Book Review - The Best Summer of Our Lives

I have been waiting and waiting and waiting for the latest release from Rachel Hauck. That’s the problem with preordering. You know it is coming, like Christmas, but you can only count down until the day the clouds part and the book angels sing to announce its arrival in the mailbox. You dance your happy dance, (the neighbors are free to think what they want to think,) pluck your treasure from the box, and happy dance back inside before your glisten turns to sweaty drowned rat. You crack open the book to devour it. Then you realize this one is going to take some time. There’s a lot to unravel in The Best Summer of Our Lives. If you’re worried that you’ve overspent, please allow me to put those fears to rest. Clocking in at 376 pages, Hauck is giving you what you paid and waited for. Not a single page is wasted on frivolity and every bit of detail is pertinent. And if you think you’ve got this one figured out in the first chapter, here’s a spoiler: you don’t.

Summer, Spring, Fall and Snow are the Four Seasons, a group of friends knit as tightly together as the hours are knit into their days. The Best Summer of Our Lives focuses on the summer of 1977, the one between high school graduation and their freshman year at Florida State, the one they had planned to be the best summer of their lives. It is also the last summer these girls spent together and twenty years later they find themselves back in Tumbleweed, Oklahoma trying to figure out how to regain what was lost that year. Because if they can fix that, maybe they can also each find a way forward. Rachel Hauck threads together the individuals who make up this group and those who love them to deliver a perfect poolside read that will stick with you long after the last page.

The Best Summer of Our Lives by Rachel Hauck is available now from your favorite local bookseller or online:

Baker Book House        Christian Book            Barnes & Noble            Amazon

(This is where you usually see a disclaimer, because I often post reviews of books I have received from the author and/or publisher in exchange for an honest review. There is actually no need for a disclaimer here, because I bought this one and decided to review it because it brings me joy to share great books with you and to help promote and encourage these authors who work so hard to deliver quality literature.)

Book Review - The Long March Home

A story of friendship and brotherhood that spans several decades, The Long March Home opens in Mobile, Alabama in the early days of childhood for Jimmy, Claire and Billy. With mothers who are very close friends, it is no wonder the three who are so close in age would spend most of their waking hours together. When the group picks up Hank in elementary school, they seem to be complete. Things get a little more difficult as high school comes around; Jimmy notices Claire has become a woman, one who seems to be catching attention from other boys just when he also realizes she’s the only girl for him. His hellfire-and-brimstone preacher father has very specific plans that don’t look anything like what he wants, but Jimmy also knows he will have to choose between his father’s plans and the girl of his dreams. World War II changes the trajectory of his life, along with Hank and Billy, when the three run off to enlist. The long march home for these boys begins as they are complacent with a life of relative leisure in the Philippines and takes them to some very dark and difficult places as their daydreams become a painfully real nightmare.

Marcus Brotherton and Tosca Lee are both excellent researchers and storytellers, a fact which is quite obvious as you read through the story they have created together. Based on historical records of the troops who were pinned down on the Bataan Peninsula, the characters and events on The Long March Home are exceptionally real and painfully relevant. While crafting an entertaining story, albeit one that will break your heart over and over again, Brotherton and Lee have honored the veterans who gave their lives to fight tyranny. This work of historical fiction is a fitting tribute to their sacrifice. Keep your tissues handy; if this book was any less heartbreaking it wouldn’t be worth reading.

The Long March Home by Marcus Brotherton and Tosca Lee is available now from your favorite local bookseller or online:

Baker Book House            Christian Book            Barnes & Noble            Amazon

Thank you to the author and publisher for allowing me a copy to read and review. All opinions expressed here are my own and are completely genuine.

Interview with Kimberly Brook Williamson, Coloring Book Artist

In case y'all haven't noticed, I love my people. That's why I felt a bit chagrined when I realized I have failed to introduce one who a) has been there for me forever and ever amen, and b) happens to be published! She has been my sidekick and instigator, my editor, my study partner, my co-worker, my roommate, and always my friend. This phenomenal woman is fiercely faithful, legit full of grit, and super talented. On that note, I introduce you to my dear friend Kimberly Brook Williamson.

