Tag Archives: women

Book Review: Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts

22 Sunday Mar 2020

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Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts tells the story of a young woman who gives a baby girl birth alone in a Wal-Mart. Gaining the attention of the nation and then new friends in the small town of her temporary “home,” Novalee develops an unconventional family. The support she garners as she connects to the community help her raise her daughter, learn new skills for education and a career (appropriately rooted in the library), and grow personal strength. While the premise sounds odd, the characters welcome you right into their hearts. Their hospitality and support for each other makes you wish you could move into their town too. Novalee demonstrates we all have potential and that it may best come to realization with a support system.

Book Review: A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourn

21 Saturday Mar 2020

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A Curious Beginning, the first Veronica Speedwell mystery by Deanna Raybourn, makes for a fun and adventurous escape. Slightly outside my normal reading avenues, the strong willed Veronica Speedwell carries her weight in a plot driven novel. She steps outside of the expected or even accepted female role of her time to choose her own path. After she meets Stoker, witty banter and the mystery heat up. The dynamic between the two leads keep me smiling and turning the pages. This beginning has me curious to continue the series.

Book Review: Dreaming with God by Sarah Beth Marr

15 Sunday Mar 2020

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I received a copy of Dreaming with God: A Bold Call to Step Out and Follow God’s Lead by Sarah Beth Marr from BakerBooks in exchange for a review.

Sarah Beth Marr shares her story of becoming a successful dancer and learning to follow God’s lead no matter the obstacles encountered. Her experience yields examples of how to trust God when it seems like the path to which you’re called may be impractical or even impossible. Faith comes into play as we trust God’s lead with our dreams and callings. This particularly reminds me that I need to believe God has a plan for me and following His lead ranks higher than what society expects. Even if it contradicts the cultural norm, God has a path marked. Marr experienced numerous setbacks and odds seemed against her, yet she honored God’s calling on her life and glorified Him through her discipline and stage presence. May we all learn to develop greater trust and discipline to follow where God leads.

Book Review: The Most Important Women of the Bible

27 Monday Jan 2020

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I received a copy of The Most Important Women of the Bible: Remarkable Stories of God’s Love and Redemption by Aaron & Elaina Sharp from Bethany House in exchange for a review.

 

Through simple yet insightful vignettes about numerous women in the bible, each chapter portrays a realistic picture of the character. They include historical and cultural context to give a good understanding of what the woman experienced. This makes the biblical narrative more accessible and the characters easier to see as models. Just like you, me, and everyone else, they do not possess perfection. Some stand pretty far from it. Yet they find redemption and love through connection with God. The message that we too can have that remains clear. It makes a good reminder that all the various struggles we see today have plagued women throughout history. Just as they did, we too can overcome.

Book Review: Lost Roses

09 Thursday May 2019

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I read Lost Roses by Martha Hall Kelly to discuss at my local Barnes & Noble’s book club last night. Kelly continues her historical fiction series focused on a member in an earlier generation of the real family also depicted in her debut Lilac Girls. The story brings Russia circa 100 years ago to life with its depictions of the luxurious places and wealth. A fellow book clubber who visited many of the same sights affirmed the descriptions did them justice. However, we all agreed we couldn’t relate to the characters’ wealth what with their handful of houses spread across countries (in response to a discussion guide question we ultimately reworded to generate better responses). The story covers several places and people, an aspect that at times hurt the story. Though a plot driven novel, switching between three main perspectives made some of the build up fall short, sometimes leaving the reader mentally catching up instead of moving forward still engrossed in the story. As a generally character driven fan, the overall setup made it feel less deep than I anticipated and desired. However, that lighter feel made the Bolshevik revolution and some of the horrors witnessed less heavy, and I appreciated not dwelling on depictions of the unfortunate deaths. I learned a little more about Russian history without getting bogged down with details or war weight. The story focuses on females who show strength in their survival despite terrible circumstances. Yet we could have learned so much more if they had fought to thrive.

Regarding Kelly’s approach to this series, I like how she takes the stories backward in time for historical periods rather than forward. Covering the Bolshevik revolution and next the Civil War era gets us to times not depicted as often as World War II (like Lilac Girls).

 

Book Review: The Ladies of Ivy Cottage

02 Thursday May 2019

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I received a copy of Julie Klassen’s The Ladies of Ivy Cottage from Bethany House Publishers in exchange for a review.

Though the second in a trilogy, this story is my first Klassen and stands on its own. The ladies form a neat community as they learn to adapt to new situations in Victorian era England. As their friendships blossom, so do their skills at business to care for themselves. Rachel opens a library in the cottage, Mercy runs a girls school, and Jane manages an inn. Their strength comes from within just as much as it does from staying connected to their community. Of course, some love interests find their way into the mix as the ladies navigate their futures. Reading about ladies facing difficult odds with grace by helping each other makes for an encouraging read. I look forward to reading the latest and last in the trilogy (then likely the first).

