"Behind the Beautiful Forevers" by Katherine Boo

Behind the Beautiful Forevers--Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity by Katherine Boo is the true story of people who live in the slums of India. The book focuses on Abdul who makes a living by sorting through garbage the rich people throw away. One day he is falsely accused of killing a disabled woman and must stand trial. This was an eye opening book for me. I did not know about the slums of India. It's not pretty.

Most of the story was very good but it bogged down some in parts so I give it 4 stars. I think it is worth reading! (Gerard's review)

 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 are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during June and July to The Wounded Warrior Project which helps wounded warriors and their families returning from current conflicts.

"Redeeming Love" by Francine Rivers

Great read for book clubs and historical fiction fans!

Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers was excellent! One of the best I ever read. About a beautiful little girl, sold into prostitution with no decent role models who learns what real love is when Michael Hosea decides to marry her and take her out of the brothel no matter what. Slowly, very slowly her walls come down and she learns to trust people, even to love. She leaves Michael for 3 years because she knows he wants children and she can’t have any, ever. Told her best friend to have his children and make him happy but Michael chose Angel. Angel is transformed when she finally trusts in Jesus as her personal Savior.

This is a historical Christian romance that held my attention all the way through and provided a lively discussion for our book club. It starts out very sad, depressing and raunchy but ends on a very positive note and shows Angel's journey to love and acceptance. It's a marvelous story based on the book of Hosea. I liked this book so much, I actually bought it!
(Karen's review-read in 2006)

Click this link to See What I Won at the Library 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 are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during June and July to The Wounded Warrior Project which helps wounded warriors and their families returning from current conflicts.

"The Scarlet Thread" by Francine Rivers is a Must Read!

Great book on relationships--must read!

The Scarlet Thread by Francine Rivers is contemporary fiction about God’s sovereignty and faithfulness.  After 13 years of marriage, Alex decides on his own to leave his steady job for an opportunity in California as a video game designer.  His wife, Sierra, does not want to move and becomes angry and bitter.  I particularly liked reading the part about the issues in the contemporary marriage.  The couple has four times as much money but becomes very unhappy and Alex asks for a divorce.  Sierra’s Godly mother gives her an old journal and a quilt of one of their pioneer ancestors, Mary Kathryn, who also had to move against her will back in 1847.

The author beautifully combines this contemporary fiction novel with historical fiction by showing the parallels between Sierra’s and Mary Kathryn’s journeys, women from two different time periods.  They both are bitter and resentful towards God at the beginning but as he works in their lives, they come to see his love, faithfulness and goodness.  Great writing with a wonderful message and a great ending!  I think this would be an excellent book club read because of the marriage issues and the spiritual journey.  It even has discussion questions in the back!  This is my favorite read for June and balances out Gerard's dark books of late!
(Karen's review)

Other books I liked by this author:  Redeeming Love and Leota's Garden

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 are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during June and July to The Wounded Warrior Project which helps wounded warriors and their families returning from current conflicts.

"Dark Places" by Gillian Flynn

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn is a winner! WOW, this is good! Libby Day, age 7, survives a night when her mom and two sisters were murdered by their brother in "The Satan Sacrifice of Kinnakee, Kansas." Libby testifies to this in court. However, 25 years later, the money she inherited runs low so when she is offered money to sell family mementos, she agrees but begins to have second thoughts if her brother was the murderer.

I liked the writing and lots of twists and turns with a surprise ending. I highly recommend this book if you enjoy suspense and murder mysteries. I also loved GONE GIRL by Gillian Flynn.
(Gerard's review)

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 are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during June and July to The Wounded Warrior Project which helps wounded warriors and their families returning from current conflicts.

"Alone" by Lisa Gardner

Alone by Lisa Gardner is a page turner that had my attention from the first page all the way to the end. It's about Bobby, a police sniper who responded to a domestic violence hostage situation and killed the husband who had his finger on the trigger of a gun pointed at his wife, Catherine, and 4-yr-old son, Nathan. Afterwards, he felt terrible about killing a man. His life got complicated when the man turned out to be a high court judge's son and learned he may be charged with murder! The judge files for custody of his grandson, claiming Catherine is a bad mother who is out to kill him by starving him to death. Catherine feels alone as she tries to protect her son, Bobby feels alone as he deals with his career problems and chooses to help Catherine when she tells him there was an intruder in her house.

This book psychological thriller is filled with suspense, manipulation, murder, family secrets, domestic violence and interesting characters. I had a hard time putting this one down and recommend it. (Karen's review) 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 are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during June and July to The Wounded Warrior Project which helps wounded warriors and their families returning from current conflicts.