Book review: 'The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society'

Reading this stunning work of historical fiction, it’s easy to feel the sun warming the beaches of Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands between England and France — but much harder to grab your heart back when you’ve finished spending time with your new friends Poignancy, Heartache, Gratitude and Stunning Prose. Basically, after you’ve finished reading Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows’ The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.

The novel opens in 1946, just a few short years since the end of World War II and the ravaging of Europe by Hitler’s Third Reich. Much of London is still decimated — dilapidated buildings still stand, but spill their contents onto the streets by the River Thames. Author Juliet Ashton survived the difficult time in England through her writing — and helped others deal with the terror, confusion, pain and harshness of war through her columns in a London newspaper. Often humorous, Juliet’s musings were so popular in England that, after the end of the war, they were published — and sold quite well. Now riding high from the success of her book, Juliet is struggling to find a new subject on which to focus her literary pursuits . . . and is coming up empty.

Told entirely through a series of letters from a great variety of individuals, Guernsey is first and foremost Juliet’s story — but quickly shifts to encompass the lives of so many other exceptional people, too. As Juliet travels England on her book tour and laments her lack of inspiration, a letter from far away drops right into her lap. A man on the island of Guernsey has stumbled across a copy of book once having belonged to Juliet — before the contents of her home were ripped apart in a bomb blast years before. Somehow the book made it to the Channel Islands, still with Juliet’s inscription in the front — and has become a staple at the meetings of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, a slightly underground organization developed on the island during the five years in which German troops occupied Guernsey, making its inhabitants captives.

What always stuns me about fantastic historical fiction — particularly those stories which bring life to the people affected and haunted by World War II, one of the greatest blights and tragedies in human history — is its ability to completely transport me to another time, a distant place — and display to me, in a very human way, the toll of war upon those who fight and those who stay. None of the characters in Guernsey were soldiers, but they all knew – and loved — soldiers. None had to pick up and bear arms, but they did bear the daily burdens of not knowing whether their loved ones were safe.

It’s impossible for me — a modern American woman — to begin to understand what it must have felt like, both here and abroad, during World War II. At many times while reading, tears welled in my eyes as characters wrote to Juliet about the Occupation: what they sacrificed, how they survived, the uncertainty which enveloped their entire lives. Not having enough food, or coal, or warm clothing; not having a bed or a roof over their head. Watching prisoners marching through their once-beautiful streets, so thin as to almost disappear. But reading a novel like this reminds me how important it is that though I cannot truly understand, I can try to: and that this period of history, however horrible, can’t be forgotten.

I don’t want to make Guernsey sound morose . . . because it’s quite the opposite, really. It’s a testament to the human spirit. Like other fiction and non-fiction books I’ve read from the time, including The Diary of Anne Frank, Elizabeth Berg’s Dream When You’re Feeling Blue, Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief and The Diary of Dawid Sierakowiak, it’s as much about the unexpected kindnesses as it is about the tragedies . . . it’s about the resilience of the human spirit. It’s about being alive.

If I don’t keep myself in check, I’ll wind up writing a 20,000 word review of this one . . . so I’ll hit upon a few more key points before I let you go:

• Juliet. I loved her – and am pretty sure I would love to be her. She’s intelligent, beautiful, sincere, independent, kind, loving, witty — and a writer. She’s an unstoppable force of nature. Reading her often-hilarious, always sincere letters to her friend and editor Sidney Stark, Sophie, Dawsey and Amelia basically made me . . . want to be a better person.

• The love story. I won’t elaborate — I would never dream of ruining it for you! But it was romantic, sweeping, realistic – gorgeous. My heart swelled to bursting.

• Perspective. Reading this novel forced me to take all my “problems,” throw them into a balloon, fill it with air and then watch as it floated away, completely disappearing from sight. Not only was I entirely caught up in this story while reading, but know now that Juliet and the residents of Guernsey — and the realities of life in a very different, difficult time — will stay with me for days. How blessed am I, in 2009, to live in a world of freedom — and to have a life free of relatively free of hardship, pain or want?

