Review: A Light in the Dark by Marla K. Benjamin

Title: A Light in the Dark
Author: Marla K. Benjamin
Publisher: Boutique of Quality Books
Publication Date: May 24, 2016
Edition: Paperback
Category: fiction

A Light in the Dark by Marla K. Benjamin

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


An ordinary work day that began like any other--and suddenly the lives of Sabrina and Dez are changed forever by Sabrina's abduction. The aftermath of the abduction and the complexities of rebuilding their relationship make this a great love story of commitment to one another.

I fell in love with these characters. And their strength and determination made me want to keep reading to see them through the process of rebuilding their lives. The author did a great job with the subject matter of PTSD and its aftermath.

Review: Sisters in Law: Sandra Day O'Connor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and the Friendship That Changed Everything by Linda Hirshman

Title: Sisters in Law: Sandra Day O'Connor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and the Friendship That Changed Everything
Author: Linda Hirshman
Publisher: Harper Collins
Publication Date: September 22, 2015 (first published September 1st 2015)
Edition: ebook (320 pages)
Category: nonfiction

Sisters in Law: Sandra Day O'Connor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and the Friendship That Changed Everything by Linda Hirshman

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Linda Hirshman writes a masterful account of how two talented women, from opposite backgrounds, become the first and second women to serve as Justices on the United States Supreme Court. Their stories are truly remarkable. At the time they attended law school, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sandra Day O'Connor were two of a very small number of women law students, not to mention an even smaller number of women to gain respect among their male counterparts at the time. Their battles for acceptance in the legal profession were not easily won. But both persevered. Justice Ginsburg is still serving on the Court, and continues to advocate for women's full participation in society.

I found this book most interesting. Ms. Hirshman did an excellent job comparing the two Justices in terms of their personalities, upbringing, political philosophy, and their contributions to women's rights, social change and the law.

Lynn's List (November 25, 2016)

Each Friday I publish a list of titles I have come across, during the past week, that I find interesting. Happy reading! Hope everyone had a happy and blessed Thanksgiving.

• Sisters in Law: Sandra Day O'Connor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and the Friendship That Changed Everything by Linda Hirshman
• Pretending to Dance by Diane Chamberlain
• Friendly Fire by C. D. Bryan
• Happy Days by Shana Alexander
• Nutcracker by Shana Alexander
• The Last Pearl by Leah Fleming
• X-15 Diary: The Story of America's First Space Ship by Richard Tregaskis
• Policing the Planet: Why the Policing Crisis Led to Black Lives Matter by Jordan T. Camp and Christina Heatherton
• The Poison Tree: A True Story of Family Terror by Alan Prendergast
• All the Gallant Men: An American Sailor's Firsthand Account of Pearl Harbor by Ken Gire and Donald Stratton
• The Radium Girls: They paid with their lives. Their final fight was for justice. by Kate Moore
• Eggs or Anarchy: The remarkable story of the man tasked with the impossible: to feed a nation at war by William Sitwell
• The North and South Trilogy by John Jakes
• Lonely Vigil by Walter Lord
• Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly
• The Last Refuge by Craig Robertson
• The Untouchables by Oscar Fraley and Elliott Ness
• Muhammad Ali: A Memoir: My Views of the Greatest by Michael Parkinson
• Maggie Jordan by Emma Blair
• The Way You Look Tonight by Richard Madeley
• A Light in the Dark by Marla Benjamin
• The Children's Train by Jana Zinser
• The Secret Sister by Brenda Novak
• The Secrets She Kept by Brenda Novak
• Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley
• The Common Pleas Lawyer by Aime Austin
• Qualified Immunity (A Casey Cort Novel Book 1) by Sylvie Fox
• Under Color of Law (A Casey Cort Novel Book 2) by Sylvie Fox
• In Plain Sight (A Casey Cort Novel Book 3) by Sylvie Fox
• Conflict of Interest (A Casey Cort Novel Book 4) by Sylvie Fox

Lynn's List (November 18, 2016)

Each Friday I publish a list of titles I have come across, during the past week, that I find interesting. Happy reading! Apologies for no Lynn's List last week.

