How Will I Know If I Know? by John Bytheway

Now, more than ever, young people are asking insightful and important questions about testimony, worthiness, mission preparation, and more. John Bytheway discusses ways we can come to know that the restored gospel is true, and—more importantly— how to know that we know.

It's spiritual gut-check time! The mission age has been lowered, and now more than ever, young people are asking themselves important questions:

• How do I know if I really have a testimony?
• Am I ready to serve a mission?
• What does the Spirit feel like?

John Bytheway suggests that we "F.E.E.L." the truthfulness of the gospel through our feelings, our experiences, the many evidences we encounter, and our logical conclusions about how a loving God interacts with His children on the earth. Like gradually turning up a dimmer switch, understanding all the ways we F.E.E.L. our testimony will help it grow brighter.

As you read, you may discover that your testimony is stronger than you thought, and you'll also become more excited and motivated to let your light shine!

The Banks of Certain Rivers by Jon Harrison

"Urgent, real, and often very funny."—James Frey, New York Times bestselling author of Bright Shiny Morning and A Million Little Pieces

Neil Kazenzakis is barely holding his life together: ever since an accident left his wife profoundly disabled, he's been doing his best as a single dad and popular high school teacher. He's also been dealing with Lauren Downey, his sort-of girlfriend of the past two years who's pushing for a commitment—and for Neil to finally tell his son Christopher about their secret relationship.

Neil's carefully balanced world begins to fall apart when some questionable footage of him is anonymously posted to YouTube...just as Chris learns about Lauren in the worst possible way. Doubting his own recollection of the events in the online video and threatened with the loss of his job and the ability to care for his wife, Neil must find a way to prove the truth to his family, his community, and himself as he struggles to regain the splintered trust of his son.

Heartbreaking, poignant, and written with devastating humor and warmth, The Banks of Certain Rivers is a shattering story of memory, loss, and just how far a man will go to show the people closest to him the meaning of love.

"Jon Harrison's debut The Banks of Certain Rivers is a jewel-box of a novel. Tracing the limits of one man's love (and self-knowledge) with humor and drama, Harrison breathes life into Neil Kazenzakis and his struggles with such grace that the reader feels like she knows him. Elegant, poignant, and page-turning."—Katherine Howe, New York Times bestselling author of The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane

This one is being promoted by one of my favorite authors, Catherine McKenzie. Amazon has it in Kindle version for a screaming good price. Just in case you want to have a gander at the writing style and content, here's a good sized snippet. I haven't read it yet but if McKenzie is recommending it, I believe it has to be good. If, after I do read it and I hate it, not only will I let you know, but I will also demote Catherine from being my best friend. Even though she doesn't know she is best friend. 

That's how good her books are.

House of Wonder by Sarah Healy

House of Wonder by Sarah Healy
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

House of Wonder is, at it's very essence, a very well written book about connectedness of family. The writing style is superb, providing subtle metaphors and symbolism. There are two time frames running, although the bulk of story is today. The book begins with 36 year old Jenna, in Jenna's POV, Getting a call from Priscilla, her mother, to ask her to come home. Warren is missing.

Jenna and Warren are fraternal twins. Jenna graduated from high school and left her small Jersey town. She needed to escape the definition of her family. Her mother was a former beauty queen who married out of the pageant circuit. In middle age, her husband left her for Mrs. Stroppe, a neighbor woman, leaving her with two teens; one relatively normal one and one who just hadn't matured, according to her. The reader quickly ascertains that Warren is on the PDD scale. Priscilla has been hoarding for years. Neighbors are, at times, unkind or at least ignoring of the trio. The house is full of stuff, Warren is still living at home, and Jenna is a single mother experiencing a degree of success.

How did Priscilla get this way? What caused Warren to be so unconventional? Who is responsible for the neighborhood burglaries? Love interest alert: What will happen with Jenna and Bobby?

Through sparse prose, the book provides short chapters on Priscilla's formative years and pivotal points. The author does not explain the parallels or describe the cause and effect regarding Rose or even Warren and Jenna. The author assumes her reader possesses enough intellect to make the connections and I really loved that. She provides enough information to tell the story but does not overwhelm the reader.

The bottom line is the relationship between twins, the hazards of keeping skeletons in closets, and unresolved losses manifesting in other areas of life. Very well written.

The Last Breath by Kimberly Belle

The Last Breath by Kimberly Belle
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

From a remarkable new voice in suspenseful women's fiction comes an emotionally searing drama about a woman who risks her life to discover the devastating truth about her family…

Humanitarian aid worker Gia Andrews chases disasters around the globe for a living. It's the perfect lifestyle to keep her far away from her own personal ground zero. Sixteen years ago, Gia's father was imprisoned for brutally killing her stepmother. Now he's come home to die of cancer, and she's responsible for his care—and coming to terms with his guilt.

