Wednesday Weekly Review - The Harvest of Grace

The Harvest of Grace, An Ada's House Novel is written by Cindy Woodsmall and is the third book in the Ada's House series. In this particular novel, the focus is on Sylvia Fisher who isn't the typical Old Order Amish woman. As one of nine daughters in the household, she loves to take care of the herd on the family's dairy farm instead of doing housework.

Sylvia's boyfriend, Elam, proposes to Sylvia but she asks for a couple of weeks to think about it. During that brief time, Elam ends up proposing to Beckie, one of Sylvia's younger sisters and ends up marrying her. Sylvia wants to leave the farm but her Daed (father) refuses to let her go. Sylvia is miserable since Elam and Beckie move onto the farm after they marry and start a family.

After a period of time, the entire household becomes ill except for Sylvia and Elam. They end up kissing one night and Sylvia knows it is time for her to leave, whether her Daed approves or not. She ends up working on the Blank farm and is content there until Aaron Blank comes back from rehab and then the sparks fly.

My thoughts: I really enjoyed reading this book and this had an interesting storyline and characters (Aaron's rehab, etc). I would recommend this book to anyone, not just lovers of Amish fiction.

Disclosure: I received this book from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

holiday hit list

The craft show season is winding down for me....2 more shows this coming weekend and that's it for the year. If you're in the San Diego area, stop by the Holiday Hit List which is presented by the North Park Craft Mafia. This year the show will be back at Liberty Station. Hope to see you there!

thanksgiving

Thanksgiving - a day created for thanksgiving and praise. I'm thankful for my family, friends, good health and being able to to contribute to the household by doing something I love (crafting). Hope you're having a great day!

Music Review - Daryl Hall - Laughing Down Crying

I am a huge Daryl Hall fan, whether he's singing solo, with others or as part of Hall & Oates, so I was very happy to have the opportunity to review Daryl's latest musical release, "Laughing Down Crying."

The songs on the soundtrack are:

1. Laughing Down Crying
2. Talking To You (Is Like Talking To Myself)
3. Lifetime Of Love
4. Eyes For You (Ain't No Doubt About It)
5. Save Me
6. Message To Ya
7. Wrong Side Of History
8. Get Out Of The Way
9. Crash And Burn
10. Problem With You

I liked all of the songs, but my favorites are #2 Talking To You (Is Like Talking To Myself) and #7 Wrong Side Of History. The melody and lyrics are very catchy and it was easy to start singing along after listening to them once. I wonder what the back story is about the songs - check out some of the titles (Problem With You, Get Out Of The Way, etc.)! At any rate, the CD is another great offering from Daryl Hall and I would highly recommend to anyone.

Disclosure: I received this CD in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Queen Bee show!

It's almost time for the Queen Bee Market again! If you're going to be in the San Diego area, stop on by!

Book Review - The Crossing

I recently read The Crossing by Serita Jakes. Wife and mother Claudia Campbell can't get over the traumatic incident that happened ten years earlier. A masked gunman jumped on a high school bus returning from a football game and killed her friend, cheerleading coach B.J. Remington and wounded Casio Hightower, a star football player that Claudia was dating.

The gunman was never found and Claudia lives in fear every day which is affecting every aspect of her life. District Attorney Victor Campbell (Claudia's husband) decides to reopen the case to try to find the killer with Casio's help.

I thought the plot was interesting and the book was fairly fast-paced. There was a good twist at the end when the killer is finally revealed and gives the reason for his actions. The only part that I was a little disappointed about was the storyline regarding Casio. What happened with him at the end seemed very abrupt and I thought there should have been more of a buildup or explanation of his actions. This book is a good read and I would recommend it. (Interesting to note: The author Serita Jakes is the wife of Bishop T.D. Jakes and I look forward to reading more of her work. )



Disclosure: I received this book from WaterBrook Multnomah Press in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.