Speak Up Saturday–Book Review–Full Disclosure by Dee Henderson

Full Disclosure

From the Publisher:

Ann Silver is a cop’s cop. As the Midwest Homicide Investigator, she is called in to help local law enforcement on the worst of cases, looking for answers to murder. Hers is one of the region’s most trusted investigative positions.

Paul Falcon is the FBI’s top murder cop in the Midwest. If the victim carried a federal badge or had a security clearance, odds are good Paul and his team see the case file or work the murder.

Their lives intersect when Ann arrives to pass a case off her desk and onto his. A car wreck and a suspicious death offer a lead on a hired shooter he is tracking. Paul isn’t expecting to meet someone, the kind that goes on the personal side of the ledger, but Ann Silver has his attention.

The better he gets to know her, the more Paul realizes her job barely scratches the surface of who she is. She knows spies and soldiers and U.S. Marshals, and has written books about them. She is friends with the former Vice President. People with good reason to be cautious about who they let into their lives deeply trust her. Paul wonders just what secrets Ann is keeping, until she shows him the John Doe Killer case file, and he starts to realize just who this lady he is falling in love with really is . . .

I realized that I have not written my review yet on this excellent book, slacker!! I received this as an Advanced Reader Copy back in August, I think, and finished it very shortly after I received it.

I loved it!!! One of my favorite series of books that I have read since becoming a Christian is the The O'Malley Series by Dee Henderson. I love the family dynamic, I love the suspense, the romance, the intertwining of the plots. Full Disclosure brings those characters back in glimpses while bringing in new characters that are equally interesting and a joy to get to know.

Dee Henderson is a master storyteller. She can teach you all about a person and their personality without making it laborious and while adding in other plot elements to sweeten the deal. The interactions between the characters are believable, true to life, yet pure and inspiring. The characters in her books, and Ann and Paul are no exceptions, show many characteristics that inspire me to be a better God-follower. Ms. Henderson brings their personal traits into focus, so you can see the good and the bad from their personalities and how they can really relate to me and my relationship with God.

Aside from all that, the story was fun! I truly enjoyed the plot, the characters, the visits from old friends from the O’Malleys, the new relationship between Ann and Paul. I will definitely read it again! Right after I get it back from the second friend that I loaned it to…

~S

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book in exchange for an honest review from Bethany House and Dee Henderson. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Some links are affiliate links, which I may receive a small compensation from in connection with their affiliate program.

Speak Up Saturday– Book Review–Isle of Shadows by Tracy Higley

 

 

Isle of Shadows

From the Publisher:

Revised and updated from the original, Christy-award finalist Shadow of Colossus.
Enslaved in a World of Money and Power, Tessa Dares to be Free.
Raised as courtesan to wealthy and powerful men, Tessa of Delos serves at the whim of her current patron, the politician Glaucus. After ten years with him, Tessa has abandoned all desire for freedom or love, choosing instead to lock her heart away.
But when Glaucus meets a violent death in his own home, Tessa grasps at a fragile hope. Only she knows of his death. If she can keep it a secret long enough, she can escape.
Tessa throws herself on the mercy of the Greek god Helios, but finds instead unlikely allies in Nikos, a Greek slave, and Simeon, Glaucus’s Jewish head servant. As Simeon introduces her to a God unlike any she has ever known and Nikos begins to stir feelings she had thought long dead, Tessa fights to keep her heart protected.
As an assassination plot comes to light, Tessa must battle for her own freedom—and for those to whom she has begun to open her heart—as forces collide that shatter the island’s peace.

 

I just finished reading this book, and I haven’t decided exactly what I think of it. Overall, I guess I would say that I enjoyed it. I find that I enjoy historical fiction, especially well-written and well-researched historical fiction. So, let me tell you the things that I liked about it first before I tell you the things that I didn’t like.

 

I really liked the look into the society of ancient Greece. I find that part of history fascinatingly similar and different from our culture today, and Ms. Higley draws those things out nicely. I felt that it was a well researched book, and that was confirmed for me in the end pages of the book when she stated that she has been to Rhodes, where the story is set, twice in order to really get a feel for the place as she was writing the story. In fact, you can go to her website to see pictures from her adventures there.

 

I also thought the character development was decent and the interaction between characters was mostly well played. Those of the main characters was excellent, with the romance not being too pronounced but still being real and relevant. I do not enjoy reading romance books, but I do like it when a good book has a bit of romance thrown in, and this book had exactly that.

 

As for the things that I did not like, there were 2. The first was the length. It wasn’t too terribly wordy, but I feel that the story could have been told more succinctly with just as much effect. But, historical fiction tends toward lengthy descriptions due to explaining the culture and the location, so this wasn’t a huge deal.