Gia reluctantly resumes the role of daughter to the town's most infamous murderer, a part complete with protesters on the lawn and death threats that are turning tragedy into front-page news. Returning to life in small-town Tennessee involves rebuilding relationships that distance and turmoil have strained, though finding an emotional anchor in the attractive hometown bartender is certainly helping Gia cope.

As the past unravels before her, Gia will find herself torn between the stories that her family, their friends and neighbors, and even her long-departed stepmother have believed to be real all these years. But in the end, the truth—and all the lies that came before—may have deadlier consequences than she could have ever anticipated.

My thoughts: Who killed Ella Mae? The book opens with Ella Mae's last hours and her murder. Told in third person, Ella Mae's point of view comes through loud and clear. She'd been unfaithful to her husband. She didn't love him, anymore. She was leaving him. He sobbed and begged her to reconsider. Just one night. Think on it. Ella Mae agrees but she won't really reconsider. Later into the night, her husband hears a sound and gets up to investigate. She hears a thunk then footsteps. She tries to escape but to no avail. She dies with the murderer's eyes as the last thing she sees and knows it is a crime of passion.

The book is then told through first person, Gia Andrews, youngest daughter of Ray and Rosalie, stepdaughter of Ella Mae. Sixteen years have passed and Ray is out on house arrest from prison. He is coming home to die. Gia been off saving the world for the past sixteen years. She came home to care for her dying father under the implicit understanding that her sister, Lexie, and brother, Bo, would be with her.

Nope. Bo's too busy inventing a cosmetics and Lexie is about the funniest character in the book. She is a diva in her own little southern way and when she doesn't want to be caught, she can run away and stay gone. And her one-liners are absolutely hilarious.

The story is intriguing because you think you know who killed Ella Mae and then you decide it was someone else and what is Cal hiding so maybe it was him? I honestly didn't really know until the last when Gia knows. What was really going on between Ella Mae and her lover surprised me but not as much as the humdinger at the end.

Meanwhile, the book is about home and family, trust and roots. This book will appeal to readers of Women's Fiction, mystery, and a little bit of romance. There is a little too much sex for my taste, although it is rarely explicit so I can't complain that much.

Accidents of Marriage by Randy Susan Meyers

Accidents of Marriage by Randy Susan Meyers
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book resonated for me for an entirely different reason than the description predicted. I watched a piece of my life being told through this book but not the one the message portrays. Maddy is a social worker who suffers a debilitating traumatic brain injury. Without revealing too much about her injury, she struggles initially with speech and emotional regulation. This is not necessarily the worst of her symptoms but those skills are paramount to a social worker. In layman's terms, the story explains the different symptoms and the way the patient may react to these symptoms that fascinated me and gave me a better comprehension of what my husband, the social worker, went through when he underwent a removal of a hemangioma located in the speech center of his brain. His healing was different but terrifying for those first few weeks when he struggled to speak, knowing his career depended on regaining this skill. I'd love to continue on this vein, but it would give spoilers of the book and reveal secrets that are not mine to share. So I'll return solely to the book.

The three perspectives are very necessary to fully explore the affects of a man with strong narcissistic tendencies and lack of anger management. Yet I thought the author did an exceptional job with providing a multi dimensional character. He's not a bad man. He feels guilt, rationalization, love, lust for power, and anger. His emotional outbursts are not clear cut. The relationships he has are complex. He has insecurities and truly believes he is changing. He's trying to put himself right.

Prior to the accident, Maddy is not a cowering victim. She is a strong woman who balances the demands of a family and a career with both gratitude and frustration. She is also human and not above reproach. That said, post accident, Ben doting on her, she has the faculties to know she is not functioning at previous levels and she blames herself. She turns her anger and frustration inward yet acknowledges that people don't just want to help a victim, they also want to kick a victim.

Emma is the oldest child of this couple. Her perspective is that of an adolescent that is caught between childhood and adulthood yet thrust into adult responsibilities as her mother is disabled and all attention shifts to Maddy and her recovery while Emma is left caring for two siblings and the house. In the meantime, it becomes her role to keep the home peaceful in case Ben snaps. She becomes the protector but with deep resentment as her own brain is not fully formed and she still needs a childhood.

There is much, much more that I believe would make for an interesting discussion. I enjoyed the book almost as much as Lisa Genova's, LEFT NEGLECTED.

Rumble by Ellen Hopkins

Rumble by Ellen Hopkins
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

If you have read any of Ellen Hopkins's books, you know what to expect. Hopkins uses sparse, clear prose, uses visual imagary through her poetry and tackles difficult issues. Usually the language is stronger than I am comfortable reading. Usually the subject is edgier than I want. Usually the characters share characteristics of people you know or are but lean a little further left.

Not as much this time.

