Such a burden of adult problems she carries, yet she continues to seek that loving home she knows in her heart she deserves. Her setbacks would have daunted most children but her sense of her self-worth in spite her family members' evaluation keep her going. Can't help but cheer for her.

Heartbreaking account of life in aftermath of tragedy. The paralyzing effect of disappearance of a child on the parents but just as dramatically on the siblings. I wanted to shake Mom until she saw the needs of the rest of her family. Engaging ending.

The story of a modern day midwife in a small Vermont town is told through the eyes of her young teenage daughter. Her teenage angst is magnified by the need to help her parents through the catastrophe that befalls their family-mother ends up on trial after death of one of her mothers. I well remember the tales of flower children and their distrust of any establishment-even the medical one, and all the arguments for and against midwives. What happens in this book is a tragedy for all involved.

I listened to the original version on audio book. Be advised that the movie and the original book vary in many details--especially the ending. Good thriller.

Like her Deep End of the Ocean,this book deals with ways families deal with catastrophic events that occur in their ordinary lives-ones that could happen to any of us. Brain injury and death of a child are depressing, but I found myself much more sympathetic and involved with these characters than those in Deep End.

What a tribute to friendship! Very moving—many light moments among the poignant ones. Five young mothers in the late 1960s meet at a playground and tentatively begin to develop friendship and the Wednesday Sisters Writing Society. As time and their writing go on, they slowly begin to reveal more and more about the hurts in their pasts, troubles of the present, and aspirations for the future. “It had to do with knowing we were opening ourselves up, cutting ourselves open at our guts and letting others see inside us in ways we couldn’t even see ourselves.” I was drawn into their lives and soon cared about how each character would evolve. Only unrealistic part to me was the success of ordinary writers, but I found the heartache of the characters' personal lives very real. Who was the ghost in the house?

I loved the whole series. This is a suspenseful mystery with real human beings trying to live their Christian faith and sometimes failing. Characters I cared about.

Our club had one of our best discussions with this book-how life can change for you in an instant, war, racism, sense of duty and lack of it, sacrificing for ones family or living for one's own good, mother/daughter and sister/sister bonds.

for anyone for whom high school was less than socially triumphant-and for those who seemed at the time to have had it all-lives of assorted characters are revealed as they prepare to attend their 40th high school reunion. Interesting to see how they assess their current lives, what is important to them now as opposed to then, and what they still dream of life being. This said---I have never attended any of my reunions and based on this book, I sure think I made the right decision.

Very much a horror story. Travelers trapped in a "haunted" house
that will not let them escape. Supernatural beings abound and they all want to kill the travelers. The authors are Christian ones, but there is no attempt to impart any religious dogma. The house as an allegory for people's struggles in the dark and evil inclinations is implied, but the outcome of the story and the fate of the characters remain a mystery to the end. The book is creepy, scary, and sure makes one want to walk in the light.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the whole O'Malley series. Suspenseful and engaging. Probably better for individual reading than book club as the books are unashamedly Christian.

this is a young adult book that I have used with my students. Definitely opens young Hannah's eyes as to what being Jewish meant to her Holocaust-survivor relatives as she is taken back in time to experience for herself what went on. Liked it, powerful emotional impact-- but definitely for young teens.

I have read most of Terri Blackstock's books, and although this one was enjoyable, I didn't connect with the heroine. Perhaps because she was soooooo much younger. All Terri's books are suspenseful mysteries with interesting dynamics between characters. Definitely Christian which was a plus for me but may not be to others.

A love story set in 1600s Hindustan against background of political intrigue and warrior cruelty--told through the eyes of Princess Jahanara--feat believable tho the author is male. From what I gathered from Goggle,etc., although many incidents in her early life were factual,her love story didn't happen. She was never married and became reconciled to Aurangzeb and had influence in his court after her father's death. As remarkable as the scope of her influence tho a woman was, the Shors's additions made her a relatable and believable character and yielded more satisfying storytelling. Who cares if they were pure fiction.