 

What really did it for me, though, was the Christian element. I felt it was very forced. I understand that it would be difficult to squeeze it into a book that was written about “the dark times between the Old and New Testaments”, as she put it in the afterword, but if it was going to be that hard, why do it at all? Or why not develop the characters of Simeon and his family more and have them be more central? I didn’t like the way that Tessa came to faith in the One God in the span of a few short pages, but I am very glad that the story came back around to that. When we initially meet Simeon’s family and Tessa and Nikos spend time with them, it was very pleasant enjoyable, I just wish there had been more time spent on that.

 

Again, though, I enjoyed this book overall and think that anyone who enjoys reading historical fiction would enjoy it. I think that it tends to be more of a “girl” book, but if you’re a guy that likes historical Greece fiction, then you might enjoy it too!

 

~S

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book in exchange for an honest review from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Daily Photo–Playing in the snow

We were predicted to get a foot of snow…we got about 2”. My kids + friends = great day to play in the snow!

~S

Speak Up Saturday–Book Review–The Biggest and Toughest

Prepare for a blast of book reviews! I’m still backed up and I don’t want to be anymore!

This was a fun book to review with my kids:

The Biggest and Toughest: The Short Story of David's Big Faith

From the Publisher:
What would you do if you saw a GIANT scaring a whole army? Would you run away too? Or would you bravely take him on, if that’s what God wanted you to do?         David, a small shepherd boy, shows gigantic faith and courage when he battles the nine-foot-tall Goliath using only a slingshot and stone!
Magnificent Tales are rhyming Bible stories with clever art and clear lessons that the whole family will enjoy. The stories and illustrations are so engaging that you won’t grow tired of reading and re-reading a Magnificent Tale night after night!

Nate really liked it! There were several things he particularly liked about it: the pictures, the age appropriate wording, and the fact that it was on mommy’s kindle-computer :)

I liked the biblical accuracy, yet not too advanced for my 3-year-old. I felt like it was an excellent retelling of the story of David and Goliath. I also enjoyed the rhyming flow of the book. While it might seem cheesy sometimes, I’ve noticed that it really works to get the story stuck in their heads. Nate is just catching onto rhyming words, so this worked particularly well for him.

The only drawback of reading it on my kindle is the formatting. It is not super-smooth, like one might hope. The words end up on one page and the picture on another. I used this “feature” as an opportunity to discuss the pictures in more detail than I might otherwise, so it wasn’t all bad.

Can’t wait to check out some other titles in this series! (4 stars due to Kindle formatting, story was 5 stars!!)

~S
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from NetGalley as part of their book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Weekly Wrap-Up–March 8–Unit Celebration 3

I have been focusing more on keeping us on schedule with our schoolwork, which has taken a lot of time and left not much for blogging. Add to that the quantity of books that I’m reading right now plus trying to be more intentional about being a better housekeeper, and that really doesn’t leave much for blogging!

Anyway…we have been doing great with keeping on track and having a good routine since January at the beginning of this “semester”. Also, I had been thinking a lot about schooling year round, and then I had a chat with my friend that I co-op with, and we both agreed that we’re going to do a modified year round schedule. That has really freed up my attitude about finishing everything that we’re “supposed” to do by the end of May, which in turn frees up my week to do other things, like skip school for a day at the park (or a day of heart training instead, which happens more often).

A few things that we decided to change at the beginning of the year:

* We started and breezed through All About Spelling Level 1. It was basic for her since she’s been reading for awhile and loves to write, but I wanted to start there to give her the spelling rules before we moved on. We’re now starting level 2 and will finish before starting 2nd grade. We also started All About Reading Level 2 and are really hoping that Level 3 will be available for next year!

* We have picked up our Artistic Pursuits book again. Now that I have us on a tighter schedule, we have time to do this, which we’re both happy about. She tells me she’s going to be an artist when she grows up, so I’m glad we have something to help her with that goal.

I also posted our current curriculum choices and what I’m thinking of for next year, which you can also get to under the “Tots and Homeschooling” tab at the top of the blog.

Okay, so what have we been up to?

A month ago, we celebrated finishing Tapestry of Grace Year 1 Unit 3 by having a mini Olympics and a Greek-inspired lunch. The kids got dressed up in their Chitons and away we went!

The horse race

The discus throwThe javelin throw

The foot race

Cheering on the last place finishers

Tasty lunch of English muffin pizzas, olives, oranges, sesame bread, and grape juice.

Can’t forget the littles!

