Some Moments Can Seem Like Forever - Can Religion Cause Such World-Wide Chaos - Unfortunately, Yes - Remembering Pope Francis!

Our hearts are greatly saddened by the death of Pope Framcis and all that He brought to leading the World toward Love and Support for all People

"Who Am I to Judge?--Pope Francis

All during the Holy Week Month we have The Pope, The Family, News Hosts and Congressional Representatives, a minister or two and news about protests in all 50 states... as well as Corrie Ten boom are all speaking out! Personally I've been watching from the beginning...

People are afraid, people have been fired for no documented reason. People have been "disappeared" from the nation's streets, including one "known" American citizen leaving behind an austic son in his car and flown to another country where the president has paid $6M for housing non-white people...Hints of citizens also pinpointing are already being planned. Nobody is outside of this president's reach or notice...

Lies, lies, lies are spewed from about 95% of the republican party in government right now; only a few have spoken out against what is happening...

This administration doesn't pay attention to law/judges and flaunts the fact to the nation...

And then proclaims that they are holding an entire Easter event...

God is Love

God is Truth

We Must Speak Out 

Review: POWERFUL! BRILLIANT! A MUST-READ!

Image via Wikipedia

Jerusalem Spring




By Fares Aoun


...Powerful!

...Brilliant!

...A Must-Read!



I love when writers decide to use fiction to tell an opinion or express concern about some situation. Fares Aoun has created a powerful, brilliantly conceived method and story to do just that. I applaud this work and consider it a must-read, especially given I read the book from front to back in one sitting. The impact for me was dramatic; I hope the impact for some will be enlightening...

It is the 1960s and somewhere in the south, readers find themselves inside a segregated prison. A new group is coming in and we see how the all-white guards treat the new prisoners. There are two who are highlighted; one is very young and has been hurt somewhere and is in bad shape. Another who was on the bus is helping him. The identity of these individuals is "13," and "12," the latter.
Immediately trouble begins because 12 was trying to get somebody to help 13. There would be no doctor tonight, but the warden, at least, ordered that 13 be given food that night. He never received any from the guards. After the mandatory shower, etc., the guards literally pushed them forward into a room at which other prisoners stood at the bars and quickly closed the door. They were in a large, long hallway; the prison was extremely overcrowded and though the warden kept insisting that no further men be sent there, nothing changed.

Needing to know his present situation, 12 immediately started to look and walk around and when no food came, he tried to find somebody to help 13.

Finally, he came upon one man in a cell--all the doors were kept open so the crowded group could at least move around, but the toilets were broken and the smell horrendous.
Joe was alone in his cell with stacks and stacks of books. Everybody knew that he was this warden's inside man, but at least he got one slice of bread for 13.
The warden and his wife were both individuals who did not discriminate nor feel differently about those of other races. His wife wanted to leave the south and go somewhere else and start a family because of the tense racial situation. Unknown to his wife, the warden had already started the transfer process months ago; but he didn't want to raise her hopes. The warden was a good man most of the time; he hated what he sometimes had to become in order to do his job. But when a fire, and then a kitchen riot erupted, he became who he felt he had to be to do his job. And then hated his actions because they were similar to his father's...

Even Joe was surprised at how the warden was treating those who had been caught in the riot, even if they personally hadn't been the instigators. For Joe and the warden had become at least cordial and the warden got Joe his books and was even discussing his taking college courses...

Readers may stumble just as Part II begins in present time but will quickly continue on.

Because, actually, the same story continues! Yes, there are a few slight changes--Joe is now called Yusef. The prison becomes a "camp" of people. Scott is still waiting to transfer...

From the author (p. 223, Acknowledgments) "My mom raised us to treat others the way we would want to be treated. My Dad taught us to tell the truth and stand up for the weak." From the Dedication--...this book [is dedicated] to my children and to every child throughout the world with the hope that we adults will give them a better place to live.

I pray with that hope too... If you also have hope...read this book and share it. I'm also hoping the author's next book runs along similar lines! Can there ever be a happy ending? I have a feeling this author has much to say to the world...and I want to read it!

Book Received Via
Blogger LinkUp

G. A. Bixler



Related articles

• Warden in Pa. prison inmate beating case resigns (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Report finds Haiti officers killed at least 12 detainees 'without justification' during Jan. 19 prison uprising - NYT (nytimes.com)
• Warden wants high-risk inmates moved to prevent jailbreaks (newsinfo.inquirer.net)
• Jail Break In Mexico 141 Prisoners Escape | Warden May Be Involved [Video] (realestateradiousa.com)
• Political Prisoner Denied Eighth Amendment Rights [Dispatches from the Culture Wars] (scienceblogs.com)
• Kenneth Hartman: 8 Accurate Books To Read About Life In Prison (PHOTOS) (huffingtonpost.com)

Review: If you like to Give Holiday Books - This One May Work!

