He did share two chapters and then they lent us the book to read at our leisure. My children couldn’t wait to finish it and hated to see it end.

O Ye Jigs & Juleps! A humorous slice of Americana by a turn-of-the-century pixie, aged ten is a collection of essays written in the early 1900s by a young American girl, Virginia Cary Hudson. Her view on life around her is charming and hilarious. You cannot read it without a smile and a chuckle.

She shares her thoughts on the Sacraments to the Library to Church Etiquette.

“Sacraments are what you do in Church. What you do at home is something else. Cooking and sewing and running the Bissels sweeper and eating and sleeping and playing and scrubbing yourself are not sacraments.”

“The library is a memorial. A memorial is something that somebody says or gives or builds after you are dead and can’t hear it or get it or see it. And now may God grant us all a good night’s rest and not let the fire whistle blow. Amen. Hallelujah and so be it as it may.”

“Before I go into the house of the Lord with praise and thanksgiving, I lift up mine eyes unto the town clock from whence cometh the time to see if I am late. It is not etiquette to be late.”

If you have not read this delightful book, you must find it! We will sadly be returning our borrowed copy but it is a must have for our family bookshelf!

When I saw The Portable Patriot Documents, Speeches, and Sermons That Compose the American Soul By Joel Miller and Kristen Parrish as an available book at BookSneeze, I knew I had to grab it! What an amazing time of year to read the historical documents of our country!

“in the Portable Patriot you’ll find a carefully assembled sampling of American history’s most formative words, written by people who made that extraordinary history.” This book takes you through American History from the Mayflower Compact to the Revolution to the founding of America. You will read the works of Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and George Washington. You can enjoy reading the Federalist Papers and the Constitution.

The Portable Patriot is an excellent resource to have on hand. While there are just excerpts of certain documents/speeches it is handy and compact for a quick reading or study. Anyone who enjoys American History could appreciate the value of this book. I plan on keeping it on our shelves as a history resource in our homeschool.

Normally I would have not chosen a non-fiction book but am so glad that I ventured out of my comfort zone this time around.

**Disclaimer – I was given a complimentary copy of The Portable Patriot to review on this blog. No compensation was given.

(**Please note: Book Sneeze sends me a free copy of a book and I read it and share my review with you. I am not compensated in any way.)

This week I had the opportunity to read The Heart Mender by Andy Andrews.

The Heart Mender is about Helen who is overcome with anger after losing her husband to the Nazi war machine. She is put to the test when Lt. Josef Landermann, officer on a German U-boat, washes on the shore near her home and his life lays in her hands. Does she give into her anger? Or is she able to overcome and help someone who needs her for survival?

The Heart Mender is listed as a self-help, motivational book. I’m not a big fan of self-help books. However, I was so surprised when I began reading. By page 2 I was hooked. I was instantly intrigued by the story line and curious to see how it would work out. In my mind I had ideas about what was going to happen to certain characters and I had to know that I was right! I finished the book the day I started and with 7 kiddos that is no easy task!

The self-help aspect deals with anger and forgiveness. There were a few points in the book I was felt was a bit overkill but I reminded myself that it was a self-help book so it was to be expected. I don’t think I would recommend this book to someone struggling with anger or forgiveness.

The historical aspect of this book was fascinating. I learned a good bit about WWII and the German U-boats. Very interesting! And one thing I loved is that the book ended with a “where are they now”. You read a book and get involved with the characters and then the book ends and you wonder…what happened next??? Mr. Andrews lets us know what happens with Helen, Josef and those around them.

Now to the best part! THE GIVEAWAY! BookSneeze and Thomas Nelson publishing was generous enough to give me an extra hardback copy of The Heart Mender to share with my readers. So if you want to travel back to WWII or need a bit of self-help, just leave me a comment! I’ll pick a winner next Thursday, May 13.

Wonders Never Cease by Tim Downs

Wonders Never Cease is about angels; real and not so real. Kemp McAvoy is a night nurse at UCLA and is assigned to a movie star patient in a medically induced coma. With an attitude that life has not given him what he deserves and the desire for money, Kemp thinks up a plan to convince his movie star patient that she has seen an angel and been given an important message to share. Kemp convinces a publisher and the movie star’s agent to aid him in his plan. While Kemp is playing “angel”, his girlfriend’s daughter is seeing real ones though no one believes her. So what happens when you play angel?

