my opinion

When Twilight Breaks // Book Review

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When Twilight Breaks by Sarah Sundin

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three out of five hearts

Genre keywords: historical fiction, light romance novel, WW2

 

GoodReads Summary:

Munich, 1938. Evelyn Brand is an American foreign correspondent as determined to prove her worth in a male-dominated profession as she is to expose the growing tyranny in Nazi Germany. To do so, she must walk a thin line. If she offends the government, she could be expelled from the country–or worse. If she fails to truthfully report on major stories, she’ll never be able to give a voice to the oppressed–and wake up the folks back home. In another part of the city, American graduate student Peter Lang is working on his PhD in German. Disillusioned with the chaos in the world due to the Great Depression, he is impressed with the prosperity and order of German society. But when the brutality of the regime hits close, he discovers a far better way to use his contacts within the Nazi party–to feed information to the shrewd reporter he can’t get off his mind. This electric standalone novel from fan-favorite Sarah Sundin puts you right at the intersection of pulse-pounding suspense and heart-stopping romance.

 

My Thoughts:

I found When Twilight Breaks to be a pleasant light read, loosely about the start of WW2 in Germany and centering around a journalist and a teacher. I find myself particularly aware of the hurt and sensitive topics that can come from books centered around WW2, so I was pleased to find this book realistic yet still balanced in developing plot and storyline without delving too far into the terror that can be linked to stories about WW2. This book had frequent dialogue and was overall a quick read with its quickly moving plot.

Pros: Excellent historical fiction, this book stays true to the time period without feeling like a textbook. This is a sweet light-hearted read and involves characters with upstanding morals. If you enjoy historical fiction and a light romance, this is an excellent book with a great balance between the two. Despite a heavier setting, Sundin writes a more uplifting plot with plenty of action.

Cons: The only areas I found to not align with what I expected of this novel had to do with character development. I sometimes felt like Evelyn changed her mind within two pages or with only a tiny bit of conversation with Peter. I completely understand that as a personality trait, but it broke up the plot a bit at times and made her a slightly more difficult character to relate to. Additionally, certain events or circumstances/memories dealt with sadder or more difficult subject matter and Evelyn and Peter both responded very lightly or were able to resolve things very quickly. This matches with the book generally being a lighter story and glancing over serious issues, but it can leave the reader feeling a little disconnected at times.

I received a free copy of When Twilight Breaks from Revell in exchange for a 100% honest review.

xx

Network of Deceit // Book Review

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Network of Deceit by Tom Threadgill

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

five out of five hearts

Genre keywords: crime, murder mystery, light thriller

 

GoodReads Summary:

Amara Alvarez’s first case as a homicide detective drags her into the murky world of computer hackers. When she finds herself under attack by cybercriminals, she has no choice but to use unconventional methods to expose the truth and find a killer.

 

My Thoughts:

This is the second book, however the reader does not need to have read the first to understand this story – I hadn’t read the first book. First impressions with this book were not anything particularly note-worthy, while I didn’t dislike the cover, I wasn’t immediately intrigued or informed of anything by the cover/title/first chapter being printed on the same the page opposite the copyright information. Of course, I mention this just because first impressions and physical appearance of books is a key factor for me when I just browse in the library, so I find it worth reviewing. 😉 However, within the first several chapters, I knew I’d read the book within just a few days. Network of Deceit is a surprisingly pleasant wearer-of-many-hats book! I found it to contain witty humor between main character detectives Amara and Starsky, to have more serious and personal topics with Amara’s family, but to all the while maintain a lively murder mystery that was excellently executed. I found it very gripping to read as I wanted to know the next intricate details of the murder case, but also to ease a tension that I have with books – I knew I never needed to worry that the book would descend into any explicit content or gruesome language. I think Threadgill has found an excellent way of writing in the crime genre, not bringing readers down into terrible crimes of the world, but not sacrificing on the quality, action, and suspense of a good mystery.