Image by Ben Lawson via Flickr

The Snow Globe

By Sheila Roberts








Do you have one or more snow globes in your home? I do and I love the tiny scenes within that become alive just by shaking to create a snow blizzard! So the title of this book was what called to me. Sheila Roberts has created a delightfully warm story that is just right for the season!

Going back all the way to the time the first one was made, the Snow Globe in the story was created about Christmas time, 1880. A loving sister had commissioned it for her brother whose wife had recently died. He had been so devastated that his entire family was worried about him, so his sister who lived in France where they were just starting to make them, had sent it to Chicago with the note, that his sister hoped it would bring him comfort...

The glass globe contained a small toyshop that looked like his father's toyshop in his village in the Bavarian Alps. In front of the toyshop stood a beautiful angel with golden hair and blue eyes who looked like his Liesel!

But one day, the shop keeper looked into the globe and the angel's hair was now brown. He shook the globe again and her hair looked darker! It was just two weeks away when a man and woman entered the store. Except the woman's dark hair and sweet smile made the shopkeeper think he had seen her before...

And soon he realize that he had! In the Snow Globe!

It was this story that Kiley was told in the antique shop that had purchasd the globe. She was immediately drawn to it and it was explained how it had been passed down from generation to generation, always bringing hope when someone needed it most. Kiley was almost broke, she had lost her job, and worse, had lost her financee to her younger sister! She had no money to buy such a beautiful antique, but the owner offered it at 50% off... Kiley needed hope because with Christmas coming, she knew it was going to be extremely hard to attend the normal family gathering, and see her former fiancee with her younger, beautiful sister!

And then one day Kiley saw a different toyshop in her globe--and it was located near her!

Kiley had two good friends who were with her that day when Kiley purchased the antique. One was excited about the story that she told them; the other was skeptical and thought she should have saved the money. Of course, she was very conscious about money since she had been working so hard to pay for the extensive renovations she had done to her home.

Without going into each of the stories, I'll just say that the snow globe was passed on to each of those friends and each saw something different in that globe! And you'll never guess where it is right now, perhaps waiting for YOU to give you hope for the future!

A stocking stuffer for sure...and better yet why not find a suitable globe for your loved one and gift it with the book! It's bound to make that special one on your shopping list know you love them! I thoroughly enjoyed this and turned to my snow globe received last year from my wonderful nieces and created my own blizzard! Who knows, one of these here on my shelves just might be magical too!

Book Won Via
Book Tribune

G. A. Bixler

Related articles

• Interview: Sheila Roberts, Author of The Snow Globe (seattlepi.com)
• Interview: Sheila Roberts, Author of The Snow Globe (blogcritics.org)

Review: She's My Dad Provides Provocative Drama!

She’s My Dad

By Iolanthe Woulff
Outskirts Press, Inc.
ISBN: 9781432743772
457 Pages

"Reverend Shorr sipped a glass of water. 'Sometimes I think that the scientific community has taken us all much too far, much too fast. Life was complicated enough before...But we mustn’t second-guess our Lord...'"

What a powerful suspense drama! She’s My Dad by Iolanthe Woulff is a provocative hold-no-bars book that successfully illustrates the power of both love and hate. Woulff does this through characters that are so alive with their emotions that readers are immediately caught within the honest reality portrayed. Fascinating!

By nature of the material covered, readers should be aware that some content might be offensive. Personally, I didn’t find it so because the characters that were offensive were those I enjoyed hating! Then, too, as Reverend Shorr admitted in the book, there is too little written and taught about today’s sexuality and our technological world. I believe this type of fiction is one of the ways by which it can be shown how love can triumph over hate. The novel is somewhat based upon the true experience of the author. She has my admiration for her courage.

Nickie Farrell graduated from Windfield College and then came back many years later to apply for a temporary position replacing an English professor. During her college years, she had participated in an affair with a local resident and a child had come from that relationship. Nickie was the father of that child.

During her absence, Nickie had undergone a medically monitored sex change and was now a beautiful woman. At least Alex Steward thought so since upon their first meeting, Nickie and Alex had been immediately attracted to each other.

Beautiful love story? Not!

There was an excessive amount of town-gown tension between Windfield students and local residents. There was sufficient history that was still remembered by residents, especially, Ambassador Eamon Douglass, of how the free-thinking liberal college had been started and the students who arrived in town were either ignored, hated or worse.

As Nickie became involved in teaching, one particularly zealous journalism major started noticing and wondering about Nickie’s background and started to investigate. In many ways, her news article set off much that occurred, but it was hate and fear that fed the major events, which finally culminated in a terrorist plan to bomb the College!

This book is about hope. Hope for a time when those who are different in some way are not automatically hated. There will always be evil people, but they cannot be stereotyped. They could be your neighbors or your supposed friends. As proclaimed several times in the book, “Hate destroys everything. Don’t let it destroy you.”

Thank you Iolanthe Woulff for She’s My Dad—a highly recommended, truly remarkable book!

G. A. Bixler