A little different than normal

I was watching the news this morning before I left for work. I wanted to know about the traffic and the weather. Guess what, it's raining. People in Houston forget how to drive when it rains. The news reminded me of what day it is today. And what went on 14 years ago. I shared this video years ago, but it's still appropriate today.

A Sparrow in Terezin - A Review

Published - April 2015, Thomas Nelson Books
Series - A Hidden Masterpiece Novel Book 2
Author - Kristy Cambron
Title - A Sparrow in Terezin
Format - ebook, paper
Find on Amazon

Sera James and William Hanover are back. They've discovered the identity of the girl in the painting and William has made decisions about his inheritance. They've also fallen in love and are planning their wedding. Because of the decisions that William made regarding his inheritance, their planned for wedding becomes a wedding occurring right before William is hauled off to jail. He is facing serious charges and Sera will do anything in her power to clear the man she loves. She will fight for her family. Her search for anything to help clear his name takes her to London and a meeting with William's estranged father. Yet Sera's search also brings her back to the days of war torn Europe. What happened to the child Adele and Vladimir tried to save? It is a piece of Sophie's (the child who Adele saved) story that leads Sera to a Czech woman, Kaja Makovsky, living in London during the Blitz. Kaja's journey begins in Prauge. It's not an easy one. She's got to sacrifice all that she holds dear in order to bring hope to the children. Yet through it all, Kaja learns to cling to her faith and discovers that it her faith that will see her through the darkest of times. That's a lesson that Sera has to learn as well.

I absolutely loved Butterfly and the Violin. This book needs to be read after that one. In the first book, the historical story was what captivated me. In this one, it's the modern story that truly held my attention. The war time story is hauntingly beautiful, but I wasn't quite as captivated by Kaja's story as I was of that of Adele's.

Yet, I loved the love that both Sera and William had for each other. I loved watching them grow from the first book. My heart did break at times for them. But it also broke for Kaja, Sophie, and the others in the Terezin camp. There is a scene where a daring rescue takes place, and that scene alone wrenched my heart out.

If you've yet to read Kristy Cambron's novels, I highly recommend them. I have a feeling that her books will move up my list of must-buy books.

I read this book for pure pleasure.

Recommended to fans of WWII, Brock & Bodie Thoene, Francine Rivers, Jody Hedlund, Laura Frantz, Sarah Sundin

Rating - 5 stars

Top Ten Tuesday - Ten Finished Series I have yet to finsih

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

I like series. I love to read a book and know that there is more to the story. I get to keep living in that book world longer. Only, sometimes I just don't finish the series. And that's what today's Top Ten is all about.

So I've listed ones that I know are finished, and a couple that are probably not that I've given up on.

1. House of Winslow series by Gilbert Morris. There are probably at last 40 or more books in this series. I stopped reading them around book 20.

2. The Song of Ice and Fire series (Game of Thrones) by George R R Martin. Yes I know the series isn't finished yet. But I stopped reading after Feast for Crows (book 4) and have yet to pick up Dance with Dragons (book 5). He was taking too long between books. Besides the TV show has now caught up to where he is in the books and he still hasn't written book 6!

3. Divergent series by Veronica Roth. I really don't have any interest reading beyond book 1.

4. Legend series by Marie Lu. I listened to the first book on audio. The storyline was pretty awful. I have no intention of reading more.

5. Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich. I've read a few. They're cute. Maybe someday.

6. Discworld series by Terry Pratchett. It's a good thing that these books pretty much stand alone. I've read quite a few but certainly not all of them.

7. Sweet Valley High by Francine Pascall. I read these, mostly, in junior high. Then the writing got pretty bad. So I stopped.

8. Babysitter's Club by Ann M. Martin. These are fun childhood memories, but I think I stopped around book 25.

9. Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery. Anne is one of my favorite heroines. But I stopped reading after she and Gil finally got together. I think I've got book 8 left to read.

10. Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson. He might still be writing these. After reading Elantris and the last few of Wheel of Time, I wanted to read something else Sanderson has written. I read the first one. Then I wasn't in the mood for that genre. Maybe someday.

Saturday Scribbles Vol 27

Yes, I'm very much aware that I haven't had a Saturday Scribbles for the past two weeks. I've had emails and texts asking about it. All I can do is apologize. I really don't have an excuse other than not having anything ready.

So summer's over. But Blue Bell ice cream is back. This will probably be the summer that people in Texas refer to as "the Blue Bell drought of 2015." Why the fuss over ice cream, you may ask? Well you see, in Texas, Blue Bell is THE ice cream. Sure the stores sell other brands, but Blue Bell is, in my opinion, the best there is.

Now my favorite kind (mint chocolate chip) isn't back in stores yet, but I plan on picking up some yummy Dutch chocolate over the weekend. I've given it a week to be back so hopefully the grocery store will have a ready supply.

The main Blue Bell plant is located in the heart of Texas's hill country. It's in a little town called Brenham, which is about an hour and a half North West of Houston. The plant is so much fun to tour.

I remember the first time I got to tour the plant. I was as summer camp. I think that was the year that the dining hall burned down (Gwen, were you there that year?) and the staff had to figure out something to do with us every day while the kitchen staff headed to the grocery store. You see that happened early in the week, like on Monday or Tuesday, and camp didn't end til Saturday. So one day we were at Washington-on-the
-Brazos. Another day we were skating. Another day, we were somewhere else. And one day, we all went to the Blue Bell Creamery. We got to tour the place, visit the little country store that is part of the Creamery, and of course end the tour with a scoop of ice cream. I can't remember what flavor I had. Probably chocolate. But it was a lot of fun.

A few years ago, my cousin and I did a day trip up there. We toured the plant again. This time, I sampled Krazy Kookie Dough. It was a cake batter ice cream with icing chunks and a sugar cookie flavor. I've got say that the creamery has changed a lot over the years. I mean it was still in the same basic building, but the tour changed. I actually remember enjoying the history behind the creamery this time around. Maybe going as an adult meant I could actually understand what was going on better than just anticipating the big scoop of ice cream at the end.

So in Texas, there really isn't any other kind of ice cream. Some of my coworkers don't understand that. The conversations going around the cubicles all week have been talking about Blue Bell. It's been rather funny to hear someone say "I don't under stand what the big deal about Blue Bell is. Isn't that just another brand of ice cream?" Some of my coworke
rs would get pretty defensive. Me, I just laughed. Because they didn't grow up here, obviously.

What about you? What is your favorite type of ice cream? Flavor and brand?

The Butterfly and the Violin - A Review

Published - July 2014,  Thomas Nelson Publishers
Series - Hidden Masterpieces Book 1
Author - Kristy Cambron
Title - The Butterfly and the Violin
Format - ebook, paper
Find on Amazon

Sera James has been looking for the painting of the woman she glimpsed as a child for years. Her search to find the painting and to identify the woman in it has taken her to discover Holocaust Art. As she delves more and more into the painting's story, Sera's search leads her to William Hanover, the heir to the massive Hanover estate. Sera and William join forces to find the owner of the painting for different reasons - Sera to discover the story and William to present the owner with court documents contesting the ownership. Yet there's so much to the story than either of them can even begin to imagine. As they delve into the mystery of the painting, they find themselves swept away into the story of Adele von Bron, an Austrian violinist who risked everything to save one Jewish family. Adele is the sweetheart of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in 1942. Her father is a high ranking official in the Third Reich. Yet one evening changes her life forever, and she's forced to question all that she's been taught to believe. Can her violin save her life deep in a Nazi death camp? And can Sera find the answers she so desperately seeks while fighting her attraction to William?

This book has been on my reading list for ages. Literally. The cover and the title intrigued me. I'd not read the book description. And it kept being recommended to me by friends. So when I finally managed to bump this up my to read list and delve into it, I was thrilled.