• The writing. Oustanding. The novel was begun by Mary Ann Shaffer, who sadly passed away before its completion; it was then taken up by her niece Annie Barrows, who did a superb completing it. All of the voices blend together seamlessly and, though many of them are similar, each individual letter-writer has a style and tone all their own. There’s no such thing as a “background” character; every person tells a story and has a purpose. No words are minced or wasted. Flawless.

And how fortunate am I to have read this novel? If you have any hesitation about starting it or doubt the sincerity of my crazy high recommendation, I’ll share another quick story: in order to finish the novel this morning, I woke up at 7 a.m. I woke up early — before my alarm clock. I couldn’t bear the thought of going to work without knowing how everything turned out! So I threw a blanket over my head to block out the harsh reading light, made a tiny slit for my eyes to pass through and frantically flipped the pages until I was done. And then I sighed. With pure contentedness.

So you have your orders, friends – get a move on, now. Don’t let me see you dawdling!

5 out of 5!

ISBN: 0385340990 ♥ Purchase from Amazon ♥ Official Book Website
Copy received as a Christmas gift — last year! I’m so ashamed!

Six Suspects by Vikas Swarup

The linchpin of Vikas Swarup’s  Q&A (better known as Slumdog Millionaire) was coincidence — twenty of them, to be exact. The readers, however, were not required to suspend disbelief, for they could share the authorities’ scepticism (about coincidence providing the answers to the protagonist). By making the credibility of the events central to his narrative, Swarup elevated Q&A from thriller to genre-breaker. The novel’s in-your-face ingenuity ensured that the coincidences never dwindled into obvious literary devices.

Six Suspects, Swarup’s much awaited second novel, is again held together by the notion of coincidence. This time around, however, the author expects us to swallow it all with no explanation. But while far less convincing than Q&A, Six Suspects is wildly, shamelessly entertaining. Swarup is the Dan Brown of India, with the advantage of not having to look to history for inspiration; modern-day India, with its gaping social chasms and colorful political landscape, providesample material to conspiracy theorists.

Vicky Rai, the corrupt son of a corrupt politician, kills a young woman in a fit of rage. Despite the presence of several witnesses during the murder, Vicky is acquitted by the Indian judicial system. When Vicky is shot dead at a party celebrating the verdict, six suspects emerge: a Bollywood actress, a tribal, a petty thief, an American visitor, a bureaucrat and a politician. Each has a motive, each has a gun, and each one’s life is filled with coincidence. The American is named Larry Page (just like the Google guy)! The actress has a doppelganger! The thief is in love with a suspect’s daughter! Each sentence describing these six characters deserves an exclamation!

Sadly, the characters themselves are stereotypes; some more than others. The Bollywood actress is an intellectual; we know this because she quotes Nietzsche (“my Master”) and Sartre in her diary, and mentions Heidegger and Malamud in an interview. More troubling, however, is the intellectually-challenged Texan who works at a Walmart and says things like “Me and Mom are closer than ticks on a hound,” who references the Rose Bowl, Miss Hooters International, and the Starplex Cinema at Waco in his introduction. Swarup is on very thin ice here indeed.

And as for the plot: at times, it seems this frantic tale should be shelved under fantasy –the story lurches about crazily, moving from Kashmir to Chennai to the remote Andaman Islands to New Delhi. But it’s all strangely addictive, and makes for a cracking good read. Questioning Swarup’s style and plot developments while reading is like thinking about kinesiology during sex. Why spoil the fun?

Six Suspects is nothing if not ambitious, seeking to encompass each of modern India’s many issues in four hundred seventy pages. Poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, and endemic institutional corruption all find a mention. Terrorism in Kashmir: check. The Bhopal gas tragedy: check. A shamefully inadequate safety net for the underprivileged: check. A growing economic divide leading to escalating crime: check. Centrist policies disenfranchising those away from the seats of power: check. If I’ve left out any of India’s manifold woes — well, you’ll find them in this novel. After all, Swarup’s combination of feel-good emotion in the midst of grim Indian reality is a proven winner. It should surprise no-one that the film rights to this novel were snapped up long ago.

