February Book Review <2

On the cusp of Spring and kicking off March with a book review of February books read. That being said…we did get sleet and snow last night…sigh…but Spring is coming!!!

I managed to finish three books which tells you what I can do when I set my phone aside from social media, right???

The first book I read was The Panhandle Predicament by Kendra Hoey. I do not make a practice of reading fiction because I can get sucked into stories. I have always had an overactive imagination and found that I was thinking far too much about fictional people and events and neglecting the world and people right in front of me.

However, I make exceptions and this was one that I purchased last August when we were visiting 30A in Florida. As we waited for our table at a popular breakfast spot, Rachel and I were checking out some of the shoppes. 

In one there was a table of books and Rachel noticed the photo of the author matched the face of the woman behind the counter. We talked to her and discovered she had, indeed, written not one but two books. The second was about to be released. I couldn’t help but purchase one since the author was standing right in front of me. 

The Panhandle Predicament is one of those books that goes back and forth between the past and present to unfold the story. The main character discovers a skeleton deep in one of the parks that we are familiar with along 30A. 

She and her husband are retired and have purchased the vacation home her family owned throughout her teen years. They would summer there and she and her sisters worked at one of the local bar/restaurants as servers. 

As she provides information from the past and present to aid the police in identifying the body, it becomes evident that along with the mysterious corpse, she has a past that is buried in her memories. 

It was okay and I may not have finished it if not for the circumstances of having met the author. It kept my attention without absorbing my mind. I skimmed over some of the details of she and her sisters and friends escapades. They weren’t overly graphic, but since they were not necessary to the story and created images in my mind, I skipped over some paragraphs. 

I also had to skim over the last details that revealed the identity of the corpse for the same reason, and was still able to get the gist of the whole thing. If you like mysteries, it was fairly safe, entertaining and had some good points about trauma and the need for healing. 

The second one I read was Prayer: A Holy Occupation by Oswald Chambers. This was a gift years ago and I have started it or read bits and pieces, but this time I went cover to cover. The book is a collection of thoughts from various books Chambers wrote. 

The quotes are sectioned according to topic based on prayer as something we should occupy ourselves with. A few examples are Boldness, Childlikeness and Discipline. There are 13 sections all together. 

I folded back corners on several pages so that I can write down the quotes to share with our prayer team over this coming year. If you love Oswald Chambers, this is a nice collection of thoughts regarding prayer from his excellent stash of writings. 

Here are a few I have marked to revisit in my journal:

From the chapter on Silence:

Some prayers are followed by silence because they are wrong, others because they are bigger than we can understand. Pg. 149

And from Work:

We have not the remotest conception of what is done by our prayers, nor have we the right to try and examine and understand it; all we know is Jesus Christ laid all stress on prayer. “And greater works than these will he do, because I go to My Father. And whatever you ask in My Name, that I will do.” Pg. 173

Finally the third book I read is actually one written for 3rd to 7th grade readers. Journey to America is a work of historical fiction telling the story of a Jewish family who lived in Berlin as the rise of the Nazi party was beginning to oppress and harass. 

In the story, the pressure is already quite intense and families are figuring out ways to escape. Because of the age of the target audience, the gruesome details and difficulties are clearly covered but without the intensity of graphic details. 

There is enough of the ugliness of this time and the hardship on Jews that I often wiped away tears. I know worse things to help fill in the details. 

It was touching to see the remnants of decency along the way that helped this family escape. It was heart wrenching to learn of their relatives who had chosen to stay and were murdered in the Kristallnacht event shortly after they made their departure. The reception for the family in Switzerland as refugees by Christian families who took them in was inspiring. 

The author of the book, Sonia Levitin, lived the experience she shares in the book. I think it is important to remember that period of history. It is obviously a quick read and one that I am setting aside to ask the grands to read this summer.

What we forget, we are prone to repeat. 

Blessings friends. 

What are you reading?

Books are available here (no compensation for me, just a convenience for you):

https://www.amazon.com/Panhandle-Predicament-Beachtown-Romantic-Mystery/dp/B0DPBJJJBF

https://www.amazon.com/Prayer-Occupation-OSWALD-CHAMBERS-LIBRARY/dp/0929239598

https://www.amazon.com/Journey-America-Sonia-Levitin/dp/0689711301