The Midwife's Choice by Delia Parr

The Midwife's Choice by Delia Parr is the 2nd installment in the At Home in Trinity series by this author.  In this installment we find Martha living in the confectionary house with the 2 sisters who run it, Ivy and Fern.  She had developed a good working relationship with the doctor in town and both knew what each was best at in the division and care of their patients of the town.  Martha is developing a relationship with the mayor but so far has turned down his marriage proposal since she knows that she could not leave her midwifery practice if she were to marry him.  Then when her runaway daughter comes home it seems life could not be more complete.  That is until her daughter, Victoria, tells her of her plans to return to New York with her boss's wife to continue working at the newspaper.  Victoria has learned a lot since running away with the theater troupe.  She has grown up and seems to have be protected by God of the many evils which could have hurt her and found a nice family with which to live and work for.  Martha had been praying for her protection and it seems that He has provided that and more.  Victoria quickly apologized for leaving and Martha tells her that she has done some soul searching also about Victoria growing up since her husband's and Victoria's father's death.  She agrees to Victoria's return but with many stipulations which Victoria agrees and in a few days she would have returned but for the snowstorm and the beating of one of Martha's patients, Nancy, and needing to protect her.  Some of the town secrets come to light and community pulls together to protect and hide Nancy.

I loved reading this book even though I hadn't read the first installment.  It is not necessary to read it for the understanding of this book though I think I would have enjoyed it more since I would have already been acquainted with the characters of the story.  This book is a Christian love story though the love story just adds interest to the story of Martha's midwifery practice and her interactions with her daughter and the community. I would recommend this book for any age girl or woman reader.
I received this book from Baker Publishing Group for this review.

Happy Cooking by Giada De Laurentiis

Happy Cooking by Giada De Laurentiis is Giada's newest cookbook creation.  It is filled with high quality pictures on high quality paper.  Giada's cookbooks all have a theme and this one is healthy cooking on a day to day basis.  Now this cookbook is not for those looking for cooking on a budget.  Giada is a chef and as such uses good if not great quality foods and equipment and expects that the reader will also be able to afford these items if they wish to cook her recipes from this cookbook.  That being said she also explains the reasoning for instance using one type of olive oil over another.  In one recipe she will note that you should use not just Romano cheese but rather Pecorino Romano cheese.  The seasoned cook of skill will be able to make substitutes that may not be quit the quality but certainly have meals that the family can enjoy and afford.  She has many suggestions to make snacking more nutritious but still enjoyable and fun.  She makes no bones that she does not eat to lose weight but rather for nutrition and enjoyment.  This cookbook makes notations on whenever a recipe is classified as vegan, vegetarian, or gluten free.  This cookbook has many suggestions on seasonings as well as ways to use those vegetables in your garden that you have lost interest in beyond the first weeks of it being in season.  The chapter that I love the most however is the first one which is breakfast meals.  She has many great ideas that I will use again and again.

I liked this cookbook.  It cannot be the only cookbook that you own but luckily I own many and will enjoy this cookbook as an addition to my collection. I received this book for Blogging for Books for this review.

Amish Chrsitmas at North Star by Cindy Woodsmall, Mindy Starns Clark and Emily Clark, Amanda Flower, and Katie Ganshert

