Gravel Road Musings

  Big Lessons from a Little Donkey on Faith, Friendship, and Finding Your Path Rachel Anne Ridge is the author of Flash, another inspirational book about a donkey. I highly enjoyed this book and was happy to see her write another book. It did take me a long time to get to reading it. Since Flash, the first donkey showed up on their farm until Henry came to join them, a lot of things had happened, hard things that caused Rachel to question a lot of things. It would seem like she started from scratch to rebuild her faith and figure out what she believed. While I don't think she ever doubted God and His existence, things had happened that shook her foundation. My biggest negative about this book is that it seems that the foundational element of Creation was also shaken in this book and I cannot agree with her current perspective, especially not related to some of the resources she cited in the back of the book.  That being said, there were some good things in her book. She starte...

A True Story Heartrending, amazing, horrific, redemptive, abuse, forgiveness. This book has it all. I feel like this has to be a true story because you can't make stuff like this up. Debra is a foster mom and takes in a family of five. I don't want to give a lot of details, but there was an unprecedented order to send the children back to their mom. This caused great concern and well it should have for the end result.  But then Debra is asked to do a really hard thing and she wants to say no so very bad, but she feels God telling her to say yes and it leads to something beautiful, but still hard. I don't know how to describe this book without giving any spoilers, but it was so good and so sad and so redemptive and so heart-wrenching. But it was amazing to see God at work in changing lives and providing forgiveness even though there are still consequences for sin. "But life isn't a fairy tale, and we are not owed blissful happy endings. We are called to ...

A novelization by Chris Fabry based on the motion picture by Alex Kendrick and Stephen Kendrick. I get invested in my books, I can hardly put them down and need to know how they end. I can put a book down and go wow! that was good. But it takes a new kind of book to make me cry, but this book made me cry, a few different times even. This morning as I finished it, I wondered if my blanket was going to be wet with my tears because I could feel them running down. I'm not even sure if I can describe why the book made me cry, but it touched me and now I really, really want to watch the movie. A reviewer I read said this was a feel-good story. I'm not sure I can agree with that. Yes, it had a good ending, but I'm not sure I can totally call it a happy ending. It was a blessed ending, a Jesus ending, but there was a profound loss as well. Hannah is a young girl, who was raised by her grandma. She struggles to make friends, she has a bad habit that gets her kicked out of sc...

This is the first book I have read by Melanie Dobson and I certainly hope it isn't the last. I already have one book of hers on order from a rewards program and I already scoured the library to see what they had available to borrow. So that's high praise to start this review. I haven't read a lot of World War II historical fiction until the past few months. It's so heartbreaking to read and yet it can be so redemptive. Now, I realize that not all the actual happenings of WWII were redemptive, but I can appreciate the efforts authors make to bring those bittersweet, redemptive endings to their historical fiction. Melanie did an amazing job of bringing an aspect of World War II to life that I had no idea about. Who knew that some American businessmen had invested in the Nazi regime before and during the war? I had no idea that that had happened and it made me so sad. And yet it was encouraging to read about the many children that were rescued in Holland despite Hitl...

A Journey of Letting Go, Hanging on and Finding a Peace You Almost Forgot Was Possible The first thing I have to say about this book is just Go Read It!!  I really want to shout it at you in all caps, but I have the sense to realize that just because the book hit me between the eyes and I highlighted extensively on my Kindle version (I don't think I could highlight a paper copy), does not mean it will hit everyone the same way. I was reading this book at a time in my life when I really needed to surrender control, to be obedient to God's call, and to also be willing to accept help. These are all things that Jennifer talks about in this book. Jennifer was a news reporter and loved it until God kept pulling on her control strings and asking her to give up that job, then she taught news reporting until God asked for that job too. Now she writes about the greatest story of all: Jesus and following Him and does an amazing job of it as well. I think this is the first book I hav...

I think this is my last fiction post for the month and I'm glad. I feel like I really overindulged in fiction this month and while it's a good break from deep reading, too much is too much back to back, especially such light fluffy reading. This also falls into the caliber of fun, light reading, but I did really enjoy it. I loved reading about the food aspects as well because I am intrigued by fancy pastries and also by owning my own cafe/pastry shop. So watching Melody and Rachel work together to get it up and running was interesting as well, even though the author admits that she way expedited the process to make the book more interesting. I can appreciate that in a fiction novel because reading pages and pages of red tape and prolonged hunting for the perfect building would have been boring. Anyway, Melody, the pastry chef meets Justin, the airline pilot and you know how the story ends. Of course, there are twists and turns in the way, but I don't need to go into d...

Cultivating Lasting Friendship in a Lonely World Are you looking for close-knit friendships, for that bosom friend that Anne of Green Gables longed for and found in Diana? Are you just hoping it will drop in your lap with no effort on your part? Well, you are in for a real surprise, but this book will help you learn to cultivate the qualities of friendship in your own life so you can be that friend that you want someone to be in your own life. It will also help you to reach out and take the initiative to make friends. In full disclosure, I started to read this book with a bit of bias. I struggle to fully connect with Sally--she seems so idealistic and so perfect in her motherhood that in my struggling, bumbling attempt at motherhood, I feel pretty imperfect and unqualified. But I thought adding in her daughters, this might be a good book. And I was right. I did appreciate this book. There were a lot of good thoughts and good ideas that I would like to incorporate into my own life...

