Hope Springs by Kim Cash Tate

Hope Springs is the little town where Grandma Geri’s family and friends come together to support her during her cancer diagnosis.  Her family members are surprised to learn that she has hidden a secret from them for years.  In revealing it, she puts herself at risk of rejection by those she loves.  Meanwhile, her granddaughters are also dealing with difficult life lessons and encountering lost loves. 

Kim Cash Tate weaves themes of family, loyalty, love and loss throughout this book.  Not having read any of her previous books, I found it difficult to keep up with the many different characters.  Her theme of racial reconciliation was presented plainly.   However, because it was difficult to keep the characters straight, I wasn’t always sure of their racial heritage, and that made understanding the plot trickier.  Now that I have been introduced to the main characters, I would consider reading her previous books.  As a Christian author, she handles modern-day issues of sexual purity and pregnancy outside marriage sensitively.  Her characters, though flawed, learn and grow in grace from their mistakes.  The book didn’t have a “perfect “ending, but a realistic one.  I am grateful for the free copy from the publisher and this is my honest review. 

Hot Dogs and Hamburgers by Rob Shindler

 

Rob Shindler writes an inspiring story of a father’s determination to help his son learn to read.  Rob, like many fathers,  had difficulty accepting his child’s learning disability.  After he denied his son’s problems for a while, Rob determined to do something to fix the situation.  But first he must understand how to teach a person to read.  He joins a literacy organization in Chicago and begins to tutor adults how to read.  The adults love his unorthodox approach and he begins to see the inklings of success.  Through the process of teaching the adults, he realizes what it is exactly, that his son needs to do in order to read.

I loved this story.  As a teacher, this story rang true.    It was very inspiring.  Rob’s honesty about his situation is refreshing.  So is his unorthodox approach to teaching adults to read.  I applaud his determination to help his son.  This book made me want to investigate volunteer options in my own city.  I hope that Rob continues to positively impact the lives of illiterate adults.  Read this book and his story will influence your life, too.

House of Mercy by Erin Healy

 

Beth Borzoi lives on a ranch and loves animals, especially horses.  She aspires to be a vet.  Because of a freak accident involving a wolf and another rancher’s valuable horse, her family will lose their ranch and ministry.  Her father believes that her estranged grandfather, Garner Remke, holds the key to rescuing their ranch.  Shortly before her father’s death, he urges Beth to search out Garner and bring him home.  She goes in search of him on horseback, but is followed by a mysterious wolf, perhaps the same one that caused her catastrophic accident.  She manages to find Garner, but he is fighting for his life and Beth must now try to save him from probable death. 

Erin Healy is one of my favorite Christian writers.  This book had layers of plot that kept me reading, despite the fact that I am not a fan of Western novels.  The author weaves a thread of the supernatural throughout this book, and I find myself still trying to grasp the symbolism.  The book ended, but left me wanting to know more of what happened after the last page.  I hope there will be a sequel as many questions were left unanswered.  I intend to read as many as books as Erin Healy writes.  She is an excellent writer and I highly recommend her works.  My thanks to Booksneeze, which provided the free e-book for me and this is my honest review