Pilgrimage by Lynn Austin

 Timely and wonderful - I was going through my own dry period and her journey helped me. Lynn Austin has written a travelogue of sorts - a journey of her body, heart and mind. She was in a dry spell where not even her prayers or her worship felt normal. She embarks on a journey to Israel to walk in the places of the Bible. Her journey begins in the wilderness of Zin, a dry dusty desert that reflects her present spiritual life. The tour progresses through to Jerusalem and on to Galilee and the coastal city of Capernaum. Throughout the book she describes the countryside and the places that she goes in context of the stories from the Bible that occurred there. Her descriptions are so vibrant it makes you feel like you are right there with her. She often brings to light things about the story or the culture that aren't necessarily well known. Each destination in each chapter ends with a beautiful prayer praising God for the things she has seen and the knowledge or understanding she has gained from this experience. By the end of the book she is in a better place spiritually, rejoicing in the understanding she has gained from God through this journey. I would very much like to go on the same tour she went on. Even though the reader did not go physically on the journey I believe God will use her journey to minister to you as well.
I am so grateful that Mrs. Austin was willing to share her struggles with others. We feel less alone in our doubts and fears when we realize there are others who feel similarly. I'm reading through a second time to be sure I didn't miss any blessing God has to share with me!

Davis Bunn's "Strait of Hormuz" is wonderful!

Marc Royce is on the move again working as a freelance operative for his former boss Ambassador Walton. He has asked Marc to look into a report of money being laundered through the high end art world of Geneva, Switzerland. Walton tells him to trust no one, as there has been a leak of information reported.
Kitra Korban is contacted at the Kibbutz in Israel by a mysterious man who claims to be a friend of her father. He asks her to fly to Geneva to save the life of an important man, Marc Royce. Having no idea why Marc is in Geneva or why someone would be warning her to go rescue him, she packs and leaves. She goes even though she and Marc had recently broken off their relationship.
Marc arrives at the back door of the gallery in time to see that the contact has been murdered and the building is rigged to blow. Amazingly he sees Kitra at the front door of the gallery and he runs through and grabs her and throws her in Lake Geneva just as the building explodes.
This begins a rip roaring sequence of fast car chases( with Ferrari's, Bentley's and Roll's), alternate identities, lots of bad guys, fights and guns and a great deal of angst. It's a race to save the planet from the Iranian nuclear agenda or is it something else entirely.

Marc and his band of helpers do the leg work, go rogue against what the government wants him to do and ultimately solves the problem. He and his group manage all that is thrown at them with faith and perseverance.

Davis Bunn has created a finely woven story of courage, faith and stick through- it- ness that makes for an edge of your seat , nail-biting thriller. His characters are believably human, they have their doubts, they have their wounds but they also have their faith to rely on to get them through whatever life throws at them. His characters pray and read the Bible and share their faith with one another. It is a beautiful multicultural blend of sharing together despite their differences.

 

This was the most enjoyable of the three Marc Royce books. The action was non-stop, the plot was relevant, believable and could have been written from today's headlines. Christians need books like this not only to help us wake up to the world around us but to visualize how we are to respond to our world a Christians.

Adventure Here....

The Black Pearl by Peter Tonkin
Years ago a Japanese firm finds a massive oyster bed in a lake deep in the jungle of Africa that produce priceless black pearls. The lake is at the bottom of a volcano which erupts and buries the Japanese firm. The area is between two warring countries and there is also a renegade guerrilla force with a witch doctor guarding the jungles. A Russian mining group has found that the black pearl site contains a vast reserves  of coltan, a Rare Earth metal used in electronics and computers worth a fortune. They asks Richard Mariner to take a team in and claim the remote lake. Richard must cross through almost impenetrable jungle fight and survive attacks from all sides including a Chinese firm which is trying to lay claim to the same land. Who will win??? This is a nail-biting thriller, a very enjoyable read.  Great characters, excellent plotting, a wonderful thrill ride! Peter Tonkin has written other books with the characters of Richard Mariner some of which are alluded to in this book but reading his other books is not absolutely necessary to enjoy this great adventure.