There are two stories going on here. There is the modern one with Sera and William. Then there's the WWII one of Adele. While I enjoyed both, Adele's story truly fascinated me. Here is this girl who isn't Jewish and appears to have it all going for her. Yet she defies her father to assist the man she loves. She pays a great price for that later too. I loved getting a different look at history. Adele's life is one of survival. She is forced to play her violin at Auschwitz as others are marched to their deaths. Does the experience change her? Yes it does! But it's also a touching story.

Sera and William's  relationship is sweet to see develop. But they both learn how to trust. And I love what happens once they actually find the owner of the painting.

This book was beautifully written. I loved how the author was able to tell two stories in one and it didn't feel choppy or disconnected. They flowed seamlessly together.

I really did love this book. It's different than most WWII books I've read. It's even different than most contemporary books I've read. Sure there's romance in it. But the story itself was pretty awesome.

I read this book for pure pleasure.

Recommended to fans of WWII fiction, Brock & Bodie Thoene, Laura Frantz, Jody Hedlund, Kate Breslin, Cathy Gohlke

Rating - 5 stars

Special Post

I don't usually post twice in one day. But I had to today.

I mentioned a while back that I was working with the girls at Fiction Hero Features to write a post on Ryan Chambers, hero of Jody Hedlund's book, Hearts Made Whole. Well anyway, the post is up now. I'm excited. So feel free to click on the link and go visit.

Fiction Hero Features

Top Ten Tuesday - Top Ten Characters I Didn't Connect With

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke & The Bookish

Happy Tuesday everyone. Today's Top Ten is once again about characters. Only this time, the characters are those that I didn't really connect with. Here they are in no particular order.

1. Peeta Melark from the Hunger Games - I've read the books. I've seen the movies. And I still don't connect with him too well.

2. Bella Swan from the Twilight series - I'm not sure if I've ever met a more flat character than Bella. I wasn't impressed at all with her.

3. Edward Cullen from the Twilight series - The vampire that Bella falls in love with. The other members of his family are so much more interesting. I really couldn't understand what was his appeal.

4. Cosette from Les Miserables - While this is by far one of my favorite movies/musicals (Amanda Seyfried is one of my favorite actresses), I've read the book too. I get the fact that she's the child who goes from nothing to having everything. I understand that. But she doesn't seem to have much depth to her. Sure, she's been sheltered, but there should still be more to her. I understand she's somewhat

minor, after all the book/films are about Jean Val Jean.

5. Julia Elliston from the Price of Privilege Series by Jessica Dotta - She's the narrator of the series, but I didn't connect with her in the first book and as a result haven't read the others.

6. Jane Eyre & Mr. Rochester - I never really understood them when I read the book in junior high. Now that I'm an adult, I still don't get them.

7. Josh Jones from the Seasons of the Heart Series by Janette Oke - I've read all of her books. And this character is the one I just don't connect with at all. As a result, this series is probably my least favorite of hers.

8. Carter and Sadie Kane from the Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan - After loving the Percy Jackson books, I was excited to read the Kane Chronicles. Especially since I love the Stargate Series which is based very strongly in Egyptian Mythology. But unlike Percy and the other demigod, these two magicians, I didn't connect with. I remained pretty confused as I read the books. Maybe I should try again.

9. Arthur Dent from the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - I read these books at a time when that was almost all I was reading. But looking back now, I have to wonder, what I ever enjoyed about them? Sure, they're rather humorous, but I can't remember why I even liked Arthur to begin with, so he made my list today.

10. Bree (the Talking Horse) from The Horse and His Boy, Chronicles of Narnia - I've grown up reading the Chronicles of Narnia. Over and over and over again. Yet for some reason, The Horse and His Boy is one I just skip. I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that I really don't like Bree, the horse. I find him to be a bit arrogant and condensing.