Gravel Road Musings

  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.  ...

Once again, this book was from one of my favorite authors. I think I have read all the books that Valerie has written and I will continue to keep my eye out for new ones.  This book was so good. I'm not sure how to describe it, it was so very different from what you have expected from a well-to-do southern family in the early 1900's. They were a big family, six children, and had a good relationship with their employees. Considering that it wasn't that many years post-Civil War and their employees were mostly African-Americans, that seems unusual for that time period, but I loved it and I am sure there were real families that were like that as well.  A fun fact from the book is that the matriarch of the family shared my name, Aurelia. That is quite unusual and was kind of fun and weird at the same time. I rarely see my name anywhere and to read about it was a different experience.  Callie was also a fun character in the story and one who tried to defy convention as much as...

  Amanda Cox is one of those authors that I will read regardless of the plot line. She has such a good way of telling a story. "He Should Have Told the Bees" was no exception.  Callie and Beck are complete strangers to each other until they're not. They are thrown together by a trust that divides the land Beck lives on between the two of them. Why? is the question they are asking. Beck has never heard of Callie before and vice versa.  Both Callie and Beck have pretty deep emotional issues stemming from their childhood. The one had a neglectful mother and basically had to make it on her own from a very young age and the other had an absent mother and a dad who tried to protect her and make her world safe. This book is their story together and how they worked through their issues.  It was a heart-rending and yet a beautiful story--another fictional reminder of the real world we live in. Our world is broken--in so many ways the story of these girls is played out over an...