The Gate House by Nelson Demille

From Barnes and Noble

Synopsis

When John Sutter's aristocratic wife killed her mafia don lover, John left America and set out in his sailboat on a three-year journey around the world, eventually settling in London. Now, ten years later, he has come home to the Gold Coast, that stretch of land on the North Shore of Long Island that once held the greatest concentration of wealth and power in America, to attend the imminent funeral of an old family servant. Taking up temporary residence in the gatehouse of Stanhope Hall, John finds himself living only a quarter of a mile from Susan who has also returned to Long Island. But Susan isn't the only person from John's past who has reemerged: Though Frank Bellarosa, infamous Mafia don and Susan's ex-lover, is long dead, his son, Anthony, is alive and well, and intent on two missions: Drawing John back into the violent world of the Bellarosa family, and exacting revenge on his father's murderer--Susan Sutter. At the same time, John and Susan's mutual attraction resurfaces and old passions begin to reignite, and John finds himself pulled deeper into a familiar web of seduction and betrayal. In THE GATE HOUSE, acclaimed author Nelson DeMille brings us back to that fabled spot on the North Shore -- a place where past, present, and future collides with often unexpected results.

I have just had a heck of a time trying to write a review of The Gate House. First, I love DeMille; Wildfire and NightFall are a couple of my all time favorite novels. I loved The Generals Daughter, Plum Island and so many of them. I didn't remember reading The Gold Coast, but when the characters in The Gate House would refer to past events, they always seemed very familiar so I must have read it as well. I really enjoyed the sarcastic snarky main character, John Sutter. I liked the premise of the novel, enjoyed most of the other characters, Amir, the Bellarosa clan, etc. So I can't figure out why the book just didn't do much for me. I think it might be a flaw in my personality. I don't seem to really enjoy many books or movies that have the mob tie-in going on. The book started really strong, but seemed to sort of sit there through the middle. I also don't find myself terribly fond of John's love of his life, Susan. She strikes me as one those "pretty" women, who ultimately are "pretty useless", I couldn't for the life of me figure out her appeal to John. I couldn't seem to find any redeeming quality in her, especially that could cause an ex-husband to go to such great lengths to ensure her safety. (Ok, I'll give a nod to the "protecting the mom of my kids bit" but I still didn't much like her.)

Overall, I thought the book was sort of..meh...love the author, love the way he writes, loved his main character, just didn't like the story much.

The Shiniest Jewel by Marian Henley

From Publishers Weekly
Nationally published comic strip artist Henley offers a warm, funny memoir of adopting her son, William, which will make you cry. With its talk of yoga, dating and the wacky freelance life of a cartoonist, it starts off sounding like a Sex in the City for the Austin, Tex., set. It's not. Where many older women comic artists fall into triteness, quips about men and snark, Henley rolls the reader back to a place where different generations matter and life makes sense. Comics are known for craziness, but they're also a medium that, unlike prose fiction, has a talent for making art from happy situations. On the surface, the protagonist's life is going to the aging, creative woman's hell: approaching 50, childless, with a younger boyfriend possibly afraid to commit, and, oh, yeah, her dad's dying. But even as the adoption agency screws up again and again, people come through, and her father finally meets the new son. The art's thin black lines belie the depth of the book. The drawings' simplicity works with the story, but the lines could be more expressive. Someone needs to take her roller-ball away from her. Otherwise, it's a near perfect book, especially for women over 30.

The humor and creativity exhibited in The Shiniest Jewel make it a shiny jewel itself. I really enjoyed this sweet little book. This book is a result of the author’s experiences in adopting a baby from another country, but I suspect it will ring true with many people who have done the same. I imagine the roadblocks to completely these adoptions must be almost never ending; it’s a testament to the fortitude of prospective parents who manage to stick this out to the end.

Kitchen Progress--almost done!!

Finally, here are some almost finished pictures of our itty bitty kitchen. We still have to do some little stuff, the backsplash, toekicks, window covering etc. but for the most part, its done!!! Yay!! Now..on to the living room. Damn that woman who wallpapered it! Oh wait...that was me......oops...

From Kitchen Progress

From Kitchen Progress

From Kitchen Progress

From Kitchen Progress

I'm finally getting caught up!

The kitchen is almost done, pics to follow when I get the chance to shoot them. Suffice it to say, I'm loving not living out of cardboard boxes! I filled the cabinets last Sunday, the 16th, scrubbed down the family room top to bottom on Monday, the 17th, scrubbed down the dining room and living room on Tuesday the 18th, and then took off for Seattle Wednesday morning to hang out with my sis when she had some surgery done. We were able to leave Seattle on Saturday morning and head out to her home. Surgery went well, no bad things lurking in there that could cause serious problems down the line, and she's recuperating really well. So, I hopped on a plane yesterday and headed back home.

Since I hadn't had lots of reading time the past couple of months, I almost welcomed the time spent in waiting rooms, hotel rooms and hospital rooms. I still need to write a couple of reviews, for The Shiniest Jewel, as well as The Gate House that I finished while in Seattle. I finished the newest Dean Koontz novel, Your Heart Belongs to Me, about a half an hour before we landed in Burbank last night. It was wonderful as all of Koontz's books are. I'll review it later this week, but its on sale today, and well worth the read.

