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Writing, Reading, and Rural Life With a Border Collie

Category Archives: Read


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‘End the Divide’ Offers Breath of Fresh Air

End the Divide:

The Surprising Power of Ordinary People to Fix What Went Wrong 

By Dwight Clough

Genre: Non-Fiction

Via: Author Request

Note: We received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Tired of the strident, bellicose voices blasting their way into your head every day? Weary of the divisiveness, pugnacity and acrimony over political parties and elections, of being riled up – or hearing from those who are riled up – over partisan talking points?

Have we got a deal for you. It’s called End the Divide. This new book ‘explores how people of faith can lead the way to end the toxic polarization in our culture.’ 

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‘Where the Children Take Us’: Moving & Memorable

Where the Children Take Us: How One Family Achieved the Unimaginable by [Zain E. Asher]

Where the Children Take Us:

How One Family Achieved the Unimaginable

By Zain E. Asher

Genre: Non-Fiction/Memoir

Publisher: Amistad 35, an imprint  of Harper Collins, 2022

Pages: 212

Via: Library

Where the Children Take Us is the compelling true story of two remarkable women, mother and daughter.  

One story recounts the life of Obiajulu, the author’s mother. A widowed immigrant from Nigeria, Obiajulu (“my heart is at peace”) raises four children alone in South London while also running a small business six days a week. She is determined to carve out a better life for her children. With remarkable grit, tenacity, and dignity, Obiajulu does exactly that as recounted in this powerful, heartfelt memoir.

The second narrative focuses on the author. Zain is a first-generation African immigrant “raised by a single mother who struggled to keep the heat on in a gritty home in East London.” Via lessons learned from her mother, Zain graduates from Oxford University, earns a graduate degree from Columbia, and becomes a CNN news anchor.

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Steaks, Reads, & Rascals

My humans were doing the backyard barbecue thing the other day. Something about “summer’s last hurrah.”

See the source image

Public domain

They plopped some burgers and four delicious “New York steaks” on the grill. Yes, four steaks. Clearly that meant one each for Mom and Dad. One for The Kid. One for me. Right?

Rather than waiting for my hunk of happiness to fall off the grill, I figured I’d just hop right up and help myself. No sense standing on ceremony, right? So I didn’t.

Speaking of which, I thought “fall” was something you do. Apparently that’s not always the case. For example. Mom says “fall” is her favorite season. Something about leaves changing. “Crisp.” Curling up by the fireplace with a cup of hot cocoa and a good book.

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Is ‘To Be Where You Are’ One Mitford Too Far?

“I thought maybe it was just me,” frowned Her Momness. “Then I read some other reviews. And it’s definitely not ‘just me.’ So there!”

Here’s why Mom found To Be Where You Are so disappointing. (The short version).

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A Summer Reading Record?

Do you do Summer Reading Programs?  Mom used to. She’s been kinda straddlin’ the fence on SRPs since about 2018. Why? Cuz she set a personal record for books read that summer: 156 books. From June 1 to August 31. No. really. Click here for more.

She hasn’t jumped into an SRP full-bore since. “Cuz Kimmi, how in the world am I gonna top 156 books in three months?”

Well. You know Her Momness. I bribed her with chocolate.

A New Record?

So. Did Mom set a new personal record for Summer Reading? 

Well, not quite. We tried. Really. And we got close.

But there was so much other stuff goin’ on this summer, if ya know what I mean. (And yes, I totally aced that semi-annual check-up at the vet’s. Thanks for askin.’)

Including audio books and read-alouds, Mom read 139 books this summer. It’s not 156+. But not bad, eh?  (Apparently, some people will do almost anything for a Triple Chocolate Meltdown a la mode.)

You can find some of Mom’s summer favorites at 6 Best Reads of Summer. 

Honorable Mentions:

I’d let Mom tell you more herself. But she’s snoozing right now. Or “resting up.” Or something.

Psssst!

Mom hasn’t tackled a Goodreads Reading Challenge since shortly after the Ark made landfall. The last one she did was in 2018: 383 books. In one year. She says, “No way can I do that again, Kimster. Not even close.”

But I’m scouting up new supplies of chocolate. Just don’t tell Mom yet, okay?

You gonna eat that?

 


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6 Best Reads of Summer

Whoosh! Or Whoof! Where did summer go? Mom and I were just getting used to long days and more sunshine. Before I could bark twice at the Powder Puff sauntering by on her afternoon walk, the season is done-ski. That makes Mom and me kinda sad, if ya know what I mean. (Summer winding down. Not the Powder Puff.)

