Book Review: Mikey and Me

Mikey and Me

Life with My Exceptional Sister
by Teresa Sullivan

She Writes Press

Biographies & Memoirs , Parenting & Families

Pub Date 29 Aug 2017

I am reviewing a copy of Mikey and Me through She Writes Press and Netgalley:

Mikey was Teresa’s older sister, but even at eight she was like a two year old.  Unable to speak, brain-damaged and blind.

  Michelle Colleen Sullivan, Mickey was born on February.02.1953, weighing only 2.3 pounds, a fragile baby into a fragile marriage.  Back in those days when babies fought to live they were rarely touched, even nurses only touched her when it was necessary.  Eleven months later Teresa was born.

At two Mikey underwent surgery for Glacoma, and for the first two and a half years she developed early and typically, but at two and a half, she spoke, even using big words like rambunctious, and would tell her Mother when her sister was crying, but then everything changed.  One minute she’d be mimicking nursery rhymes and the next she started screaming and clutching her feet.  She stopped speaking and became withdrawn.

Doctors encouraged their parents to instutionalize Mikey, but their Mother resisted.  When Mikey was ten, with their parents marriage strained she was taken Pacific State Hospital.  But after only three days of seeing how she was treated she came home. 

By the time she was eleven Mickey had more bad days than good.  And it became obvious they could no longer handle her care.  Mickey was taken to Carmello state hospital, 

As Teresa grew older she got into her share of trouble, ditching classes, dropping acid. In 1972 Teresa was in a motorcycle accident.  She suffered a skull fracture, and a broken leg.

By the time Mikey was Forty, budget cuts meant that instead having a place for the blind and mentally retarded, Mikey was placed in a group for those who had severe handicaps, like those in wheelchairs.

On October.11.1997, Mikey dies.

In those powerful memoir a tribute to her sister, Teresa Sullivan takes us on a journey through the joys, and sorrows, the loss and the pain of having a severely handicap sister.

I give Mickey and Me five out of five stars.

Happy Reading!

Book Review: A Woman Overwhelmed

A Woman Overwhelmed

Finding God in the Messes of Life
by Hayley DiMarco

Abingdon Press

Christian , Religion & Spirituality

Pub Date 15 Aug 2017 

I am reviewing a copy of A Woman Overwhelmed through Abingdon Press and Netgalley:

Many women if not most women can relate to being overwhelmed at one time or another.  At times we can even be overwhelmed by inaction.  Some get overwhelmed by the slow pace of the world, others get overwhelmed because everything moves so fast.  The author reminds us that impatience is the need for speed.

We are often overwhelmed by our desire to impress and that leads to impossible standards.  We to often feel the need to compare ourselves with others, that we become overwhelmed.

We get overwhelmed by the possibility of some disastrous illness, that we often assume the worst, turning to Google for the answers, only to find out a bite is sometimes just that a bug bite.  

In a Woman Overwhelmed, Hayley Di-Marco, the author of the 2004 book Mean Girls once again brings the issues that face many women to light, and that is of being overwhelmed, but she also reminds us in those Messes of Life, we can find God.

I give A Woman Overwhelmed five out of five stars.

Happy Reading.

Book Review: After I’ve Gone

After I’ve Gone

by Linda Green

Quercus Books
Mystery & Thrillers

Pub Date 27 Jul 2017 

Jess mount checks her Facebook to find that it has skipped eighteen months ahead,and according to that, she will be dead in eighteen months.

She learns how Friends and loved ones will be affected by her death.  She reads as her Father shares his grief.

What if while reading these future events, you learn from your best friend, what happened to you may not have been an accident, but something worse, much worse?  What if the person she says killed you is the man you thought you had loved, a man who you discover whose child you were bare, being killed when he is only an infant?

If you knew that if you didn’t get away your husband would kill you, and the day he killed you, would you be abLe to speak up, and get away from the danger?  This is the dilemma Jess faces. Will she be able to make the choice that saves her life?

I give After I’ve Gone five out of five stars.

Happy Reading!

Book Review: The End of America

The End of America?

Bible Prophecy and a Country in Crisis
by Jeff Kinley

Harvest House Publishers

Christian

Pub Date 01 Aug 2017

I am reviewing a copy of The End of America through Harvest House Publishers and Netgalley:

What happens when a nation turns its back on God, and instead glorifies immorality?

In this book Jeff Kinkley addresses these questions.

Jeff Kinkley also reminds us of these principles 1:) God judges Nations based on Their Moral Concience and national character. 2.) God judges nations Based on Their treatment of Israel. 3.) God Did not withhold judgement from his people Israel.  4.) God’s Judgement Fell on Jesus at the Cross So That all the Nations can be blessed.

In this book there are some sobering statistics:

12 percent of all website are pornographic, that’s over 24 million sites.

77 percent of all Americans view pornography at least once a month.

40 million are regular visitors to those sites.

1 in 3 are women.

25 percent of all search engine requests are related to pornography

The most popular day of the week for View pornography is Sunday.

The average age a child first sees pornography is eleven, and some claim it is as young as nine.

These images that a child sees cannot be unseen, and can do permanent damage.

The online pornography industry takes into ten to twelve billion dollars annually.

This book brings us face to face with the realities and what is happening.

In this book the issues of abortion is brought up, and the author points out that only one percent of those who seek out abortions were raped, six percent worry about disease.

The End of America brings up some good questions, and some valid research.

Five out of five stars.

Happy Reading!