Women’s History Reading List

11 Monday Mar 2019

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As we nearly reach the halfway point of Women’s History Month, I have some reading recommendations. They include stories of women’s strength in their own identity, family and aspirations. These women have different backgrounds to better demonstrate the various ways women develop.

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As Bright as Heaven by Susan Meissner: This story takes place during the Spanish Flu epidemic in 1918 and follows a family of women. The mother and her three daughters all show such physical and emotional strength as they work together to keep their family together and healthy. Meissner shows depth in these characters and paints a vivid picture of Philadelphia during that time and the horror of the Spanish Flu plaguing it. The sisterly bonds show triumphant strength.

Circe by Madeline Miller: The mythological story of Circe blew me away. This story about sums up my knowledge on Greek gods, but it makes me want to learn more. The setting may differ drastically from any place we may experience, yet it still holds a relatable anchor to it. Boy does Circe have a well of strength. Isolated as punishment, she finds a way to make her days tolerable and even makes connections. Ultimately, she creates a meaningful life.

Becoming by Michelle Obama: I haven’t finished this one yet, but at the beginning it becomes clear the former First Lady of the United States has a high level of intelligence and a unique perspective. While I hope I never know what it feels like to live or work in the White House in any capacity, I have high hopes of what insight I can learn from her experiences in and outside the White House. Even as a child, Obama knows what she wants and stands on her values. She has achieved so much personally and professionally due to her strength.

Brooklyn by Colm Toibin: This book is on my upcoming shelf, and I have looked forward to reading this for awhile since I really enjoy the movie. The story follows Eilis as she ventures from Ireland to Brooklyn seeking a better life than what she and her family have. By herself, she finds a job and makes a new home as an immigrant. I love her quiet strength as she faces so many unknowns alone.

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson: The timing for her new book that follows up this one works perfectly. In her groundbreaking book inspired by her own sexual assault story as a teen, Anderson gives an authentic look at the fear and turmoil stirred by such pain. It has shown uncountable women they have a voice and can use it. Using her voice, Melinda demonstrates her strength.

 

*Susan Meissner’s latest book The Last Year of the War releases next week. I have an ARC of it and eagerly look forward to diving into another Meissner novel.

 

A Winsome Woman’s Wisdom: Jane in Her 27 Dresses

07 Wednesday Nov 2018

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The girls in Mean Girls wear pink on Wednesdays. Though we think we leave drama and teenage angst behind when we graduate high school, the world continues to hand us lemons. We still struggle with maintaining a firm foundation of our values, discovering our identity, pursuing our purpose, developing relationships and more. The teenage angst lives on; therefore, we can still learn from young adults as they come of age. Let’s take a look at some ladies as they’ve forged their way into adulthood.

 

After a couple weightier books and movies last weekend, I reveled in an upbeat romantic comedy after painting my nails bubble gum pink Sunday night. Jane in 27 Dresses showcases a issue many women struggle to overcome long into adulthood. When she first meets Kevin Doyle, he points out how she can’t say no after questioning her about her involvement in so many weddings. Jane brushes this off at first because the next wedding has her sister saying the vows. As the ceremony plans continue, Jane feels more and more distraught over her commitments and her unspoken love for the groom, her boss and longtime crush.

Eventually, Jane speaks out to tell George the truth about her sister’s lies. Though the truth jives with the right thing to do and Jane expressing herself shows improvement, she let it come out more as revenge for so many years of unspoken disappointment and anger. We all make mistakes as we learn how to better navigate relationships, communication and goals. However, we can learn from Jane that a sudden outburst of expression to cover years of it may not match the situation at hand. Once Jane talks to her sister and they each see how they envied the other and how they handled growing up without a mother affected each differently (Jane took over mothering Tess after the death). They get a better idea of the other’s perspective as well as how to better interact with her. Their dynamics change for the better. Jane continues to open herself to possibilities when she speaks to George; she learns her crush didn’t hold all she dreamed and that she can move onto a better job.

It gets easy to stay in comfortable patterns like Jane did because we have a hard time saying no. Yet that leaves little room for growth and doesn’t allow us to open doors for new opportunities. By the end of the movie, Jane sees that having honest conversations and allowing herself to speak what she wants deepens her relationship with her sister, allows her to seek better job opportunities and opens herself up to the possibility of love with someone who respects her when she accepts Kevin’s apology. We have wants and goals placed in our hearts for a reason. Sometimes it helps us as well as others to say no and to keep pursuing opportunities. Saying a small no just might make it possible to say a big yes. Jane does get to marry the handsome Kevin after all.