Woman by Grace Interviews Kimberly Brook Williamson

WBG: Biography points I shouldn’t miss:

KBW: Lifelong resident of Arkansas, almost life-long friend of yours! I come from a long line of creative and musical people, and drawing makes me feel connected to them.

WBG: I have enjoyed your artwork for years. When did you decide to publish your doodles as a coloring book?

KBW: Thank you! I started publishing my doodles about 4 years ago, though I have been drawing for ages. I began drawing pretty regularly in around 2014. I have always doodled, and suddenly it became ‘my medium’ through an interesting series of events.

WBG: Where did you get the idea to compile your doodles into a coloring book?

KBW: I started posting my doodles to my Facebook page, and a lot of people said they were good.   The drawings kept coming, and I hated for them to just sit on a shelf in a book, when they could be shared with others who might appreciate the option of adding their own color. I love to color too, but I can draw a lot more places than I can color. Drawing is just a more portable and compact art form for me. 

WBG: Where do you find inspiration for your doodles?

KBW: Sometimes I just start drawing lines. Sometimes I fold the paper in random ways; sometimes measured and symmetrical. I might have an interestingly shaped item on my desk that I could trace that gives me a jumping-off point. I might get a prompt from a friend!  Some of my best work came about by request. :D

WBG: Are there hidden gems or themes in your doodles?

KBW: There are generally little gems that you might catch, and as far as themes, yes. I like to work with the elements. Fire, Water, Earth, Air. Sometimes North, South, East and West. Sometimes sun and moon. Sometimes I just put on an audio book and start drawing. I always have really interesting outcomes when I do that. For example: While listening to Harry Potter, I was just sort-of mindlessly drawing and suddenly realized that there were owl shapes in my piece. 

WBG: Do you color your doodles?

KBW: Yes. But I never color one before I scan a picture of it in black and white for a future book. It seems rude not to share :)

WBG: How many designs are featured in your coloring books?

KBW: There are usually around 40 drawings in each book, but I don’t have a set number.

WBG: What do you hope others get from your coloring books?

KBW: I want people to relax. This world is chaotic. It needs peace and color. Drawing is my therapy. If someone else finds a benefit to adding color, then it can be their Color Therapy.

WBG: Are there other places people can find your art?

KBW: Actually yes :) I painted a couple of quilt squares during this year for the Arkansas Quilt Trail.  You can find a link to it online if you would like to drive around and see these squares in person (I think I saw some in Goshen on my last visit to your house!) And they will also be on the AQT website eventually. :) I love a good project, and anything I earn goes to support future artistic endeavors, basic needs, whatever happens to be most pressing at the time. :) 

Find this gem along the Arkansas Quilt Trail.

Arkansas Quilt Trail square by Kimberly Brook Williamson.

WBG: Is there anything else you would like to share with my readers?

KBW: I have some pretty significant mobility issues, and drawing is one of the things I can do when I can’t do much else. It helps keep my mind sharp and my heart soft; my troubles dull and my purpose clear.

WBG: Do you like to drink coffee or tea while you create?

KBW: I do like a good cuppa. Either will do! Coffee with cream and Tea with honey!

WBG: What other creative outlets do you enjoy?

KBW: I play the piano. I sing. I hum some sort of tune almost constantly. (sorry to those who tire of that! :p)I paint. I crochet. I write. My current writing project is a piece about my son Riley, who has some special needs of his own. I am up to his tenth year in the book, and he is currently 15. Every time I make a little progress in the book, he gets older! I imagine 10 is as good a place as any to stop. The entire book is a poem. I have been rhyming since I could write! If I ever wrap that up and get it published, maybe you can ask me about it. 