Pros: Everything. Read it. If you enjoy crime novels, this is light in violence but maintains the behind the scenes work of detectives and gathering evidence. If you don’t usually read crime novels, this is a great book for trying out the genre as there is suspense and a quick plot with a safety net of humor and subplots beyond Amara’s case.

Cons: I wish the title or book cover had been more telling. However, in terms of the actual story, I was caught off guard by how much  I enjoyed it and look forward to reading the next book!

I received a free copy of Network of Deceit from Revell in exchange for a 100% honest review.

xx

College

by  on  in Books, Camera, Life, Me, Myself, and I, my opinion, Story • 0 Comments

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Another lovely photo from my mind’s second home: France. (A personal library of old books stored throughout a chateau – how could I not fall in love?)

College.

Student-athlete.

Biochemistry major.

Living away from home.

Wow.

Honestly, I usually still think I’m 17 when people ask me my age. It’s hard to comprehend the fact that I’m in college, that I have already had to deal with a lot of things I never had to before college, that I’m actually not even going to be a teenager next year, and that, at some point relatively soon, it’s going to be expected of me to be fully independent. Some people my age have already been married for a year and may even have a kid. Some people my age are already living on their own or traveled to a different country for school. That is just crazy to me – how can my preference of being home and my dislike of large social settings compare with that?

I used to look at college students and think that they had their lives together. Even if they weren’t doing well in school or something, I figured they must have a backup plan, that they were always calm about what they would do. Since starting college, I’ve realized that no one has it together, even the people who are like what I described above. Even those people are worried their backup plans won’t work – no one can be sure. Oftentimes, the future seems terrifying because I’ve realized that I’m never going to feel like I’m invincible in the path my life takes. And it’s true, I won’t ever be invincible in what I do.

But, honestly? I still find peace. I really only have that peace because of knowing the Lord. I do not have to worry about the risk of failing in something. I don’t even have to worry that I will let someone down because the Lord has got me. If life plans have to change, it’s not because I’m not good enough, it’s not because I don’t have value, it’s because I’m needed somewhere else. I will be a thousand times more useful in a place He has picked out for me than in a place that I am trying to make work for me. There is no comparison between any one life and another: all have a need for Him and all will better glorify Him while following what He chose for them. He has His plan and all I have to do is try my best to follow Him and every smooth path or rocky cliff will be used for His glory.

 

Random odd things accomplished thanks to college:

  • had my number requested by a fourth grade boy touring campus
  • successfully sneaked out of a park I got locked into with a friend
  • applied for a job as a snake handler (the snake left campus, but not to worry, I have two other jobs instead)
  • went to Georgia (for swim nationals but I was delirious with a fever)
  • dyed my hair with temporary dye for the first time for a day (blue, and then dyed it again for a day a purple/red color)
  • experienced a demonstration of stunt driving skills
  • made a turkey hat with kindergarteners
  • drank 3-5 cups of tea every day for a whole week (sick before finals week this last semester)

 

All in all, it’s definitely been an experience.

xx

Before Everything Went Right…

by  on  in Creative Writing, Diving, Favorites, Friend(s), God's Creation, Life, Me, Myself, and I, my opinion, Story • 2 Comments

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Good afternoon, you all!

I don’t know whether it was the shards of desire in my eyes leftover from this morning searching for more beautiful things or whether it was the getting up at four a.m. drowsiness altering my brain, but today is the most perfect day I’ve seen in a while. A few minutes ago, I was enjoying the sun and breeze outside with the sun just warming the bricks in my backyard and the breeze drying my hair and bringing the faint scent of barbeques and Gatorade. I have been rather busy as I know I still have to explain, but I have also been making time to read my thousands of books because I make more time than I should. I am currently reading two stories, but the one I want to mention, Little Beach Street Bakery, is a dream. Side note: I finished it today and it is an adult book, I skipped a few scenes and words. (So I cannot actually recommend it.) It’s essentially about a girl who moves to this tiny little island that depending on the tide, is completely cut off from the rest of the world. It’s a beautiful book, the girl, Polly, starts up her own bakery by the end and fixes up an old home. It completely flows with my mind right now.