This is the second book in a series called Line Of Duty. It follows a police chief, Tess O'Rourke in the small town of Rogue's Hollow. She sees more action that a small town chief should see with an increasing drug problem and now pot farms. Someone has a price on her head and what exactly will happen? You know what happens, it's that kind of book, but it does keep you guessing by adding in more and more characters and a few unexpected things throughout. The best part of this book in terms of what can I get out of it, is Tess' relationship with God. She has been angry with God, she thinks, for years, ever since her dad took a bullet on her 16th birthday and died. She wants nothing to do with faith or God since. But she's good friends with a pastor, a pastor whose wife was killed in the first book of this series, so she is constantly confronted with God and faith and she values the pastor's insight and friendship. This comes to a head because the pastor m...

So after reading what felt like quite a bit of deeper, inspirational reading, I have a few fiction light reads to review this week and it's looking like fun. Along with that will be a book by Larry Crabb, which I don't expect to be light reading at all. But anyway, it's fun to just read for fun without trying to mine the truths out of it. Which is exactly what this book was. I have learned to like Diann Mills and her FBI investigator stories. This one was a bit of a different twist than her normal. A female FBI agent is kidnapped by the innocent party, partly because she was handed his daughter by the child's kidnapper and partly because he realized she was an FBI agent and would be able to help him. So the story was worked from a little different direction than normal. Of course, the "kidnapper" was the good guy and he was a widower and so everything all worked out in the end of course, in that regard!! But, the story didn't quite end up the way I...

A Journey through the Treasures & Transforming Power of a Reading Life This has to count for one of the most unique and yet interesting books I have ever read.  I appreciate the faithful who take the time to read my book reviews. Basically, we are talking a book full of book reviews, which is quite fascinating.  Now I will admit that to read through over 20 books lists/book reviews back to back does get a bit exhausting, but that is no fault of the author at all. The book is meant to be read cover to cover or it is meant to be read in snippets based on where you are at in life and what you are looking to learn or what you need for the current situation. One of the things Sarah talk about is discernment in reading and she say this: "When I come to a dilemma of discernment, I often find that if I examine what the book produces in me - in my emotions, my imagination, my desires, my sense of what is real or true - I can quickly identify whether the book is one I want to ...

Grief, loss, family dynamics, guilt, and no belief in God is the premise of this book. Lost and lonely,  feeling responsible for her twin sister's death, hiding in guilt for many years and sabotaging relationships and the result is a depressed young lady that struggles with panic attacks. Beth weaves an interesting story together combining all of these things, but the story isn't finished yet. There are more books to come in this series. Payton hasn't found God yet, though she's starting to be interested. Her sister hasn't fought and overcome her big challenge in life though she has been willing to face her fears and move forward. But progress has been made. While it's somewhat sad to come to the end of a book and not have all of the questions answered and the loose ends tied up, it's exciting to have another book or two or three to look forward to. I really liked the way Beth tells a story, I can't really put it into words, but I would recommend r...

If you are looking for a fiction book that isn't just full of boy meets girl, they have a fight, make up and then live happily ever after, this is the book for you.  This is Heidi's second book she's written and it's even better than her first one and I enjoyed her first book, "Freedom's Ring". This book takes a very tough subject, school shootings, and, while it's all fiction, to me it helps me to see the shooter and their family in a different light. It also flashes back to the Culper Spy Ring that was in action during the Revolutionary War by following the fictional character of Mercy Howard, who was part of that ring. First, let me say, that the theme of the book, what all the main characters were finding was a hiding place in God. They were recognizing how much they needed God to get them through the tough situations they were in, whether it was dealing with being in an enemy's prison ship or dealing with the consequences and wrong choic...

A Story of Friendship Illustrated by Justin Skeesuck and Matt Waresak This is a beautiful hardcover children's book, with a dust jacket, that tells the story of the friendship between two boys, one in a wheelchair with no ability to use his arms and legs and the other boy who would carry him, feed him and push him where he needed to go. The illustrations are nicely done, watercolor with ink, is the style I believe. It's an amazing story of friendship that I think kids of this age need to hear and emulate. It required something from both boys, John had to be willing to be helped and Marcus had to be willing to help. Both boys learned something from the other one. What makes this story better is the truth behind it. Patrick and Justin are those friends. Even though, as young children there were no disabilities, today, as men,  Justin has lost the use of his extremities and Patrick is there to support and encourage him, including pushing him 500 miles on his wheelchair ac...

Wow!! Wow!! Wow!!  Talk about a beautiful big thick hardcover book, this is the one. I was so pleased when I opened the box to see this book. However, we all know it takes more than a beautiful cover to make a good book and Francine has delivered again. She writes phenomenal fiction, fiction that can dig deep in your soul and cause you to look around and see how you are living life. This book causes me to look around and give thanks for a good home, for a solid foundation. It also can stir my heart to feel for those around me who did not have that same privilege. It makes me aware of how much my good upbringing has helped to solidify who I am today and how much easier it was to get to where I am today. This is a book of  hope. No matter your upbringing, whether your mom was a prostitute, selling her body to buy food and drugs that helped her forget and your dad was unknown or whether your dad had an anger problem that ultimately caused the death of your parents at age ...