• Century Farm: One Hundred Years on a Family Farm by Alvis Upitis and Cris Peterson
• Custer's Trials: A Life on the Frontier of a New America by T. J. Stiles
• The Golden Son by Shilpi Somaya Gowda
• Ghosts of War: The True Story of a 19-Year-Old GIby Ryan Smithson
• Tatiana: Cook Inlet Alaska 1800s by Alan Dick
• Gun Shy (Gun series #1) by Lori L. Lake
• In the Country of the Young by Lisa Carey
• White Fang by Jack London
• Dial Em for Murder by Marni Bates
• The God of Animals by Aryn Kyle
• The Spoiler by Domenic Stansberry
• The Unfinished Odyssey of Robert Kennedy by David Halberstam
• The Amateurs by David Halberstam
• The Reckoning by David Halberstam
• The Powers That Be by David Halberstam
• Innocent Blood by P. D. James
• Treason in the Rockies: Nazi Sympathizer Dale Maple’s POW Escape Plot by Flint Whitlock and Paul N. Herbert
• The West Plains Dance Hall Explosion by Lin Waterhouse
• The Tunnels: Escapes Under the Berlin Wall and the Historic Films the JFK White House Tried to Kill by Greg Mitchell
• The Quality of Silence: A Novel by Rosamund Lupton
• Sleep No More by Susan Crandall
• The Mercy of the Sky: The Story of a Tornado by Holly Bailey
• The Color of Light by Karen White
• Zachary's Choice by Suzy Labonte
• Collision Course by Alvin Moscow
• All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren
• John F. Kennedy and PT-109 by Richard Tregaskis
• Time No Longer: A Novel by Taylor Caldwell
• Testimony of Two Men: A Novel by Taylor Caldwell
• The Sound of Thunder: A Novel by Taylor Caldwell
• Dynasty of Death: A Novel by Taylor Caldwell
• Bright Flows the River: A Novel by Taylor Caldwell
• The Hymn by Graham Masterton
• Hitler's Cross: How the Cross Was Used to Promote the Nazi Agenda by Erwin W. Lutzer

Review: Hitler's Cross: How the Cross Was Used to Promote the Nazi Agenda by Erwin W. Lutzer

Title: Hitler's Cross: How the Cross Was Used to Promote the Nazi Agenda
Author: Erwin W. Lutzer
Publisher: Moody Publishers
Publication Date: June 20, 2012 (first published, 1995)
Edition: Kindle (225 pages)
Category: non-fiction

Hitler's Cross: How the Cross of Christ was used to promote the Nazi agenda by Erwin W. Lutzer

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Erwin W. Lutzer traces the path of how the church in Germany forgot or put aside its mission and was largely silent about Nazi excesses and Hitler's ultimate take over of both church and state. He profiles Hitler's rise to power along with Hitler's involvement in the occult, as well as the German nation's willingness to accept Hitler as their leader because of German nationalism.

The parallels to what is currently happening in the United States are astoundingly similar, and the evangelical church in America is acting eerily similar to how the church in Germany acted between 1933 and 1945. Mr. Lutzer does address this, but I wish he had gone further in addressing intolerance and hate that often seems to emanate from within today's church and not just from without. As a follower of Christ, I find this more disturbing than non-believer's efforts to make the church less relevant today.

Review: Sleep No More by Susan Crandall

Title: Sleep No More
Author: Susan Crandall
Publisher: Forever
Publication Date: January 1, 2010 (first published December 16, 2009)
Edition: ebook (278 pages)
Category: romantic suspense

Sleep No More by Susan Crandall

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Abby Witman has spent much of her childhood afraid to fall asleep at night for fear of what she might do while sleep walking. Then, her sleep walking suddenly and inexplicably stopped. But now it is back, and she believes the consequences to be murder. But are they?

Susan Crandall has written a tale that kept me in suspense and cheering for Abby and Jason, her romantic interest, from beginning to end. I so wanted things to work out for both of them, and for both to overcome their problems and build a life together.

