Podcast: Revive Our Hearts

Think of this like a short audio book - in nice manageable chunks. Each episode is about 30 minutes which, for me, is the perfect amount of time to listen to while I get ready in the morning.

I just finished the "Women of the Bible" series and absolutely loved it. Not only does it get into various women of the bible and breaks down the scriptures but the dialogue between the three women is so beautiful and real (where 2 or 3 gather together, there am I in the midst of them!). This has truly enriched my knowledge of each of these studies but, it also has added so much to my day.

I just started the "Deep Well" series as I have fallen in love with Erin Davis and love how she breaks down each of the studies. I started with the 7 Feasts and it is so good! If you are interested, you can download their free app at: https://www.reviveourhearts.com/app/

Be sure to check out Revive our Hearts https://www.reviveourhearts.com/podcast/ or podcast/blog/youtube - this is my absolute FAVORITE Christian podcast and I can't encourage you enough to check them out. Please share any of your favorite Christian podcasts below!

The Second Mrs Astor by Shana Abe

 My Rating: 4.7

At just 17 years old, Madeline attracts the attention of John Jacob "Jack" Astor. The Astors are American Royalty and upper-class. Madeline is plunged into their world of high society, including being in the unwelcome spotlight of the journalists and photographers.

What started off as rather dry quickly became an entertaining read. Between understanding the history of the Astors, how Madelaine was treated by his son as well as by society and then the final scenes on the Titanic, this is a novel I won't soon forget. It felt reminiscent of Marie Benedict. 

Malibu Rising by Tayor Jenkins Reid

My Rating: 4.6

This is about Nina Riva and her three famous siblings. Nina is almost a mother to her three siblings having raised them after their famous father abandonded them and their mother died.  August 1983 they are about to throw their annual epic Malibu party. 

This was both a light easy read and had such well developed characters. Taylor Jenkins Reid is fast becoming one of my favorite authors.

The Island Of Sea Women By Lisa See

 My Rating: 4.8

The Korean island of Jeju is known for haenyeo – all-female diving collective. This story centers on the story of two young girls, Mi-ja and Young-sook, as they grow up in the 1930s into the early 2000's. 

This novel brought the culture of the haenyeo alive as well as the beautiful friendship of two girls throughout the decades of their lives. The brutality of the war in the 30's and 40's came alive. So much heart ache and misunderstandings over the years that See ties together beautifully in the end. Very heartfelt. It was a bit difficult to jump from the beauty of the diving and their childhood into the atrocities of war but both stories were well worth it. Surprised that there aren't more writings about this horrific period of time.

Small Pleasures by Clare Chambers

 My Rating: 4.8

This is set in Kent, England in the 1950's...before there was DNA testing. 

Jean is single and never been married. She works at a local newspaper and lives with her elderly difficult mother. She has a very small life with no likelihood of escape.

Gretchen contacts the newspaper in response to an article and claims that she has a 10 year old daughter, Margaret, as the result of an immaculate conception. Gretchen is now married to Howard who also believes that Margaret was the result of a virgin birth.

Jean is assigned to investigate and write the article for the newspaper. In the process, Jean befriends Gretchen and her family and her life becomes so entwined with the family. 

I had to suspend my moral judgments and go with the story. This is such a tender and beautiful novel that captures Kent as well as all of their lives. All of the characters were so well developed with such exquisite writing. I found it all the more fascinating to know that this story was loosely based on true events. I definitely will be reading more by Chambers.

Bookmarks Best Books of 2021

Bookmarks is the only magazine that I am subscribed to and I am always so excited when it arrives. Not only does it provide hours of entertainment in browsing their book reviews but, it fills my kindle queue with books and the anticipation of wanting to read! I definitely recommend subscribing if you haven't already.

What surprised me the most is that, despite being subscribed to Bookmarks I have only read a couple from this list! They continue to fill up my queue.  Here are their picks of the Best Books of 2021:

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

Bookmarks Magazine Jan/Feb 2022

Despite my only having picked out the eight books below, this issue was jam packed with books I want to read. I am going to do a separate post dedicated to their best books of 2021.

  

  

  

  

A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins

 My Rating: 2.5

A man is found murdered aboard a house boat. Three separate women knew him and all have reasons to have killed him. Who did it?

This started off fairly well and went downhill quickly. There was too much dysfunction, degeneracy and nothing likable about any of the characters.