For now, it will have to suffice to say-that’s a tale for another day!

Thank you, Emily, for taking the time to do this. It means a lot to me to be able to share joy, especially in a world so easily darkened with fear and worry. I appreciate the opportunity to increase my reach. I just want to be a blessing, and want you to know that you are one! :)

Kimberly's coloring books make great gifts and are currently available on Amazon. Visit her author page here ✎ or click the images of her coloring books below to link directly to them. You can also find Kimberly online at the following social media links:

Blog * Facebook * Instagram * YouTube

Volume 1

 

Volume 2

Volume 3

Thank you, Kimberly, for taking the time to share your talents with my readers. And for the many years of friendship, both behind us and before us. May God continue to bless you and yours!

Bedtime Prayers

Princess Pea Pod prays every night when I tuck her into her tent. She usually rattles through odd sounding names, thanking God for various invisible friends and for every bird and squirrel that runs across our back porch. "Thank you God for Mozzie and Moosie and Mosey... and thank you God for a baby." She's pretty serious about that baby - if God was able to forget, He still couldn't because she's on His case for a baby.

Today principessa went to play with R&R, then shortly after she got home (and before she could take the rest time she said she was going to take) her friend MG came to play. MG and Princess Pea Pod are like twins separated at birth. Seriously. Born next door to each other at the hospital, 15 hours apart, they met in the nursery and have been sisters ever since. The thing is that MG now lives in another town and our twins separated at birth now see each other only a couple times a year. So our world comes to a screeching halt when her mom (who is super fabulous and is an awesome friend!) calls to say "Hey, we're in town." Nobody sees it, nobody hears it, but in my head I do a little dance: Uh-huh! Oh yeah! My friend is back in town! I digress... but there's a point. Principessa did not get to rest before MG and her devilishly adorable little twin brothers came to play.

So tonight, as I tucked her into her tent - half an hour later than usual and she's already half asleep, she sat up to pray. "Dear God, thank you for R & R, and thank you for MG. And thank you for MG to get the card I sent her with TWO hugs... and thank you God for a baby. Amen." Yep... what she said!

25 Days of Thanksgiving: Days 20-22

I spent this weekend with my in-laws, as is common during deer season. I enjoy spending time with my family, and I usually take the opportunity to "unplug" for a few days. Saturday my mother-in-law, who is also sickly right now, and I took Princess Pea Pod and went Christmas shopping. It was a learning experience! And so for day 20 of thanks-giving, I am thankful for learning experiences. We have learning opportunities all around us, and sometimes we miss the lesson, but on Saturday I learned that I am apparently too old to go power-shopping when I am sick. I used to put healthy people to shame, even when sick, but I suppose I will be staying home from now on.

Sunday we took our sickly selves and a great-grandmother grocery shopping. Not for pleasure, but because we didn't want her to go hungry. I was very thankful for my inhaler, but for day 21 of thanks-giving I am thankful for family time together. What else is there to say about that?

Today I am thankful that my baby brother is coming home this week! We were pretty good to each other as kids, as far as siblings go, but we didn't really appreciate each other until we grew up. Then he got a good job that took him entirely too far away from us. He's hardly a baby anymore, but he'll always be my baby brother. This year he's bringing his girlfriend Miss J, so we're double thankful! Sure, that kind of bundles right up with day 21, but my baby bro is in a league of his own.

Note: Winners of the Shutterfly freebies have been notified! Congrats to tyson2468 and Jen!

25 Days of Thanksgiving: Days 9 & 10

Day 9 of thanks-giving was yesterday. As I was standing at the sink, washing dishes by hand because our new dishwasher has been recalled for starting fires and the repairman won't be here until tomorrow, I realized that I was thankful for washing dishes by hand. I'm not going to lie, our attitudes haven't been the greatest when it comes to doing dishes by hand. We are spoiled. I am fully aware of this. But for about a month now we've been doing this chore, and most of that time it has been a family event. I insist on washing, since I have pretty pink gloves to keep my hands from chapping. Then Hot Daddy and Princess Pea Pod rinse, dry and put them away. This is a time in our lives when we still spend the majority of our time together, but I know that it won't be long before various responsibilities and activities fill our evenings. Then I will long for the evenings spent washing dishes together.

