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I'm a writer and library worker who wears many hats. I believe a good book and a good piece of chocolate are the keys to a happy life.

Friday, February 27, 2009

Counting the Cost by Liz Adair


I have read several titles by Liz Adair, and thoroughly enjoyed many of them, so I clapped my hands and did the “goodie-goodie” dance I save for cool books when her latest title Counting the Cost showed up in my mailbox. What followed was sort of a roller coaster ride of ups and downs for me as I read.


I read the first chapter at lighting speed. I had a good time with the descriptions and fun story presented, but then came a big lull in excitement. It took me a much longer time to get through the first third of the book then it normally does. I blame this on me, personally, and a few issues I had with the story in general. Here’s how it played out. Though Counting the Cost is not a “western” per say, it is set in that atmosphere and I’m not a western type of gal. So, while I could appreciate some of the action and descriptions, I did get lost in them.


The type is small and the book is thick. Not normally a big deal for me, but when combined with other factors such as life disasters that were leaving me already exhausted, when I looked for a reading escape it looked too daunting to read in any large chunk of time. Because I saved it for snippets instead of “serious” stretches of reading I kept getting lost in the many characters coming in and out of Heck and Ruth’s lives. The writing was still good. Liz is an excellent storyteller, but I felt overwhelmed, like she was telling me much more of the story than my tiny brain could handle at the moment.


The last two-thirds of the book went much better for me. I buckled down, gave it some serious attention and found myself caught up in the story more easily. By the end of the book I had truly come to care about the characters and where their choices would take them.


In a nut shell, Counting the Cost is a story about a cowhand, Heck, and a beautiful debutant, Ruth, that fall in love. The problem is Ruth is already married to someone else. Heck is a noble character who does his best to avoid a bad situation until he finds Ruth bruised and battered from abuse at her husband’s hand. He steps in and takes Ruth to live with him in a remote cabin. They were very literally “shacked up” if you’ll excuse my very poor pun in a time when that was simply not done for any reason. This choice leads to consequences both good and bad and a very candid look at what it really means to commit to a relationship with someone. It was an eye opening experience.


I also appreciated that Liz included both some of the simple joys, as well as the difficulties associated with their lives together. It reminded me that there are always at least two sides to a story. In our own lives that can mean the difference between happiness and malcontent. Sometimes it’s just a matter of finding the side that matters most rather than the one that bugs us the most.


Counting the Cost also carries a blush factor warning. Though the intimacy scenes in the book were very tasteful and discreet they are there. Counting the Cost is very much about the connections between a man and a woman and the physical connections can’t be ignored in this kind of book. This isn’t a steamy romance; it’s a portrait of two people making choices: some good, some not-so-good. Just be aware that the content is there.


There are two reasons I’d recommend Counting the Cost. First, it really is a story that has much to share about learning to deal with the consequences of our choices and how to show compassion for the choices of others- we’re all really doing the best we can with the situations we find ourselves in. Second, because a portion of the book’s sales will go to benefit Serving Women Across Nations (SWAN). Seeing a need, and then finding a way to do something about it is always a wonderful thing.


Kudos to Liz Adair for Counting the Cost and her compassionate and motivated spirit.
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Friday, February 20, 2009

The Best from LDS Authors for 2008

What’s the latest buzz in the LDS book world? The announcement of the 2008 Whitney Award Finalists. This is the second year for the Whitney Awards, and I must say that a program I was excited about from its very conception has proved that it can only get better and better. I read a lot of books, I’d love to read even more and I have this weird thing about looking for authors I have a connection with. Sometimes it’s a writing style, sometimes it’s a subject, sometimes it’s because I know them. There are a lot of different reasons, and being LDS is definitely one of them.

Though it can’t always be proven true, if I know that an author is LDS I will turn to their work with a hope of finding a good story that won’t upset my delicate eyes with things that shouldn’t be on the page. That’s not an easy thing to do in this day and age. So, here it is. The whole premise of the Whitney Awards was to find a way to recognize and reward LDS authors, both from the LDS market and the national market, who manage to do just that: write a great story. The Whitney committee gathers nominations for any book written by an LDS author throughout the calendar year, these are narrowed down, first by the number of nominating votes, then by votes from genre experts and readers. The titles announced are all highly recommended and a great sampling of what great literature can be.

