April book reviews #50books2013
14:06
Who Gives Up Adorable Little Girls Anyway? By Janet Louise Stephenson
'Passed around from family to family before an interstate adoption brought them to Idaho from Oregon, two young girls spend most of their lives wondering why their parents didn't keep them.
Every effort to find information about their past is shut down - by their adoptive family, the adoption agency, and the judicial system. Will they ever find answers to the questions that have haunted them for nearly 30 years?
- Why was Janet born on the side of a highway in the middle of the night?
- Who left these girls with the neighbors and didn't come back?
- What do the girls remember from before their adoption?
- Why did each family pass them on to another family instead of giving them a permanent home?
- Is someone out there missing them?
- Is there a conspiracy to keep them from knowing the truth?
- What does a 'forever family' mean anyway?
Learn the answers to these questions as you catch a glimpse of the psychological and emotional nightmare that surrounds the search for biological parents.
After decades of fruitless searches for their biological parents, something miraculous happens to open up the door for a reunion to take place. With a name and contact information, would the girls have the courage to reach out to a man who gave them away almost 30 years ago?
Take a ride on an emotional roller coaster with these two sisters as they defy their adoptive family's wishes to search out their birth parents' (from Amazon)
My thoughts:
I really, really enjoyed this book. It was easy to read, enjoyable and only took me a few hours (on and off.) to read. There are ups and downs in Janets story. I really felt for her and sister at times, it has some happy moments too. I am glad I read it. It opened my eyes and Janet (and her sister) is a true inspiration! It has a lovely ending and I will be reading the 'sequel' at some point, soon. I can't wait to know what happens next!
*****Five stars from me*****
Are you my Mommy by Janet Louise Stephenson
'Two sisters passed around from family to family as toddlers, handled their situation in dramatically different ways. The older sister internalized the abandonment and rejection, while the younger sister eagerly embraced each new mother figure asking, "Are you my mommy?"
Thirty years after being adopted into a Forever Family, these sisters seek out their past. In the search to reconnect with their biological family, they easily locate and reunite with their birth father. Through this reunion, they start to learn of the difficult life their birth mother had lived, and might still be living.
Several clues point to Native American Heritage through their Birth Mother's family line. While intense curiosity drives them to know more of their ancestry, their desire to reunite with her is diminished by an uncertainty over whether she wants to be found or if she would rather leave the past behind her where she buried it over 30 years ago.
They seek answers to these questions:
-Is their Birth Mother alive?
-How will the answer to this question affect them?
-If found alive, will she accept or reject them?
-What secrets has she been guarding all these years?
-Does she hold the keys to connect them to their tribal ancestry?
-What will it take to heal the wounds for both mother and daughters?
The tale stretches beyond the exhaustive search for their mother, delving into complicated family relationships, spirituality, healing, and forgiveness'
(Book description from amazon)
My thoughts:
This was the sequel to 'who gives away adorable little girls anyway' (see first book review in this post). I really enjoyed this book, again I read it within a few hours. It was a little sad in places but it was SO good. Easy to read, well written (IMO). As the story went on about her experiences and her life I couldn't put this book down! I was hooked. Again, quite a happy ending!
*****Five stars from me*****
My thoughts:
Walking Disaster by Jamie McGuire
"Finally, the highly anticipated follow-up to the New York Times bestseller Beautiful Disaster. Can you love someone too much?
Travis Maddox learned two things from his mother before she died: Love hard. Fight harder.
In Walking Disaster, the life of Travis is full of fast women, underground gambling, and violence. But just when he thinks he is invincible, Abby Abernathy brings him to his knees.
Every story has two sides. In Beautiful Disaster, Abby had her say. Now it’s time to see the story through Travis’s eyes."
My thoughts:
Anyhow..I read 'Beautiful Disaster' last month. Which was wrote from Abby's POV. 'Walking Disaster' is wrote from Travis' POV. Which I love. Even though I knew how this book ended, I seriously found it hard to put down! I really love every character in this story. I found Travis & Abby's relationship a little frustrating yet so, so addicting! Honestly, I loved this book. ****4 stars from me****
Also I heard that Beautiful Disaster is being made into a movie.. I really hope they don't spoil it. I am so excited, I hope it's true!!
The secret Holocaust diaries: The untold story of Nonna Bannister
Nonna Bannister carried a secret almost to her Tennessee grave: the diaries she kept as a young girl experiencing the horrors of the Holocaust while learning compassion and love for her fellow human beings. Nonna's writings tell the remarkable tale of how a Russian girl, born into a family that had known wealth and privileges, was exposed to the concentration camps and learned the value of human life and the importance of forgiveness
My thoughts:
Good reads recomended I read this book. So I did. And let me tell you, I am SO glad I did! I expected it to be a bit like "The diary of Anne Frank" It wasn't but it was just as good!
I love getting to know Nonna, in her earlier diary entries I learned a lot about her family, her love for her family and her life before world war II. In my personal opinion I thought this book was a little different ot other holocaust diaries and stories I have read in the past.
In places it was very sad! I won't lie, in places I did have a tear in my eye and a lump in my throat. She kept her story hidden for over fifty years when she finally shared it with her husband. After her death her diaries were edited and published. The story of Nonnas life is worth reading and learning about and people SHOULD read it!
I would recomend anyone read this book but be warned it IS sad in places. I learned SO much, I am very glad I read this book!
*****Five stars*****
Walking Disaster by Jamie McGuire
"Finally, the highly anticipated follow-up to the New York Times bestseller Beautiful Disaster. Can you love someone too much?
Travis Maddox learned two things from his mother before she died: Love hard. Fight harder.
In Walking Disaster, the life of Travis is full of fast women, underground gambling, and violence. But just when he thinks he is invincible, Abby Abernathy brings him to his knees.
Every story has two sides. In Beautiful Disaster, Abby had her say. Now it’s time to see the story through Travis’s eyes."
My thoughts:
Anyhow..I read 'Beautiful Disaster' last month. Which was wrote from Abby's POV. 'Walking Disaster' is wrote from Travis' POV. Which I love. Even though I knew how this book ended, I seriously found it hard to put down! I really love every character in this story. I found Travis & Abby's relationship a little frustrating yet so, so addicting! Honestly, I loved this book. ****4 stars from me****
Also I heard that Beautiful Disaster is being made into a movie.. I really hope they don't spoil it. I am so excited, I hope it's true!!
More to be added as the month of April goes on.
2 comments
This is on my wishlist to read xx
ReplyDeletehttp://beautyqueenuk.blogspot.co.uk/
This sounds right up my street! I'm def going to buy this! :)
ReplyDeleteHayley
Sparkles &
Stretchmarks
xxx
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