(A slightly modified version of this review appears in The Asian Review of Books.)

Book Reviews: Two Hot New Paranormals

• Title: Cat’s Meow
• Author: Nicole Austin
• Type:  Contemporary Paranormal
• Genre: Shifter
• Sub-genre: Mad scientist creates shifter soldiers a la Breeds
• My Grade: D+ to C- (2.5*)
• Rating: NC-17
• Length: Novella about 35,000 words sold as a short novel at $5.20
• Where Available: ebook from Ellora’s Cave
• FTC Disclosure: ebook purchased from publisher

Nicole Austin tries her hand at a variation on the theme created by Lora Leigh in her Breeds books of gene splicing human and animal DNA and .  Cat’s Meow takes us to the start of of genetic manipulation by a scientist with no morals, ethics or humanity – just a burning need to push for the ultimate thrill of highly illegal scientific breakthrough on the thin excuse of creating the ultimate soldier.  The seeds of a really good romantic suspense thriller with a sexy edge were laid here, but never bloomed.

Let me open by saying that I remain somewhat ambivalent on Nichole Austin’s work.  I have yet to read anything of hers that’s unique, original and exceptionally well written.  She tends to specialize in contemporaries, not my favorite genre overall, especially for erotic fiction.  This book is steamy and a shifter book with action, normally a trope that I’ll forgive a lot for,  but this one was more predictable and dull than interesting, though it certainly has its moments.

The bones of Cat’s Meow are good.  Micah Lassiter is a classic tough ex-military spec ops character and Rebecca Southerby is the usual heroine, educated, independent and never loved.  This time the heroine has an expertise dealing with big cats.  Here’s the first problem.  I believe in Rebecca as a woman, but not as a big cat expert.  Her responses were all wrong.  And despite being positioned as a very intelligent woman, she makes some dumb mistakes – including a monumental one right at the start.  Micah was also believable to a point, but no spec ops guy used to being in charge would ignore the fundamental psychological flaw in the man who hired him.  Top notch operators must be outstanding judges of character and several months around such a person is more than enough time to see character flaws of this magnitude.  I could get over that part, but not enough to fully buy into the plot.

The story opens with Micah Lassiter, a retired spec ops guy, rescuing Rebecca Southerby from the unwanted advances of a drunk in a restaurant, they have dinner and the attraction is both immediate and very strong, so they they also have a night together filled with wild monkey sex.  Months after a one night stand, Rebecca starts a new job working for Gabriel Weltman at Nanotech and is stunned to find herself confronted by Micah in a cage at a bio-tech facility.  For the first time ever, he shifts to a lion and scares the crap of Rebecca and gets himself shot full of tranquilizers.  Weltman tells Rebecca it’s her job to  help Micah learn to control his inner beast.

Together, Rebecca and Micah hatch a plot to help free him – in part thanks to the handy lack of audio surveillance allowing them to plot freely.  The current head of security at the compound was a man that Micah picked himself, but his allegiance is equivocal.  Somehow, a very simplistic plan gets Micah free of the compound and Rebecca commits the ultimate folly of going BACK there!  Now really, how stupid can anyone two people be? at aside, you have other ‘experiments’ going on, including one on an unwilling ‘volunteer’ security man that Micah knows.  A simple gun shot to Weltman’s head would have solved so many problems!  Instead, Micah ‘rescues’ Rebecca The ending includes the ‘big reveal’ about what happened as a result of the wild monkey sex.  Micah is getting some reliable ex-spec ops buddies together at the secure cabin so they can go and get the other ‘experiments’ free.  Next chapter you’re in Africa waiting for Micah to return.  HUH?  Wait a minute, we have a reunion and no clue what went down at Nanotech?  That was a major cheat.

