Gathering Blue

One of my top 5 favorite books is The Giver by Lois Lowry and since I have been desperate for a good book I picked up Gathering Blue.

This is a story about Kira, an orphan girl with a twisted leg, who lives in a village that is self centered. You are only important if you can contribute to the village. Where The Giver centered around a village where there is no pain, no problems and everything is planned out, this village is the opposite. The mothers take food out of their children's mouths, no help is offered and if you can't pull your own weight, you are taken to the field of leaving and left for the beasts.

Kira has a special talent, weaving, and this is the only thing that keeps her alive. The Council that is in charge of the town takes her in to work on the robe for the Singer. Her fear is that she will not have the skills to do a good job. She meets Thomas, a boy who is there to carve the cane for the Singer. Kira is worried that she doesn't have the skills to weave the Robe and doesn't know what will happen if she fails.

I must say I was a little disappointed. The Giver was one of the most original books I have ever read. There wasn't complete closure at the end; it had a feel that things were going to be ok, but perhaps there will be a sequel. With this book, it just abruptly ended. It felt incomplete. I was caught up in the story, but disappointed in the end. I read that this is actually a series, and have read that the characters from Gathering Blue and the Giver meet in the 3rd book, Messenger. I have that one and I am reading it next, so I will hold off my final evaluation until I read it.

To be continued...

Flow

I just finished listening to Flow by John Ortberg. I've been having a hard time lately and thought I could use something uplifting. Based on the verse John 7:38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water, John tells us that as believers we should be living in the flow. The things that stop us from living this way are "rags" that we need to throw off. R=resentment, A=anxiety, G=greed and S=superiority.



This is an audio book I want to own. John is an entertaining and down to earth pastor and I learned a lot from him. There was a lot of information and I know it would be a great resource to refer back to, over and over.



If you are looking for an uplifting series or are in a lukewarm rut, find this audio book and listen. It is well worth your time, and will give you a laugh or two.



I give this a 5 out of 5

Things I learned from Lost Boys

I made my older kids suffer through another "flash back" of mine by watching "The Lost Boys". I learned a few things watching this classic and I thought I would share them with you.


If someone offers you something to drink to "join them"....just say no! It can't be good.

Jason Patrick was HOT!

Guys with one earring are cool.

Chinese food can look a lot like maggots and worms and I may never eat it again.

Blood is thicker than, well, the need for blood.

Car tires screech and squeal on a dirt road.

Eighties movies were a lot like music videos.

80's music rocked!!

One question...

When did Ted become a vampire? Where's Bill?

BoneMan's Daughters

I hate when I can't find a good book. I've hit a dry spell lately. Ted Dekker is an author that either I love his book or I am unimpressed. I'm afraid this last one fell in to that last category.

The BoneMan's Daughters follows Ryan Evans, who doesn't know how to be a father or husband so he throws himself into his work. He is a military intelligence officer and is serving a term overseas. Ryan and his men are overcome by the enemy, he is captured and is the only survivor. His captor is angry with America for killing innocent women and children and he wants to use Ryan as an example. He wants Ryan to break the bones of seven children that he has found, just like his children's bones were broken when a bomb, set off in the building where they were playing, killed them. Ryan manages to escape, only after the children were killed by his captor. Ryan vows to be the husband and father he should have been, only to come home and find his wife with someone else and his now 16 year old daughter resentful and not in the least interested in him as a father.

Back home there is a serial killer on the loose the press has named the BoneMan. He kidnaps girls and kills them by breaking all of their bones without breaking the skin. As Ryan tries to win his way back into his family, the BoneMan targets his daughter.

Let me say, I am a fan of Dekker. Some of my all time favorite books are Thr3e, Adam, and Blink. Some of my least favorite books are House, Showdown and this one. I felt like there was nothing moving this book along, it just kind of dragged. This was one of those books where I thought, "Any minute now, this book is gonna kick in and be really great!" Nope, never happened.

I give this book a 2 out of 5.

Who is this guy????

This is guy like Keanu in the Matrix...only without the wires!!


Amazing




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