Gravel Road Musings

  The historic Route 66. I didn't know a lot about it before I read this book and while it was a work of fiction, I understood that some of the places mentioned were real and some still exist.  Written in a dual timeline this is the story of Benny and Paul and their original journey west and of Benny revisiting the sites at an old age after Paul has passed away. Bridger, her foster son, is making a documentary with memories from Benny's original trip. Jade is invited along. Jade was a financial advisor who happened to be working for a company involved in a big Ponzi scheme. Not only working for them, she was engaged to the son of the owner. Obviously, when she turned her fiancee and father in, she was also out of a job, poor, and unemployable because of her connections to the scheme. Jade was Benny's advisor and yet Benny continued to believe in her.  The story was well-written and showed Benny wrestling with the struggle of old age, Bridger wrestling with his roots and los

  Esther Markstrom has banked her whole life on her familial ties to the great artist Francisco Vella. What will she do if that is lost? How will she respond to a change in identity? Can she believe that she is still somebody with value even if what she has believed her whole life isn't actually the truth? Viviana Torrens has been orphaned and left without family. She has run for her life, changed her identity multiple times and simply wants a place to belong where she can be who she really is. She just wants to paint and to be recognized as having something of value even as a female artist in a time in history where women artists were not recognized or appreciated. Both ladies are caught in an identity crisis. What will they do? I'll leave you to read the book, though that question isn't completely answered in the book for either lady. But the journey that they both go through is in the book and you, as the reader, can search for yourself what you would do in their situati

 Four sisters, Sarah, Emily, Viola, and Georgiana, along with their mother make up the main characters in this second book in the series "On Devonshire Shores". In the last book, Viola has married, but lives next door. Sarah is the responsible one determined to make their guest house a success; Emily wants nothing more than to publish a book and marry her childhood sweetheart, and Georgiana just wants to enjoy life to the fullest.  The story is told in a back-and-forth manner between Emily and Sarah and I just really enjoyed it. It's historical fiction in the fact that the Duke of Kent truly did winter in Sidmouth, but the rest I will not mention since it gives away a little too much of the story if you don't know the history.  These sisters are so likeable you just want to root for them, you just want them to succeed. They are struggling to make their guesthouse a success so they can survive and yet they are more than willing to give to help those poorer than then, e

 I feel like I have been blessed to make the discovery of some really good Christian authors in the last few years and Katie Powner is definitely one of those delightful finds. I have read some really good books by her and would recommend anything she writes, at least so far.  The Wind Blows in Sleeping Grass features a middle-aged man, I would guess, a foster kid, who made some bad choices, but now wants to do what's right; his sister and her son; an old lady with serious regrets; and a younger lady who seems skittish. and a few more fun characters. Throw all those characters together and you get a story that is sad and redemptive, hopeful and healing.  Pete drives a garbage truck and doesn't see much beyond that for his future, just him and his pot-bellied pig, but then so much more happens to him and he is able to find hope and joy again. I am not going to say much more, but just read the book.  Warning: there is some domestic abuse talked about in here--it's not descrip

 What a great book for this time in history. There was just so gold to be mined out of this book and so much I missed I'm sure. I would love to read this book again using the study guide so that I could learn more. Rosario doesn't beat around the bush. She tells it like it is even if she has to acknowledge areas where she has failed in, lies she has believed and needed to repent of. I find her faith in God and belief in His word and her ability to express those things refreshing and convicting.  The five lies she addressed in this book are: 1. Homosexuality is normal 2. Being a spiritual person is kinder than being a Biblical Christian 3. Feminism is good for the world and the church 4. Transgenderism is normal 5. Modesty is an outdated burden that serves male dominance and holds women back.  I wish somehow I could hang on to the way she's says things so that I could better express myself in challenging conversations.  "When we dispense with the wisdom of the creation

  Words almost fail me at the horror and beauty of this story. I knew little of Poland during World War II and to read of the almost complete destruction of Warsaw and its inhabitants is mind-blowing. I suppose this exposes my ignorance, but I cannot fathom the human mind that is capable of systematically killing off thousands and thousands of people. I know the stories of Hitler and Auschwitz and now Warsaw, but I still cannot imagine being one of the killers or living through the terror as a civilian, never knowing when you would be next on their list.  And yet, through this horror, the bravery and heart of Warsaw's citizens shines through. While Antonina and Helena are fictional characters, the organizations they represent were real and alive. Children were smuggled out of the ghetto and there really was an underground resistance that eventually came above ground. The bravery intermingled with the danger that constantly surrounded them is an incredible story to read.  "I kn