This is the first work I read by Mr. Downs. Honestly, I would not have grabbed this book off the shelf at the bookstore. However, I was pleasantly surprised. Even though the story line was a bit predictable it had a few surprises here and there. There is no deep theologically discussion of angels or religion, so if you are looking for a nice, enjoyable read, then this would be a good choice. I was a bit disappointed because I think there were areas that could have been developed deeper and made a much better book.

Also, the book is labeled as Christian fiction but there is no blatant message of the Gospel in the book. If that is something you look for in “Christian literature” you will not find it in Wonders Never Cease.

If you decide to read Wonders Never Cease, let me know! I’d love to know your thoughts.

**A reminder that I received a complimentary copy of the book since I am a reviewer for BookSneeze.

Thankfully, my library had a few titles from them and I was downright delighted when I saw this one:

I knew that I had one child in this house who would give a squeal of delight when she saw it. All of my children love Chronicles of Narnia, but Bekah was the first to enter the land of Narnia. She was delighted when she saw it and devastated when I told her she had to wait. Hee, hee. It is the little things that make life fun, right? After a short time of torture I gave her the book and told her to let me know when she finished it.

Naturally, she finished it that afternoon. This is why the library lets me go over the 100 book limit.

Then I asked her to tell me all about Mr. Lewis. She shared wonderful details of his life; things I had no idea about! I was going to read it myself but after her thorough narration, there isn’t a big rush.

Bekah and I highly recommend C. S. Lewis: Master Storyteller and the other wonderful biographies from YWAM Publishing!

Oh, I almost forgot. One fact about Lewis that brought a huge smile to Bekah’s face was that Lewis was fan of E. Nesbitt. We adore her books as well.

Please share if you decide to read about Mr. Lewis and any other great biographies we should read!

Flannel Kisses by Linda Crotta Brennan is simply delightful. A charming book about a family enjoying the warm indoors and the cold, snowy outdoors. It is filled with colorful, detailed drawings and simple text. I originally picked it at the library for my 4 year old. She has enjoyed it but my 2 year old loves it! She “reads” it all the time and will spend forever looking at the pictures. She loves to find the doggy in the picture. This has a Before Five in a Row feel to me. I’m very glad I added this to our “winter/snow” reading list. Check it out for your little ones and let me know what you think!

Good-bye, My Lady by James Street

It was written in the 1950s and set in the swamp of the Mississippi woods. You step into the simple life of Skeeter and his Uncle Jesse who live and sometimes work in the swamp. One day Skeeter finds a dog. His dog. And this is their story.

I had never heard of this book in all the many hours I spend searching for literature for my children and I am so thankful to my friend for mentioning it to me. You do not want to miss an opportunity to travel to the Mississippi swamp.

We have read this book several times and enjoy it always. A sweet, sweet book. I noticed that our library had another book by the same author so I grabbed it. I love visiting with old friends. And we found a treasure!

Island Boy…a story about a boy named Matthias and a beloved island. A beautiful story and beautifully illustrated. I hated to see it end. Even my 10yr old daughter was gathered around as we read about Matthias. This is one you don’t want to miss!

I’m definitely going to be looking for more books by Ms. Cooney. If you read Island Boy, let me know how you like it!

This book caught my eye at the library the other day and it is now a favorite of all the kiddos. Yes, even the 10 year old couldn’t resist cuddling up for this one!

I think it hit a chord with me, because as a young child (ok, even in high school) I was terrified of storms. I can remember hiding under the bed, the covers, anywhere to try to get away from the sound.

Thunder Cake is about a young girl at her grandmother’s house and a storm is brewing. The grandmother gets the girl through the storm by making thunder cake. Lovely illustrations. A delightful read. My son loved making the “thunder” sounds. The young girls enjoyed “counting the lightening”.

I plan to pull this out again this summer; when the storms begin and make our own thunder cake. I’ll be sure to let you know when it happens!

***Note: I have added in the sidebar a couple of extra pages that I will be updating booklists; books I read to the kiddos and books the kiddos read on their own. It is more for my personal record keeping but if it introduces or reminds you of a book or two, well great!