Category: Book Reviews
Beach Plum Island by Holly Robinson
Beach Plum Island by Holly Robinson is about family ties, blended families and the trials they go through to become one loving family, the loss of parents, and family secrets.
When Ava Barrett’s father dies, she convinces her sister Elaine to come to his funeral where they both will have to face his wife, their stepmother. Elaine still resents her father leaving their mother to marry Katy and is not afraid to show it. She directs her anger at Ava for including Gigi, their half-sister, in the family. Their father told Ava and Gigi to find their brother and tell him the truth. Ava was confused because she didn’t have a brother. What truth was she to tell him? While trying to solve this mysterious directive of their father, Ava, Elaine, and Gigi have a Herculean task before them, made more difficult by guilt and secrets of Ava and Elaine. What will they find in the end? Can they become one happy family?
Holly Robinson’s vivid descriptions of Boston, Beach Plum Island, and surrounding areas transport you to the setting of the book. Her characters are complex and well developed, involving you deeply in their struggles, their lives, and their loves. I loved every single one of them.
This is perhaps one of the best novels I have ever read. I could have finished it in one sitting, but as I neared the half-way mark, I was already starting to mourn the end of the story. I wanted it to go on. I started to read just a chapter at a sitting trying to stretch it out. I didn’t want it to come to the end.
This is an excellent read anytime and anywhere, but you will surely want to tuck it in your beach bag for a lazy summer day. I give Beach Plum Island and Holly Robinson five stars!
Find out more about Holly Robinson, or to purchase her books, please follow the links below.
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poem- Measuring
Testing – what it doesn’t measure.
Video with my narration is in the previous post, but here’s the written version:
.
Measuring
Shawn L. Bird
This is me.
The standardized test says,
“She’s a C.”
But no standardized test
can measure my capacity.
The provincial exam or S A T
does not evaluate my reality.
A test does not see
my creativity
my audacity
my tenacity
my congeniality
No test can reveal
my totality.
They say
a standardized test demands gravity,
but I say,
it is a depravity
to define our youth with such rationality!
This is me.
No standardized test can measure
who I will be.
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Cute Books for Little Ones
Little Bunny
by Giovanni Caviezel
Ages 1-4
A cute story about what a baby bunny does all day.
The size and shape of this board book is just right for little hands; however, I felt the story was better suited to older preschoolers.
Llama llama wakey-wake
by Anna Dewdney
Best suited for ages 1-3
Llama llama has a lot to do to get ready for his brand new day.
Llama, Llama is perfect for little ones to sit and listen to the short sentences and admire the colorful pictures.
I’m not Sleepy!
by Jonathan Allen
Ages 1-3
Baby Owl stayed up all night and was very grumpy the next day when everyone told him he looked sleepy. “I’m not sleepy!”
This delightful story is sure to have the little ones laughing.
Duck and Goose
Goose Needs a HUG
by Tad Hills
Ages 1-3
Goose needs a hug, but no one is listening. They offer to play games with him and splash in puddles, but that isn’t what he needs.
A really cute little story that will delight young children who are sure to memorize and read it back to you.
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The Milk of Female Kindness
THE MILK OF FEMALE KINDNESS is a collection of stories, artwork, and poems about mothers and motherhood by twenty-nine women of different nationalities.
I felt the warmth and love of those who contributed to the book throughout. There were stories that made me chuckle, and some that made me cry. From the funny and honest Reasons to Breastfeed by Alison Bartlett to the wonderful The Welsh Shaw by Ceridwen Masiulanis to the honest Full of Abundance and Feeling Heavy by Jessica Kennedy to the heartfelt Something Like Survivor’s Guilt by Angélique Jamail, this is an earnest collection of personal experiences by women willing to share their thoughts and experiences to be read again and again.
Written about motherhood, everyone should read this. Do I have a favorite story? That is hard to say because each entry in this anthology stands on its own – its intensity, its honesty, and its diversity. It is a book I will go back to often.
This book was given to me by the editor in exchange for an honest review. I received no payment for providing this review.
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A to Z Challenge 2014 Reflections
![A-to-Z Reflection [2014] (1)](https://michelleclementsjames.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/a-to-z-reflection-2014-1.jpg?w=381&h=181)
First of all, I’d like to thank the A to Z Challenge Team for their encouragement and support throughout the challenge (I’ve listed their links below), everyone who stopped by my blog, and all who have followed my blog. It was wonderful to see so much activity and read the comments that were left. I visited many blogs of other A to Z-ers and made some new blogging friends along the way.
When I first signed up, I was excited about the Challenge, but also unsure that I would be able to write something for each letter. Would life get in the way of seeing it to the end? The night before the first posting, I almost backed out. April was such a busy month for us. I stayed with it, and I am so glad I did. I had a fantastic time writing my A to Z’s! I can’t wait to do it again next year!
When I started my posts, I didn’t want them dispersed throughout my blog roll, so I set up a separate page for the A to Z Challenge. I love the way it turned out, and got a lot of compliments on it. I linked back to my home page. The page is static, so it didn’t update on my blog roll with each successive post to it. This I found to be a disadvantage. Also, since it was a static page, I could not schedule posts. Because we were out of town for part of April, that meant I had to prepare those posts ahead of time and log on wherever I was to add the day’s post. In the future, I could work around using the static page by posting a notice on my home page, but the problem of not being able to schedule remains.