The book was easier to read with the language still being very strong yet the protagonist is the 17 year old kid I'd know. He was so real, fragile, resilient, insightful, blind, and human. The story is about a family falling apart after one child completes suicide. Yet it is also about individuals moving past the life altering event, making adjustments, carrying guilt, anger, love, and ultimately pieces of forgiveness.

I won't ruin the story but the story runs deep and I loved it.

Surviving Hitler: The Unlikely True Story of an SS Soldier and a Jewish Woman by O. Hakan Palm

Surviving Hitler: The Unlikely True Story of an SS Soldier and a Jewish Woman by O. Hakan Palm
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is an astonishing story of two people who were both deeply impacted by Hitler's Third Reich but from very different perspectives written by one of the sons of the couple. The book begins at a church regional conference where Thomas S. Monson announces to the congregation two very important things about Gustav Palm, a humble, respected local leader. Gustav served in Hitler's army during WWII. Gustav was and is a good, moral man. Until that moment, Brother Gustav Palm had kept this part of his story a secret. With the blessing of President Monson, Brother Palm finally allowed the shame of his past to be known and embraced the truth. He is and was a good man.

Gustav joined the Nazi party at a young age, blinded by the hopeful future it promised. He was in a different country at the time but quickly conscripted for duty. He went through a brutal training that cured him of his ideologies regarding Nazism. Unfortunately, it was too late and he was pulled along in the wave of war, primarily on the Eastern Front.

Agnes was a baptized Roman Catholic young woman of Hungarian Jewish ancestry. Obviously, Agnes' experiences were that of a Jewish Hungarian even though she was Christian. She survived the cattle cars, the concentration camps, and woman without a home after the war. She is clearly the more outgoing of the two. She chooses optimism daily. She reports her experiences to her son but seems to want to celebrate more of the goodness of individuals rather than the horrific details.

Their love story is a sweet one that overcomes all biases and prejudice. Their children include some of their observations how the war impacted their parents. It is an intriguing and uplifting book.

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Very well written and timed but not my favorite Liane Moriarty book. That said, she still sets the bar very high and I still love her books.

This novel centers around three main women, their spouses or previous interests, and the politics of Kindergarten, at least the parental politics. The real drama takes place outside the classroom and at home but I'm getting ahead of myself. Each chapter contains quotes from a parent or two from the party where they served alcohol (a clear violation of a drug free zone, by the way - but this is Australia) and possibly there was a death. There seems to talk of a huge brawl, too.

Like previous books by Moriarty, the answer to who possibly died and how is comprised of a complicated web of events and perceptions. The crux of the books is a microcosm of the violence of even polite society carried out in its many forms. What is bullying and who is to blame? Thought provoking but a little too socially conscious for my shallow mind. My weakness, not the author's. It's summer. All I want to do is frolic.

Prototype by M.D. Waters

Prototype by M.D. Waters
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I devoured the first book and received an ARC yesterday for this book. I loved this story. Both books. Can't say much without it being a spoiler so I'll say that I felt unsettled and a little guilty when Emma was tricked by someone else and taken against her will to a place she really did not ever want to go. She arrived and started to fight and it was time for my husband and I to go to the gym. Emma stayed captive that entire hour I was gone. And it really bothered me. I needed to get home.

Character development is superb. Standing ovation for Leigh, Foster, and Miles. And definitely Dr. Malcolm. The main characters were fleshed out in the first book, although Emma becomes much more of an individual in this one.

Action packed and well timed, highly recommend to adults. Once again I stress adult content, although only one sex scene, a few "f" words, I still loved it and recommend for a surprising science fiction with a solid love story.

Prototype is book 2. For a link to book 1, Archetype, click HERE.

Summer of YesterdaySummer of Yesterday by Gaby Triana

Summer of Yesterday by Gaby Triana
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

So many things I liked.

All of the things 1982. I've never been to Disney World but the description of the campgrounds and water park are wonderful. Included are the fashions, music, pop culture, and pace of the world in 1982.

The story had a great concept. Haley does a little Back to the Future blip and finds herself in 1982. She passes her parents, age 15 and 16, right at the beginning of their relationship. This is not the central part of the story. The central part is Jason, the 1982 19 year old. He's hot. He wears too short of shorts with piping and a gold chain. People feather their hair. Olivia Newton John is singing about getting physical. Blade Runner is coming out.

So I was a teenager in 1982. We did wear a lot of rainbows and our socks came up to our knees. To consider seeing an IPhone in 1982 would have seriously caused me to doubt my sanity. A little computer you carry in your pocket that makes calls, takes pictures, types messages, and plays games? No way. I was playing Asteroids at the Arcade. That was cutting edge. Pretty sure our telephones weren't cordless. Charlie's Angels had car phones but I didn't. It was fun to delve into that train of thought.