I’ve provided an alphabetical list of the finalists for you here. Over the next two months basically anyone who has a part to play in the publishing business- LDS authors, publishers, distributors, bookstores and more will all be reading and casting their private votes to identify the best of the best from these titles. This includes yours truly. Some of these titles I’ve already talked about here on my blog. You can find other people talking about them on yourLDSneighborhood and other book rating sites. In fact I’d encourage you to pop in and start a discussion on the titles you’ve read or what you think about the Whitney Awards in general. To me, it’s much better than discussing the Oscars or who just got kicked off of Idol.
Enter your guesses. I will not be posting my own reviews on any more of these titles until after the awards are announced on April 25. Not that I think I could sway the vote, but just ‘cause that’s the kosher thing to do. When the dust settles, I’ll let you know how many of the winners I picked. Who knows, you may find out I have lousy taste in literature- if you haven’t decided that already.

If you have a hard time trying to decide where to spend your precious book buying dollars I’d suggest you aren’t likely to go wrong with these titles. Don’t wait for just the winners. I think it’s fair to say that they are all a good bet for a great read. I know money and time are tight, but I also know how much an author will tend to sweat and bleed to give us as readers a beautiful story. So, buy a Whitney finalist or two, support an awesome LDS author. You won’t regret it.

Whitney Award Finalists

The 13th Reality by James Dashner (Best Youth Fiction)

Abinadi by H. B. Moore (Best Historical)

Above and Beyond by Betsy Brannon Green (Best Mystery/Suspense)

Alcatraz vs. The Scrivner's Bones by Brandon Sanderson (Best Youth Fiction)

Bound on Earth by Angela Hallstrom (Best Novel of the Year, Best Novel by a New Author)

Do No Harm by Gregg Luke (Best Mystery/Suspense)

Ender in Exile by Orson Scott Card (Best Speculative Fiction)

Fablehaven: Grip of the Shadow Plague (Book 3) by Brandon Mull (Best Youth Fiction)

Farworld: Water Keep by J. Scott Savage (Best Youth Fiction)

Fields of Home by Rachel Ann Nunes (Best General Fiction)

Fool Me Twice by Stephanie Black (Best Novel of the Year, Best Mystery/Suspense)

Freefall by Traci Hunter Abramson (Best Mystery/Suspense)

From the End of Heaven (The Great and Terrible, Vol. 5) by Chris Stewart (Best Speculative Fiction)

The Hero of Ages (Mistborn, Book 3) by Brandon Sanderson (Best Novel of the Year, Best Speculative Fiction)

The Host by Stephenie Meyer (Best Speculative Fiction)

Isabelle Webb, Legend of the Jewel by N. C. Allen (Best Historical)

Keeping Keller by Tracy Winegar (Best General Fiction)

Master by Toni Sorenson (Best Historical)

The Reckoning by Tanya Parker Mills (Best Novel by a New Author, Best General Fiction)

Royal Target by Traci Hunter Abramson (Best Mystery/Suspense)

The Ruby by Jennie Hansen (Best Historical)

Seeking Persephone by Sarah Eden (Best Romance)

Servant to a King by Sariah Wilson (Best Romance)

The Sound of Rain by Anita Stansfield (Best Romance)

Spare Change by Aubrey Mace (Best Novel by a New Author, Best Romance)

Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by Jessica Day George (Best Novel of the Year, Best Youth Fiction)

Taking Chances by Shannon Guymon (Best Romance)

Traitor by Sandra Grey (Best Novel of the Year, Best Novel by a New Author, Best Historical)

Waiting For the Light to Change by Annette Hawes (Best Novel by a New Author, Best General Fiction)

The Wyrmling Horde: The Seventh Book of the Runelords by David Farland (Best Speculative Fiction)

Lifetime Achievement Awards
Kerry Blair
Orson Scott Card


yourLDSneighborhood has added exciting new things to its website. Please drop by and take a look, browse around, check out our vendors, our radio station, our authors, our musicians and more. Check out the Neighborhood.