Lots to talk about with this book--another disfunctional family--all searching for something: control, order, attention, meaning....How childhood roles continue into adulthood until we finally grow up...how we make assumptions about each other and these assumptions color our relationships and our own self-image...what it means to be a family...how one can love without liking. I didn't have much patience with any of the characters--perhaps it is because of my advanced age---but I just wanted to shake them and tell them to get over themselves already. The struggles for identity and meaning suffered by 20- and 30- year- olds probably are experienced by all of us in one way or another, to one extent or another--these folks just seemed to wallow in them.

We enjoyed this one. According to Internet, it was very factual. The capriciousness of those who struggled to gain and retain power and the determination of women to protect and improve lot of their families were interesting. There was so much fighting and scheming that it dragged a bit for me--but that was the way things were evidently. The many family scenes with Elizabeth were the most engaging to me anyway.

I thoroughly enjoyed this character study. I, of course, knew the facts of her life after she married Henry VIII, but this back story was very illuminating as to what factors made her the kind of person she was. The reader can’t help but feel sympathy for her hurt and betrayal—and the ruthless way she was used as a pawn of even her own parents. Her parents created in her a single reason for existence, and her determination to achieve this destiny causes her no end of pain and suffering. Makes one thankful to be just an insignificant but happy nobody.

Phew! What a book! The cozy world the mother made for her son- her reason for living-must have cost her such emotional turmoil--trying to create normalcy in a horribly unnatural environment. Their struggle to cope with the world outside was something I had never considered--how she will always be "the one who was held captive" and how even the sun and rain are frightening to the child who will always be "that Jack". How damaged they are but how much more so they would have been without her determination to protect her child at all costs.

This book tells of the experiences of Guernsey Island people during German occupation of WWII. Format is interesting-all letters to and from young journalist right after the war-They reveal her personal struggles to find herself and the collective experience of the Island people she comes to love and adopts as her own. Lots of emotional turmoil but overall a light read.

---the absorbing story of a young doctor and the people who played major roles in his life –from his traumatic birth through his training to full maturity as he comes to terms with his estranged twin, his father who deserted them, and the girl who betrayed him. Such an honorable man, Marion deserves someone to love him like he loved Genet. Contrast great between medical training and care in Ethiopia and the United States. Ending unexpected but satisfying.

Sweet book--took a while to get going--I missed Mitford although Ireland was interesting. Once Irish family dynamics got going, story became rich and absorbing. You got to love FAther Tim.

The sequel to SHANGHAI GIRLS follows Pearl and Joy into Maoist China--Mae is not a player in this book except as a source of money. Very vivid description of THE GREAT STEP FORWARD and its consequences, but what shines through is the power of mother love and the freedom that comes with redemption and forgiveness. Pearl comes into her own in this book, out of Mae's shadow, and exhibits more of the strength of character she demonstrated in SHANGHAI GIRLS. It is her love that Joy needs and her being Joy's "real mother" is firmly established. Very depressing picture of starvation and oppression--the mother-daughter bonds are the only bright spots.

This book reminded me of IMMORTAL LIFE OF HARRIET LACKS in that it deals with medical ethics and the question of to whom do our extra tissue or blood samples belong? It is a suspenseful medical and murder mystery involving organs being harvested from unwilling donors. A medical student who was robbed of a lung, a researcher of a fantastic new serum who receives an organ, and a detective who is out to right the wrong of organ theft all end up together in Brazil in an action adventure like Clive Cussler or Tom Clancy might write

The frightening consequences of having our entire medical history available at the touch of a computer keyboard in the hands of an amoral schemer or two serve as framework for the struggles and triumphs of woman dealing with Asperger's syndrome. The author's son has Asperger's, and his father's heart is revealed as good therapy and other treatment allows the character to compensate for her limitations and emerge as a brave, loving and incredibly capable heroine.