Sherlock Holmes and the Needle's Eye by Len Bailey
This is a wonderful read. The author replicates Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's characters and setting perfectly. He develops a new Sherlock adventure where Sherlock has found a Moriarity built device called the Needle's Eye which allows Sherlock and Watson to travel back in time to solve ten mysteries of the Bible that they have been challenged with by an unknown source. They begin their journeys as invisible witnesses at first but eventually they become more than observers. The juxtaposition of Sherlock's almost atheism against Watson's strong belief in the Bible makes for interesting discussions between the two. The bible stories are familiar but flourish under the scrutiny of the pair of detectives.

Easy Go by Michael Crichton
 This was a fun read. (It is a shame we lost such a talented voice as Michael Crichton.) This is a plot for classic B movie Egyptian  the story of a lowly professor who translates hieroglyphics. He is translating an obscure piece of parchment when he finds that it is a puzzle, a code written into the hieroglyphs by the author. He deciphers the code and finds that the scroll identifies a location of an unknown undiscovered tomb near the Valley of the Kings. The professor finds an adventurous newspaper reporter, who recruits a crew of thieves and together they set out to locate the tomb and  smuggle the goods out of Egypt. They begin by lawfully setting up a site near the tomb under the guise of taking museum quality photographs of all the hieroglyphs in all the already excavated tombs of the Valley. This they do by day and at night they search for their tomb. Will they find it?...Can they escape with the goods?
This is a fun book and would make a great movie!

Short takes: short reviews of what I've been reading

The Noticer Returns by Andy Andrews
Andy Andrews revives his wisdom espousing friend "Jones" in a delightful book about parenting skills sort of. As in the original book, "Jones" is a notice and he watches and notices and points things out to you from a different perspective than the one you are seeing the situation from. I thoroughly enjoyed this second installment with "Jones"! He brings up thoughts for careful consideration. Thoughts to help you become a notice in your own life, a different way of looking at things. The book has an at home among friends feel to it that makes these people your friends. And if you ever visit Gulf Shores, Alabama You will feel right at home!

Wisdom for Everyday Living 365 Daily Devotions From America's Most Influential Christian Leaders/ compiled by Steve M. Woods
This is a very enlightening a uplifting devotional compiled by a great group of writers ( over 100 Christian leaders contributed). There is no set order, but there are 365 devotionals, so there is one for each day in a year. Each begins with a bible verse,  often included in print so there is no need to drag out your bible to look up the verse. The devotionals are quick, insightful , to the point and moving. I have enjoyed reading through each day so far and plan to continue.


The Gate by Dann A. Stouten

Suffering from burnout and looking to get away Richard stumbles on a real estate ad in the paper for Angel's Gate a former resort that is for sale. He decides to take the weekend and  check it out. When he finally finds it and goes through the gate he has entered a whole other world, possibly a back door to Heaven. The book is slightly similar to The Shack by Wm. Young in that Richard has conversations with God but it goes further in imagining that this place might be what Heaven is like. It is a delightful read with many values and morals passed along by the people he meets there. This is truly an adventure into the unknown.

 

Davis Bunn's "Unlimited" Talent with New Screenplay, Movie and Book titled "Unlimited"

Davis Bunn has a fabulous new book , a novelization of a screenplay that he wrote for an up coming movie. The book was wonderful and I am looking forward to the movie. There are links to win copies of the books on his Facebook and web pages which I will include links to below. I will also have an additional post with a Q&A with Davis Bunn and his biography included.

Here is my review:

 

Unlimited is an interesting battle set in Mexico and partially based on a true story. By battle I mean that it is a human drama about good vs. evil, but much more about finding a personal sense of meaning and responsibility in this life.