And while you're there, subscribe to the yourLDSneighborhood Newsletter. In addition to being able to shop in the new virtual neighborhood, the newsletter brings you articles, products, services, resources and interviews from around the world-all with an LDS focus. Look for issues delivered to your email inbox every week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Friday, February 13, 2009

The Forgotten Warrior by Kathi Oram Peterson


When I saw Kathi Oram Peterson’s new title: The Forgotten Warrior, I was pretty excited to see what it was like. The tale of the stripling warriors is on of my favorites and a classic standard for the youth. It's one you really want them to remember and understand because the world today can be just as brutal as those war years in the Book of Mormon. We want our children to understand the power that faith can have to protect them.


In The Forgotten Warrior, Syd, a modern teenage girl with a lot of worries and responsibilities weighing heavily on her shoulders is transported back to the time of the Helaman's Warriors. There was much to like about this story. I liked the fact that even though Syd had the emotions and thoughts of any teenage girl, she was far from incapable of handling the situation she found herself in. The author made it very clear that Syd was transported through time for the Lord's purposes, not just for a fun "magical" trip. Syd had a purpose to serve there and a few things to learn. What was her purpose? Well, it just so happens that Syd is a black-belt in karate and helps teach at her mother's dojo. Tada! After some initial distrust Syd is called by the prophet Helaman to prepare his son's for battle with her fighting style. Helaman feels that learning some of Syd's techniques will help give the Stripling Warriors an advantage they sorely need in their fight.


What does Syd need to learn? What it really means to have the heart of a Nephite. What the power of the Lord in our lives really is. Oh, and how to fall in love, too.


There were things about The Forgotten Warrior that I didn't like as well. There are snippets at the beginning of each chapter that are told from the perspective of one of the warriors. This was fine, except in my old age I had a difficult time reading the font that was chosen to distinguish between the two thought processes. Sadly, I ended up skipping many of these passages instead of taking the extra time to squint at it. When I did scan a few lines there seemed to be an added element of Book of Mormon history presented so I partly wish I could have taken in a bit more of it.


It also annoyed me that it took so long for anyone in Ancient America to first: notice Syd, and second: to figure out that the spy was a "she" instead of a "he". I get all the factors that the author put into place to compensate for that and the reasons why not everyone could find out her gender but it was still a little annoying to me personally.

Plus, I always wonder at these types of books when someone goes back in time and seems to carry such wonderful stores of knowledge around in their heads. As I've said before, I'm not the world's best Book of Mormon scholar and though this particular story is pretty well known I tend to get details muddled. Syd, on the other hand, always knew the next step in the war and what its outcome would be. I would not have been able to believe this except that the author let me know it was a portion of the Book of Mormon the teenager had to read and reread frequently for her mentally-challenged little sister.


These little nit-picks aside, The Forgotten Warrior has a lot of potential. It can be a great story for our young people, and big people too, to learn from but I'd have to recommend waiting a year or so before handing it off for someone to read. Why? I was really bummed by the ending. The Forgotten Warrior is obviously meant to be part of a series because the ending just leaves you hanging. I'm all for a good cliff hanger at the end of a book-- it always leaves me sniffing in disgust, but I get its value and use. The problem was there was almost no resolution at the end of The Forgotten Warrior. Aside from a little boy being rescued, every other story problem that had been set up was still just hanging there at the end. That felt very much like a betrayal of reader trust.


That being said, there are definitely things to be learned and inspiration to be had; the messages are still needed by our youth and Kathi is doing her best to get those messages out. She states, “The working theme of The Forgotten Warrior was that faith builds courage and courage builds faith. That faith you can help you learn to forgive. A bonus for me would be if my readers could come away learning more about the stripling warriors, about their strong loyalty to family, faith, and country and apply some of those character traits in their lives.”

To that end, she is currently doing two important things. If you watch her blog you can read her insights about the stripling warriors and how we can be more like them today. She is also currently holding a contest to encourage the youth to find stripling warrior role models among their friends. There is a form on her website that can be downloaded and filled out. People can nominate a youth between 8 and 18 (boy or girl) to be a Latter-day Stripling Warrior by listing a kind deed or deeds they have done. They fill in the nominee's name and address and mail it to Kathi. Every entry will receive a certificate that says "______ is a Latter-day Stripling Warrior". It will be signed by Kathi Oram Peterson and three of the heroes in The Forgotten Warrior. The overall winner receives a $50 gift certificate from Amazon.com.