This story just had so many flaws and one chronic one common to the romantic suspense genre, especially erotic romantic suspense – the  setups all have fatal flaw.  The men with the guns could easily overcome the mad scientists.  Finding men that are as morally flawed as the megalomaniacs that run these things isn’t all that easy.  They are not religious or political ‘true believers’, nor are the men under duress – threats to family or other other innocents as guarantee of their loyalty,  just money.  The bond among former sepc ops and military types is quite strong and most would realize that “there but for the grace of God go I” and work to stop the horror happening to their fellow operators.  To make this work, you need the ‘true believers’, the ones that drink the Kool-Aid, not mercenaries.

OK, let’s say we ignore that issue, let’s look at the our heroine, Rebecca Southerby.  A crazy scientist, Gabriel Weltman,  hires a woman he has no experience with and lets her in on a secret so monumental it would get him killed 8 ways from Sunday or slapped into Leavenworth till the end of time.  He then allows this unknown person the latitude to do all manner of things that endanger him very directly with minimum of direct control because she’s cute?  I know this is an essential plot element, but if the guy was that damn stupid, he would have died at the hands of a security guard long ago.  A pretty face could only be so much of a distraction, no more.  You don’t get to those levels without a very healthy sense of self preservation with a big dose of paranoia.

As a huge mystery, action thriller, and romantic suspense fan, books like Cat’s Meow have a tough ride with me.   ‘Selling’ a spec ops type persona and the accuracy of technical detail very important to me.   The nuance of reality is what makes these stories sink or swim even with erotic romantic suspense – and this one was more steamy than erotic.  Lora Leigh makes a lot of technical errors in her Elite Ops books and I just had to stop reading them, but in her Breeds books she usually steers clear of the situations that trip her up in Elite Ops, so more often than not, the Breeds books work for me.  Unfortunately, Cat’s Meow is too short to weave the plot elements together together into a believable world or create enough character detail to make the whole premise work.  I was left with the impression that Ms Austin was exploring an area somewhat outside her expertise and wasn’t entirely comfortable with action/thriller elements.  Again, this is perhaps more of an issue to me me because I read so much in the genre outside romance.  The ending was exceptionally unsatisfying.  At $5,20 this super lightweight story wasn’t worth the money.

********************************************************************************

• Title: Dance on the Wilde Side
• Author: Beverly Rae
• Type: Contemporary Paranormal
• Genre: Shifter – werewolves
• Sub-genre: Hidden werewolf past; alpha finds mate
• My Grade: C+ (3.3*)
• Rating: NC-17
• Length: Full novel at about 80,000 words for $5.50
• Where Available: ebook only at Samhain (hyperlink for convenience only)
• FTC Disclosure: ebook purchased on publisher’s website

Tala Wilde is a vet who works with a zoo and does TV spots.  It might be Denver, but she’s a bit of a local celebrity.  She’s also lonely, so lonely she steps outside a bar she’s with her friend to be found on all fours howling at the moon like a wolf – startling both of them.  But her call is heard and answered by Devlin Cannon, an alpha werewolf.  He finds himself watching her in her window as she indulges in self pleasuring.  It gets him shot in the ass in a load of buck shot coated with silver.

She finds Dev in her vet clinic bleeding all over and patches up as best she can.  For some reason she feels drawn to this lunatic and her rational mind does battle with some deep instinct, one that wants him.  She ends up taking pity on him when he shows up at her apartment door still bleeding.  The damn silver coated buckshot he would have been healed, but getting naked for his mate works for him and Dev is not one to pass up an opportunity.  She obviously has no idea she’s called him, or what he is.  This could be difficult.  It gets more complicated when hunters show up – hunters who specialize in hunting and killing shifters.

