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The Finder of Forgotten Things

January 7, 2022 by Esther Filbrun · Leave a Comment

7 Jan

The Finder of Forgotten Things by Sarah Loudin Thomas

Title: The Finder of Forgotten Things
Author: Sarah Loudin Thomas
Major Themes: Accidents, Tragedies, Adoption
Synopsis: Three people are drawn together to witness the tragedy of the Hawks Nest Tunnel, and find hope and healing for themselves as they try to support the survivors.

After thoroughly enjoying Thomas’ The Right Kind of Fool early last year, I knew I wanted to read more from her pen. So when The Finder of Forgotten Things popped up, I immediately requested it. It’s not every day that you come across an author you appreciate, is it? I found this book quite gripping—moreso than I anticipated—and it wasn’t long before I decided that Thomas would end up on my long-term book watchlist.

Jeremiah Weber’s hometown Kline is in dire straits. They don’t have enough good water to go around, and when a water dowser showed up out of the blue, they were ready to try him. Instead of giving them water, his work produced two dry wells and he hotfooted it in the night with their money. Now, Jeremiah has to go after Sulley—and try to get their money back.

Meanwhile, Sulley is trying to find the next place to lay his head. Yes, it wasn’t right to take money for a job he didn’t do—but a man has to live somehow. And since this is the only way he’s learned to make a living, he isn’t sorry about it. Hard work is only for those who don’t know how to live by their wits, right?

Gainey’s life has held fairly steady over the years. As the postmistress of a well-off town, her life is full and busy. Then, news starts trickling in about the Hawks Nest Tunnel project, and for the first time in her life, she finds something she could do to help the families around her. Will the men at the tunnel accept her help? And what will happen when Jeremiah and Sulley show up, unintentionally joining her in her quest?

The Finder of Forgotten Things is quite a convoluted story, but the main portion of history—the Hawks Nest Tunnel tragedy—shows up brilliantly in here. I’d never heard of this event before, and seeing it through the eyes of characters who loved the men who suffered made it that much harder. And what made this story even more difficult is that the men who worked there—who were part of the tragedy—had no choice. The Great Depression was going on, and they had to support their families, even at the cost of their own lives.

Beyond history, this book touches on past hurts, identity, and forgiveness—themes I always appreciate seeing in fiction. I laughed with this story, wept with the characters, and identified deeply with their insecurities and triumphs.

The one thing I didn’t like? The water witching part. As noted below, this is a reoccurring theme in the book—and it eventually went beyond water witching to grave witching. I don’t believe that type of thing is of God, and from personal experience, I know that bringing God into situations changes the results of the witching. I understand why it’s in here, and know that not everyone would agree with me—but even though I enjoyed almost every other aspect of the story, this is one I couldn’t agree with.

Aside from the water witching part, this was a great story. The book pulled me in from the beginning, and I’m grateful to have had a chance to read it. I admire Thomas’ desire to bring these men’s stories to light in a way that we would all partake a little in their sufferings—and yet she didn’t let that drag down the story as a whole. She’s a talented author, and if you enjoy history, you’d likely enjoy this.

I was given a review copy of this book, and this is my honest opinion of it.

WARNING: Water dowsing or witching for other things is mentioned in ch. 1, 3 (describing how it works), 15, 37, and 41. “For pity’s sake” is used in ch. 1; “in tarnation” is used in ch. 1, 13, 19, 20, and 33; doggone is used in ch. 1, 2, 8, 13, 17, 19, 21, and 33; devil is used in ch. 1; heck is used in ch. 2, 4, 11, and 19; durn is used in ch. 2, 6, and 17; shoot or a variant is used in ch. 2, 4, 11, 14, 16, 18, 19, 30, 34, and 35; goodness is used in ch. 4, 8, 22, 30, and 36; golly is used in ch. 4, 8, 19, 27, 30, 38, and 39; “the dickens” is used in ch. 17; swore or a variant is used in ch. 20 and 42; dad-blasted is used in ch. 27; cursed is used in ch. 28; “good grief” is used in ch. 33; mercy is used in ch. 34; “for heaven’s sake” is used in ch. 37; and Lordy is used in ch. 40. There is lying in ch. 2, 3, 4, 22, and 27.