A Winsome Woman’s Wisdom: Anna Fitzgerald, Sister Keeper

31 Wednesday Oct 2018

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The girls in Mean Girls wear pink on Wednesdays. Though we think we leave drama and teenage angst behind when we graduate high school, the world continues to hand us lemons. We still struggle with maintaining a firm foundation of our values, discovering our identity, pursuing our purpose, developing relationships and more. The teenage angst lives on; therefore, we can still learn from young adults as they come of age. Let’s take a look at some ladies as they’ve forged their way into adulthood.

 

Anna Fitzgerald exists because her parents specifically created her embryo as a donor match for her older sister Kate in Jodi Picoult’s bestselling novel My Sister’s Keeper. The story follows Anna’s attempts to make donor decisions herself by filing a lawsuit against her parents. Her whole life has involved huge procedures all chosen for her; those also make it difficult for her to live life normally, almost as though she had leukemia too. Like most 13-year-olds, she feels unsure as she navigates making choices for herself, especially when tension arises due to her parents not agreeing.

In some ways, we all can relate to Anna in our desire for approval. We all seek approval from our parents, our peers, our friends even as adults. Yet we forget that we need not live by their standards. Even Queen Elizabeth I points this out to her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in The Crown when she asserts that her job requires her to make decisions based on God’s approval rather than the general public. In most cases, this would follow the wiser direction anyway considering the unapproving parties tend to not have expertise in the field they project their opinion. Mrs. Fitzgerald unquestionably cares about her daughters, but she doesn’t have the expertise to understand what will happen to Kate or Anna if they follow through with a kidney donation. In fact, the doctor said Kate had passed the point in renal failure where it would benefit her. Anna seeks counsel and help from experts, despite not having her mother’s approval.

While we want to live at peace with those around us, it serves us all to stand on our proper foundations to make our decisions rather than sway to gain temporary approval. It also does us well to seek counsel from multiple sources. Chrystal Evans Hurst wisely encourages readers to gather multiple types of people for your support team in She’s Still There, including a mentor figure ahead of you on the same career path and a friend who cheers you on by your side. Having a firm foundation and a support team makes it easier to keep moving forward and stay focused on your purpose.

Desiring approval comes naturally. So does the angst felt when we don’t get it. However, we can continue forward with strength and purpose and do better than if we allowed ourselves to waver. We have support around us to give us the guidance and encouragement we need to make progress. Making decisions doesn’t necessarily get easier, but we can rest assured knowing we base them on truth.

Winsome Women Wednesday

19 Wednesday Sep 2018

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The girls in Mean Girls wear pink on Wednesdays. Though we think we leave drama and teenage angst behind when we graduate high school, the world continues to hand us lemons. We still struggle with maintaining a firm foundation of our values, discovering our identity, pursuing our purpose, developing relationships and more. The teenage angst lives on; therefore, we can still learn from young adults as they come of age. Let’s take a look at some ladies as they’ve forged their way into adulthood.

 

My best friend (since high school) and I recently have read Gayle Forman’s Just One Day for a buddy read. Allyson finds herself exploring Europe after her graduation, a gift from her parents to help her gain some cultural experiences in the great wide world. There, she meets a boy acting in a street Shakespeare company. Mirroring the comedy’s mixture of romance and comedic deceit, Allyson finds herself wondering where she bases her identity as well as what happened to Willem after he disappeared.

As Allyson begins college, we find her facing many familiar dilemmas for a freshman. She decides to go by Allyson again rather than the identity she tried in Europe at the insistence of her high school BFF, and she finds herself not performing well in her classes. After a meeting with her guidance counselor, she drops her science classes she took to pursue a career as a physician, a dream she later realizes is a fulfillment of her mother’s, in the interest of trying a couple new classes. Shakespeare enters the scene again as she joins a literature class where she meets her new friend Dee.

Dee contrasts Allyson as he changes his mask to match each person’s assumptions of him. Eventually, they discuss which of them truly know themselves and feels comfortable in that identity. Allyson finds herself doing well in her new classes and finally discusses her wants with her mom. As she moves forward communicating her needs and goals with those important to her, she finds an anchor for herself. Her relationships become closer and more genuine, she makes her decisions based on her values rather than someone else’s expectations and she meets her goals even if she experiences setbacks.

Unfortunately, most of us still struggle to find, own and present our true identities to those around us. We face expectations based on our roles, and we want to please others. Yet everyone ranks what they value a little differently. When we make our decisions based on what most matches our values and goals, it makes situations unfold a lot smoother. So take some time to consider how you would rank your values and then hold your dilemmas up to them. It might make it easier to move forward.