This is the first book I have read by Susan Crandall, and I am looking forward to reading her other books. A good read with action, suspense, romance, and an intriguing plot.

Review: Give Us the Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America by Ari Berman

Title: Give Us the Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America
Author: Ari Berman
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication Date: August 4, 2015
Edition: Kindle (385 pages)
Category non-fiction

Give Us the Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America by Ari Berman

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


As a frequent reader of Ari Berman's reporting, I was anxious to read Give Us the Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America, and it did not disappoint. It provides a detailed history of voting discrimination in America, especially as it related to voting rights, before and after the enactment of the Voting Rights Act in 1965 and subsequent reauthorizations.

It is very easy to think that voting rights and other civil rights are no longer threatened in America because of civil rights legislation and enforcement, but you will have a greater understanding of these ongoing threats after reading this most excellent historical work. Though it is non-fiction, it reads like a novel as it chronicles events of import with respect to voting and civil rights, and, in many cases, the lack there of. This may go down in my reading history as one of the best and most informative books I have ever read.

Review: Ordeal by Hunger: The Story of the Donner Party by George R. Stewart

Title: Ordeal by Hunger: The Story of the Donner Party
Author: George R. Stewart
Publisher: Mariner Books
Publication Date: January 30, 1992 (first published, 1936)
Edition: Paperback (416 pages)
Category: non-fiction

Ordeal by Hunger: The Story of the Donner Party by George R. Stewart

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


In 1846, 87 men, women and children set out for California, and began a journey filled with almost unimaginable hardship. This has been chronicled in books and movies. And George R. Stewart does a masterful job weaving together the various accounts to produce a readable tale.

From previous reading and watching the movie Donner Pass, I had no true idea as to the extremity of conditions and starvation the members of the Donner party endured. I'm glad I read this book. But it is one that will haunt me.

Review: The Perfect Girl: A Novel by Gilly MacMillan

Title: The Perfect Girl: A Novel
Author: Gilly MacMillan
Publisher: Piatkus
Publication Date: March 3, 2016
Edition: Kindle Edition (464 pages)

The Perfect Girl by Gilly Macmillan

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Zoe is a young girl--except, she isn't young at all when it comes to the experiences life has handed her, by age seventeen. She is a brilliant pianist, but after playing a concert, her life is shattered for a second time because, by midnight her mother is dead.

This book is more than just about Zoe. It's also about the people around her. And when Zoe learns the truth about what happened to her mother, she has to decide what to do about it, and that decision will chart the course for the rest of her life.

This book was amazing in its intensity and exploration of character. It was so much more than a narrative of events and feelings. It probed deeply into why people do what they do--how they think, and the consequences of actions--one building upon another. The writing was skillful, the plot enthralling, and the outcome somewhat unexpected.

Lynn's List (November 4, 2016)

Each Friday I publish a list of titles I have come across, during the past week, that I find interesting. Happy reading!

• The Brontës by Juliet Barker
• Song of the Stubborn One Thousand: The Watsonville Canning Strike, 1985-87 by Peter Shapiro
• First Light by Bill Rancic
• Emergency in Alaska by Dianne Drake
• The Award: A Novel by Danielle Steel
• Faithful: A Novel by Alice Hoffman
• Countdown to Pearl Harbor: The Twelve Days to the Attack by Steve Twomey
• Double Cross: The Explosive Inside Story of the Mobster Who Controlled America by Sam Giancana and others
• Susan Wiggs Lakeshore Chronicles Christmas Collection by Susan Wiggs
• The Retreat: A novel by Aharon Appelfeld
• Sharon Tate and the Manson Murders by Greg King
• Alone on the Wall by Alex Honnold and David Roberts
• The Harbour Within: A Book of Simple Spirituality by Sister Consilio
• Truth Will Out by A. D. Garrett
• Becoming Jane Eyre: A Novel by Sheila Kohler
• My Own Words by Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Mary Hartnett and Wendy W. Williams