There’s a mention of “a woman to keep the bed warm” in ch. 5. A mother had to give up her child for adoption after getting pregnant out of wedlock, and that is mentioned in ch. 13, 20, and possibly elsewhere. A man holds a woman’s hand and there is other touching in ch. 24, 36 (a hug and a kiss), 37 (another kiss), 39 (another hug and several kisses), 40 (presumably more kissing), 41 (more kissing—at a wedding, more description than some). A man offhandedly suggests suicide in ch. 9. In ch. 10, a black man says if he was caught driving a mule and cart, he’d likely be killed for it because of racism. A man is beaten and dies from the beating in ch. 11 and someone else dies in ch. 12. A man remembers being beaten as a boy in ch. 13. A grave is partially opened up in ch. 20, and in ch. 29, a man tells of men killed in a cave-in.

Age levels:

Reading Independently—Ages 15 and Above, Adults

Links to buy this book:

Amazon: Paperback | Kindle | Hardcover | Audible Audiobook (unabridged)
AbeBooks: View Choices on AbeBooks.com
Book Depository: Paperback | Hardcover

Reading Magic

January 5, 2022 by Emma Filbrun · Leave a Comment

5 Jan

Title: Reading Magic
Author: Mem Fox
Major Themes: Reading, Books, Teaching, Homeschooling
Synopsis: This interesting book describes many benefits of reading aloud to children and what happens when a child is read to frequently.

I was listening to a podcast one day about reading aloud, and the person being interviewed was Mem Fox. She talked about her book Reading Magic: Why Reading Aloud to Our Children Will Change Their Lives Forever, and I found myself quite interested in reading it. A few days later, I saw this book advertised for sale on a local Facebook group, and bought it. What an interesting read!

Mem Fox tells about her experiences reading picture books with little children. Her daughter started reading only a couple of weeks after she started school. The reason? She had been read to, over and over, since birth. Interactions with books and words, in a setting of loving, fun interaction with her parents, made reading seem like a fun, natural thing to do.

Mem’s book is full of stories of other children who learned to read quickly and easily, after being read to all their lives. She also talks about children she came across who had not been read to. In a number of chapters, she talks about how to read aloud, how to do voices when reading dialogue, and how to vary the pitch or speed of your voice to match the story. She talks about interaction with a story and a child, and how important that is in helping children learn to communicate and become excited about books and reading.

This author believes that one of the most important factors in children learning to read is that they are confident. A child who hears the same story read over and over and over will be so familiar with it that he will naturally start associating the words he hears with the words on the paper. Because he has memorized the story, it will be easy for him to read it. Children who do not experience failure will have a much easier time learning to read.

What I got out of Reading Magic was the importance of reading aloud to little children! I need to make more time in my days to read picture books to my little ones. They sure love being read to. My toddler brought me a little book about firefighters while I was writing the first paragraph of this review. I read it to her, then started writing. She requested it again. While I wrote that paragraph, I read the book to her seven times! According to Mem Fox, this kind of rereading is some of the best preparation for reading that there is. This book is very interesting and easy to read. I recommend it to all parents—but keep in mind when you read it that, just because you read aloud every day, it doesn’t guarantee that your children will learn to read easily. When my oldest three were little, I faithfully read picture books to them every day. Two of the three had major struggles learning to read. They love to listen to books, but the mechanics of reading proved to be very difficult. On the other hand, my now-6-year-old daughter, much farther down the line of children, has learned to read quite easily, and I didn’t spend much time reading picture books to her (she just had to listen to the chapter books for all ages that I read to the older ones!).

No warnings!