Against her better judgment, she ends up having balls to the wall type sex with him.  There’s just something about him, his voice, the way he commands her, that she finds a complete turn-on.  Then Dev slips and bites her during sex and she throws him out.  Wondering why she seems to long to have him back and rejecting his werewolf tale, she goes to see her grandfather, the one who told the stories about werewolves in the family.  This steamy romance unfolds against the threat of the hunters and later, a threat from a nasty little man, George, she fires from the zoo for abusing a female wolf.  The hunters grab the disgruntled man and use him and his knowledge of Tala to set a trap to catch Devlin and his second in command, Conner.

There is some very real tension, but the resolution is just too neat and tidy.  George gets a very special revenge.  Again, a bit too neat and tidy.  Yes, I do look for more action, but given all the build-up for the hunters and George, I figured the readers deserved it.  The story of Tala’s self-discovery and the way she views shifters, from complete disbelief to wanting badly to shift, was decent.  The whole ‘talking wolf’ thing was unlikely based on mouth shape alone, but hey, it’s fiction, so anything is possible.  There were several funny scenes, especially the one where Devlin finds Tala watching an old werewolf movie and trying to shift and she tries to explain it away:

Tala tugged at her disheveled shirt and mentally dug in her heels. “It’s a new fitness trend sweeping the nation.”
“Really?”
She glared at him, miffed by his smugness. “Yeah. Really.”
“And what do you call this new workout? Abs of Steel for the Alpha Wolf? Pilates for Predators? Tae Bo for Timber Wolves?”
Okay, so the guy is funny. She stammered, searching her brain for any title halfway plausible. “Um, it’s called Maniacal Yoga.” Oh, shit. That name sucks.

Dance on the Wilde Side has some excellent moments, lots of sex, several interesting plot ideas, but thanks to the weaknesses with key plot elements, it was just a good read, but not a barn burner.

Wisdom Hunter

I have two more books to share with you today.  I was very hesitant to take part in this book blog tour because one book, Shadow Government by Grant Jeffrey,  seemed so far out of my normal reading style, however…the other book that was offered with it is amazing.  I read the book Wisdom Hunter by Randall Arthur almost 10 years ago and Mark read it as well and it truly changed our perspective on church in general.  The book follows the journey of a pastor Jason Faircloth as he experiences incredible difficulty within his family that leads him to a crisis of belief and a hunt all over the globe for his granddaughter.  This book examines legalism and traditions within the church. It caused Mark and I to wrestle through some incredibly hard issues regarding why we believe certain things and why we practice certain traditions.  It was tremendous in our growth ten years ago and it has been great revisiting it.  It is action packed and full of adventure, drama but also draws the reader into great personal reflection.  Mark actually had the chance to meet the author years ago and that meant a lot to him.  I would recommend any believer to read this book.  It is a quick read because you don’t want to put it down, but it keeps you thinking long after you are done.  It would also be a great read for someone skeptical about the church and a relationship with the Lord.  I truly cannot say enough good about it. Now Shadow Government on the other hand… it truly may be a great book but I have not been able to get through the 2nd chapter.  It is so full of details and history regarding past and present political events and how the government is tracking us.  I just don’t care.  Call me awful, but I don’t.  I have many things that I am concerned with and aim to hopefully make a difference in the world around me but I just can’t wrap my mind around what the book is talking about.  So there you have it.  I can think of a few people, history buffs, government groupies that may LOVE this book.  If you want it email me and later than sooner I will get it to you:) Check out more details on the books and the authors below.  You can purchase the books online here:

http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9781601422996&ref=externallink_mlt_wisdomhunter_sec_0908_01

http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9781400074426&ref=externallink_wbp_shadowgovernment_sec_0908_01

These Books were provided for review purposes by Random House and Water Brook Multnomah publishers.

Book: Shadow Government

Author: Grant Jeffrey

Summary:

Security cameras, surveillance of private financial transactions, radio frequency spy chips hidden in consumer products, eavesdropping on e-mail correspondence and phone calls, and Internet tracking. No one is protected, and privacy is a thing of the past.

An ultra-secret global elite, functioning as a very real shadow government, controls technology, finance, international law, world trade, political power, and vast military capabilities. These unnamed, unrivaled leaders answer to no earthly authority, and they won’t stop until they control the world.

