"Rescuing Finley" by Dan Walsh is Enjoyable & Heartwarming (UPDATED)

In Rescuing Finley by Dan Walsh, Amy and her girlfriends decide to do a little 5-finger discount.  Amy gets caught and refuses to rat out her friends.  She is in major trouble!  Chris is helping to fight the war.  He steps on a landmine and his fighting days are over.  He comes back home, but is in a bad way emotionally!  Finley's owner is killed in the war.  Finley, a dog, gets turned into the Humane Society and is depressed.  The lives of these three come together to create a good read.

Teaser from page 37 (Loc. 436 on Kindle):  As they approached, the dog started jumping toward them, but Kim didn't see an ounce of aggression in him.  He was just a loving goofball, probably starved for attention.

I thought this book was written very well.  I enjoyed all the characters very much and even though it has a predictable ending, it did not take away the enjoyment of the book for me.
(Gerard's review 9/16/17, 5 stars)

Karen's review:
Rescuing Finley by Dan Walsh is an enjoyable read about Amy, a prisoner in the program for training dogs to be service dogs for vets, Finley, the dog she trains and Chris, the vet who Finley is being trained to help.  I really loved this book because it got my interest right away and kept it throughout.  Yes, it is predictable; however, it still was interesting and a fun read. (5 stars)

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"Scar Island" by Dan Gemeinhart

Scar Island by Dan Gemeinhart, my favorite children’s author, is about boys at Slabhenge Reformatory School for troubled boys located on an island and run with torture techniques. Jonathan is the new boy sentenced to 10 weeks which is longer than usual because of the bad thing he did. Jonathan is overwhelmed with feelings of guilt and believes he deserves to be there, unlike the others. A couple boys befriend him and eventually he even wins over the bully who bosses everyone around when all the grownups running the place meet an unfortunate death.

This book is dark but not as dark as Lord of the Flies although there are some similarities. I liked this book because of the exploration of group dynamics, the interaction and growth among the boys, and also because of the suspense. I even got to like that huge rat that Jonathan mistook for a cat. Jonathan is a great character who I admired because he was so kind and compassionate throughout the book. I would recommend this book to boys, but don’t think too many girls would enjoy it since there are no girls in it. I liked both this author’s other books better: The Honest Truth and Some Kind of Courage, because they seemed more believable and not as dark as this one.

SPOILER ALERT – STOP NOW IF YOU INTEND TO READ THIS BOOK. I really liked the librarian and his pet rat. I thought that was a cool surprise and liked how the librarian encouraged Jonathan to take a book every time he came. I was surprised Colin didn’t stay with him when he left the others. There were a few things I felt were farfetched: (1) How all the grownups got electrocuted and died at once; (2) that the boys would put the dead bodies in the freezer where the food would be, yuck!; (3) that the first thing they did wasn’t to all join in to destroy the sinner’s sorrow torture device that they all hated; (4) I didn’t understand why Sebastian got so mad at Colin when he left since at the beginning he announce the boys to go wherever they wanted and do whatever they wanted. When Colin took some chocolates saying they were just Sebastian’s, I was surprised the other boys didn’t back him up and (5) how the majority just followed whatever Sebastian said, letting him take the lead instead of following Colin or Jonathan, who were smarter and nicer, especially at the end.
(Karen’s review, 4 stars)


Gerard read this first 1-9-17, here's his review, 4.5 stars:
In Scar Island by Dan Gemeinhart, Jonathan is the new boy at Slabhenge.  It is a reform school for boys who are troubled to say the least.  Now Jonathan is there and he is happy to be there.  But soon he will have to make decisions that will affect him and his fellow boys.

I really enjoyed the characters in this book.  It has good action and the end has a good twist.  I liked this author's first two books better, The Honest Truth and Some Kind of Courage, but this one is not bad at all!

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. To find books on a specific topic, scroll to the bottom and click on the topic you want. Happy Reading!

"A Deadly Wandering" by Matt Richtel - Pulitzer Prize Winner

A Deadly Wandering--A Tale of Tragedy and Redemption in the Age of Attention by Matt Richtel tells the true story of Reggie Shaw.  One morning while driving, he got into a car accident.  One car with two men in it were killed.  There was a third car involved also.  When the accident was investigated, Reggie was blamed for causing it.  the cops said he was texting while driving.  Reggie does not remember it that way at all.

This is a great book!  It covers the people that were affected by this accident, how Reggie dealt with it and how the authorities built their case against Reggie.  This book isn't a "page turner," but it kept my interest.
(Gerard's review, 5 stars)

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Riveting Memoir: "The Blood Of Lambs--A Former Terrorist's Memoir of Death and Redemption" by Kamal Saleem

The Blood of Lambs by Kamal Saleem  tells the true story of his life and his change from being a follower of Allah to being a follower of Jesus Christ.  At the age of 7 he was trained to become an Islamic terrorist!  It is a fascinating read.  I didn't know how they train these people, but I do now and it is very scary!  The story of how he became to speak out against terrorism is mind-blowing.  You have to read it to believe it!
(Gerard's review, 5++ stars)

WOW! That's the word that kept coming into my mind as I read The Blood of Lambs--A Former Terrorist's Memoir of Death and Redemption by Kamal Saleem with Lynn Vincent. It is the most interesting memoir I have ever read!  I was fascinated by what the Muslims believe and have a better understanding of how Muslim terrorists think.  Kamal was abused and bullied as a kid, and found acceptance and protection when recruited as a boy soldier.  All his life he was raised to hate and at age 7, attended a terrorist training camp where they trained with live ammunition.  This man had a vast number of experiences that were completely new to me, including many near death experiences.  His childhood is heartbreaking and even after he came to America and was converted to Christianity, his bravery continues as he publicly shares his story and warns the U.S. to wake up to what the Jihad is up to.  His life is always in danger!