What I didn't like was the rushed ending. It could have taken so many different directions and it seemed like it took the easiest road that left more questions than answers. It was incomplete and rushed. I think there were too many strands left within the story and not enough pages to pick them up at the end. I have no problem with how it ended for Haley and Jason. It was just sudden and complete.

I think a major turning off point for me was that the central part of the story was Haley's and Jason's romance. There was the side story of Haley's in the wrong time and that part was fun. If that was moved more center stage, I think I would have enjoyed it more. But Haley is a thinking about how to lose her virginity to a guy who is well into his forties in her real time. Not okay with that. At the end Haley has some conclusions that I don't know how she reached because they weren't developed.

*Disclaimer* I read an ARC so the book was not final. I received a copy from Edelweiss for an honest review.

Just Call My Name by Holly Goldberg Sloan

Just Call My Name by Holly Goldberg Sloan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the second book I've read by Holly Goldberg Sloan, the first being I'll Be There which I loved. I thought the first book had to be a fluke. It was just really well written and the story was very well developed, particularly for a YA novel. Clean, too. Yep. It had to be a fluke.

So Just Call My Name is Act II. Sam and Riddle are settled into a "normal" life after growing up with a father who is a sociopath. Emily's parents take in Riddle and are working towards adoption. Sam is living in an apartment close to campus and Emily is finishing her senior year. The author stays true to each character. Emily is still kind-hearted by nature, although she is pushed just a little bit to the shadows with the introduction of Destiny, another throw-away child who has learned to survive. Her eyes seemed to have landed on Sam.

Meanwhile, Sam has the mentality of the kind of kid he grew up believing he was; undeserving. He questions how he got where he is and how he will probably mess it up. Meanwhile, the entrance of Destiny reminds him who he really is; a nobody. He has a lot of self doubt and Destiny is a temptation. She is a little bit of neon sex in the window, blinking like a lighthouse. So there is more innuendo in this book.

Then we still have Bobby whose ego is bruised from Emily leaving their date. He had big plans for the two of them and she just went home. Of course, on the way home, she met up with Sam who had just escaped his psychotic dad. But that was last book. Bobby still wants to get his game on and Destiny is presenting herself. It's not about sex, it's about... well, it's about sex but it's veiled. Destiny is about survival. Bobby is about redeeming his pride and reputation. Bobby is a fantastic character. Hilarious, actually. With a lot of redeeming qualities.

Last of all, we have Sam and Riddle's father. He's still alive but currently incarcerated. He's been greatly wronged, you know. He didn't do anything wrong. His kids are just rotten and they turned against him. Because of that girl and her family. But the man without a conscience is not without a brain. He has a plan. The author writes a very well developed psychopath.

The first book wasn't a fluke. It's really good.

On the Fence by Kasie West

On the Fence by Kasie West
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It's cheesy. It's cute. It's sweet and it's fun. It's even clean. Can't tell you why I liked it except it was a good, clear reading experience with fun dialogue and easy to summarize characters that were neither too complicated nor cliche. Just a good, fun book.

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Ove is ornery and rigid. He doesn't like people. He loves his wife but she's gone. Ove is tired of his empty life. But that's not the way the story begins. We begin in the middle or more at the end where Ove is arguing with the sales associate over an IPad. All he wants is the best computer and it has to be an IPad and he's handed this little, flat box and he wants to know where the keyboard is. Computers have keyboards.

We then go back in time where the real story begins, at least as far as all the main characters are concerned. Ove is ornery, rigid, and tired. Ove has just been forced to retire so he's also rather irritated. Ove's life and how he came to be the Ove we know and also the Ove we don't comes in short flashes that are very clever and very enlightening. But first we have to meet Parvana.

Admittedly, I read this book weeks ago and I've already forgotten the names of everybody except Ove and Parvana. Because this book would not be a story worth reading without Parvana. A few things to know about this book is that it is Swedish. That helps marginally in putting it into perspective yet, for reasons I can not fathom, the translation is absolutely perfect for American English. Flawless.

So Ove is planning his death when he hears a horrible sound. He exits his place of residence which is in an HOA of some sort (this is important to Ove and to other characters) and finds Parvana, beautiful, Iranian, and very, very pregnant Parvana, looking incredibly peeved at her too tall, lanky, good natured husband who is in the process of backing up the trailer to their new home. Except he runs over Ove's mailbox.

The book is about Ove who the reader comes to love for all his quirks and his prickly personality issues but the book could not, absolutely could not be enjoyable AT ALL without Parvana. She barges into Ove's life, his orderly, deserted life, and makes him a part of a bigger community. She is high strung, high maintenance, feels absolutely no boundaries apply to her, highly ethical and she drags Ove into every real and slightly contrived crises of which he resents.

It's a "Feel Good" read which I recommend.