Next year I will unquestionably prepare my posts ahead of time to avoid last-minute panic. Even though I had planned what I was going to write about for each post, I still had to figure out what I wanted to write (which was not always what I thought it would be) and find the photos to go with the day’s post.
If you’d like to find out more about the A to Z Challenge, or read other’s reflections of their blog experiences, go to the A to Z Challenge.
Here is the A – Z Team with their links:
Arlee Bird: Tossing it Out
Alex J. Cavanaugh: Alex J. Cavanaugh
Stephen Tremp: Author Stephen Tremp
Tina Downey: Life is Good
Damyanti Biswas: Amlokiblogs
Jeremy Hawkins: [Being Retro]
Nicole Ayers: The Madlab Post
M. J. Joachim: M. J. Joachim’s Writing Tips
Heather M. Gardner: The Waiting is the Hardest Part
AJ Lauer: Naturally Sweet
Pam Margolis: An Unconventional Librarian
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A-Z Challenge Survivor
![survivor-atoz [2014]](https://michelleclementsjames.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/survivor-atoz-2014.jpg?w=222&h=111)
I have done it! I have completed the A-Z Challenge 2014!! I’ve had so much fun doing it. Please visit my A-Z Challenge page to read my posts.
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Our Granddaughter is a Fashionista
The Rooms are Filled by Jessica Null Vealitzek
Michael is the adopted son of John and Anne Nygaard and loves his life on his parents’ Minnesota farm. Then one day, the unthinkable happened. Michael’s dad collapses and dies and Michael’s mother has no choice but to sell the farm and move to Ackermann, Illinois where a job at her brother’s restaurant is waiting for her.
When they arrive in Ackermann, Michael has a difficult time making friends – he is the new kid, and the target of the 4th grade bully. He is befriended by another loner. Tina is in 6th grade and goes to the junior high. She lives across the street from Michael, and they become close friends, even though her moodiness bothers Michael. He doesn’t understand why she is nice to him one minute, and mean the next.
Michael’s teacher Julia Parnell has observed the bullying, but is powerless to do anything because there is no school policy against it. She befriends Michael, and they form a close friendship. When Anne is asked to work Saturday’s, she asks Julia if Michael could stay with her during her shift.
Michael is drowning in his grief but can’t talk to his mother about it because he doesn’t want to make her sad. He misses his dad tremendously and dreams of talking with him. His life was so much simpler with his dad, the farm, his chores, and his friends. Would his life here ever feel the same? Would he ever be accepted? When each child had to tell something interesting about his life, Michael revealed that he was adopted. The other students treated him meanly, and he was even more ostracized.
No one knows Julia is running from her past, but when it catches up with her, will it affect her job, her relationship with Michael and her other students? Julia has been best friends with Rose since they were young girls. A towns person knew someone from Julia’s past, and before long, rumors were spreading. Her lesson plans had the word Homo written in bold black letters on them. It was hard enough to figure out who she was without others’ bigotries getting in the way.
There is a lot going on in this book, and a lot of prejudice and resentment. Will each character be able to solve their personal conflicts?
I loved THE ROOMS ARE FILLED. It is a quick read, but a complex storyline. I fell in love with the characters of Michael and Julia and was rooting for them all the way. Jessica Null Vealitzek writes with enthusiasm and passion. She has woven the lives and problems of various characters into an intensely captivating tale. I highly recommend this book.
Learn more about Jessica:
Author Page Jessica Null Vealitzek
Blog True Stories
To buy her book on Amazon THE ROOMS ARE FILLED
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Tattered Innocence by Ann Lee Miller
After an affair with Bret, a married man, Rachel Martin wants to get as far away from him as she can. Jake Murray’s love life had just turned topsy turvy not only when his fiance Gabrielle dumps him, but she leaves him without a first mate on his charter cruise boat, The Smyrna Queen. Rachel applies for the job and gets it, but at her first meeting with him, she has made up her mind that her new boss is cold and unfriendly.
Jake left the corporate world to start his own business on The Smyrna Queen, a dream he shared with his deceased grandfather. Nearly everything he owns is in this venture. He needs a first mate to help him sail the boat and prepare meals for the guests. Since the only available sleeping quarters are in his cabin, Rachel makes it clear from the beginning that she is there for the job and nothing else.
It is quickly apparent that there is an attraction between the two of them, but neither will admit it because they are both still running away from previous relationships. Add to that, family problems, hurricanes, and the guilt they carry; this story has multiple layers to it. Since this is a Christian romance novel, there are references to God all the way through the book. Rachel convinces Jake to go to a beach service with her, and though he is skeptical at first, he comes around. There are often instances throughout where Rachel and Jake each reach out to God for guidance and forgiveness.
The book is well written, and the story will keep you turning the pages. If you are looking for a light romance novel and don’t mind Christian references, this is undoubtedly a book I would recommend.
Ann Lee Miller grew up in New Smyrna Beach, earned a BA in creative writing from Ashland (OH) University, and currently lives in Phoenix with her husband and children. She writes full time and lectures at various Arizona colleges.
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