Part treasure hunt, part search for answers to secrets in the family tree, part sibling distrust and rivalry, part romance, and part supernatural story of curses, blood feuds and determination to find revenge --the book is intriguing. The modern conflicts are anchored in a quest to uncover the true story behind the legendary Romeo and Juliet and find their missing artifacts. The reader, as did Julie, will find it hard to tell the good guys from the bad guys, but everything is revealed in an ending full of surprises.

This is a medical thriller about the testing, promoting, and profit involved in the release of a miracle drug-one that would unclog all clogged arteries. The hero, Brian, is a brilliant doctor who had his medical license revoked due to his addiction to pain medication and his illegal efforts to feed his habit. He is given a chance to make a fresh start in prestigious teaching hospital that is actively testing and developing drugs and instruments in partnership with the corporations that produce them. He is thrilled to be back in his chosen field—he had been working in a car wash; yet he risks it all to investigate discrepancies he is finding in medical records and patients with problematic symptoms. I wanted to root for him, the selfless crusader taking on the corporate giant, but he lost me when he used illegal means to help get his father the drug. Crusader/heroes should take the moral high ground. He stated his main problem is his ego—that he always thinks he can handle things better than anyone else, and this is displayed in his rationalization of his questionable actions and some of the stupid chances he took. Very action-packed but characters hard to identify with or like.

I loved SISTER OF MY HEART when my book club read it, and was eager to find out what happened to Anju and Sudha. However, I was irritated by the first 150 papers of this book and almost quit reading it. It was just so full of angst and frustrated emotion that never went anywhere or resolved itself. The writing was beautiful,full of imagery and allegorical stories, but I had some difficulty figuring out which character's thoughts were being described. The last 100 pages or so had all the characters turned upside down by changes in their lives, and my interest was revived. The ending was satisfying.

Okay, it was an interesting idea but I really don't want to read about proof Christ was never resurrected. Very much a DA VINCI CODE. If you liked that book, you would like this one. I was repelled by both. Individual faith and value systems would generate different responses to this book.

Interesting story of the evolution in the relationship of two young woman, who start disliking and distrusting each other, united in an effort to uncover the truth about skeletons in the family closets and the skeleton buried under the peach tree. Not greatly thought-provoking but sweet and engaging.

My church book group read this, and it definitely helped to be able to discuss it as we went along. C.S. Lewis built a firm foundation for all his arguments and painted some great word pictures as analogy for spiritual concepts.....but he took far too many words to get there. Obviously, a writer of his caliber doesn't need my input, but several chapters seemed unnecessarily drawn out--probably to fit their original radio talk format. Like eating your vegetables as a kid, reading this may not have been my first choice, but I have to admit it was probably good for me.

For the reader who enjoys crime scene/forensic/ true crime TV shows and novels--this book shows how it all began. A little more chemistry than I wanted, but the story of two honest men fighting to create a credible, professional crime lab during a corrupt era of cronyism and graft was absorbing. Explains how poisons could be detected in a human body, how tests for poisons were discovered, and how forensics became the backbone of the fight to convict the bad guys.

I was totally absorbed in this book but wondered through the last 3/4 of it how the mother could be so blind to the effect her actions had on her family. Do the ends justify the means? Is lying to help someone else wrong? Can a child understand that fighting and hateful words mean she is loved? Can no one see the damage to both children? How many lives is it okay to ruin to improve one? Lots of questions and sad answers.

Story of art teacher at convent raising three daughters--husband jailed for a murder years before. Dramatic examples of seemingly perfect lives turned upside down in an instant as family members struggle with consequences of actions and decisions made years before. Few of the characters acted as I wanted them to but I guess that makes them realistic. Definitely captured my interest.

Very engrossing and portrayed lives of women on three generations realistically and well, but was definitely depressing. We had just finished reading SHANGHAI GIRLS and DREAMS OF jOY by Lisa See--which were purely fiction. WILD SWANS added meat to their story, but characters in See books were more "real" to me as they had more emotional depth--more drama in fiction than in the probably more historically accurate SWANS.