Amish Chrsitmas at North Star by Cindy Woodsmall, Mindy Starns Clark and Emily Clark, Amanda Flower, and Katie Ganshert.  These well known authors have worked together to write this delightful book of 4 stories.  The premise of the story is that Rebekah, the midwife of the Amish community 25 years ago on a snowy night delivered 4 babies and these 4 stories are how they are spending this Christmas as adults.  The children are Elle McAllister, Eden Hochstetler, Savilla Beiler, and Andy Danner.  In the first Elle knows that she is adopted but has no idea that her mother was from the Amish community of North Star.  A local reporter, Chase Wellington, decides to write a story about the 4 births and has set out to find out what happened to all those children born on that snowy night.  He becomes intrigued when he finds that one of the Amish women disappeared from the community after being dismissed and was never heard of after that.  Elle the baby of that mother has had a good life being raised by good parents, knows that her biological mother is out there but has no burning desire to find her, assuming that her mother does not want to be found. Chase convinces her that she should go back to North Star from Iowa where she was raised to find out her family history.
  In the 2nd story, Eden has joined with her non-Amish friend, Gina, to solve a murder mystery.  Eden's good elderly friend, Isaac, was found dead in the stable that he owned in town.  On the surface it looked like an accident where a horse stomped the man to death but Gina's father was the veterinarian and told her that the horse had a puncture wound and the lab results from the autopsy showed that the horse had been injected with amphetamines.  This greatly upset Eden since she was very close to the older man and loved spending time at the stables with him.  So begins the solving of the mystery by the two girls.
In the 3rd story Savilla has broken off her engagement to Kore without much explanation.  Savilla though had what she thought was an excellent reason, she was not going to be able to have children because she had to have a hysterectomy and didn't want Kore to marry her just because he felt sorry for her.  So she broke off the engagement without telling him why.  But when Kore's, grandmother Mammi D. falls and is in critical condition at the local hospital and Kore needs to come back home to help out.  Savilla has gone to check out Mammi D's house and make sure all was as it should be.  Savilla had been working with Mammi D the day before she fell and she needed to finish up and also wanted to check and make sure it hadn't left something out and caused the fall.  She heard a noise while she was there and discovered 3 children hiding outside.  She found out the Mammi D had agreed to watch them while their parents were out of the country to adopt their next sibling.  Savilla and Kore have to learn to get along and start working together to care for the children so that their parents don't have to return before the adoption goes through.
In the 4th story Andy Danner has left North Star 6 months ago because he can't face life there after Nellie left him.  Nellie always had been good with numbers and wanted to continue her education at the university.  She thought that though she could go through with joining the church and marriage to Andy until that day she left classes at the church and tearfully told him that she couldn't do it.  Nellie had gone on to the city and tried classes but found that she really needed the church and loved Andy more than she wanted to be educated.  Nellie returned to North Star and repented and was accepted back into the church and community but Andy couldn't trust her and he left  for Mississippi to join an Amish group working construction.  Sam, Andy's 12 year old brother was devastated as was Nellie.  Nellie wrote to Andy and apologized and said she would wait as long as necessary and went to work in an ice cream parlor in town and sewing for people on the side.  Sam thought of a great idea, he would make all the money necessary to buy Andy's train ticket if he would agree to come home.  Andy thinking it was impossible agreed.  Then Sam went to Nellie and talked to her about Andy and found the Nellie had written to him already but agreed to write another letter to him to apologize again.  All was going good until Andy and Sam's dad had the terrible accident and Sam gave up all his money to help pay the hospital bills. 
How is all this going to turn out for these 4 babies born on the same terrible night?

The Holy Bible International Children's Bible

The Holy Bible International Children's Bible is not a Children's Bible in the traditional sense of the phrase.  It is not merely the stories of the Bible that children would be interested.  It is also not a picture book there are no pictures to speak of in this Bible.  It is not even a paraphrase.  It is an actual translation of the Bible from the original Hebrew and Greek language.  All of that being said it is an easy to read translation.  Most children of about 5th grade reading level would be able to read it straight through and most reading children of any age could read the familiar stories.  It has plenty of maps to engage the reader into knowing where a particular incident took place.  The outside is decorated for girl readers especially those who love the Frozen movie.  It comes with a blue Bible case so that it can be easily transported (and protected) to church or study events. 

I would recommend this Bible for purchase for anyone buying for young girls either for personal study or as a Sunday School promotion gift.  It should be considered  a good first Bible for girls but would be easy Bible reading for adults also. It is a really good translation and I enjoyed reading it.  I really think that calling it a children's translation is going to cut down on sales because it would be a good translation for any adult to read also.  I know that I enjoyed reading this translation.
I received this Bible from BookLook for this review.

Black Earth by Timothy Snyder

Black Earth by Timothy Snyder is the holocaust as a history and warning.  This book looks at the holocaust strictly from a historical point of view with some additions from the author which could be construed as theory or the author's point of view.   There is no romance in this holocaust book.  There is no special interesting side stories to this book.  This book points out how Hitler and the men working with and for him made their decisions on their political aspirations as well as their plans to conquer the world.  Hitler is not the first nor most likely not the last to want to win public favor as well as ownership of the world.  What this book is investigating is why Hitler's war effort on the Jewish population was so well received in the 1930s and 1940s in Europe and Asia.  This aspect of the book is very hard to read as it condemns the majority of the world but if we do not look at it and as well why the rest of the world did not condemn them but rather watched while it happened is to repeat it.  To say that no one knew it was happening at the time is to tell our self a lie because it would have been impossible to hide the magnitude of this atrocity if we as a world were not willing to just not know. 

