I COULDN'T LOVE YOU MORE BY JASON INGRAM

This is my first children's book sent to me from Tyndale Publishers for review  I wasn't sure how I was going to review this adorable book.   When I saw the cover and the beautiful illustrations, I put my hands to my face and worried if I would be able to give this story the review it deserves.

My first thought when I saw the cover was "What a beautiful soothing bedtime story for my granddaughter Hayden, who by the way just turned 3 last week.   Then I started turning the pages and fell in love with the cutest animals; little bunnies, kittens, baby bears, baby ducks, and little cuddly piglets.

This story is more than a parent reminding their children that they love them, but that Jesus will always be with them and "Couldn't Love Them More".  Telling our boys that we love them unconditionally has been an important part of our parenting.  It was (is) very important that even though they are now grown men with families of their own, they know that we are always here for them.  We are all in different towns, and states, but we talk on the phone regularly.  Our conversations always end with "I Love You".  I see through my grandchildren, an their young age of  3, these 3 words and the understanding have been passed down to them. 

I feel truly honored to be given the chance to read and review this wonderful children's book, but also to be able to pass this book onto my granddaughter Hayden Paige.

Spring Reading Thing 2012

I just found this challenge and was really taken by the thought of reading a book title starting with the letters in Spring.

When? March 20th – June 19th

What? Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, will be to read the word SPRING plus we’ve added three bonus mini challenges. How do you read the word Spring? Good question. You have three options:
a. Read books whose titles begin with each letter in the word SPRING.
b. Read books where the authors’ first names begin with each letter in the word SPRING.
c. Read books where the authors’ last names begin with each letter in the word SPRING.

Bonus:
1. Read a book with the name of a flower in the title.
2. Read a book with a flower(s) on the cover.
3. Read a book where the main character’s name is the name of a flower.

Example:
S ~ Sheriff’s Surrender, The by Susan Page Davis or Susan Page Davis, The Sheriff’s Surrender or Stevenson, Robert Louis – Treasure Island
P ~
R ~
I ~
N ~
G ~

I went thru my list of books on my TBR list and found that I have books of every letter just waiting to be read.  Surprise, Surprise.  Here is my list of books that I am going to attempt to read:

S =  Sisters by Nancy Jensen

P = The Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult

R = The Rest of Her Life by Laura Moriarty

I = In Leah's Wake by Terri Giuliano Long

N = Night Swim by Jessica Keener

G = The Good Father by Diane Chamberlain - just received from Net Galley

I am really looking forward to reading some of your reviews of books relating to SPRING!!!!

Happy Reading

Sworn By Silence

Hi Readers: As I said I was going to try and read Sworn By Silence mainely because of the Amish setting. I could not even get past the 1st paragraph and had to put the book away. --- There are too many books that are so beautifully write on waste my time on graphic violence. Without even reading this I am giving the book an F.

I am on to the Russian Winter by Daphne Kalotay which has been on my TBR pile for a long time.

Happy Reading
Cathy

Wherever Grace Is Needed by Elizabeth Bass

SUMMARY

When Grace Oliver leaves Portland for Austin, Texas, to help her father, Lou, recuperate from a car accident, she expects to stay just a few weeks. Since her mother's divorce thirty years ago, Grace has hovered on the periphery of the Oliver family. But now she sees a chance to get closer to her half-brothers and the home she's never forgotten.

But the Olivers are facing a crisis. Tests reveal that Lou, a retired college professor whose sharp tongue and tenderness Grace adores, is in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease. Grace delays her departure to care for him, and is soon entwined in the complicated lives of her siblings-all squabbling over Lou's future-and of the family next door…
Ray West and his three children are reeling from a recent tragedy, particularly sixteen-year-old Jordan, whose grief is heightened by guilt and anger. Amid the turmoil, Grace not only gives solace and support, but learns to receive it. And though she came to Austin to reconnect with her past, she is drawn by degrees into surprising new connections .... from Reading Group Choice

