021

There were many things wrong with this book.

You don’t force a woman to say your name when have sex because you want her to acknowledge that she’s starting to feel something for you.

I don’t care if it wasn’t a typical rape scene – it was one.

You don’t get to just forgive someone sleeping with your wife and think they are a good man still, esspecially since it only happened because said man forced her into it because they were in the middle of no where and he said he wasn’t going to drive her any more unless she did.

That is using sex as a tool of power.

That isn’t a mistake that an otherwise good man made. That is evil and something that bad men do.

And you don’t let bad men stay in your lives.

Gentle as doves, wise as serpents.

I stopped when I found out that Paul and Miriam get married.

Somethings you don’t forgive.

Their are consequences.

The whole point of this book was to point a finger of sainthood at something that deep inside me I KNOW is wrong. They are saying it is the whole point of grace. They are saying Christ wants us to forgive. That I’m a bad Christian for the voice that is screaming inside me.

I feel alone. Like I’m at the bottom of a pit yelling out, but no one would believe in what I’m saying because it doesn’t fit with what they think is right and wrong. And it is all wrapped up in Gospel truths, so how could it be wrong? Doesn’t everyone deserve second chances?

No. They don’t.

To say otherwise is to twist Christ into something just as dark and dangerous as to say all sinners deserve hell.

But what about Angel?

That’s different.

Oh really? How?

It is.

But she-

It just is!

I wish I had never read this book.

The Case of the Bizarre Bouquets by Nancy Springer, Enola Holmes #3

February 6, 2021 – February 7, 2021

Ok I really want to see where this relationship with her brother goes. You can see how his opinion of her changes and at the end of this last one you really could start to wonder if he could be the brother she needs. As for her relationship with her mother, that’s a knot that feels ok right now. I DID have a fun insight, flowers are emojis! My hands hurt, I can’t type more, but imagine me going off silly like with my new conclusions!

Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah

February 1, 2021 – February 3, 2021

Oh. My. Gosh.

Ok I knew a little bit of his back story, I do watch The Daily Show and his comedy specials and had heard his telling of when his mom got shot and MAN did he make me laugh!

And then I read this – and I couldn’t laugh. All I could think was “wow, did ANYTHING go right in his life?!” But I knew it did because he is so freaking successful! If anything this book was about apartheid, which was pretty much in the title.

His life interested me because my children are mixed and I wanted to get some insight into what they might face and how I could be a good supportive mom to them, but I sincerely doubt they are going to face what he did. Even if we move to Montana (fun story about a Dairy Queen in Butt when my husband and I were cross countrying it from Cleveland to Seattle) or the South I don’t think they could even come close to what he went through.

I kept reading way too late and waking up so tired that even hot chocolate couldn’t wake me up because I wanted to see the happy ending, but he never talked about his career.

But weirdly it did feel like a happy ending. It ended with him and his mom, and that was all that mattered.

I’m going to push this book for book club- because I think that everyone should read it.

And for my sister that I discovered yesterday that reads my blog he published a younger kid version with the swear words cut out.

Man. This book was intense.

Tooth and Claw by Jo Walton

January 27, 2021 – February 1, 2021

This book was sold to me as Pride and Prejudice but with dragons! So I was looking for the parallel when really it was just fun with the Austin like world and the writing style. Things got better when Sher showed up and then the cave incident was fun. It was nice to see it all pull together before it did and that last image of him over the jerk guy’s dead body bleeding himself with his woman licking his wounds and changing color was very nice.


It was a fun read, but not really one that is going to stick out in my head. Which makes me depressed because DRAGONS!

Valour and Vanity by Mary Robinette Kowal, Glamourist Histories #4

August 31, 2020 – January 27, 2021

Oh my gosh that was AGONY! You will mark how long it took me to read (mark how I said mark- because this is Jane Austin-land). It is because after a week or so I just couldn’t read it anymore!

The thing that hit me so hard was that I could see this happening to my husband and me. They did nothing wrong but were manipulated until they were left trapped on the island in poverty, with no way out. It brought up times when I’ve been trapped and made me feel unsafe even though there is nothing wrong in my life, but then nothing was going wrong for them either.

Where I stopped was at the lowest point where they were so helpless and she had just been shamed into buying the bar of soap and Vincent was a mess and everything that could have gone wrong did and they were so… helpless. And as you know I can’t stomach that- so I stopped.

But that doesn’t mean I stopped THINKING about this book. It was a gaping soar that eventually, as my brain decided to stop being a jerk, turned into an itch. Yesterday this book popped into my head again and I felt like I could give it another go. Even though I KNEW that it would have a happy ending and that they were going to kick the bad guys in the butt, I NEEDED to see it happen.

And I did.

Maybe I’ll read the other ones, but later. They are good books, but man when things go south they really see penguins.

I think I’ll go read some relaxing next like Warbreaker.

Sheepfarmer’s Daughter by Elizabeth Moon, The Deed of Paksenarrion #1

June 29, 2020 – January 17, 2021

Ug. This should have been a good book. There was no reason it shouldn’t have been a good book. It had an interesting world and plot and stuff, but the main character just felt flat. On the surface she had all sorts of good stuff, but I just didn’t see anything underneath. I thought it would get good when it started switching to that one commander during the trial, but then he was left behind. Then it was good again when they were running to let them know the bad guys took the keep. But then the rest of everyone and her best friend just up and died. After that I just kind of felt like shrugging and moved on.

This is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor by Adam Kay

January 15, 2021 – January 17, 2021

This had all the trappings of being an awesome book for me to read. It was witty and I know several people who are doctors and who doesn’t love English stuff!?

And I WAS enjoying it…. sort of. The problem was that it was triggering some PTSD I’ve had around medical stuff that MAYBE I need to work with my therapist on.

Like when he talked about putting in IVs and I started crying while holding the spot on my arm where there is still a scar from the midline I had to get when I was going in every other day to get fluids for 12 weeks straight because I had such bad Hyperemesis with Asher that I could feel myself dying all alone in the dark in my room.

Good book. Not really good for me right now. You should go read it though. 😊

Princess of Glass by Jessica Day George, The Princesses of Westfalin #2

January 3, 2021 – January 5, 2021

Yup, I’m enjoying these books, and this one was almost as “aaahhhhh!!!!!!” as the first one had been. While the last book really was just an expansion on the original story, this one pulled everything from Cinderella, gave it a good twist, and shoved it into the world building.

I’m excited to read the next one!

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