Gone South by Meg Moseley - A book review

I loved this book!  It is the story of a woman, who has been through a lot in the last few years, that decides to make a major life change.  On a whim, she drives by a home that was at one point owned by an ancestor, and when she sees it is for sale she decides to leave everything she has ever known and move, to ALABAMA.  The story had a lot of twists, turns, and humor, and I loved every moment.  I hurt with Tish, I laughed with Tish, and I fell in love with her little community of friends, quirks and all.
If you want a great quick read, that will also have you thinking about how you view and act toward other people, this one is for you.  A little bit of convictonand a lot of laughs.  Go read, Gone South!

Booking it

I love Booking it with the Life as Mom crowd.  I missed out last month, which means I had quite a few that I read.  so many, that I can't remember the titles, I read two that were recommended by the life as mom crowd that had to do w frugality, and they were both really good.  I got a few frugal recipes, as well as a few new moneysaving ideas.  I'll try to look up their titles later and add them on, because they were great reads.
Meanwhile, I read these great titles:
One Glorious Ambition
The Ice Cutter's Daughter
The Winnowing Season
A Place to Belong
They werenall fun fiction reads, and I enjoyednall of them.  for more great reads Check out lifeasmom

A Place to Belong - book review

This month my read from Bethany House was A Place to Belong.  This is the third book, in the Wild West Wind series.  I did not intend to volunteer for a book that was in the middle of a series, but I am so glad that I did.  I have never read one of Ms. Snelling's books before, but if this book is any indication of her writing, I intend to go back and read more.  Even though I hadn't read the first two books in this series it was very easy to figure out what had come before, and it was easy to follow the story from where this book started.
This book follows the Engstrom family and all of the family that they have created for themselves.  They have discovered the truth, that it is more than just bloodlines that make a family.  Some decisions that are made threaten to tear this family apart, will they be able to survive?
If y are looking for a good read this summer, I suspect this series  would be a great place to start.  If the others in the series are as well written as this one it will be a great use of time.
Thanks to Bethany House for providing me with a copy to review.  My opinions are my own.

Book Review ~ The Winnowing Season

Thank you WATERBROOK  for providing me a review copy of this book.  My opinions are my own. 

The Winnowing Season by Cindy Woodsmall is a the second in the Amish Vines and Orchards series.  I read this book without having read the first in the series and had no problem following along, although I'm sure that the 1st would have given me a lot of background on the characters. 

This story starts with a group of Amish moving to Maine to create a new settlement.  There are all the complexities involved with starting a place from scratch, but on top of that there is a lot of different relationships between the characters that are making the move.  They basically all come from two families and are going to combine together and create a new orchard.  The woman of one family is dating one of the men in the other, but their relationship is challenged from the first moment of the move.  He disappears on the night they are moving and shows up later with little explanation.  Each of the small plot lines were interesting in the book, and it did all move in and out of the major plot of the new orchard.  I like books that do that efficiently. 

I did enjoy the book, but I really dislike books that end in a mess with no resolution.  This one has very little in the way of resolution.  I completely understand that the idea would be that you would continue on and read the next book in the series, but in this case, the next book doesn't come out for a long time! 

Go ahead, check it out, I don't think you'll be sad you did, but if you want resolution, you may one to wait til book 3 comes out. 

Book Review - The Icecutter's Daughter

It is no secret, I am a Tracie Peterson fan. I like everything I have ever read by her,and this was no different. She always has strong female leads, and I am drawn to that. I think I view myself in much the same way that Merrill did in this book.

Like most Peterson novels, this is a love story. Merrill Krause is the only woman in a house full of men, but she doesn't mind. She loves her Dad and brothers and enjoys being around to help out, she also enjoys the freedom it gives her in working with their horses. Out at their farm no one minds when she slips on a pair of trousers to do a little bit of the dirty work. But, will the day come when a man can see through her sea of brothers and notice there is a woman there as well? Will she be able to marry and have a family of her own?

You will have to read to find out. If you want a sneak peak of the first chapter check it out here. Once you've read that and fallen in love, you'll need to order your own here.

Thank you to Bethany House for providing me with a review copy. My opinions are my own.

One Glorious Ambition (book review)

This book is a fictionalized account of the life of Dorthea Dix. That I think is what I didn't like about this book. I enjoy biographies and I enjoy historical fiction, but this was an interesting mix. The author had to follow Dorthea's life with little room for deviation, and just got to fill in details about conversations and such with what might have happened in her everyday life. That means that classic story telling and story movement can't be used, and Dorthea Dix's life was often sad, it made for a story that dragged in many points. This fictionalized version of her life also means that if you are reading for detail you may not be able to tell what the author added, and what is know for sure. If you are a Dorthea Dix fan or you want to know more about how she changed how we treat mental patients, you may enjoy this book,  otherwise I'm not sure I would recommend it. 

I received a copy of this book to review, my opinions are my own. 

30 days to clean - bathrooms

Yesterday I accomplished what I set out to do, but didn't get the pictures up. My phone and my blogging program don't like to cooperate with each other all of the time :). Need to make it to the computer to post pics, and yesterday it didn't happen. Today the bathrooms did get cleaned.  Everything got wiped down and trash got emptied. I still need to wipe down both bathtubs, but it shouldn't take long. Good luck on your continued clean :). Check out moneysavingmom.com for more clean stories.