Her display board from this unit’s projects. Not all-inclusive, for sure!

All crowned as winners with their laurel crowns (they were tired from running, and ready for lunch. Really, they had a great time!)

I have so many more pictures, but we’ll call that good. Now to not wait another 5 months before posting another weekly wrap-up!!

~S

Also linked up at

Wordless Wednesday–Peek-a-Boo!

This child of mine is funny. He likes to play peek-a-boo upside down through his legs. I think it’s just practice for standing up unassisted, but it’s still funny!

~S

Linking up at:

Monthly Menu Plan – March

So, I had questions from some friends how I come up with my monthly plan. As in, what are the steps that I use, how long does it take, how is it working for us, etc. So, here is a step by step on how I do my monthly meal plan:

Step 1: Come up with a theme for each day of the week. For example, right now mine looks like this: Monday – Mexican or Chinese, Tuesday – Something new, Wednesday – Crockpot meal, Thursday – Less than 30 minutes, Friday – Leftovers, Saturday – Family Favorite, Sunday – Italian.

Step 2: Make a permanent list of 5-10 (or more) recipes for each theme. Make sure you have recipes (or know the recipe) for each one. Nothing worse than thinking you’re going to make something, and then not being able to find the recipe.

Step 3: Print out a calendar for the month. I print out a blank one and then add in other events, like fellowship team, date night, weekend activities, etc, that will affect dinner time or my ability to cook dinner that night. I like to do this step on a separate calendar so it’s not cluttered with *everything* that I have scheduled. Also, if it’s not on my regular calendar, it’s easier to cross things out and rearrange as I go to the next steps.

Step 4: After you’ve filled out your other events, count how many of each theme you need to come up with.

Step 5: Referring to the list you already made, pick the number of recipes you need for each theme. I usually write them down on a scratch piece of paper.

Step 6: Plug your choices into the monthly calendar, taking into account how much time each recipe takes and how much money each one costs. For example, I’m not going to plan three expensive recipes in a week, nor am I going to plan three time intensive recipes. I try to balance out one time intensive and one expensive recipe per week (obviously, sometimes these are the same meal, but sometimes not. Noodles are cheap to make, but take for.ev.er.)

Step 7: Gather your recipes and make a grocery list. I still go once a week, even though I plan the whole month’s meals. This is mostly because of fresh food. I figure I’ll have to go to the store every week anyway for vegetables and milk, so I might as well just plan one week’s groceries at a time. I use two resources for planning my shopping trip. The first is this plan sheet that is organized based on how my grocery store is laid out. I just write down each item under the appropriate heading and then it’s all in order when I get to the store. For extra things, sale things, or finding coupons, I use Bargain Blessings. She’s local to me and she runs a great website that is all free. I also go to CostCo once a month, usually after I’ve made the monthly meal plan so that I can get the things that I know I will need.

That’s it! Does it work? Absolutely! There are so many things that I like about doing it this way. We don’t end up having spaghetti every night when I can’t think of anything else. We get to eat the other meals that I was forgetting about when I was just doing it weekly. AND one of the best parts, it really doesn’t take me that long!! I would say it now takes me less than 30 minutes to do, more if I spend a bunch of time looking for new recipes. (stumped for recipes? Try Our Best Bites or Food Network Magazine)

Okay, so here’s the plan for March:

Sun	Mon	Tues	Wed	Thurs	Fri	Sat
3	4 Teriyaki Burgers	5 Orange Chicken Stir Fry	6 Chili Colorado Burritos	7 Texas Roadhouse for Date Night	8 YOYO	9 Chicken Couscous
10 Dinner with Dad & Stepmom	11 Tortilla Casserole	12 Garlic-Lemon  Stuffed Chicken	13 Cheesy Ham & Potatoes	14 Parmesan Ranch Chicken	15 Hubby’s Birthday! Pizza & Lemon Cake	16 YOYO
17 Basic Casserole	18 Sweet & Sour Meatballs	19 Honey Orange Pork Tenderloin	20 Chicken Chili	21 Rice-a-roni Deluxe Date Night	22 YOYO	23 Cheater Pot Pie
24 Tortellini Spinach Bake	25 Tacos	26 Green Beans, Potatoes, and Chicken	27 Parmesan Chicken	28 Bob’s Red Mill Vegi Stew	29  YOYO	30 Spaghetti and Meatballs

One more note: do not become a slave to “the plan”…if you need to make something else that night, do it! I would say I stick to the plan about 6 nights out of 7, and usually it’s just to shuffle something around. Hope this helps! Happy planning! :-) And please, if you have any questions, I’d be happy to try and help!!

~S