My Thoughts:

I really enjoyed how this story was more about characters than plot. I thought Elizabeth Bass did a great job in developing the personalities of each of the characters. Grace is such a believable character. Can't you picture yourself thinking that you are going to help out a parent for a short time, and finds more and more reasons to stay longer? I can !!!! My heart really when out to the West family. Each of them trying to deal with the loss of 2 family members (mother/wife)and (sister/daughter), killed in a horrible car accident. Jordan full of grief and guilt and putting this wall up so that she doesn't have to feel the pain. Grace finds herself entwined in their lives. As it turns out in a very positive way.

I felt that I was emotionally invested through this whole novel. The most emotional part for me was when Grace finally faced the fact that her dad has early stages of Alzheimer and that there would come a day when he would not know her.

This is the first novel of Elizabeth Bass that I have read. I intend to read more of her work. I am giving this charming book a B+, and would highly recommend this for any Book Club.

Sworn By Silence

A little bit of fun on a Friday, this weekly meme is hosted by A Few More Pages.
I'll share the first line (or two) of the book I'm currently reading (including the title and author) and let you know what my first impressions are - good or bad!

She hadn’t believed in monsters since she was six years old, back when her mom would check the closet and look beneath her bed at night. But at the age of twenty-one, bound and brutalized and lying naked on a concrete floor that was as cold as lake ice, she believed.

This is my next read. This is the first in a series by Linda Castillo. Am so looking forward to reading about my favorite Amish Culture and a good mystery. It may be a little graphic but I will do my best to get past that.

Happy Reading Everyone

Cathy

The Peach Keeper

Summary (From book flap):

It's the dubious distinction of thirty-year-old Willa Jackson to hail from a fine old Southern family of means that met with financial ruin generations ago. The Blue Ridge Madam -- built by Willa's great-great-grandfather during Walls of Water's heyday, and once the town's grandest home -- has stood for years as a lonely monument to misfortune and scandal. And Willa herself has long strived to build a life beyond the brooding Jackson family shadow. No easy task in a town shaped by years of tradition and the well-marked boundaries between the haves and the have-nots.

But Willa has lately learned that an old classmate -- socialite do-gooder Paxton Osgood, of the very prominent Osgood family -- has restored the Blue Ridge Madam to her former glory, with plans to open a top-flight inn. Maybe, at last, the troubled past can be laid to rest while something new and wonderful rises from its ashes. But what rises instead is a skeleton, found buried beneath the property's lone peach tree, and certain to drag up dire consequences along with it. For the bones -- those of charismatic traveling salesman Tucker Devlin, who worked his dark charms on Walls of Water seventy-five years ago -- are not all that lay hidden out of sight and mind. Long-kept secrets surrounding the troubling remains have also come to light, seemingly heralded by a spate of sudden strange occurrences throughout the town.

Now, thrust together in an unlikely friendship, united by a full-blooded mystery, Willa and Paxton must confront the dangerous passions and tragic betrayals that once bound their families -- and uncover truths of the long-dead that have transcended time and defied the grave to touch the hearts and souls of the living.

My Review:

This is the first book by Sarah Addison-Allen. I chose this book for the Authors A-Z Challenge and the Southern Literature Challenge. I thought the story was ok. I actually like the ending more than the beginning. I think my lack of interest was more my mood than the story or the author’s writing. I don’t think that I can really give this story the respect that is due at this time. I am storing this book away on my Kindle for another time. Also, I am putting this author on my TBR list.

Challenge Change-Up

After looking at all my books on my Kindle and all the Challenges out there on my favorite blogs, I decided to do a little Change Up.  I have started reading books by Author A-Z.  I will also be able to keep up with all the challenges I am involved.    I have started with Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen.  Peach Keeper has been on my TBR pile for awhile, and will also be listed on My Southern Literature Challenge I am involved in.  I wonder how may cross-challenges I can do now.

How many of my friends have done Change Ups?

Happy Reading
Cathy