Today is day 10 and I am thankful for our excellent new library. Today I will be enjoying the children's section with a cup of coffee, a fantastic friend, and four kids. Yes, a cup of coffee... in the children's library... no joke! I suppose I am still in the dark ages (with which I had never seen a problem) when food and drink were absolutely unacceptable within the walls of the library and the only sounds allowed were the zhoop-zhoop from sliding a book off the shelf and the quiet click-flip of turning pages. As a child I adored the library. As as adult I adore the library. Then our small-ish town got a new library, with exciting features like a fireplace, and a coffee shop, and a stunning mosaic by two of my favorite people. Yeah, a fireplace and a coffee shop! The coffee shop will put an approved lid on your cup so that you can sit by the fire and read, or so that you can sit with your friend in the gazebo in the children's library, sipping coffee and watching your kids explore. Sure, I'd like to be going all by myself and sipping my coffee while I read by the fire, but M & I both have little readers. And I have a coffee pot and a fireplace at home. So today, for about an hour, my little reader and her friends can enjoy their new literary world and M & I will sip our coffee and enjoy their excitement.

25 Days of Thanksgiving: Days 7 & 8

Yesterday was loads of fun... well, if you weed out the not-so-fun part that involved car trouble. (Which is redeemed by the good part where my super handy, absolutely awesome hubby fixed the car. Because he's super handy and absolutely awesome!) For day 7 of giving thanks, I am thankful for family Christmas ornaments. It seems kind of silly to be thankful for a little token that hangs on our tree by a piece of ribbon, but as we put up our Christmas tree yesterday (yep, we're early... we love the whole Thanksgiving-Christmas season!) I got to explain every little token's story. The "Our First Christmas" ornament from the year "Hot Daddy" and I were married, the bunny in a baby bootie from the Christmas before Princess Pea Pod was born, and then kitten in a stroller from her first Christmas... and all the ornaments for all the years in between. It took hours to put up the tree. Much of that time included little tidbits about the peace dove ornament, or the Merry Christmas scroll ornament given to me by a good friend when we were in junior high, or the handmade baked dough ornaments that each have a family member's name on them. And most of that time also included our little principessa dancing around the tree to the Christmas music on tv. 

For day 8, I am thankful for a camera that fits in my purse. That might seem silly until you think about the fact that, if I didn't have a camera small enough to drop down in my purse I wouldn't have gotten THIS pic.

I have known these awesome people all.my.life. No joke. They are friends of my parents. Their son is a friend of my brother. Their daughter is a friend of mine. Our family went to church with their family when we were kids (ok, it all started when he and my dad were kids.) We played at their house, they played at our house... they were always there. Then we moved. Then they moved. And we've only seen each other a handful of times since then. If I hadn't had my camera in my purse when we saw them at the mall in Branson last weekend, I wouldn't have this picture. And I'm thankful for this picture to remind me of the treasure of that kind of friendship.

I'm also thankful that I could grab the camera and snap this shot.

What a family!

25 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 3

Today I am thankful for friends. If I started naming them, I would inevitably leave someone out. They might forgive me, but I'd forever regret such a grievous mistake. So you know who you are, and I am thankful for you!

On another note, I am also thankful for the code I just received for 50 free Christmas cards from Shutterfly! I posted about Shutterfly's excellent selection of holiday card designs the other day, and although it was a difficult decision, I am chosen the perfect card for our family. It is called Blessed Elegance. Check it out. And just wait till I post our Christmas card to you... I love it! I'm sure you'll be hearing more about Shutterfly in the weeks to come. Because they are awesome. The End.