This entire week, possibly even month, has felt like it was all going wrong. I was depressed to begin with at the start of the month because, as some of you might know, I should have been in France from the start of July to a beautiful close-to-the-end-of-July. I was crabby and frustrated this whole month, but this week was bad in particular. I had extra hours requested of me at work, but I wasn’t able to fill them and felt awful even though it’s allowed for me to not be available. I had an overload of work that I pretty much gave myself, from applications to Calculus homework (for fun). I was stressed about Thursday because I had to work, then rush to Sport Chalet and rent gear so that I could leap into a suit and attend a three hour pool session for diving. I skipped workouts and felt like I slacked off to my main sport, swimming. I had a run-into with an old… something. I don’t even know what. We were friends a long time ago, but he quit talking to me and left, so I held a grudge for at least three or four years. And he wanted a hug when he recognized me…. (I reluctantly did.) So I had to face the feelings resurfacing and through it all, I was angry with myself for being angry, for caring about it all, for making everything such a big deal when he probably doesn’t even remember us being friends all that well, let alone how he left. And through realizing all this, I kind of just cracked this morning.

I am in the process of becoming diver certified. Most people want their driver’s license, but this summer I decided to go for diver instead. We had a ton of homework over a three week period so far, although it extends into next week. We have had classroom days with quizzes and pool sessions that last for three hours ending at nine p.m. with everything practiced over and over. Today, practically yesterday with how early I had to wake up, we attempted our first dive outside a pool. We had to cancel, the surf was too strong and the ocean was too murky at the bottom with sand. I suppose most people would be annoyed or feel like they wasted a day, but it was one of the best things that’s happened to me. Getting up at 4:30, we sneaked around the house and stole away to the beach, arriving an hour and a half later. Seeing the empty street and the tiny shops brought such an odd sense of peace. The air and smell of sea urchins and seaweed relaxed me even more. The sky gained more and more light as the morning went on and we practiced breaking out past the surf zone and coming back in. God gave me such peace this morning, diving under waves and bracing myself against the surge. I realize He always has a way for us to get past the wave, whether over or under – He has a way. Sometimes, I have to be shoved off my feet to learn, but fortunately, there’s always God or, in today’s case, a divemaster to right me again.

Reflecting on the success today was for me, I came to a calm with some of the things I have been frustrated by. Although I didn’t get to dive today, I got to practice entry through the surf and I got to enjoy the beach with my brother and group today – we were a fun gang, my head instructor especially. The beauty of the waves, air, and empty cove made me rethink some of the problems that I struggled with this week in particular. For work, it’s a main priority, but I was not, despite my feelings, letting anyone down. I already had plans and I worked extra hours already this week. Sometimes I need to just let it go, I can’t always be the willing, able, and available girl I’d like to be. For work and stress, I just finished reading a book about doing things that God has told me to do. That really means, as the book said, not saying yes to everything. I know I managed my schedule and workouts to the best I could. Thursday worked out just fine. Everything ran smoothly and I had fun joking around with my friends at work and with my family and brother at diving. Dealing with my grudge was the most difficult; I had the hardest time letting it go, but I did. Because in all honesty, I need to practice forgiving, I don’t think he remembers, I most likely will never see him again because it took years to run into him and in a year we will be in college, and also, it was just stupid – a grudge leftover from when I was 12-13. It ran deep, it was hard to stop, but I think I’m pretty much okay. God hasn’t given me many chances to practice letting grudges go, simply because I don’t have many (thankfully), but I’m now grateful for the chance.

So like the book, I know what it’s like to have your life personally changed by the sea and, unlike the book, by God. He never stops blessing me with moments like today that leave me with peace and understanding, but today was just so wonderful that I had to share. So as a note, when things are really seeming to go wrong, just wait it out and rely on Him. Visit the ocean or what gives you peace. When the huge wave is being created, right in front of your face, turn to your buddy, brace each other, and let it crash over you. Because I promise, that when it passes, you’re stronger and happier than you’ve ever been before.