Simon Orwell is a man who has made a complete mess of his life:  taking wrong turns at every opportunity. He is a brilliant scientist, although still a student, whose latest wrong turn has gotten him and his favorite professor booted out of MIT. Simon feels so ashamed and remorseful for betraying his professor that he wants to somehow make things right. The two had been working on a project together to create a device that would garner the unused (“wasted”) energy and create unlimited free energy from it. The professor dreams of bringing free energy to Mexico, his home, since the current power company there is very expensive and oppressive. The professor has sent Simon an email saying he has made a breakthrough in their design and needs Simon’s help to finally make their device work.

     Simon takes everything he has including his version of the device in his car and goes to Mexico with the intention to apologize for betraying the professor and  to do everything he can to help him complete his device. The minute Simon crosses the border everything goes wrong. Simon is run off the road and forced to flee with his device from a man with a gun. Simon hides the machine in a drainage ditch and manages to make it into town to meet the professor at the town council meeting to present their device in hopes of receiving funding. When he arrives he is greeted with the news that the professor is dead and the council claims they never offered funding, but would like to buy his device for 1000 bucks. Devastated, not only that his friend is dead, that there is no funding and the lo-ball price the town offered for years of his research, Simon leaves  only to find that someone is still trying to kill him. Simon is rescued by the assistant to the mayor and taken to the orphanage for refuge. There Simon meets Harold Finch, who helps Simon set out to find out who killed the professor and why. He also helps Simon believe in himself (and the love of the heavenly father) and to rebuild the machine and  to make it work. But they must fight against a powerful drug cartel which has other more sinister plans for the device.

It is a wonderful story of redemption and hope! There is even some romance involved. Mostly the reader is exposed to the hardships and terror that living in Mexico can be today. The powerful drug cartels are ruthless and dangerous and make just surviving difficult in an already treacherous environment.

Davis Bunn has created a wonderful novelization of his screenplay for the film “Unlimited” which is also coming to theaters soon. Writing a book based on a movie is difficult because all the dialog and stage directions together have already produced the story; there is no room for embellishment or change. There were a couple of instances in reading the book that the conversations seemed a bit stilted but I’m sure the same conversations flowed in the movie and were necessary to the plot. I am looking forward to the movie!

Link to free preview of Chapters 1-3 of Unlimited (http://on.fb.me/1c5IyCS)

 

Here are links to all of Davis’s online “homes”:

 

Website and Blog: www.davisbunn.com

Blog Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/DavisBunn

E-newsletter (to receive subscriber-only giveaways & previews of his upcoming novels):  http://www.davisbunn.com/news.htm

Facebook Author Page: facebook.com/davisbunnauthor

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/davisbunn/

Twitter: @davisbunn - http://twitter.com/davisbunn

I received a complimentary copy of Unlimited from B&H Publishing group in exchange for my honest review.

Egyptian Adventure in "Easy Go" by John Lange (psd. Michael Crichton)

Michael Crichton has always been a great writer; further evidenced by these early writings under the pseudonym, John Lange. “Easy Go” is a fun romp,  through a story of intrigue and adventure, that would make a great movie. Set in Egypt after World War II, the book has a noir mystery feel to it, like a really good Vincent Price movie. A disrespected, but brilliant, hieroglyphics translator and archeologist deciphers a text that leads him to believe there is one more pharaoh’s tomb still out there to be found. He finds a bored writer who in search of adventure believes him and agrees to assemble a team to search for the tomb. However, he determines that they should keep the search a secret and steal the riches and sell them back to Egypt for a ransom; thus making a great deal of money from the loot. The writer knows a British Lord who has funds and might be interested in the adventure. Lord Grover agrees to their delightful proposition and funds their efforts under the guise of a photography expedition to photograph the great tombs and sites near Luxor and in the Valley of the Kings. The adventure continues as the group manages to complete both the photography expedition by day and the search for the lost tomb by night.

