The Masterpiece

     BOOK REVIEW:   A successful Los Angeles artist, Roman Valesco appears to have everything he could possibly want---money, women, fame. Only Grace Moore, his reluctant, newly-hired personal assistant, knows how little he truly has. The demons of Roman's past seem to echo through the halls of his empty mansion and out across his breathtaking Topanga Canyon view. But Grace doesn't know how her boss secretly wrestles with those demons: by tagging buildings as the Bird, a notorious but unidentified graffiti artist---an alter ego that could destroy his career and land him in prison. 
     Like Roman, Grace is wrestling with ghosts and secrets of her own. After a disastrous marriage threw her life completely off course, she vowed never to let love steal her dreams again. But as she gets to know the enigmatic man behind the reputation, it's as if the jagged pieces of both of their pasts slowly begin to fit together.....until something so unexpected happens that it changes the course of their relationship---and both of their lives---forever.


     MY REVIEW:   Francine Rivers is a favorite author of mine, and this book is just as exceptional as her others. But there is one let-down---Grace is divorced. And Roman's indecorous lifestyle is sometimes rather bluntly portrayed.  But for the book itself and it's message I give a high rating. The story is exceptionally well-done. Francine flips between past and present, of two different people, in no apparent chronological order. It takes a truly gifted author to succeed at that without confusing or exasperating the reader.
     If you do read this book, be sure to look in the very last pages, behind the author's notes, and discover the inspiration for the cover. We are only shown a fragment of the picture, and in the back of the book, you can see the whole thing.
     The fact that no sin is too large, nor sinner too evil, to be saved by God is very well-expressed in this book. As I neared the end, I didn't have a clue how on earth Francine was going to be able to make Roman "good" by the time she ran out of pages. But she found a way!! And not an unrealistic, fell-out-of-bed-on-the-right-side-and-never-sinned-again-and-sold-all-his-possessions-to-give to-the-poor-and-lived-a-saint-with-no-temptation-of-former-life way. But rather, a dramatic conversion, then help from a faithful pastor and friend.
     I will say, I wish Francine had included images of some of the graffiti mentioned. Some of it sounded really neat. I liked how she described both the paintings themselves, and the creation of them. She must have put in a lot of time researching all this!
     I really enjoyed this book, and read it through with no interruption. You don't have to struggle through deep theology, yet there is a message to be grasped, and you won't walk away wishing to regain those wasted hours.

  I received a copy of this book from TYNDALE PUBLISHERS and was not required to give a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own. 

Judah's Wife

     BOOK REVIEW:   To be silent would be to deny their God. to defy would bring the wrath of the king.   Seeking quiet and safety after a hard childhood, Leah marries Judah, a strong and gentle man, and for the first time in her life Leah believes she'll have peace. But the very nation Judah was named for has been conquered by a cruel king, who decrees that all Jews are to conform to Syrian laws or risk death for following the laws of Moses.
     Judah's father resists the decree, igniting a war that will cost him his life. But before dying, he commands Judah to pick up his sword and continue the fight---or bear responsibility for the obliteration of Israel. Leah, who wants nothing but peace, struggles with her husband's decision---what kind of God would destroy the peace she has sought for so long?
     The miraculous story of the courageous Maccabees is told through the eyes of Judah's wife, who learns that love requires courage.....and sacrifice.

     MY REVIEW:   This book looked interesting because of who it is written about. I've heard a little about the Maccabees, and they always sounded like an interesting people in a time we know very little about. Angela Hunt took much of her material from 1 and 2 Maccabees, which are found in the Apocrypha. Mattathias and his five sons are historical figures, as with several other characters. There are a few fictional characters as well to lend perspective. The wives are fictional in account, though these men were most likely married.
     This book is written from both Judah and Leah's perspective, and in first person. I am not a huge fan of first person, but this book was done quite well. The author also refrained from making her pages stretch with an overload of "he was wearing this" and "she was wearing this" and "this is how the other person's clothes affected the first person".
     Judah's father started the stand against the king's decrees, and led his family and the remnant of faithful Israel into the desert to train and prepare an army. Upon his death, he commissioned Judah to carry on in his stead. Judah led his fledgling army of farmers courageously, relying on "HaShem" to grant them victory. There was a time or two near the end when they were defeated for entering battle in the wrong courage, but as a whole they were devoted to their God. When Israel determined to name Judah their king, or high priest, he refused. The honor goes to God; he was content merely to be a vessel.
     Judah seemed a little unrealistically "good" to me, but at the end of the book, it comes out that Angela fashioned him to be a type of Christ. His defense of his people, unconditional love and care for his family, and leadership aura now make sense.
     Leah struggles to the point of bitterness with her loss of a peaceful life since Judah is leading the army of Israel, but as she learns of God's Love for her and talks with her mother-in-law, she comes to realize peace comes in many forms. She can eventually see Judah's love for Israel is a reflection of God's love for His people.
     Angela Hunt has written over 100 books. This book is the second of her "Silent Years" series. The first  is Egypt's Sister, a novel of Cleopatra. This is the first of her books I've read, and I think I may have to keep my eye out for more from her.