Summer Wrap-Up

Anywho, since we recently posted a list of Summer Stinkers (as in, Do Not Waste Your Time, Do Not Collect $200 or even a penny), one of us thought now would be a good time to do a Summer Wrap-Wrap thingy. Like when we highlight our favorite reads from the summer. Books with heart. Solid writing. Something to say that matters. You might be surprised how hard books like that can be to find these days. Or maybe not?

Anywho again. Here are our 6 Best Reads of Summer (in no particular order). Drum roll please…

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‘Among the Innocent’ is Un-Put-Downable!

“The former chief believed Harrison had chosen death over being accused of murder. Now the real killer had returned. The clock was ticking.”

 

Among the Innocent

By Mary Alford

Revell, 2022

Genre: Crime/Murder Mystery/Thriller/Romance/Christian Fiction

Via: Author Request

Pages: 295

Note: We received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

“Un-Put-Downable.”

That’s a new word Mom and I just made up. You already know what it means. So here’s the scoop on this gripping and intense barn burner. We couldn’t put it down!

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High Octane Action Fuels ‘Sleeping Bear’

Sleeping Bear: A Thriller

By Connor Sullivan

Published by Emily Bestler Books/Atria Books, an Imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc. 2021

Genre: Fiction – Action/Adventure/Thriller/Spy Novel

Pages: 388

Via: Library

Note: Occasional foul language.

What’s the last book you read that whizzed by like greased lightning? That grabbed you from chapter one and didn’t let go until the last page? The action-packed, high octane thriller Sleeping Bear is that kind of a book.

A Page Turner

I was going to read “a few chapters” just to get a feel for the story. Next thing I knew, I was 59 chapters in and goin’ for broke! Talk about a “page turner”!

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‘The Waltons’ Lives on in ‘Lessons from the Mountain: What I Learned from Erin Walton” by Mary McDonough

Ah, August! The shoulder of summer. Deep summer has passed. But the sullen skies and cherry-cheeked winds of autumn are still waiting in the wings. Isn’t August a great time for a little trip down memory lane? That’s what we’re doing today. With a review from March of 2012. Cue Jerry Goldsmith musical score in 3, 2, 1…

Lessons from the Mountain: What I Learned from Erin Walton

By Mary McDonough

Kensington Publishing Corp., 2011

For millions of American television viewers, The Waltons was a Thursday night staple. It was in my house. Candidly, I considered the second Walton daughter the least credible character in the whole clan. Mary McDonough’s Lessons from the Mountain: What I Learned from Erin Walton provides some explanation, connects some dots and offers a glimpse into the girl who portrayed the red-haired Erin and her post-Waltons life.

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Pride & Prejudice Revisited in ‘Miriam’

Miriam*

By Linda O’Bryne

Page Count: TBC pages 

Genre : Historical

Today we’re doing a spotlight of this Jane Austen-ish book by British author Linda O’Bryne:

About the Book

Many years have passed since the dramatic events of Pride and Prejudice.  In The Cousins of Pemberley series we follow a new generation of heroines – cousins with lives as different and interesting as those enjoyed by their mothers.
 
Mary Bennet – overlooked, laughed at, despised – married a missionary and vanished into a life of service out in Africa.  
 
But now Miriam, her daughter, is coming to England, disliking everything she has been told about her family.  
 
Her aunts and cousins are expecting someone quiet, dull and bookish, just like her mother, not the quick-tempered, impulsive girl who arrives.  
 
How can this adventurous girl with her desire for freedom possibly fit into their well ordered world?  
 
And what havoc will she cause as she tries?  
 
Miriam is the third book in the Cousins of Pemberley series,

About The Author

Fiction has always been my go-to world, a place of entertainment, excitement and imagination – I am told that I wrote my first story when I was four about a lady who had twenty children! Sadly it has been lost for posterity.

I have been writing all my life in the time I could spare from having a “proper job”, mostly for children under the name of Linda Blake, stories of ballet dancers, pony riding and talking animals! Not all in the same book!

But my love of romance, a great tendency to say “What if..?” and the endearing characters of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice have now resulted in a series of books that will take the reader forward to the next generation of heroines. 

I am retired, live in Kent and am a keen member of my local drama group.  Directing and acting take up a lot of my time – I have been given the onerous task of writing the Christmas pantomimes – but I still need to cope with a large garden, doing daily battle with the heron who thinks my pond is his own breakfast buffet and keeping in touch with friends and family scattered all over the world.  

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Note: We did not receive this book in time to read and review. So we’ll leave that to you. *Also, the cover for this book was “under wraps” when we were wrote this post, hence its absence.