It is a thrilling and enjoyable story all the way through to the twist at the end! Enjoyable for mystery lovers, fans of Egyptology and Michael Crichton fans!

Celebrating the Possibilities of Lace

A review of :  Lace One Skein Wonders:101 Projects Celebrating the Possibilities of Lace
                      by Judith Durant published by Storey Publishers


The is a beautiful book filled with wonderful Knitting projects! Each project is presented with clear instructions, diagrams where necessary and wonderful photography which shows the project magnificently, but often show techniques or close-ups of sections to help explain the instructions as well.If you are a knitter this book will open a wealth of projects to dream over and accomplish. Each project is very well outlined and explained so there will be no difficulty completing each of these wonderful projects. There are all kinds of projects: shawls, fingerless gloves, socks , scarves and others , all with a lacy touch.There are explicit diagrams showing where each stitch goes in the project and esplanations on how to accomplish each stitch. This book was provided to me as an ebook through NetGalley. When I requested this book I did not realize it was a knitting project book (I crochet) howeverit thrilled me to see such exquisite projects , that I am pulling my knitting needles out of moth balls and trying to remember how it is done again!
This is a wonderful book and I recommend these beautiful patterns to any knitters with the desire to make intricate lacy items!

I, Saul by Jerry Jenkins and John MacDonald Review

Having shied away from the Tim Lahaye and Jerry Jenkins series "Left Behind" when it first came out, not because of the subject matter or the story but because the grammar at the beginning was like reading Harlequin romances (bad); I hesitated to request this title. I was however delightfully surprised by both the story, the quality of the research and the matured writing style of this book. This time Mr. Jenkins has teamed with a Bible scholar and together they bring a very real and truthful feel to a fiction mystery.
A discovery has been made in Rome, the prison where the Apostle Paul was held until his execution is being excavated. A member of the Vatican staff visits the ruins and finds a roll of parchment placed in a crevice beneath a wall , he sneaks it from the sight and upon discovering what it might be, he hides it in a safe place giving a clue to a friend as to its whereabouts. He is murdered and now the friend is in danger because the antiquities police think he knows where the manuscript is. The friend, a local tour guide, calls his friend in the United States to come help him get out of danger and retrieve the artifact. This begins a rollercoaster thrill ride of the two alluding police, alluding the antiquities policeman who is working for himself and hopes to sell the artifact on the black market, alluding his girlfriends father who also has eyes on the prize and staying alive to find the artifact and bring it to world attention.
The artifact is presumed to be a parchment written by the Apostle Paul recounting his life that has never been see or read in over two-thousand years.
The story goes from present day to Paul's time and back again explaining how the parchment came to be, why it was found where it was and telling the story of Paul's life from before his conversion to his death. The Biblical references are base on the facts in the Bible and the story of Paul's life is embellished from the known facts referenced in the Bible.
The life of Paul comes alive on the pages and is a most enjoyable read. The contemporary mystery is well documented and researched and has a very believable feel to reality today. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and will look forward to others by these authors.

