Heaven Is Here, A Book Review

It's been a while since I've reviewed a book on here. I read books all the time, I just don't write reviews about them....hmmm, maybe I should...

Anyway, this book review is about a book called Heaven Is Here.

I can tell that I am going to have to buy my own copy. So, here is a little back story first. A few years ago I stumbled across a blog called, The Nie Nie Dialogues. My friend had a link posted to it, and I followed the link. I enjoyed it. I thought it was witty and cute, and it wasn't surprising that it had a pretty large following. I remember it had a been a few months and I went to read the blog again, only to find out that the writer of the blog had been in a plane crash. I remember it was right after it happened because her sister had posted something, and linked to her blog, and it had all just barely occurred.

Well, Heaven Is Here, is the book about this lady. It is an breathtaking story. Miraculous. Amazing. Her blog is always very upbeat and positive. The book delves into what it was like on a personal level. The gutwrenching heartache and difficulty after coming back and getting used to a life in a body that survived having 80% of the skin be burned, and having part of that be a new face.

I think I cried about every other chapter of that book. I would just sit there and cry. It was a very emotional journey for me. A very good cleansing journey. I would read, and then I would think, and then I would just think of how grateful I am for my life.

I was also impressed with the love her husband has for her, and his dedication to taking care of her and showing her how much he loved her, no matter what. I think he reminded me of the love I know that Shane has for me.

So, I give this book 5 out of 5 pens. It's the kind of book that you could read again. It's the kind of book that I'm sure will make me pause, and think, "It's not that bad. Other people have survived worse, and come out on top." If you haven't read it, read it. It would definitely be worth your time.

Author

Well, I just finished reading another book by Janette Rallison. I LOVE HER BOOKS! They are so funny. She writes YA (Young Adult) fiction, so there are a few differences in the way things turn out versus an Adult fiction book, but her books are just enjoyable.

No bad language. Nothing questionable, and she is still able to write a funny, quirky, teenage book and has a great writing voice. I know that is HARD for some people to believe when a lot of authors, either because of outside editing "recommendations" or whatever, end up putting things in their books that don't need to be there, or because they think that is what readers want.

Well, I'm sorry, but I DON'T like reading swearwords, or explicit love scenes. This would probably explain why when I go to the library I tend to look for books published by Christian publishing houses. Bethany House, Zondervan, and there are a few others.

Young Adult books are more difficult to characterize that way. I always feel like I am taking a chance when I check one out, but the chances are higher that I will find a good clean book, than if I were to do the same thing in the Adult section of books.

I know I have written about Janette Rallison in a previous book review post (for My Fair Godmother, which is so funny I want to check it out and read it again...)

It is somewhat comforting to me to know that there is an author who has a similar writing style as Meg Cabot, who wrote all the Princess Diaries (which I would NEVER EVER EVER let my daughter read, they are TERRIBLE!! and are supposedly geared toward tweens...) but without all the smut.

Anyway, the latest book I read is called, "My Double Life." It's about a girl who looks almost identical to a celebrity, so she is asked to hire on as her double. It's a cute book, with a nice ending, and I would not be surprised if at some point in the future I decided to buy all of Janette Rallison's books just so I have them in my personal library.

Matched

This is the latest and greatest book I have read. IT IS AMAZING!!! I LOVE IT!!! In fact I'm reading it again, even before Shane gets to read it once...yeah, kinda selfish of me I know, but it is SOOOOO good!

This book, while completely capable of standing on its own, has similarities to The Giver, Hunger Games (loosely), and other books that describe an alternate society.

In this story, you have a society where freedoms have been taken away. Everything is decided by computer and statistics: your job, where you live, who you marry or are "matched" with, the food you eat... I think you get the idea.

I get the impression there will be more books to follow after this one, but it is capable of being on its own if there aren't.

I thought it was interesting to note that the author of this book is the sister of a girl I went to college with down at SUU. Small world! She doesn't know me, and her sister may remember me if she saw me and I "refreshed" her memory, but still it just made me think it was so cool!!

This book definitely gets 5 pens from me! Go read it, you will like it!

My Fair Godmother

This book is a delightful read. It is quirky, funny, and enjoyable to the end. In the book, a teenage girl is visited by her "fair godmother." Fair, because her godmother didn't get great or even good grades at godmother school...just fair. Haha!

This is a book I am sure I will end up buying because it is so fun to read. An added bonus is there are no swearwords, bad scenes, or anything, which make it even more enjoyable. Compared to a movie I would say it would be rated PG.

I give it 5 pens. :)

Emily

So, I am a book worm. I think you all are pretty much aware of this. I read books a lot, and I reread books a lot too. There are some books that just need to be reread!

This is one of those books. When I was a teenager Jack Weyland's books were everywhere. I read all of them. They all had a good message, but were at times predictable. Okay, most times.

Still, his books are good on a feel good level, and they are clean. Something that a lot of youth fiction, especially ones dealing with relationships, are NOT.




