Destined for Doon by Carey Corp and Lorie Langdon

Destined for Doon by Carey Corp and Lorie Langdon is the sequel to   Doon by the same authors.  Mackenna is visited by Duncan, her old boyfriend from Doon, in her dressing room onset of her newest production just one short year after her return to modern day.  Mackenna has spent the past year acutely aware that she has made the mistake of her life by leaving Duncan on the bridge leading to Doon.  Doon is a community in the Scottish past.  The only way to Doon is to cross the Brig O Doon at just the right time.  Duncan requests Mackenna's return at the request of her best friend Veronica who happens to also be the Queen.  Both Mackenna and Veronica crossed the bridge at the same time but only Mackenna returned to modern Chicago in order to pursue her career hopefully to Broadway.  She is certain that Duncan must hate her for leaving him but she is also aware that she loves Duncan every bit as much as she ever did.  Mackenna agrees to return with Duncan for Veronica's sake to help her rescue Doon.   Mackeena and Veronica must figure out a way to save the land of Doon from the limbus which is destroying all vegetation, replacing it with a dark petunia-like flower and turning the wildlife and humans into a form much like zombies.  Will the rings that Mackeena and Veronica wear have enough power to save the Scottish land of Doon? Will the Doonians ever accept Veronica as their true queen and not just a figure head leader?  Read this next installment of Doon for all these answers and more.

I really do like these Doon stories.  I am not usually a fan of fantasy but I do enjoy the stepping back into the  history of Scotland of a thousand years past in order to read a good love story.  These love stories are good wholesome love stories than anyone including those of Junior high age and above could enjoy.  I think that this story could stand alone but the reader would definitely benefit from reading the series in order to get the background of the story.  I recommend this book as good reading for any who enjoy love stories and/or soft fantasy.
I received this book from Booklook for this review.

Never Ever Give Up: The inspiring story of Jessie and her JoyJars by Erik Rees

Never Ever Give Up by Erik Rees is the awe inspiring book about the life of his family in the year following the diagnosis of his 11-year-old daughter, Jessie's brain cancer.  This book takes the reader from Jessie being an average normal little girl who had a vision problem to being a girl who had an incurable brain tumor in a matter of days.  This book tells of how Jessie during a time in the hospital noticing that some of the children had to stay in the hospital and not get to go home as Jessie did to her family.  After spending time at the hospital preparing for the treatment Jessie asked the simple question, "How can we help them?"  Her parents teared up and didn't answer and quickly placed that question on the back burner as they contemplated how they were going to handle family life with a child with cancer but Jessie continued to ponder how to help them.  That night when the parents entered the kitchen to start dinner there was Jessie surrounded by brown paper lunch bags decorating them with stickers and markers and filling them with small toys which included her entire prized beanie baby collection.  Jessie was prepared to give away what she prized in order to help out other children who had cancer.  Erik, pastor at the Saddleback Church, was in the business of helping people and knew there would be rules governing gifts to children so he told Jessie he would help her by checking into what those rules were and then they would go from there.  They decided that the gallon plastic jars that pretzels came in would make a better container that the lunch bags and requirements stated that the gifts had to be new.  Jessie lost her battle with cancer in the following 10 months but during those 10 months Jessie's goals would go from trying to make a JoyJar, which is what she ended up calling her gifts, for each child in the Children's hospital in Orange County California to supplying a JoyJar for each child in America.  By her death the Never Ever Give Up movement started by this young girl in California went world wide.  This is what one person can do.  Jessie did not let a death sentence stop her from doing good.

I loved this book though I often couldn't see it because I was so teary eyed.  This book makes the majority of us ashamed of what we do with our time when such a sick child could do this in the short 10 months that she lived from her decision to help others until her death.  This book is well written by her father.  He also includes how the family functioned as a unit though the bad times and tips on treatments for children's rare cancers.  This is a difficult book to read because it is a true story of a little girl's fight with cancer and her eventual death but if you can make it through it is a book well worth reading.  This review could have been done a few days earlier but I needed to mull over the emotions of the book.
I received this book from Handlebar for this review.

Into the Canyon by Michael Neale

Into the Canyon by Michael Neale is the 2nd book in the River series.  This book closely follows The River in time as in the main part of the book is told set in the 1970's but there is a difference in the time switches.  The River flashes back to the time of Gabriel Clarke's childhood of the time when he lost his father to the river and he watched his father drown.  Into the Canyon starts out in 2010 and flashes back to the 1970's but mostly tells the story following the time of The River.  In this book Gabriel is in his 60's and helping a young married man who has recently separated from his wife and family find his way and learn what is important in life.  Gabriel does this in much the same manner as Ezra Buchanan and Jacob Fielding had done for him, accepting him in the place that he was but knowing that he was capable of so much more.  Gabriel's story of loving Tabitha and starting their life together is told throughout the rest of the summer which started in The River.  He learns the background of Ezra and his reason for living at the Camp.  He learns the story of Jacob and how he came to be in the river and nearly drowning if it weren't for Gabriel's father.  He learns of the mysterious man he keeps seeing in the trees of the mountain and his story and how all of this has been preordained by the Lord and how it fits into his story and the making of the man Gabriel is to be.  He learns that we all come into this life and we have our life saved by others as we learn our place in making the future of the ones who come after us become better.  We all are put on this earth for a reason it is up to us to find out what that reason it and fulfill it.

Read this book.   It is on my favorites list.  I hope that Mr. Neale continues writing in this series as he is such a good writer.  This book needs to be read by the young so that they will be inspired to find their niche in life.  It needs to be read by the old so that they will appreciate all that has been done for them to make life better and inspire them to be the leader for the young who are looking to them.  Thank you Mr. Neale for writing this book and keep on writing for us.   Now let us all, "Go out and make some history".
I received this book from Booksneeze for this review.