Three siblings find their memory of their joint childhood are very different-was it just benign neglect, not-particularly-affectionate parenting,or malignant abuse. Which character has the most accurate version and how could three children have such different experiences in the same home? Very disturbing

People can be so blind in managing their lives and relationships. Every character has managed to make make poor judgment calls, and they stubbornly refuse to trust each other with truth about the past and present issues. Not a book to lighten a depressing day.

This is my third Lisa See book. As usual it depicts the time and cultural traditions of China in a readable manner filled with characters filled with strengths and flaws. The whole laotong-relationship was new to me, and I found it both enlightened in its acknowledgement of the need women have for a friend to share their lives and confidences with especially in such a male-dominating culture--and disturbing in the way it was almost a competing marriage complete with physical intimacy. The whole foot-binding trauma, the premarital rituals, and the women's writing were vividly described.

YUCK--I know Hemmingway was a master, but I couldn't finish this depressing saga of lost souls. How distructive and wasteful their lives were--continuous drinking and meaningless sex and struggling to find any comfort or meaning in the mixed up world they saw around them.

It is not surprising that Stephen King offers praise. It is as complex a book as some of King's best.-part supernatural/ part adventure. Shadow is a coming of age story as well as a quest for the elusive author and his books. Reader is as confused as Daniel but ending is satisfying.

Enjoyed this book even though it has been a long time since I dealt with diapers and breast-feeding. I remember well the craving for conversation with an adult and feeling overwhelmed with motherhood. Now of course I wish for some of that time back! Very funny and very real.

The subject matter is heartbreaking and eyeopening--the selling of young girls from Nepal into sexual slavery in India---sometimes by their own families. The degrading toll of poverty and the hopelessness of the powerless is vividly portrayed. I didn't want to read this, but it is a real problem that won't be solved by choosing to ignore it. Thank God for those that can and do help.

The story of a road trip taken by mother and daughter on way to drop daughter at college ,the memories they share of her childhood, and the quilt the mother works on on the journey. Sweet story full of love between mother and daughter and the angst of having your only child leave home. Story rang true—not very cerebral but very human.

Very different book. The lives of various women of four generations interact and impact each other in ways they struggle to uncover. Part genealogy search, part struggle to discover personal identity-with a fairy tale book connection. Explores bonds of friendship, family and marriage --and role of envy, jealousy, and loyalty in these personal relationships. Choices made cause unforeseen consequences. Lots to discuss and many questions left unanswered by the book.

Beautiful story of how a loving husband helps his wife fulfill her bucket list before her death. Obviously a depressing scenario, but the love between them and their strength in fighting disease and disability results in a tender, sweet and satisfying story of a final journey, Many things for book club to discuss: parent/child relationships, euthanasia, choices in medical care. Very emotionally draining but strangely triumphant.

Mia finds refuge and healing in an old mountain cabin after struggling with breast cancer and her husband's leaving her for another woman--one with an intact body and no illness. Feeling defeated by her life, she gets wrapped up in the mystery of the original resident of the cabin in the 1920's, Kate. Mia is inspired by the words and advice she finds in Kate's journal as she tries to remake her own life. Fly fishing provides her with therapy---as it did Kate.

First book I've read by Catherine Coulter and I found it engrossing. Crime families, kidnapping,and child molestation are usually topics I avoid, but the enchanting child victim and the people who love and protect her made this thriller more about love and family than ugliness and perversion. Violence was obvious but not described in gory detail, and the child's nightmare experience was referred to only as it pertained to her recovery---not sensationalized. Lots of twists and turns to plot leading to a satisfying ending.

