Becoming Myself: Embracing God's Dream of You by Stasi Eldredge

• Becoming Myself: Embracing God's Dream of You 
• Stasi Eldredge
  Paperback: 256 pages
  Publisher: David C. Cook (August 1, 2013)
  3/5 stars

I received the advanced copy of this novel from the Amazon Vine program in return for my honest review.

Becoming Myself is an encouraging book written to help Christian women "lay down their past" and embrace who they are in Christ. Eldredge writes frankly about her feelings of failure and short comings. She directs comments to the reader as if she and the reader were carrying on a conversation, creating a very personal feel to the book.

Eldredge's first chapters deal with finding healing for the emotional wounds that can be caused by one's mother. She is very open about her own experience, and bases her advice and encouragement on those experiences. Happily, this is not a wound I have, so I was not able to connect with this, but it did seem that it would be beneficial for adult women who bear scars from childhood.

She also discusses the importance of female friendships and how best to nurture and keep those friendships. Though this has been presented in other contexts by other writers, Eldredge does a nice job with this and again makes it very personal.

Her main theme throughout the book is to find self-worth through Christ and not through the eyes of how one perceives that OTHERS see her. Despite this, Eldredge still, most likely unintentionally, connects self-worth with beauty, size, weight and even marriage. She frequently mentions her size, how her self-worth was caught up in her larger size but now it's not, all the while mentioning that she has lost quite a bit of weight. As another example, the word "beauty" is used to mean both how God sees us, and the standard the world sets for women. Her good intentions are there, but her actual meaning becomes fuzzy at times; it seems almost as though she, too, is still trying to find self-worth outside of society's view of what a woman should be.

In the final chapters, Eldredge focuses on freeing oneself from fear, becoming a Godly woman like Mary, and seeing the vision that God has of you. She gives lots of Bible verses, personal anecdotes and stories from friends, but I never felt like she actually gave solid information on how this was to be done.

The premise of this book is great, and she does provide good insight in some areas. However, in the end, I came away with a "feel good" message, but no actual working plan of how to achieve the goals she suggests.

On a personal note: for those that have "mother wounds" and that still have any sort of difficulties with or stemming from their relationship with their mother, I recommend borrowing this book from the library when it is released and reading those first chapters.  I was struck by how open Eldredge was with that issue and to me, it seemed that it could be very beneficial.  The rest of the book contained, for me, nothing new or revelation-ary that couldn't be found just as well explained, if not much better, by other Christian writers.  

Note: This is my opinion; on Amazon, 78% of the reviews were 5 stars.

The Book of Secrets by Elizabeth Joy Arnold

• The Book of Secrets
•  Elizabeth Joy Arnold
  Paperback: 464 pages
  Publisher: Bantam; First Edition edition (July 2, 2013)
  5/5 stars

I received an advanced copy of this book from Amazon Vine in return for an honest review.

"The Book of Secrets is a complex novel that tells a story in the present, as it simultaneously recounts the known past and uncovers past secrets. It is narrated by Chloe Sinclair, a bibliophile and bookstore owner. She and Nate have been married over twenty years, and have begun to drift apart. One evening, Nate is gone, leaving only a letter telling her that he has gone back to their childhood home to deal with a family crisis. Chloe is hurt at his departure, at his secretiveness and at his willingness to return to a place that holds emotional scars for them both. She then finds Nate's secret book, a journal he has kept in code. As she begins to decode it, both she and reader return to the past, face the future and find answers to secrets.

Arnold very skillfully allows the reader only glimpses of events that were so pivotal in shaping Nate, Chloe and their relationship. She allows the reader to guess, to anticipate and to be surprised. Her prose is beautiful and descriptive, drawing both people and places in vivid pictures.

In addition, Arnold celebrates words and literature with the Book of Secrets. She weaves various classics as integral parts to the story throughout, and the joy of words, especially the right words, as another recurring theme. With this novel, Arnold gives, not only a love story of people, but of people for books.

The Book of Secrets is an absorbing novel of love, loss, betrayal, deception and books.  It is also one that is certain to appeal to fellow bibliophiles."

On a personal note, despite it's size of over 400 pages, I read this in two nights.  It was quite engrossing and I would certainly recommend it.  Yes, there were bits that I didn't like, but were overshadow by the overall quality of the rest of the book.  

Pemberly Shades

Pemberley Shades
Dorothy Bonavia-Hunt
5/5 stars

(Originally read/reviewed 2003.)


It's a real pity that Pemberley Shades is out of print! To me it's the best Jane Austen continuation/imitation that I have read so far. And, being a Jane Austen fanatic, I've read a lot of them! This one has the humor, character depth and interesting plot, not to mention the slow, rambling narration style of Miss Austen herself.

Ms. Bonavia-Hunt sets the Austen style on the first page:
"Who could have foretold that Dr. Robinson, who had done nothing of note in all his lifetime should, by the common and natural act of dying, set in motion a train of events so strange, so startling, so far removed from probability, as to emulate the riotous fancies of a disordered mind?"

It takes place, as you might have guessed, at Pemberley three or four years after Darcy and Elizabeth wed. Lady Catherine makes an appearance, as does Mr. Bennet, and the conversations of both could have been lifted from Pride and Prejudice. Mr. Collins joins us by letter, sounding just as pompous and ridiculous as ever. Elizabeth and Darcy keep that same sparring attraction that they developed in Pride and Prejudice.

Only Kitty has changed, and at first I found it a striking, drastic change. But after thinking about it, several years away from the terrible influence of Lydia (who is never even alluded to!) could easily make a major difference in Kitty's life.