I am glad that I read this book though I cannot say that I enjoyed it.  I did not live during this period of time so I guess that I can tell myself that I would have done differently that the people living at that time.  But can I really?  Do I know what I would do if I were starving.  Do I even know extreme hunger?  Do any of us really?  When told something is a fact over and over by the media and public figures how far do I really look into the situation to make sure that I am not being lead astray by writers who are telling me what they want me to believe?  How easily are we as lazy, well-fed readers led down a path of the destruction of others?    How far would we really go with our high flung morals into helping others to the physical detriment to ourselves and our family? 

This book I would recommend reading for anyone of mature age who wants to know more of the history of the world during World War II.  Don't read this book though expecting to enjoy it though.  This is a historical viewing of this period of time and done in such a way that no country can escape knowledge that, "We could have either prevented this or at least done more to help these people".
I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

Forgiven by Terri Roberts

Forgiven by Terri Roberts is the story of the Amish School shooting or "The Happening" as the Amish call the event.  This is the story as told through the eyes of Terri Roberts, whom you may have never heard, but she was the mother of Charlie Roberts, the shooter.    Terri and her husband, Chuck, had spent their married life and raised their children in this ideal country setting.  Their farm was carved out of a piece of their Amish neighbor's farm.  Their Amish neighbors did not drive so they often drove them to places that the horse couldn't take them or they could not walk.  Charlie drove one of the milk trucks that picked up the milk at the various Amish dairies and took it into town.  The Amish knew them and they knew the Amish.  When Charlie entered the school the children knew who he was and let him in.  When Charlie killed those girls he knew them, these were the children he saw daily as he drove into their farms.  When the Amish men entered into Chuck and Terri's home to tell them that they forgave Charlie and that they wanted to help Charlie's children they meant it.  When Charlie was buried the day after the Amish children were buried, the  Amish provided a human shield so that the family would not be photographed and the funeral service could not be reported on by the newspaper and television crews.  The Amish showed not only forgiveness to the shooter's family but did the unthinkable--they loved them.  Terri started working with the Amish to help the healing both physical and psychological of all the involved family members.  In the years since that October 2, 2006 day Terri and many of the Amish families have worked together to help others who have been touched by various tragedies and this book tells of many of them as well as how they got to be close enough to help each other through it all.
On the back of the book Donald Kraybill notes that, "You won't be able to put this book down once you start reading!".  I found that not to be so--I had to put the book down many times because I could not see the words through my tears.  This is a very difficult book to read from an emotional standpoint.  Terri Roberts writes a very honest review of her family and the courage it took for the Amish to forgive and what it took for her to forgive her son and accept what had happened though she would never understand.  Anyone could read this but it will be difficult I imagine for anyone to do it.
I received this book from BethanyHouse for this review.

Dear Mary by Sarah Jakes

Dear Mary by Sarah Jakes is the newest book by this author written primarily for young women raising children.  It is to be lessons from the mother of Jesus for the modern mom.  Each chapter is a different topic with subjects like dinner, working outside the home, needing help both physical as well as financial, and grief.  There are of course many other topic discussed.  Each begins with scripture then musings on how Mary might have treated each subject, then the majority of the chapter is spent on how the author dealt with each subject while trying to raise her children in a manner that Mary would approve.  Her sister, Cora, wrote the introduction of the book in the same format as a letter to Mary.  This is an encouraging book for mothers raising children in the modern world and at the same time teaching them to have the courage to walk the faith of Mary of Biblical times. 

I liked this book though it did not read as I expected it to do.  From reading the back of the book, it says that she explores the biblical stories about Mary and it has more to do with how the author is raising her children to be faithful citizens than the expected how Mary did this.  This would have admittedly be much more difficult.  I think I would have liked the book better if it had read as the introduction as a letter to Mary on each subject.  This is a good book never the less and well worth the time to read.

I received this book from BethanyHouse for this review.