To finish out today’s post, here’s a recipe for cookies that I altered from a Better Homes and Gardens cookbook ( I highly recommend the New Cook Book). The batter will seem all wrong, too soupy and slightly lumpy, but it will turn out fine. I made these for the first time this week and looking at the batter before cooking them, I was thinking I was going to have to add them to the list of failures for the week, but they were beautiful once cooked.

Fudge Cookies

Ingredients:

Use what chocolate types you like, but I used:

2 squares semisweet baker’s chocolate

12 oz. semisweet chocolate chips (2 cups)

2 large pats of butter (about 2 Tablespoons)

2/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup flour

1 teaspoon vanilla (I love vanilla; I add more)

about 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

2 eggs

3/4 cup of chopped nuts (optional)

 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Melt the chocolate squares, half chocolate chips, and butter. I prefer to use a heat-safe bowl over a pot of boiling water, but a microwave works too. Stir chocolate-butter often.

3. Add sugar, flour, vanilla and baking powder to chocolate mixture, stir until it’s mixed fairly well. Whenever the chocolate cools enough it won’t cook the eggs (warm/slightly hot), add the eggs and mix everything as smooth as you can.

4. Add nuts and remaining chocolate chips to batter, stirring in. Now, it’s soupy, I know, but dribble it into cookie shapes onto a prepared cookie sheet. For the cookie sheets, I like the double layer trays with a sheet of spray-buttered parchment paper on top. (I’m all for having clean cookie sheets and cookies that don’t stick.)

5. Bake the cookies for about 8-12 minutes, depending on what size you make them. Cookies will have dull shell-like top with cracks.

Hope you enjoy those if you make them! Have a wonderful week! I know I will enjoy mine. 🙂

I quite understand now why some people are in love with the ocean and the beach. I think I’m a beach bum in the making, definitely already a sea freak.

Lovingly,

Your Ocean Girl

xx

From the Start: Book Review

by  on  in Bethany House Review, Books, my opinion • 0 Comments

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From the Start by Melissa Tagg

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ –

(four out of five hearts)

 

Synopsis: (from GoodReads)

Kate Walker used to believe in true love and happily ever after. While her own love life may have left her brokenhearted, it hasn’t kept her from churning out made-for-TV romance movie screenplays…until a major career slump and a longing to do something meaningful send her running back to her hometown of Maple Valley.

Permanently sidelined by an injury, former NFL quarterback Colton Greene is temporarily hiding out in a friend’s hometown to avoid the media and the reminders of all he’s lost. Maple Valley seems like the perfect place to learn how to adjust to normal life. The only trouble is he’s never really done normal before.

While Kate plays things safe and Colton is all about big risks and grand gestures, they both get what it’s like to desperately need direction in life. An unexpected project gives them both a chance to jumpstart their new lives, but old wounds and new dreams are hard to ignore. Starting over wasn’t part of the plan, but could it be the best thing that’s ever happened to them?

 

My thoughts:

Being honest, at first I was unimpressed with From the Start. I was excited to read it, but once I started it, the characters were too typical, I could predict scenes, and the characters’ reactions. I felt that Kate was a bit cliché, because she had been hurt but was obviously going to fall for the ex-football star who was also struggling. As I kept reading the book though, the characters all became deeper and a little more complex too. I was happy with the ending too, which is sometimes the hardest part to please me. Going into details…

 

Characters:

I liked Kate once I felt like I knew her better, she was a little quirky, but very funny and dedicated to her family. I think she was a little shallow in certain scenes, but I think her character was supposed to grow a lot during the time the book covered. Colton was funny, the humor between the two of them was great. Colton struggled with his past and present situation, but he was not so involved that he chapters weren’t interesting. I think he really owed Kate an apology at the end of the book, but I don’t want to give anything away. Surprisingly, my next favorite character is Megan, she was kind of sassy and closed, but I like that she opened up a little. (I do wish that everything regarding her hadn’t been so mature, but it was okay.)