The new characters in Pemberley Shades have all the flavor of Austen originals. The Misses Robinson remind me of all of Austen's gossipy old maids, Mr. Acworth is a cross between Wickham and Willoughby, and Major Wakeford is an unluckier Colonel Brandon.

If you love Austen and the Austen style, then I highly recommend this novel! Run down to your local library or used bookstores and see if you can come up with a copy of it. You'll thank me later.

(update: since this post was originally written, this book has been reprinted.)

The Mutilation of the Herms: Unpacking an Ancient Mystery

The Mutilation of the Herms: Unpacking an Ancient Mystery
Debra Hamel
5/5 stars

In this short work, Hamel writes succinctly and humorously about the an unsettling event for the citizens of ancient Athens--the night that most of the herms (priapic statues of the Greek god Hermes)were vandalized. Hamel explains why this incident was important and gives an interesting account of the both the response of Athens and the possible reasons for the vandalism. This is a quick, well written and fascinating read, which is happily accessible to the layperson.

Baking Cakes in Kigali by Gaile Parkin

Baking Cakes in Kigali
Gaile Parkin
5/5 stars

(I was given the ARC by Amazon Vine in return for an honest review.)

Angel Tungaraza moved to Kigali, Rwanda from her native Tanzania when her husband took a job at the local university. An accomplished cake maker, Angel adds extra income to her large family and gives herself much joy by making custom-ordered cakes for friends, neighbors, and strangers who have heard the good word about her fabulous creations. In addition to being a "professional someone" (as she would call herself), Angel is Mama to her five orphaned grandchildren, confidant of friends and strangers, and a true example of a good woman.

Each chapter centers around one of Angel's cakes, giving the reader shorter stories inside the larger story. It is a story of family, of community, of all manners of love and reconciliation, and of course, of beautiful cakes. I wish I could explain the plot better, to show how desirable a read this is, but I simply can't. Suffice it to say that it is a surprisingly complex plot, despite this books benign face, with Angel facing several interesting ethical issues as well as the range of various good, bad and amusing situations.

Ms. Parkin uses the fact that Angel is an outsider to Rwanda to easily explain the current situation and the bloody past of this country. It never feels contrived; the explanations happen very naturally--as does most everything in this book. . . It all feels very natural. Customs are clarified, situations set up, the reader gently led here and there and yet, it just feels "real" and lifelike, always smooth and believable. Even the conversations, held in a manner so different from Western conversations, become so real that when a Westerner does appear, using typical Western speech, it seems brash and out of context.

This is truly a masterpiece, a first novel of the highest quality. It is a lovely, heartwarming book that sparkles with gentle wit, at times tugs the heartstrings, but is above all, a joyful experience. I can not recommend this novel highly enough. What a pleasure, what a delight. I expect to see much more of Ms. Parkin in the future

(originally read/reviewed in 2009)

Duty Free by Moni Mohsin

Duty Free
Moni Mohsin
1/5 stars

I was given this book by the Amazon Vine program in return for an honest review.

The heroine of Mohsin's novel is an unnamed Pakistani, whose spoiled and ridiculous voice distracts from what might otherwise be an interesting book. The story is told in the first person, using an affected "pigeon English" type of Pakistani, which is amusing for the first few pages but quickly becomes tedious before becoming so frustrating that the book is nearly unreadable. The novel is touted as "Jane Austen's Emma transported to 21st century Pakistan", but the similarities are few and superficial. Overall, the plot is a good idea poorly executed and is nearly impossible to read to the end.

Note: This is my opinion; 45% of the reviews on Amazon are 4 stars.

Trying Neaira by Debra Hamel

Trying Neaira
Debra Hamel 
2003
5/5 stars

Trying Neaira is just what one would NOT expect an historical nonfiction book to be: witty and easy to read, with little bizarre bits that one just MUST read out loud! Furthermore, her writing style is light and makes a normal dry subject (the ancient Athenian judicial system) interesting and comprehensible.

Neaira was a prostitute in the 4th century, who grew up in Corinth and eventually found herself in a stable relationship as the long-time mistress of an influential Athenian, Stephanos. Unfortunately, Stephanos had an equally influential enemy (or at least rival) Apollodoros. They battled back and forth in the courts, and eventually Apollodoros hit on a different way to attack Stephanos--through Neaira.

Athenian laws were quite strict about foreigners and allowed no intermarriage. Apollodoros set out to prove that Neaira was living with Stephanos as his wife, instead of as his mistress, and that their children were being given the rights of Athenian citizens--which, as Neaira's children, they never could be.

Using Apollodoros speech to the jury, Hamel recreates Neaira's life, while using other sources to fill out the story with interesting details about prostitution, jury duty, social customs and Athenian law.*

Hamel approaches Neaira's life (via the speech) as a detective would, piecing together bits, shifting out obvious falsehoods, and in the end presenting a surprising full picture of one woman's life.

This is an excellent book for anyone who is, or who is NOT, interested in ancient Athenian law. I, myself, had not the least curiosity in said subject and yet found myself fascinated, all the while being constantly entertained by her sly wit and bizarre trivia. I learned enough from this book to become quite interested in Athenian history and I feel it will have the same effect on any other casual historian.

*to qoute from the Preface:
Apollodoros'speech, inevitably hostile to Neaira, must be the principal source for her biography, though we will need very often to question and reject the information he provides. Where what he tells us is not inherently unlikely, however, or contradicted by other sources, and when lying about the issue under discussion would not have furthered the prosecution's case, we can feel reasonably confident about accepting Apollodoros'testimony. Fleshing out Neaira's story, too, will require frequent dips into other source material.