I learned so much from reading this book!  I am not into politics at all so thought this book might be boring and read like a history text book, but I was so wrong!  It is a very interesting and captivating read because wanting to know what happened to bring about this terrorist's conversion to Christianity kept me turning the pages.  This is not the kind of book I normally would read, but it was recommended to me by a friend in an email that went into detail about it which piqued my interest.  Now I am recommending it to you!    
(Karen's review, 5 stars)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

"The Cat That God Sent" by Jim Kraus is a Favorite of Mine!

Great Book--Petey even looks like me!

The Cat That God Sent by Jim Kraus is a delightful Christian fiction novel that is about a preacher who lost his faith and Petey, a cat who helps him.  I enjoyed this book very much because it is both humorous and yet deals with some serious issues.  Jake just got called to a small country church after being fired from a large one, and is very unsure of himself.  Petey, a cat, hung around him when he arrived and turned out to be quite a hit with his congregation when the cat followed him into the church and sat on the platform with him as he preached!  Parts are so funny that I actually laughed out loud!

Although the cat shares its thoughts with the reader, it acts like a real cat and does not talk English but communicates the way real cats do.  For me, this gave the book more credibility.  There are even discussion questions in the back which could make this a good book club read.  I liked the idea of how God used the cat to help both Jake and Tess and to get more people to come to church.  I loved it and look forward to reading this author's other book, The Dog That Talked to God!  This is a must read for all cat lovers!

(Karen's review, 5 stars!)

Hey, if you like cats, you have to read this one!  Petey, the cat is sent by God to help the new preacher who is struggling with his faith.  He also has to protect a young girl named Tess who got dumped by her boyfriend.  He likes going to church and people come just to see him!  He is a good cat, like me and even looks like me as you can see in the picture of me with the book.  This is a must read for all cats and cat lovers!
(Manny's review) 

Author's blog:  Jimkraus.com

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

"A Chance To Win: Boyhood, Baseball, and the Struggle for Redemption in the Inner City" by Jonathan Schuppe

A Chance To Win: Boyhood, Baseball, and the Struggle for Redemption in the Inner City by Jonathan Schuppe is not a baseball book. It is a book about life in the inner city. Rodney, an ex-con, is left wheelchair bound after a shooting and decides to coach a little league baseball team to give young boys an outlet in an attempt to keep them from his former life of drugs. Most of the book deals with the people with whom Rodney has every day contact. These people have a rough life to say the least, but they never gave up and the part about the baseball team was enjoyable.  I think you will like this one, I did. I was rooting for the people to get their lives on track.
(Gerard's review, 5+ stars)

Karen did not like it as much as I did.  You can find her review of it here.

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

We received a free copy to review but have not received any compensation. This did not affect our review in any way.

"Be Still My Soul" by Joanne Bischof

Like romance, historical fiction?  Then read this!

Be Still My Soul by Joanne Bischof is her first novel, a wonderful Christian historical fiction romance set in the Blue Ridge Mountains.  Lonnie (17) and Gil (21) are forced to marry even though they barely knew each other.  In the beginning of the book, I felt bad for Lonnie and then about midway through, I started feeling bad for Gil.  They went through some tough times but Lonnie kept holding on to her faith that God was looking out for her.  This was a tear jerker for me, as they encountered heartache and physical pain.  I liked how the kindness of strangers brought healing to their marriage.  This is just the first book in The Cadence of Grace series which is based on I Peter 5:10:

But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. 

As I was reading this book, I couldn't help but think of how this couple would benefit from reading Love and Respect by Emerson Eggerichs.  I highly recommend this book if you like clean romance novels.  It also contains a reader's guide so would make a good book club selection.  I look forward to reading her next book, Though My Heart Is Torn. 

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

"True Colors" by Kristin Hannah

What a neat novel True Colors by Kristin Hannah is!  It starts off following the lives of three sisters from when their mother died while they were teens.  Aurora is the peace maker who settled for marriage to “Mr. Boring” while the eldest daughter, Winona, an attorney, loves her younger sister’s fiancé and longs for her father’s approval.  Vivi Ann, is engaged to a real nice guy, but isn’t in love with him and follows her heart and passion when Dallas , the new ranch hand shows an interest in her.  The plot thickens when Vivi Ann goes against her family and marries Dallas who gets arrested for murder!  This is a great story that shows the bond between sisters as well as a contemporary romance and the struggle of a single mom whose husband is rotting away in prison.

I loved this book because the characters were so believable and the story line drew me in and wouldn’t let go!  I liked how the author brought in the horses and ranch activities, how she shared with the reader how the son felt growing up without his dad through his journal entries, and the family dynamics.  It’s a love story about love, hope, forgiveness, betrayal, family ties, second chances, heartbreak and redemption.  I highly recommend this one!

(Karen's review)

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

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