In Shadow Government, prophecy expert Grant Jeffrey removes the screen that, up to now, has hidden the work of these diabolical agents. Jeffrey reveals the biblical description of Satan’s global conquest and identifies the tools of technology that the Antichrist will use to rule the world.

Readers will have their eyes opened to the real power that is working behind the scenes to destroy America and merge it into the coming global government. Armed with this knowledge, readers will be equipped to face spiritual darkness with the light of prophetic truth.

Cover art:

Author Bio:

Grant R. Jeffrey is the internationally known prophecy researcher, Mideast expert, and author of Countdown to the Apocalypse, The New Temple and the Second Coming, The Next World War, and twenty other best-selling books. He is also the editor of the Prophecy Study Bible. His popular television program, Bible Prophecy Revealed, airs weekly on TBN. Jeffrey earned his master’s and PhD degrees from Louisiana Baptist University. He and his wife, Kaye, live in Toronto.

Book: Wisdom Hunter

Author: Randall Arthur

Dates: October 26th-30th

Summary:

Pastor Jason Faircloth knows what he believes. His clear faith, in fact, is why he is one of the most prominent pastors in Atlanta. He relies on it to discipline his daughter, his wife, his church. He prays daily that others would come to see God’s ways as he does.

And it is about to cost him everything.

Groping for answers in the face of tragedy, Jason begins a search for the only family he has left: the granddaughter kept hidden from him. Soon he finds himself on an international adventure that will take him straight into the depths of his soul. He is determined not to fail again.

A fast-paced suspense novel rich in spiritual depth, Wisdom Hunter explores what it means to break free of Christian legalism—and discover why grace can mean the difference between life and death.

Cover art:

Author Bio:

Randall Arthur is the bestselling author of Jordan’s Crossing and Brotherhood of Betrayal. He and his wife have served as missionaries to Europe for over thirty years. From 1976 till 1998, he lived in Norway and Germany as a church planter. Since 2000, he has taken numerous missions teams from the United States on trips all over Europe. Arthur is also the founder of the AOK (Acts of Kindness) Bikers’ Fellowship, a group of men who enjoy the sport of motorcycling. He and his family live in Atlanta, Georgia.

The Genesis Genealogies

Book by Rev. Abraham Park

Book Review by Donna Totey

  

The subtitle of The Genesis Genealogies is “God’s Administration in the History of Redemption.”  Sounds a little academic, doesn’t it?  But Reverend Park shows the reader that through the Bible’s genealogies (a record or account of the ancestry and descent of a person) we can see God’s divine hand at work.

 

If you’re anything like me, I usually skip right through the genealogies when I come across them, dismissing them as insignificant.  But Reverend Park says it best, “We must not commit the grave mistake of overlooking them as meaningless enumerations of names.  With the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we must discover and follow the rich vein of redemptive history that flows through the genealogies.”  I love how Reverend Park explains the information in the context of God’s great love for us.  The genealogies are not just information or even to be thought of in terms of their historical significance, but God’s involvement in our redemption.

 

This book opened my eyes to the wonderful plan of redemption that God has had for all people, right from the beginning.  Through the different people listed in the genealogies, God leads us right up to the sacrificial work that Jesus did for us on the cross.  Reverend Park states, “As we delve deeper into the study of the Genesis genealogies, we will be able to sense the magnitude of God’s abundant grace and love.”  The genealogies aren’t just a list of people “begetting” other people; it’s a demonstration of God’s very real love for us.

 

Reverend Park separates the genealogies into two lines—“the genealogy of the faithful who lived to fulfill God’s will, and the genealogy of the unfaithful whose lives stood against God’s will.”  The genealogies of the faithful are written with different details and information than those of the unfaithful.  The author points out that there are those who God chooses to see and those He chooses not to see.