Age levels:

Reading Independently—Adults

Links to buy this book:

Amazon: Paperback | Hardcover | Audio CD
AbeBooks: View Choices on AbeBooks.com
Book Depository: Paperback

Gods and Kings

January 3, 2022 by Emma Filbrun · Leave a Comment

3 Jan

Title: Gods and Kings
Author: Lynn Austin
Series: Chronicles of the Kings, book 1
Major Themes: Hezekiah, Ancient Israel
Synopsis: Hezekiah’s father wanted to sacrifice him to the gods—how could the boy’s mother protect her son and teach him about the true God?

One of the earliest free Kindle books I got and read, some nine years ago, was Gods and Kings, by Lynn Austin. It was the first book I read by her. I remember not being able to put it down, although I didn’t like everything that was included in the story. After my daughter got me started writing book reviews, I thought I should read the book again, in order to review it. I never got around to opening it again, though, until I picked it up from her shelf of physical books last week.

Hezekiah was sound asleep when men pulled him and his older brother out of bed early one morning and dragged them, along with the rest of the king’s sons, up to the high place of Molech. Hezekiah was scarred for life by what happened that morning—and again when his father tried to sacrifice him, later, when another enemy threatened Jerusalem. Abijah tried desperately to save her son, but what could she do? She was powerless to even save her own life as her husband, Ahaz, spiraled ever deeper into worship of the gods of the nations around Israel. What was happening to the people of Israel?

Uriah was sure he would be able to influence Ahaz back to the worship of the true God if only he went along with the king’s wishes for a little while. Surely, it would be all right to disobey God’s laws now in order to bring about good later—wouldn’t it? When the king discovered that his father-in-law Zechariah was teaching young Hezekiah about Yahweh, he ordered the high priest Uriah to kill Zechariah. Uriah couldn’t bring himself to do this to his mentor—but what would happen to Uriah if he disobeyed?

One of the explanations Zechariah gave to a question Hezekiah asked him really stood out to me. He said, in explaining what God is like,

“You’ve never seen the wind, but you know it’s there because you see evidence of what it does—how it ripples through the golden seas of wheat and rustles through the tree branches. And you can feel it cooling you on a hot summer day. Well, it’s the same with Yahweh.”

I loved the conversations Zechariah and Hezekiah had!

Gods and Kings is a powerful retelling of the story of Hezekiah. I could not put this book down. As far as I could tell, it is Biblically accurate, which is very important to me. I found the story of Uriah very sobering. Last week, in a Bible study our family has been doing, we heard about deciding to sin “a little” in order to reach out to people. I had to think of this book—what a picture. At the beginning of the book, Uriah was very unhappy about the way the nation was drifting away from God. He compromised, though, and found himself doing more and more awful things, until at the end—but you’ll have to read the book to find out what he tried to do there.

I could hardly wait to get to the end of the story to find out how this author surmised that Hezekiah became the godly king we know he was (yes, I reread the account in the Bible to see when we first know that he turned to God!). I also saw a hint that gives me a foreboding feeling about his wife—guess I’ll have to read book 2 to see what happens with her!

WARNING: Human sacrifice is described in chapters 1 and 4. In chapter 14, a woman goes to sacrifice to Asherah.

Age levels:

Reading Independently—Adults

Links to buy this book:

Amazon: Paperback | Kindle | Hardcover | Audible Audiobook (unabridged) | Audio CD
AbeBooks: View Choices on AbeBooks.com
Book Depository: Paperback

Flipping Hearts

December 31, 2021 by Emma Filbrun · Leave a Comment

31 Dec

Title: Flipping Hearts
Author: Chautona Havig
Series: Hooper Island, book 1 (Independence Islands, book 13)
Major Themes: Renovation, Building, Romance
Synopsis: After a devastating hurricane, Bailey Barrett offered to help rebuilt Hooper Island…and as a result, Brooks nearly lost his job as well as his heart.

I first read Flipping Hearts as it was being written, a scene at a time, and actually never even read the ending. I was not very impressed with this book; it felt like one of Chautona Havig’s more “fluffy” books. When it was finally finished, I never got around to reading the whole thing again until this week. What do you suppose I thought of it when I was able to read the entire book in one go?

