Gravel Road Musings

This poor blog sits neglected and forlorn, a pretty direct correlation to my reading life right now. I knew the summer would be busy, I had no idea it would be this busy and I would have so little time to read. I am so far behind on my book reviews and it makes me quite sad and a little anxious even. But fall is coming and hopefully I'll be able to read just a bit more then. But I did get this book read and am posting my review only one day late. Yours Truly, Thomas was a quick fun read based on an unusual premise. A clerk, Penny, at the Dead Letter Office in DC finds a letter from a heartbroken man out west and is determined to help him. You can already guess the ending of that story, but there's a few things to mine out of the story as well. Penny's attitude is one thing that stands out here. She was raised as a rich man's daughter, but after her father died, something happened and she had to go to work to support herself and her mother and that is how she wound...

Ann has written a few books on the Shaker community and this is her latest one. I don't know much about who the Shakers were and so I found this very interesting. I can't vouch for the accuracy of the descriptions though I know the whole celibate lifestyle was definitely true, which I found very intriguing as to how they thought their community would continue to grow if there were no more children born. But that's beside the point, I guess. Into this community, Darcie and Walter had come for refuge from the cholera plague. They, of course, weren't going to stay forever, they just wanted safety. Well, safety is an illusion, as Darcie discovered when her husband was killed. This is not a spoiler, it's in the first paragraph. And so Darcie feels stuck now, with no way to support herself if she leaves. She's having a baby and Shaker tradition is that all are sisters and brothers and so Darcie would be unable to raise her baby. The baby would go to the Children...

"One thing I know for sure, you either get bitter or better by what life throws at you." This is my takeaway quote from this book. And it is so true, but something I forget way too easily. This is a nice breezy summer read. Set on an island, the feel is warm and sunshiny. I mean what can go wrong on an island? But wait, there's the missing lobster, the painters who don't show up, the mayor who's a real character and then there's Peg, who you just have to love. But, none of these are the main characters, the three sisters who are here to help their dad out, to help restore a long-held dream. And, of course, there's romance. I mean it's a nice summer read after all, isn't that what you would expect? I will say this romance is fairly understated, things go wrong and things go very right, but not necessarily as you would guess. There's not a defined ending, but I'm guessing there are more books coming. There are three sisters after all ...

Building Traditions that Breathe Life into Your Home "Traditions are a planned determination to remember, celebrate, and value what is important." "Traditions offer security. Traditions provide comforting memories. Traditions make life sparkle. Traditions remind us what matters. Traditions connect us to others. Traditions shower love. Traditions are worth it." I debated getting this book because it just felt like another to-do list, another reminder of how much I fail as a mom to make life fun and interesting for my children. But I'm also a sucker for books like this that are brimming with ideas and to-do lists, so I got it. Jessica has some really good things to say. She understands the busy mom who doesn't have a lot of margin in her day.  She doesn't ask every mom to go out and plan a big five-course dinner every night of the week because that is what your children will remember. She does stress the importance of food in a child's ...

Karen Kingsbury does it again. Only four chapters in and I was wiping my tears. I haven't read a lot of Karen's books in the last couple of years, but this is the second one this year and I am really wanting to go back and start at the beginning and read all of her backlists. This book is once again about the Baxter's, a lovely close-knit family that Karen has devoted many books to. The main character is Cole, an 18-year-old son of Ashley Baxter Blake. He is mature for his age, compassionate and completely sold out for God. Elise, the other main character, is also 18 and one semester of bad choices has led to a teen pregnancy. This is the journey of first love, hard choices, redemption, and lasts. And I hope it's not the last we will hear of Cole and Elise. I want to know how their story ends. This book gripped me. I couldn't read it fast enough and yet I didn't want it to end. I think there were a few reasons for this, one was in the early pages of the bo...

 The day stretched out in front of me as I sat on the couch sipping another cup of coffee and contemplating my quiet time. Without warning, the tears started falling and my mind struggled to grasp what was going on? Why now? Why am I fighting against life now? It was going relatively smoothly and so why this uprising in my spirit? A scream punctuates the relative quiet of two children playing, "It's mine, he took my toy." I once again began my mantra, "What are you supposed to do when that happens?" "What is the right choice to make?" "You may not scream."  And the normal response came back to me, "But he started the fussing or the fight or whatever name the event was dubbed that time" And my mind wants to shut down and flee the scene. I feel ambivalent about it all. Can you guys just settle your own fights for once? Or better yet, how about you play nicely for once? There's a novel idea. An hour later, I am blissfully cl...

The Atlanta Cotton Exposition of 1895 is the historical event this book is built around. Laurel, the main female character, has been bossed by her five older siblings and told she may not leave their widowed mother to get married, that it is her responsibility to provide care to her in her dotage. Her mother, at this point in time, is perfectly able to care for herself, but the siblings laid down the law. Now Laurel thinks that snagging a rich man would be the answer to her problems. And that is about all the plot specifics I am planning to give. But what about character? This book flips point of view from Laurel to the potential rich suitor to a poor, honest, hard-working young man to a black man and it shows the growth of character throughout the book. Laurel discovers that racial prejudice and social classes are very much alive and thriving in 1895 and she must choose how this all will affect her life. I thought Kim Vogel Sawyer did an excellent job at developing the character...