The Girl in the Glass by Susan Meissner

The Girl in the Glass by Susan Meissner

This was a very good book. Kept my interest by bouncing between three different story lines. The main character is Meg. Her father has been promising to take her to Florence for years and continually disappointing her by failing to deliver on the promise. Additionally we are introduced to Sophia. When Meg finally gets to Florence she ends up staying with Sophia. Sophia is a travel guide who shows Meg around Florence. The girl in the glass is really all three of them - Nora, Sophia and Meg. The concept is that the girl looks in the glass - in the mirror. And the girl will decide who she will be and whose daughter she is and the kind of parents she has. It speaks to our perspective on things. We can either choose to see things in a positive light or a negative light. It is up to us how we view things. And the spin we put on things to make us feel better about the people in our life and the events in our life - just help to make life more enjoyable. I enjoyed the characters. I wish the author would have more fully developed the romance between Lorenzo and Meg. Maybe that will be book 2?!

Tidings of Comfort & Joy

by T. Davis Bunn

A great read for the upcoming Christmas season. It is just a delightful story. Very heartwarming. Grandma takes in her Granddaughter while the rest of the family gets an amazing trip to Hawaii - the granddaughter was too sick to go on the trip. Grandmother then spends the time telling her granddaughter her story - how she eventually met her husband (grandfather). In the process of telling the story the two become close. It helps to heal both of their hearts. I just loved the fact that grandmother took the time to share and bond with the granddaughter. I loved those types of times with my grandmother and wish for my kids to have them with their grandparents. Some great life lessons can be imparted by learning about the hard time of those that went before us. 

The Boy Who came Back From Heaven

by Kevin and Alex Malarkey

This was an interesting book and an interesting story. I personally liked Heaven is Real much better. This one is good and does help to document the existence of angels and heaven. On the other hand it is also much sadder. The recovery is not a full recovery - and from a parent's perspective it is hard to read about a child that is going to spend his life as a quadriplegic. It seems like such a sad life to not have use of at least your hands. Still, it is amazing to read about the family's faith in the face of adversity and how the community of believers lifted the family up and helped them through the difficult time.

That's Why I'm Here by Chris Spielman

A very good book. Will make you cry. It is the true story of Chris and Stefanie Spielman. They were high school sweethearts. Some of the book covers his career in the NFL. More importantly it details out how he learned to really walk with God and live as a devoted Christian putting Christ first, family second and football third. Fabulous testimony of faith especially in light of dealing with his wife's cancer. When she was diagnosed, he put his career on hold and took a year off playing football to be Mr. Mom -- to do all the things she normally did so she could just focus on her treatments and recovery. 

Throughout her ordeal, Stefanie never once lamented that she had cancer. Never bemoaned it or got angry at God. Throughout the entire thing she felt she had been given so many blessings. (As the title of the book indicates) She felt it was why she was here --- to inspire others, to give others going through breast cancer hope. Cancer has touched so many - this is really a wonderful book - and a great testimony. Chris and Stefanie are very special people and I feel better for having shared in their journey through reading their story. 

Prayers of a Stranger by Davis Bunn

A delightful, heartwarming story. While the story takes place around the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays - it is not really a Christmas story. It is a story about healing from heartache and learning to lean on God - both to make it through the heartache and to learn to live joyfully again. Amanda takes a trip to Israel and I found that facinating. I would love to go visit the places where Jesus walked. What an amazingly spiritual journey that would be. I highly recommend this book - it is very good. An easy read. Very good story. 

The House I Loved by Tatiana de Rosnay

This book is by the author that also wrote Sarah's Key. I simply loved Sarah's Key. This book was good but unsettling at the end. There were clues along the way to indicate that the author was going to end it in such a way - still I was surprised. I kept hoping for a 'good' ending. In the end, it seemed that the author was putting way too little value on life and way too much value on a structure. While the structure represented a way of life and memories. It was the link to the past and a link to the deceased husband. I do get that but ultimately I value life - a person's life as being far more valuable. It seems like the main character never really got passed the death of her husband and wasn't able to find a new normal. That is just very sad. 

The book was very well written and I do like her style of writing. This story was really told through letters, of course the main letter being the one that Rose was writing to her dead husband. It was almost a journal of sorts. I am not sure I am on board with her worldview though. Life should triumph. And suicide is not God's plan for us. 

Recipe

Black Bean Quinoa

I tried this recipe that I found - it was really very good. I modified it some though. 

Here is a link to the recipe: link

I used a quinoa that had a mixture of various types of quinoa. It looked very colorful.





I did not have cilantro and didn't feel like running to the store. I also didn't use the Bragg's Liquid Aminos - that is like a soy sauce --- and Americans eat way too much soy. I have cut all soy out of my diet. Still, the recipe was good without the soy added in. It is a very different taste but it was very good. Loved the black beans with the quinoa.