Brooks was employed by the island’s association, so he was the contact person when someone from a house renovating TV show called, asking to be allowed to help cleanup Hooper Island after a devastating hurricane. He reluctantly agreed—only to learn later that he had signed papers allowing them to film the process! With his job on the line and the population of the islands angry with him, not to mention the show host, Bailey, who blamed him for her assistant’s actions, what should he do?

Then things really started going south. One thing after another was sabotaged, from rafters to a trailer, as well as some much more serious things. Who was doing this—and why? Meanwhile, Brooks and Bailey were doing their best to stay enemies. What would it take for the two to admit they were attracted to each other?

I really liked some of the conversations between Brooks and Bailey. Bailey had only become a Christian recently, while Brooks was raised in a Christian home—but she said some things that challenged him, like the conversation about good versus bad in people. And then there is the line,

“But I hate the way we all act like we’re all superior about being in some ‘exclusive club’ while people out there are just doing their best, not knowing it isn’t enough.”

As Brooks felt, “Double ouch, Lord.” Then there was the discussion about being “grace blind.” I could relate! Ouch again. All this to say, I was wrong with my first impression of Flipping Hearts. This is a much deeper book than I thought at first glance. I ended up really liking this book. The mystery (who was sabotaging the job?) kept my interest focused on this story, and the interactions between characters seemed very natural. I really liked that the romance was only a small part of the story, near the end.

I received a review copy of this book from the author, and these are my honest thoughts about it.

No warnings!

Age levels:

Reading Independently—Ages 15 and Above, Adults

Links to buy this book:

Amazon: Paperback | Kindle | Audible Audiobook (unabridged)
AbeBooks: View Choices on AbeBooks.com
Book Depository: Paperback

Shadow Hawk

December 29, 2021 by Emma Filbrun · Leave a Comment

29 Dec

Title: Shadow Hawk
Author: Andre Norton
Major Themes: Ancient Egypt, Hyksos
Synopsis: After his father’s sudden death, Rahotep finds himself caught up in more intrigue and danger than he ever dreamed of, as he tries to help drive the Hyksos out of Egypt.

There are not many historical novels out there about Ancient Egypt. I was able to find Shadow Hawk, however, so I decided to read it as part of our study of that culture. It ended up being quite an interesting story, though pretty gruesome at times.

Rahotep, in the beginning of the story, was leading a group of archers on the border of Kush, trying to keep Egypt in control of that area. Why did his father keep him out in the wilderness, going from one post to another? And then—he learns that his father has died, suddenly and suspiciously. Why had his older half-brother Unis failed to inform Rahotep until nearly too late to reach the palace before the burial? Was he trying to make Rahotep appear a traitor? What were the real plans? And what was in the message from the Pharaoh in the North?

Rahotep soon takes off to the north to join the Pharaoh in his fight against the Hyksos, who have ruled the land of the double crown for far too long. Soon he finds himself and his small band of archers caught up in more intrigue than they can handle. Will they be able to help Pharaoh and strike a blow at the tyrants who rule them, or will they be overpowered? Can they find the real traitors in time?

This is a fast-moving story. Many times, Rahotep finds himself in situations that he may or may not be able to get out of. The danger he was in over and over kept our attention and kept us wanting to read, although the frequent battles or man-to-man fights were described in a bit too much detail. I skipped over at least one scene because it was too bloody. If you or your children do not like to read details about fighting and killing, you won’t want to read this book. I’m not sure if I would have read it aloud, had I known so much blood and gore was in it, but by reading it aloud I was able to skip the worst scenes. On the other hand, Shadow Hawk brings the period to life and fleshes out the history of Egypt we were learning. So, as with much historical fiction, there are pros and cons to this book!

WARNING: Read the last paragraph. I didn’t make notes of where the bloody scenes were because of the format in which I read the book.

Age levels:

Read Aloud—Ages 10 – 13
Reading Independently—Ages 12 – 15, 15 and Above

Links to buy this book:

Amazon: Paperback | Kindle | Hardcover
AbeBooks: View Choices on AbeBooks.com
Book Depository: Paperback