It’s a delightful story of a boy who discovers the very real difference between people who know about God and those that know Him. It’s told in a humorous style through the mind and viewpoint of a twelve/thirteen year old, but it rang true to this 60 + year old. He is faced with temptation. gives in, and is plagued by guilt. Then, trying his hardest to rationalize the guilt away, struggles to make things right on his own terms. Sounds like a familiar plot, but what happens in the second half of the book is unique and special.
The book is not full of sanctimonious saints (except as objects of humor) but flawed sinners in need of grace—and lots and lots of funny stuff. Some of my favorite humorous moments are: a preacher said to have the wrong version of the Bible—one missing all the verses about compassion and kindness in it; close encounters with fiberglass insulation, and the whole snowmobile escapade. Then there are the moments that filled me with emotion—which can’t be described without giving away too much of the storyline.
The Christian character of his father is beautifully portrayed—his quiet strength, his unwavering honesty, his gratitude for the meager things he has, and his total reliance on the goodness and grace of God. What a role model!

I personally hated the book, but there is a lot that could be discussed in book club-organ memory, capital punishment, and religion,.I have read and enjoyed three other of her books. They are all highly controversial, but their storylines kept me involved with the characters (even though I wanted to shake some sense into some of them) and the choices they made (whether I agreed with them or not). However, I just could not get into CHANGE OF HEART. I finished it only because I hate to give up on a book.
It is similar to GREEN MILE, and I really don’t like plots about life in prison. All the Gnostic stuff just made me very uncomfortable. I couldn’t tell if Picoult was trying to make a statement against organized religion or was trying to show how even a priest could be sucked into believing in a false prophet. The ending was better than I expected, but not good enough to make me not regret reading it.

A Presbyterian church secretary and a Jewish rabbi help stop a vicious serial killer who patterns his crimes on the last week of Christ's life, from Palm Sunday to post-Resurrection events.Very different from usually mystery/romance storyline. Question in reader's guide asks "what does it mean to be safe?" Characters are all taken out of their "safety zones" to stop the killing. Very readable, Jeremiah and Cindy and Mark are all likeable characters. Good start to series.

Like me, the members of my book club had read and loved Debbie Macomber's Cedar Cove and Blossom Street books, so when we won this devotional by her, we were thrilled. Her premise is that we should take one word a year as central to our spiritual life, and she gives very helpful suggestions about choosing and using these words. What we especially enjoyed were the stories she told to illustrate her examples--from her own life and many outside sources. We came away from reading the book feeling as if Debbie had become a well-known friend. Her prayers and insight into this useful devotional tool were much appreciated.

What a great book! I thoroughly enjoyed the likeable, fallible characters and found myself completely engrossed as their personal struggles are gradually revealed through journals entries and reflections on them. Kate is a woman vaguely dissatisfied with her life and, like many others, has a tainted view of safety and normalcy in wake of 9/11, less than a year past as the story opens. Compounding her reaction is her grief over the loss of her close friend, Elizabeth, in a airplane crash. When Elizabeth’s will leaves her 25 years worth of journals, Kate is made to contemplate not only on her friend’s secrets but her own life, marriage, and choices as she reads them. She ponders the following questions: What secrets do we keep from those closest to us? What are the unknown effects of the decisions we make? What about the roads we chose not to take? Is there perhaps a lot of “invisible wishing” in everyone’s life? How much of herself should a woman be expected to sacrifice to be a “good” mother and wife?

Elizabeth’s diaries reveal a very different woman than the one Kate had known and loved, and Kate must decide what to do with the information she has discovered. Although it is too late for Elizabeth, what changes to her life and marriage will Kate make? The two women’s husbands are contrasted throughout the story with Elizabeth’s Dave coming out the less favorable, but Kate is concerned that she and her Chris are drifting apart. Kate commented that she was reading the journals “as if she were following bread crumbs, looking for wisdom about what makes two people fall out of sync and then imperceptibly apart, perhaps without one of them even knowing.”

While the story is filled with worry, loss and frustration, it is also studded with joy and contentment in the details of daily life with children. Kate will examine everything in her life and finally come to peace with what she sees as her future. Great, emotionally-satisfying novel.

This is not a book about the end of the world resulting from the end of the long count cycle on the Mayan calendar. It pokes fun at the obsession of Americans with this theory and their craving for artifacts of the ancient Maya. This obsession led Volcy to steal an ancient codex (set of writing) from a hidden temple in Guatemala and bring it to the U.S. to sell and thus make money to support his family.