Well, gotta unpack, do laundry and just sort of fit myself back into the house again. They all manage quite nicely without me, sort of bursts the old "they just can't live without me" bubble. But its good to be home and to get going on some more projects. Hmm.....what to do, I still haven't painted the ceilings in the family room or living room that we patched for the remodel. And I've got to get the living room and dining room painted...and there's still some wallpaper on a few walls of those rooms that needs stripping, carpets gotta be cleaned......need to hang the blinds in the family room....yikes!

I'd better get a move on.....

Guernica by Dave Boling

When I started reading Guernica by Dave Boling, I didn’t know much about the Basques. I knew where the Basques were located, I knew a wee little bit about Basque fishermen and had heard of Basque sheepherders, but for the most part, I was completely ignorant. Guernica is such an extraordinary novel. This book is part love story, part wartime novel with political intrigue and history brought to life.

I was confused, when occasionally the author would seemingly arbitrarily insert a paragraph or two about Picasso, or von Richthofen also known as The Red Baron. Since I really didn’t know what the book was about, I read on, only slightly distracted by these odd lapses. I came to love the people of Guernica, their heart, their joy, their people. I was angered by the suppression they suffered under Franco’s totalitarian control. Then, the occasional mention of von Richthofen became understandable, as did Picasso’s. The attack on Guernica was heartbreaking to read about. The author did such a superb job of bringing these people to life, that it was like losing friends.

I found myself wondering why my history teachers had never mentioned this atrocity. I headed off to my computer and googled like a mad woman. I’ve never before understood any of Picasso’s art, but when I looked at the mural he called Guernica, I could see what he was saying. Picasso’s mural is a powerful reminder of this terrible attack. Dave Boling’s wonderful book is a testament and tribute to all who died there and to all who lived and rebuilt their lives. Guernica is one of the best books I’ve read all year.

Sinner by Ted Dekker

From Barnes and Noble

Synopsis

Some say roll with the punches. Drift with the tide. Nothing can stop the inevitability of change. There was a time when 300 Spartans disagreed with such mindless thinking and stood in the gap.

Now it's time for 3,000 to stand in the gap.

Sinner is the story of Marsuvees Black, a force of raw evil who speaks with wicked persuasion that is far more destructive than swords or guns. Beware all who stand in his way.

It's also the story of Billy Rediger and Darcy Lange, two unsuspecting survivors of a research project gone bad, who discover that they are perhaps the two most powerful souls in the land. Listen to them or pay a terrible price.

And it's the story of Johnny Drake, the one who comes out of the desert and leads the 3,000. Follow him and die.

Sinner tells the story of a free land where people who worship as they please and say what they believe are suddenly silenced in the name of tolerance.

Sinner by Ted Dekker is a peek into a future where “tolerance” has become the new religion. Our children are fed a constant diet of the necessity for “tolerance” in school every day. While we become tolerant of cultures and religious beliefs outside our own, we find that the beliefs that are still in the majority are becoming less tolerated. I’ve often felt that as a society, we need to stop focusing on and celebrating the differences between all of us. Instead I’ve thought that if we could use the time our children are taught to celebrate our cultural differences to show our children how very much we all are the same, we would build a stronger more cohesive society. I’m not saying that our huge country shouldn’t be filled with people of all colors, religions, and beliefs. I’m merely suggesting that underneath all of our individual customs, we are all pretty much the same. We all want a better life for our kids, we all want a safe place to live and we all want to be secure. It’s how we achieve this that seems to be the problem.

Dekker makes interesting comparisons with the way our society is heading now. It’s simply not enough to tolerate others, we must always be cognizant of our ability to offend and be offended. In Dekker’s future, our seeming inability to ignore the things we don’t participate in becomes intensified ten fold. And our hyper sensitivity to contrary beliefs magnifies as well. In this scenario, a public Christmas tree becomes, instead of a beautiful charming symbol of one groups belief; a symbol of oppression and hatred displayed only to remind some that they don’t belong.

I believe the goal of Sinner was to point out the direction we’re heading in, to sort of sound an alarm of some sort to both Christians and more secular readers. The book succeeds on that level, Christians will note the way society and our government is slowly eroding the display of their beliefs. The more secular reader can see how government has slowly started to erode our Bill of Rights, and perhaps be a bit more aware of the encroaching of our rights that takes place with such regularity.

I enjoy Ted Dekker’s books and although I haven’t read any of the other Paradise novels, Sinner didn’t disappoint. This particular novel was a tad bit preachier than the other novels I’ve read by this author. I’m not particularly religious, (no I’m not going to say that annoying “I’m spiritual, not religious” line. What the heck does that even mean?) but I usually really enjoy Dekker’s books. Some reviewers have mentioned the Left Behind series whilst reviewing Sinner. I attempted to read that series, but found it just way too contrived and not terribly well written. I know, the series has sold something like a gazillion books, but I just didn’t much like them, so I quit after the third or fourth book.

Dekker’s novel reminds us all that while tolerance is to be expected in a society as broad as ours, we must be on guard against the types of intolerance it breeds.

A Little Good News

It's kind of hard to believe that this song was released in 1983. Still fits 25 years later.....