"Twisted By The Wind" by Tom Hays

Twisted By The Wind by Tom Hays is an unusual book, at least different from any I’ve read before.  Through a variety of short humorous fiction stories about Ben Braddock, the author conveys the main theme of the book that the journey of life is the destination and that “destiny is what becomes of a person in the end in spite of all efforts to change or prevent it.”  I enjoyed the bits of wisdom from the author before each story such as:

 It’s not really work if you like doing it.

If at first you don’t succeed, that’s pretty much how it works for most people.

Every day, life gives you a second chance.  Take it.

Jumping to conclusions is not considered good exercise.

He also included some poems throughout that book that I enjoyed as well.  Although I’m not in total agreement with the general philosophy of this book, parts were humorous.  This is a short quick read that was amusing, entertaining and thought-provoking.  You can visit Tom Hay’s website at http://PearlOfTheDay.com for inspirational and motivational quotes.  You can visit his blog at http://tomhaystoday.blogspot.com/

Thank you, Tom, for the free copy of your book in exchange for this review! 

Have you read this one? What did you think of it?

"Breaking Night--From Homeless to Harvard" by Liz Murray

Loved the movie, loved the book! This story was a lifetime movie that we both liked very much.  Breaking Night by Liz Murray is just as good, if not better.  It is the true story of Liz Murray who was homeless and wound up at Harvard!  It's a remarkable and inspirational story!  The writing is very good and really captures her struggles.  Thanks for the book, Ms. Murray, and may God bless you always!  I give this 10 stars! 
(Gerard's review)

Karen read this too and liked it:

WOW!  What an interesting book filled with insight into poverty, homelessness and drug addiction!  Breaking Night is the memoir of Liz Murray who shares about her life of living with her drug addicted parents, her effort to protect her parents who both contracted AIDS, living at a group home, her dependence on friends while homeless, her determination to go back to school and change her life.  This is a very good book!  It is so hard for me to fathom people actually living like she did.

Breaking Night shows that a person can change in spite of one’s circumstances if they make good choices and work hard.  It is about family relationships, forgiveness, friendship, judging by appearances, survival, overcoming obstacles and being responsible.  Liz overcame many obstacles and found herself with a scholarship from The New York Times and was accepted at Harvard!  She is now a motivational speaker helping others get their life on track and is now working with a small team of people to open Broome Street Academy, a high schools for homeless teens in September of 2011.  Liz is a remarkable person!

This is an inspirational book that I highly recommend!  Her website is Manifest Living.  I also enjoyed the movie on Lifetime that was based on this book.

Have you read this one? What did you think of it?

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"A Lifetime Of Wisdom" by Joni Earickson Tada

I give A Lifetime Of Wisdom by Joni Earickson Tada 30 stars!
I haven't read a Joni book in a long time but found this one while browsing through the library.  I'm so glad I did!  What makes this book so good is that Joni goes back to how she thought about things when she was a teen and now shares 40 years later what she has learned since.  As always, the writing in Joni's books is superb.  This book is hard to put down.  It gave me sort of a spiritual bath, which I think we all need from time to time to reflect on the really important things in life.  Bless you, Joni!  I highly recommend you read this book!
(Gerard's review 7/1/09)

 Have you read this one? What did you think of it?

"If I Stay" by Gayle Foreman

If I stay by Gayle Foreman is a really good teen novel!  It is about a teenage girl named Mia who, with her family, got into a car accident.  Her parents and brother die, but she lingers in ICU.  She describes her emotions while she hangs between life and death.  I enjoyed this book because it’s short, well written and went quick.  I give it 7 stars!

Have you read this one? What did you think of it?

Teaser Tuesday: "Breaking Night" and "You Killed Wesley Payne"

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should  Be Reading. Anyone can play along, so I thought  I  would play for fun! Just do the following:          

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on  that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away!   You don’t  want  to  ruin the  book for others!)
• Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can  add the book to their TBR  Lists  if they  like your teaser. 

We have a non-fiction and a YA fiction teaser for you today, check out our giveaway for Gerard's:
Karen's: 

Every night was like this.  While Ma and Daddy injected themselves with cocaine and ran in and out, like a tag team, I stayed close by and shared the night with them.  While Lisa slept in her bed, I had them all to myself; I helped keep them safe.

Taken from p. 55 of Breaking Night--A Memoir of Forgiveness, Survival, and My Journey From Homeless To Harvard by Liz Murray

Gerard's: 

Dalton needed to check out the crime scene.  First stop, football field.  The kid followed, plump and sweaty, huffing to catch up.  He held out his knuckles for a bump.  "My name's Mole."

Taken from p. 3 of You Killed Wesley Payne by Sean Beaudoin.  We are giving this one away.  Here is the link to our giveaway where you can find out more about this book.

If you would like to enter a Feb. 5 giveaway for the book I wrote, My Funny Dad, Harry visit Red Pine Mountain and leave a comment on my guest post.