Much fascinating information about the Maya, their beliefs, and their glyphs is given, and the codex plays an important role in the story. Through most of the story, however, prion diseases (like Mad Cow) are the biggest concern, as Volcy is apparently dying of one. The city of Los Angeles is quarantined as the disease spreads and body count rises. Doctors try to produce antibodies to stop the disease as scholars try to decode the codex in attempt to pinpoint the origin of the illness. The reader is swept up in the desperation of both groups of experts.

The book is more of a medical thriller than a “doomsday” book as it is disease, not cosmic realignment, which threatens the annihilation of humankind. Like the scribe of the codex, a few modern men and women risk everything to accomplish something for the good of others. All of the events seem frighteningly possible, and the characters are interesting and well-developed. The book pulled me in from the first page and kept me reading intently until the end.

Sweet story of three generations of women: a divorced woman whose unfaithful ex-husband wants to reconcile, her daughter recently disappointed by the man she thought was going to marry her, and her ex-mother-in-law who wants to attend her 50th high school reunion to reconnect and apologize for betraying him 50 years earlier. They embark on a road trip from their home in Seattle to the reunion in Orlando, Florida.The journey is filled with unexpected detours, new possibilities for love, and memories recalled from their common past. Latest installment in Blossom Street series.

Hostage Rescue Team sent to protect daughter of American ambassador to Afghanistan threatened by terrorists. Good suspense and satisfying ending

Very interesting story of a 13-year old in a hundred-year-old body, a one in eight million birth condition. It is told by both Hayley and her mother in alternating chapters about the same events. Heart-touching

This is a very engaging thriller about a terrorism plot centered around NYC and the dedication of One World Center at Ground Zero. An attempt to hijack a plane is foiled by 6 ordinary passengers who become instant heroes. While they are paraded and feted, Jeremy Fisk and his Intelligence squad of NYPD try to determine whether the terrorist was acting alone or was part of a more elaborate plot. There are many twists and turns in the plot, and the reader is as caught up in the unrelenting tension as the characters in the story. Once again an author has created an ingenious method of assassination and destruction. One can only hope the bad guys aren't reading such novels. The relationship between Jeremy and Krina has a totally unforseen outcome. Jeremy is likable protagonist in this first in a series.

workaholic father receives wakeup call about the condition of his dysfunctional family when his wife ends up in an irreversible coma as a result of one of her thrill-seeking stunts. When the decision is made to stop life support according to her living will, Dad takes a long hard look at his very troubled daughters and how it will now be up to him to help steer them back on course. The language and converstions of the daughters are generally foul,crude and combative. Dad is overwhelmed with his responsiblity; and, for lack of anything better he can think to do, takes the girls and the older one\'s goofball boyfriend to try to find his wife\'s lover so he can say goodbye. The wife\'s fate is known from the beginning--the storyline is how Dad and the girls struggle to recreate their identity as a family and their relationships to each other

Very different but satisfying book about the relationship between a man and his terminally ill mother and the love of books that provides stability and structure to their lives during the mother’s decline. As the author stated, books gave them something to talk about when they didn't want to talk about more emotional topics yet also triggered talk of memories and feelings

We live through those days from her diagnosis to the end with them, but what makes this book special is the discussion of the books. They recommend books to each other and then have lively exchanges of opinions about them and share those opinions with us. There is a bibliography at the end of book listing all the books cited. I was delighted to see many of my favorites, and have added some to my to-read list.

The death of a loved one is inherently sad, but the book is more of a celebration of the mother’s live and the gift she gave her son, a writer and publisher, of enjoyment of reading. The author mentions at one point that part of his mother will live on in the people who will someday read the books so precious to her. I especially enjoyed his description of his mother's faith--seen from the eye's of a nonbeliever. Definitely recommended to bibliophiles and anyone with a mother.