The Forgotten Warrior can also be ordered online at http://www.covenant-lds.com, http://www.barnesandnoble.com, and http://www.deseretbook.com.



yourLDSneighborhood has added exciting new things to its website. Please drop by and take a look, browse around, check out our vendors, our radio station, our authors, our musicians and more. Check out the Neighborhood.


And while you're there, subscribe to the yourLDSneighborhood Newsletter. In addition to being able to shop in the new virtual neighborhood, the newsletter brings you articles, products, services, resources and interviews from around the world-all with an LDS focus. Look for issues delivered to your email inbox every week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.


Friday, February 6, 2009

My Favorite Picture Books

Okay. I promised many months ago to give you a list of some of my favorite picture books, so here you go. Basically, I love a sweet story with beautiful artwork and probably whatever I’m reading to my children is my favorite at any given moment. These do, however represent a few of my “keep-coming-back-to” favorites. Hopefully there will be a few that are new to you. Check your library. Picture books are fun no matter your age.


A Bad Case of Strips by David Shannon: My children just roll on the floor laughing about poor Camilla’s predicament, but the get the overall message, too. You, just the way you are, is okay. It’s not okay to pretend to be something your not just because others may want you to be different. Incidentally, you can have it read aloud to you by Sean Astin (the actor who plays Sam in the Lord of the Rings movies) at Story Line Online. There are lots of fun titles on the site. Be sure to check it out. (Just click through “more stories” until it pops up)


The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss: Some people have a problem with Dr. Seuss. Personally, I love him. The Cat in the Hat is one of my favorites because I love the lesson it teaches about the atonement. Really. Go read it and see if you can figure out what it is.


Children Just Like Me: A unique celebration of children around the world from Unicef: This beautiful book is full of awesome images and sweet portrayals of children all over the world.


Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson: This was a favorite from both mine and my husband’s childhood. My own children think Harold is pretty awesome, too. But I do wait until they’re past the natural tendencies to color on walls before introducing them to Harold. If not, the results could be disastrous. By the way, I remember that I used to watch a similar show on PBS when I was little. It wasn’t Harold because the little boy had a piece of chalk instead of a purple crayon and there was a bad guy he was always trying to outwit. It seems like he colored on wooden fences a lot. Anybody know what show I’m talking about?


Love You Forever by Robert Munsch, Illustrated by Sheila McGraw: I’ve blogged about this one before. Love the message.


Lucy Steps Through the Wardrobeadapted from The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis Illustrated by Debra Maze: This beautiful set of picture books divided the story of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe into 4 books just right for introducing the young fantasy lover to some of the best literature you can get your hands on. It look me a while to find copies of all the books that I could afford but it was totally worth it to have the collection. The images are beautiful and really let the younger child experience the best of what Narnia is all about.


Pete’s a Pizza by William Steig: What fun! This book reminds me of all that’s best about being parent and bringing a child’s imagination to life. This was the first book my children took and figured out they could act out and bring to life. I found little bits of “cheese” and “pepperoni” all over the house for days afterward but their giggles made it completely worth it.


Sacrament Time by Kathleen H. Barnes and Virginia H. Pearce, Illustrated by Dilleen Marsh: I love the clear message about what the sacrament is all about that even the youngest can understand and try to follow.


Sheep in a Jeep by Nancy Shaw: Fun images and fun sing-song text that my children loved to use as one of their first independent reads as well as a frequent read aloud by mom.


Weslandia by Paul Fleischman, Illustrated by Kevin Hawkes: I stumbled on this title by accident but loved the message so much I had to buy my own copy. The boy in the story, Wesley is smart and imaginative and doesn’t fit in at all. No matter, he creates his own world then suddenly everybody wants to be just like him. Very fun.


You Are Special by Max Lucado, Illustrated by Sergio Martinez: I pretty much love any picture book by Lucado—he’s got quite a few books for adults that are awesome as well.



yourLDSneighborhood has added exciting new things to its website. Please drop by and take a look, browse around, check out our vendors, our radio station, our authors, our musicians and more. Check out the Neighborhood.

And while you're there, subscribe to the yourLDSneighborhood Newsletter. In addition to being able to shop in the new virtual neighborhood, the newsletter brings you articles, products, services, resources and interviews from around the world-all with an LDS focus. Look for issues delivered to your email inbox every week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.