Homer Hickam's book "Cresent" a review

Being the 2nd in a series for teens written by acclaimed author Homer Hickam (Author of "Rocket Boys" from which the movie "October Sky" was based) this book is a fresh look at the teens of the not too distant future on the Moon. Mining rights have been established on the moon and whole businesses are growing up on the moon to support the industry. People sign on to go to the moon for work - sometimes for adventure, sometimes just for a job and sometimes because they are no longer welcomed on earth. Rivalry abounds not just from earthbound politics and countries who want the riches of the Moon for themselves, but among the leaders of the various mining camps and towns on the moon. There are constant skirmishes and battles to keep what's yours. Crowhoppers, genetically bred soldiers are sent from earth to fight for whichever faction they are being paid by. Their motto their mantra is "to live is death , to die is life."  Mostly they live to fight and die honorably. The miners are constricted to fight against them in battles. Thus Crater, a likeable teen, inventor, miner is not in the mine working but in a skirmish over a convoy when they are attacked by Crowhoppers. Infiltrating the under ground tube the Crowhoppers were living in, Crater finds a lone Crowhopper and for some reason feels for it and captures it instead of killing it. He returns to base with it and finds out it is a girl - rare among crowhoppers. His prisoner causes quite a stir since none of the people of Moontown are going to trust it they all just want it dead. Crater insist that it be given a chance. Her name is Cresent and she is a very hard worker. Crater's adoptive mom, who is the exiled Queen of England, Q-bess takes the girl in and helps her learn how to live among humans. This is very hard for Cresent to do since everyone but Crater and Q-bess want her dead. Here insues the adventures of Crater and Cresent. This is a delighful story that will leave you wanting the more that is to come. Though written for teens and should be totally enjoyed by them since it is a space love story of sorts, it was a delightfully relaxing tale for adults. I thoroughly enjoyed the book , highly recommend it and can hardly wait for the next in the series. It has everything Battles, love story,jealousy, history, treasures and a few ghost as well.

I earned this Seal of approval

                                                                                     I am a Professional Reader!!!!!!
 Finally after over 40 years of working and volunteering in public libraries and it took Netgalleys to give me the recognition I have deserved!
Actually I am proud to read and review books for publishers through NetGalley but I have been professionally reading and reviewing books since 1996 when I joined the review team at School Library Journal and more recently at Library Journal. While it all is professional the pay is free access to books. Nothing could be better than that to an avid reader like myself. So thank you to NetGalley for making an official reader of me. Bring on the books...!!!!!

marathon of reading

I took a couple of days off from work just to relax unwind and rest to get ready for the summer season which is the busiest time in the library (especially when you are running on a skeleton staff due to budget cuts.) I vowed that I would catch up on my reading during my time off and Dan Brown's "Inferno" came in for me just as I was leaving. I devoured this book. It was an excellent blend of suspense Art and science. The characters were likable even though many were secretive and deceitful. I will not spoil the story but this book was so much better and moved so much better than "The Lost Sign" his last book. I almost didn't bother with this book because the last one was so boring. This book is much more like "Angels& Demons" which has always been my favorite of all his books. I did stop as I read to bring up the pictures of the artwork and some of the architecture of the places the book travels through. The science is fascinating too. Mostly though this book is an edge of your seat thriller and I enjoyed every page of it!
Next I read " The Bones of the Old Ones" by Howard Andrew Jones. This is the second book in a series and I hope he will write more because it is pure entertainment! The books are set in Mosul in the same time period as the "Arabian Nights" and are grand buddy adventures with ginnis, magic, sword fighting, mystical enemies and great friends persevering together. These fantasy books are fun escapist reading and I thoroughly enjoy every word!
 Next I tackled "The Fifth Wave" which is a Young Adult book that looks through the eyes of a very courageous and independent 16 year old at the reality of an alien invasion of her world. First the darkness occurs, caused by electromagnetic pulse. All lights go out, all motors stopped, planes fall from the sky and chaos reigns. That is the first wave. The aliens Mother ship hovers above and the population waits to see if they will make contact. Then the second wave hits and only the lucky survive. After the 3rd wave only the unlucky survive, those that will band together with a hope of surviving but after the 5th wave your on your own and there is no one you can trust. The book is a very truthful look into the way societies will collapse and the individual terror of the unknown. It is a novel of courage and perseverance through incredible odds. It is very literal and should really appeal to teens who can identify with the characters. There is a message of hope that runs throughout the book.
Now I have started "The Golem and the Ginni" by Helene Wecker which so far promises to be a delightful fantasy.
Even though I work in a library where I have first access to an amazing collection of book; I must also give a shout out to wonderful sights like Librarything and Goodreads where you can read wonderful reviews and patron comments about books and leave your own comments as well as participating in there wonderful book giveaways. I have received many wonderful books I might not have had access to through these sites. There is also Bookshout and Netgalley who both offer excellent choices of ebooks which you can download and review for free. Bookshout also offers some at reduced prices as does Amazon. Also our public library offers a statewide link for our patrons called Georgia Downloads where you can check out both audio and ebook versions of thousands of titles. So the reading world is exploding with possibilities!!!!
I'm also reading "I,Saul"by Jerry B Jenkins and James S. MacDonald on Kindle on my I-phone. I don't really enjoy reading on my phone but it is a great way to not have to carry a book with you to lunch or to an appointment and still have something good to read. "I, Saul" is a wonderful blending of present day archaeological Thriller and a wonderful dialogue of Luke and Paul as Paul is in prison in Rome before his execution. I am enjoying this fictional look at Paul's life which is well researched and thought out and works nicely with the contemporary plot line.
I have several other books that I am reading on my phone or on my kindle or adobe reading apps on my computer such as "Florian's Gate" by Davis Bunn; "Thieves of Book Row" by Travis McDade; Leadership lessons from the Cherokee Nation" by Chad Corntassel Smith. And on Bookshout I'm reading "Songs in the key of Solomon" by John and Anita Renfroe and "Jesus in the present Tense" by Warren W. Wiersbe. You might wonder how I can keep up with so many books at one time but it really is just like watching multiple TV shows on Television. You can watch NCIS, Once upon a Time, Hawaii 5 0, CSI (my favorites) and still keep up with each ones plot lines why shouldn't you be able to do that with books!
Oh well. like the famous quote "So many books, - so little time!  I must get back to reading!!!