I received a copy of this book from BETHANY HOUSE PUBLISHERS, and was not required to write a positive review. 

Seasoned Chicken Potatoes and Green Beans

For supper tonight, I tried a new recipe--Seasoned Chicken Potatoes and Green Beans.

I love crockpot meals that you can put together over lunch and serve 5 min after you come home. SO handy. :)

As usual, I made a larger batch than called for. Plus, my chicken and green beans were half frozen. So, rather than the stated 4 hours, mine was cooking for 6 hours (that, and the fact that 6 hours later was when I got back to it 😊).

Sadly, we didn't really like the taste of this dish. If you'll notice at the bottom of the recipe, it reads: Note- Do NOT use lemon juice out of squeeze bottle and expect this to taste good!  Wanna guess what I did?     "....Ha! Watch me!!...."

I don't know if real versus store-bought lemon juice really makes that big a difference or if we would have even liked it with real lemon juice, but store-bought was not very good. Bother!! 

A Force So Swift

     BOOK REVIEW:   A gripping narrative of the Truman administration's response to China and the triumph of Mao Zedong's communist forces in 1949---an extraordinary political revolution that continues to shape East Asian politics to this day.   In the opening months of 1949, U.S. President Harry S. Truman found himself faced with a looming diplomatic catastrophe---"perhaps the greatest that this country has ever suffered," as the journalist Walter Lippmann put it. Throughout the spring and summer, Mao Zedong's Communist armies fanned out across mainland China, annihilating the rival troops of America's one-time ally Chiang Kai-shek and taking control of Beijing, Shanghai, and other major cities. As Truman and his aides---including his shrewd, ruthless secretary of state, Dean Acheson---scrambled to formulate a response, they were forced to contend with not only Mao, but also with unrelenting political enemies at home. Over the course of this tumultuous year, Mao would fashion a new revolutionary government in Beijing, laying the foundation for the creation of modern China, while Chiang Kai-shek would flee to the island sanctuary of Taiwan, and the subsequent wars in Korea and Vietnam.
     Drawing on Chinese and Russian sources, as well as recently declassified C.I.A. documents, Kevin Peraino tells the story of this remarkable year through the eyes of the key players, including Mao Zedong, President Truman, Secretary of State Acheson, Minnesota congressman Walter Judd, and Madame Chiang Kai-shek, the influential first-lady of the Republic of China.
     Today, the legacy of 1949 is more relevant than ever to the relationships between China, the United States, and the rest of the world, as Beijing asserts its claims on the South China Sea and tensions endure between Taiwan and the mainland.

     MY REVIEW:   This book is difficult to review, because while I enjoyed it and was not bored, I could not read much at a time, and I can't tell you everything I read. It is history, so there is MUCH to recall. It was written very well, and was easy to follow, just a lot of information.
     This book seemed to be more about Truman and America's response to China's problem than the actual take-over of Mao's Communist army. And politics are not something I can wrap my head around. From what I can gather:
     Truman was lost on how to respond in a way that would avoid catastrophe and be effective, while his aids very firmly believed in completely opposite responses.
     Chiang Kai-shek, the leader of China who is fighting Mao's army, is losing both battle and hope, and his wife Madame Chiang goes to America to gather support while he hides away for several months.
     Madame Chiang, while using everything she has, is unsuccessful in gathering enough support for her country.
     Mao Zedong is working with Stalin of Russia and is successful in taking over China, all but the island of Taiwan, the last Nationalist refugee where Chiang Kai-shek and his remaining people are taking cover. 
     And how I understand it, America's withdrawal from China in the end led to an invasion of South Korea, and North Korea's attack, and the war in Vietnam. America's non-committal response to the forces of communism gave these leaders the freedom to invade their surrounding countries.
     ---"Kevin Peraino is a veteran foreign correspondent who has reported from around the world. A senior writer and bureau chief at NEWSWEEK for a decade, he was a finalist for the Livingstone Award for foreign reporting and part of a team that won the National Magazine Award in 2004. He is the author of Lincoln in the World: The Making of a Statesman and the Dawn of American Power."---

   I received a copy of this book from BLOGGING FOR BOOKS and was not required to give a positive review. All opinions are my own.