 

Plot:

I liked the romance between Colton and Kate, they were in denial a lot of the time, but they cracked me up. One thing though – the rest of the book’s plot was sort of just about one bad thing happening after another. I felt like the disasters were just piling up.

 

Writing:

I loved the way the book was written. It was told from the point of view of both Colton and Kate, but it was almost in third person so I never felt like I needed to know what the other character was feeling. The book was an easy read and the plot moves quickly, there are almost no down moments.

 

I received a copy of From the Start from Bethany House Publishers in exchange for an honest review.

xx

Facing the Blitz : Book Review

by  on  in Bethany House Review, Books, Jesus, my opinion • 0 Comments

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Facing the Blitz by Jeff Kemp

♥ ♥ ♥ – –

(three out of five hearts)

 

Overview:

Facing the Blitz was written by an ex-NFL football player and the whole book explained it’s three strategies for overcoming trials. Each strategy is thoroughly explained in several chapters, it’s divided up enough that it’s easy to understand and doesn’t skim through important topics. Mr. Kemp writes with many different life examples – ones such as in football, his home life, marriage, in fellow teammates’ lives, friends’ lives, as well as outside sources.

Pros:

This book was fantastic. I really can’t wait to go back through it and mark passages that really stood out. Even if you are not currently facing a blitz, this book goes into morals and tips for assessing your own life. Early in the book, Mr. Kemp writes that in times of hardship you can’t tell people to just stop being upset, but instead he writes to you when you need to move on and when it’s okay to be struggling. The strategies are like close friends, comforting you, but pushing you forward and towards Jesus. If you don’t know that much about football, it’s okay, because the examples are all pretty easy to understand. (Even if you don’t catch one or two examples, you will still get the idea/purpose.) Football does not dominate the suggestions/conversation more than it should. Facing the Blitz supplies tips to people who aren’t facing problems just by giving exercises that require you to check your morals and motives for the way you live.

Cons:

I really did like nearly everything in the book! I would say the only few things I would change if I could would be: a few more examples aimed towards home life. Just because I felt like we got to know more about the teammates than his own family in some chapters. Certain chapters were also mildly mature, so the book is probably best for adults and possibly young adults based on the individual case – I would recommend this book to any adult though, it’s a great book.

I received a free copy of Facing the Blitz from Bethany House Publishers in exchange for an honest review.

xx

Book Review ~ February

by  on  in Bethany House Review, Books, Jesus, my opinion • 4 Comments

I know it’s no longer February and it’s practically not even March, but my book came later so I couldn’t post it until now.

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Overview:

The Pleasure of His Company was a very good book. Mr. Sheets made some very good points in quick, easy-to-read chapters. Nearly every point was backed up with a personal life experience as well as a passage from the Bible. Some chapters included life experiences or notes from other people/authors. Following those, Mr. Sheets discussed the point he made in humorous conversational writing.

 

Pros:

Many of the points that were made were out of the ordinary and not something I might have thought of on my own. I found the discussion to be sound, in the biblical sense, as far as I understand it. The chapters all followed the same rough pattern, making the option to study the book, rather than just read it, appealing. The writing is conversational and pleasant as well. Each chapter covered different topics that encouraged more thought and depth, I would say the book was age appropriate for young adults and above. Chapter topics covered many different situations, showing how it’s possible for anyone to come to Christ, no matter what their life is like.

 

Cons:

Because of the “study” layout, I found that it was actually slightly difficult to just read the book. (Due to time pressure, I had to read the book and was unable to stop and study.) I wish the book had been a little more friendly towards that regard, but I am looking forward to getting the chance to go back over it later and “study”. Also because of the layout, I saw too much of a routine. It was almost always the same order of information per each chapter (life story, bible story, discussion), but again, I think this is just a studying thing. So all in all, I liked the book, just take note that it’s more like a devotional or a book to just be read slowly.

 

I received a free copy of The Pleasure of His Company from Bethany House Publishers in exchange for an honest review.

xx