Book Review: Shattered

 

Shattered

A Novel
by Allison Brennan

St. Martin’s Press

Minotaur Books
General Fiction (Adult) , Mystery & Thrillers

Pub Date 22 Aug 2017

I am  reviewing a copy of Shattered through St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley:

Over twenty years, four boys go missing from their bedrooms, murdered by suffocation and buried in nearby shallow graves.  Is this the work of a serial killer, or just a coincidence?

Investigative reporter Maxine Revere sets out to answer these questions when a friend asks her to help exonerate his wife for their son’s murderer.  Max can do little to help because the police and D.A won’t talk to her, certain they got the right women.  But do they?

Finally Justin agrees to help her wanting to find closure in his sons murder, which happened twenty years before, but the only thing he asks is that Max works with FBI agent Lucy Kincaid, but Max works alone, and she’s not happy that the only way to do this is to work with Lucy Kinkaid, neither one of them wants to work together, but will they to solve these cases?

I give Shattered five out of five stars!

Happy Reading!

Book Review: The Forbidden Temptation of Baseball

 The Forbidden Temptation of Baseball

by Dori Jones Yang

SparkPress (a BookSparks imprint)

SparkPress
Children’s Fiction , Multicultural Interest

Pub Date 15 Aug 2017 

I am reviewing a copy of The Forbidden Temptation of Football through Sparkpress and Netgalley:

Leon is a twelve year old boy determined to live with an American family, study hard and come back to modernize Child but Leon has a curious nature and the American past time of Baseball fascinated him.

Will Leon one of 120 boys sent to New England by the Emperor of China, be able to resist this temptation?  Will he make his family and the Emperor proud?  Or will he discover that some temptations are far to hard to resist?

I give The Forbidden Temptation of Baseball five out of five stars.

Happy Reading.

Book Review: The Chaos of Longing

The Chaos of Longing

by K.Y. Robinson

Andrews McMeel Publishing

Poetry

Pub Date 26 Sep 2017

The Chaos of Longing
by K.Y. Robinson
Andrews McMeel Publishing
Poetry
Pub Date 26 Sep 2017
I am reviewing a copy of The Chaos of Longing through Andrews McMeel Publishing and Netgalley:
This is perhaps even more difficult to review than the earlier collections of poetry I have reviewed as these poems deal with such tough issues as mental illness, abuse, survival, trauma, shame, justice.
The poems in this book, have a way of cutting to the very core of the issues they talk about.
Due to the subject matters herein I recommend this book for high-School age and older.
I give The Chaos of Longing five out of five stars.
Happy Reading.

Book Review: The Eye of the North

The Eye of the North

by Sinead O’Hart

Random House Children’s

Knopf Books for Young Readers
Children’s Fiction

Pub Date 22 Aug 2017 | 

Emmeline finds herself headed to the north where allies have pledge to protect her after her scientist parents mysteriously dissapear.  Doctor Siegfried Bauer is bound for the ice fields of Greenland where he hopes to summon the Mystical Creature said to be found in the depths of the ancient glaciers.  A creature believed to be so powerful whoever controls it can control the world.  

The North Witch has also laid claim to the beast and Emmeline and a scrappy stowaway named the Thing must stop them in order to save the world?  Will they be able to?

Find out in The Eye of The North.

The perfect read for YA readers who love adventure!

Five out of five stars.

Happy Reading!

Book Review: Liana’s Dance

Liana’s Dance

by Rosanne Hawke

Rhiza Press
Multicultural Interest , Teens & YA

Pub Date 01 Aug 2017 

I am reviewing a copy of Liana’s Dance through Rhiza Press and Netgalley:

Liana Bedford lives in a constant state of fear.  While shopping for a present in the Bazzar for their Mother Liana, her sister and their escort are knocked to the ground.  Soon Liana finds herself in a constant state of fear.  She has no appetite, and finds comfort only in dance.  Liana suffered from PTSD.

Liana Bedford is a Pakistani-Australian and could very well be the next target   When her school friends disappear one night Liana’s world is changed

With her new teacher Mr. Kimberly Liana must go through rural Pakistan to find her friends and bring them home, and she must dance to save her life.

I found Liana’s character to be well developed, and the emotions in this story to be raw and real.

Liana’s Dance receives five out of five stars.

Happy Reading.

Book Review: The Assault

 

The Assault

Cycle Two of the Harbingers Series
by Bill Myers, Frank Peretti, Angela Hunt, and Alton Gansky

Bethany House

Bethany House Publishers
Christian

Pub Date 01 Aug 2017 

I am reviewing a copy of The Assault through Bethany House Publishers and Netgalley:

Disclaimer: The Assault is the second cycle in the Harbingers series, I recommend reading The Invitation first.

In the first story The Revealing by Bill Myers the team is in Rome trying to find the mystical spear that Hitler had once owned, the spear that had pierced Christ’s side.  They find themselves in the catacombs under the city, and the hidden chambers of the vaticans, and finally in a mysterious seaside cave.  The cave has powers that no one expected.

The first story draws you in, and does not let you go, making you want to continue on without stopping.

In the second story of this cycle Indestation by Frank Peretti a microscopic evil is unleashed on the world, an evil out to destroy humanity. In this story the team finds themselves having to confront a monster out to kill mankind.

The third story is The Infiltration by Angela Hunt, the team finds themselves wounded and splif up.  The team is having to see a psychiatrist which Andi does not like.

In the final story of this cycle is Alton Ganksy’s a supernatural mist unlike anything other is unleashed.  A fog that can kill anything they find. 

In this book four prolific Christian authors come together to create a stories that remind us of how good triumphs over evil.  Bill Myers, Frank Peretti, Angela Hunt and Alton Ganksy have prolific careers in their own right and are amongst the top authors in the Christians genre.  

I gave The Assault five out of five stars,

Happy Reading!