Roswell Conspiracy by Boyd Morrison

A rollicking great chase of a thriller is found in the Roswell Conspiracy, Boyd Morrison's latest installment of Gordian Fiction.  Tyler Locke and Grant Westfield work for Gordian Engineering spending their time testing race cars, assisting on archeological digs, chasing bad guys and making the world a safer place. In Australia they are meeting with a potential client when they must rescue her from being assaulted by men trying to break into her home. The men set fire to her house and flee, but Tyler and Grant go after them they chase them to the jet boat dock where the men try to escape but are killed in the chase. The client, Fay, a 75 year old woman, has an artifact given to her at the crash in Roswell in 1947 that she wants them to investigate. Tyler is skeptical but willing to listen to her story particularly when he finds she is the grandmother of an old flame from his college days.  Fay was at Roswell in 1947, witnessed the crash  and was given an artifact by the alien that crawled out of the spaceship before it died. While still disbelieving her story the boys agree to look into the mystery. They begin by trying to find out who the men were that attacked her at her house and who they worked for. This leads them to a robotic truck, a warehouse , some Russian spies who are ambushed by some other rogue spies and a trailer train full of explosives being remotely driven into a secret American base. They must free themselves and diffuse the bomb or blow it before it reaches the base and stay alive. Thus begins a nonstop thrill ride of spies, counterspies, government agents with Tyler and Grant trying to stay ahead and solving the mystery of the artifact and saving the United States from destruction.
This is truly a non-stop page-turner in true Boyd Morrison style. I first got hooked on his work when reading Rogue Wave, a thriller set with a tsunami hitting the Hawaiian Island that was nail-biting to the very last drop of ocean wave. The two previous Gordian books, The Ark and The Vault are also rip-roaring adventures with Tyler and Grant. I highly recommend all of Mr. Morrison's work and will be anxiously awaiting his next book!

New year,new posts

I am endeavoring to post a review of any books I read this year. this will be for all kinds of books since I read and review for School library Journal, and Library Journal on a regular basis. I have also began to get free books from contests on Librarything, Goodreads, and most recently Netgalley. Thre should be a wealth of diverse topics included and I hope that any who find their way here enjoy the reviews.
So far I have already read Clive Cussler's new book Poseidon's Arrow, a Farm Dogs and  Goat children's non fiction book for SLJ and am daily reading through a chronological bible. As you know I also work as a librarian.
Happy Reading!!!