Emily, is good. Emily is a book I can read and reread, and it will still make me cry. He wrote it in 1999 and now it is out of print. I was ecstatic when my mother in law found it for me at the DI. She has a sonar for these types of things.

Anyway, this book is about a girl who is starting college. She has potential, she wants to be a reporter, she is beautiful. Then something happens that forces her to rely on something other than outside beauty. To me it is touching, and I enjoy reading it every time I pick it up.

Books

Well, it has been a while since I reviewed any books on here, so I thought today would be a good time to update you. Recently I read two books. (Well, okay, I read MORE than two books, but I am going to review two of them!)



The first book is called "The Maze Runner." I initially started to read this one very first because it looked interesting, but I finished it last. I started reading the other books I had instead.

If that tells you anything, then you shouldn't be surprised to find out that I did not like this book all that much. I kept trying to like it. It just...it was rather boring to be right honest with you. I kept thinking, it has to get better and be really interesting. All the key ingredients were there to make it a very good book, but...it just didn't get there.

I kind of liked how my husband described it...it's like you're reading thinking, it has to start moving soon! but it never does... The first 150 pages is about the main character being disoriented and confused and no one telling him what is going on, and that he'll figure it out, but he can't figure it out because he's confused...yeah, it is a nice vicious cycle that grows very old after the third chapter.

It actually is going to have a sequel, but I can't say that I'm even curious to read the second one.

I can't even recommend it. It was that boring.



The second book I decided to review is called "Poison Study." This book, was VERY good. The only negative thing I thought about this book is that there is a little bit of swearing in it...but not very much. I'm picky about the books I read, and if they have too much language in them, I'll just put them down and not finish the book.

Anyway, this book I would say is more in the fantasy genre. It's set in an area where there used to be nobility, but the king was overtaken by a military general. The general has food tasters to test his food for poison, and the story is about a girl that becomes a food taster for the general.

I don't want to give too much away, but I thought this book was just good. I enjoyed reading it, it flowed well, the characters were described well, and I would probably read it again.

I give it 4 pens. :) It too has a sequel, and that one I REALLY want to read!

To be or not to be...

So, I was sitting here thinking about what I could write...I had two options: A. which was negative and depressing, or B. happy and not really about anything spectacular. So, I chose B. happy and not really about anything spectacular...because, while it is good to vent on a blog on occasion, I want people to be happy and smile when they read my blog, and not feel bad for me.

So, here's to my happy blog post!

Yippee! Today we bought a new book! And not just any book mind you, but a book that we (well, mainly I...) have been waiting for, for almost a year!

Back during Thanksgiving I read a book called "The Hunger Games." This is a GOOD book! I highly recommend it. Again, it is on the "what if" level of the future type book. I describe it as one of those books that would probably be classified as Sci-fi because they're not real, but they create a society in turmoil that is interesting to read about.



This book is more along the "Survivor" mixed with "The Lottery" type lines. There is a contest every year and only one winner. Every city is required to participate. Very interesting read, and the ending was not what I thought would happen, but it was a good ending.

Well, the new book is called "Catching Fire."


I am EXCITED to read it! Shane gets to read it first though, because I want to reread "The Hunger Games" so it will all be fresh in my mind.

The other exciting thing that has happened is our kids are addicted to books! We have rubbed off on them! Yippee!! The past few times we have gone to the D.I. our kids have bypassed the mostly broken toys and headed straight for the book section!

So, lots of things to be happy about here. :)

Unwind

This past weekend I was able to go to my side of the family's reunion. We had a lot of fun! We spent two nights and even with no air conditioning had an enjoyable time. :) On the second day there one of the activities was a "nature hike" by the reservoir. Since I do horribly on any type of hike (hikes+me=overheated...no matter what, even if I'm in shape, even if I drink plenty of fluids...) I decided it would be better if I just stayed back at the reunion site.

My nephew had a book there that he was reading called, "Unwind." It looked interesting, and he didn't mind if I read it so I started to read it. WOW! It was very good. Most people describe it as "disturbing."

For me, it was along the same avenue as "House of the Scorpion," "Hunger Games," and other books that deal with the scenario of, this is the future, and here's what happened to make it that way. What would you think?

The premise of the book involves a coming of terms for the Pro-life and Pro-choice people. Because of a civil war that took place between the two sides, a compromise was agreed on "making both sides happy." The solution...life is started at the point of conception and is protected until a child is 13 years old. Between the ages of 13-18 a child can be "unwound." Sounds weird, but it was very well written, and very enticing to read. I finished it in one afternoon. (Of course I was in speed read mode because I only had one afternoon to read it in!!)

Once the papers have been signed to have a child unwound, the child becomes government property. Of course, being teenagers with minds of their own, and not wanting to be unwound, there are AWOL Unwinds all over the country trying to stay alive until they are 18 years old and considered an adult.

I give it 4 and a half pens. I might have to go buy it for my own library...it was that good...