 

The book shares information about different people’s lives, whether faithful or unfaithful, and how they chose to relate to God.  Cain, for example, was most likely taught all about God and heard from Him, but because of the evil in his heart, he chose to turn his back on Him.  And even though many of Cain’s descendents chose to follow the evil path, God’s will was even greater and more fervent and was and is still being carried out to this day, despite evil efforts.  On the other hand, Adam’s descendents showed how great walking with God can be.  And Adam’s life itself showed that God didn’t abandon us after the sin and failure of man, but worked to transform death into life through His great love.

 

I learned that the genealogies aren’t just lists, but examples not only of God’s great love for us, but also examples of how we should and shouldn’t live our lives.  The unfortunate paths of the unfaithful show us how not following God’s plan will cause grave consequences.  The paths of the faithful show us how, even though there might be or will be struggles, with God’s help and guidance, we will fulfill His plans for us.

The Principle Of The Path by Andy Stanley – Extended Review Part 3

This is the next part of my series of reviews about Andy Stanley’s new book The Principle Of The Path. If you haven’t read the previous parts of this series, check them out here:

Thomas Nelson Book Review Bloggers Review
Extended Review – Part 1
Extended Review – Part 2 – The Heart Of The Matter
Extended Review – Part 3 – My Italian Job

In these next few posts, I will take a closer look at a few of the chapters that spoke to me the most.

The Principle Of The Path

Chapter 7: The Story You Will Tell

What legacy will I leave for my children and others to follow? The path I choose by the decisions I make will contribute much more than we realize to that legacy.

Life is full of decisions that must be made in emotionally charged environments. And emotionally charged environments make it almost impossible to gain the perspective we need to make the decisions that keep us on the best paths to lead us to where we want to go.

When we make decisions under the weight of an emotionally charged circumstance, we make decisions that are “me-centered” rather than God-centered. We simply don’t have the clarity to make the best decisions to keep us on the path.

Decisions made in emotionally charged environments do not represent clear thinking, and can actually lead us down the wrong path. We can make decisions that seriously jeopardize our desired destination.

Andy Stanley states:

One never accomplishes the will of God by breaking the law of God, violating the principles of God, or ignoring the wisdom of God.

There are three questions that we can apply to every decision that comes our way:

     1. Does this option violate God’s law?
     2. Does this option violate a principle?
     3. In light of the story I want to tell (the legacy I want to leave),
         what is the wise thing to do?

The first two questions are pretty easy. A knowledge and understanding of God’s Word will help us to determine if God has already spoken about the matter, or if there are principles that apply to the situation.

The third question is a little tougher. It’s the wisdom question. How do you want to view this moment when you look back on it later in life? How do you want your kids and grandkids to view your decision? Stop and think. Where might this decision lead?

God’s will for you will always line up with his law, his principles, and his wisdom. Always. And making decisions in light of these three criteria can help you gain clarity even in the most emotionally charged circumstances.

And when I make decisions with the clarity to see God’s leading, I will make decisions that will ensure that the legacy I leave for my children, and further generations, is the right one.

The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist

Hello readers,

I’ve recently finishing The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist.  It was originally copyrighted in 2006 in Sweden, and this translation was copyrighted in 2008. It is published by Other Press in New York and is 268 pages.  This was an amazingly devastating novel.

The Unit is of the same vein as Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, the same basic principles are involved in both.  I don’t want to get too much of the book away, suffice to say that it is a powerful story of love and loss, and the Holmqvist leads us to an ending we can’t help but see coming, and can’t help but hope with every page that the main character will escape the inevitable.

More than being an simply a superb novel, The Unit, along with Never Let Me Go, seem to warn seriously of a time coming when the worlds they detail are altogether possible and even probable. It is a scary world to think about, dream about, and it even makes us question the world we currently live in.

What scares me most about this novel is that writers often are on the forefront of cultural change, and I can only hope that the warning Holmqvist gives is taken seriously and the future she portrays does not come about.

I definitely recommend this read to all of my avid readers!

until next time,

Jim