Quaker Summer

Another great read by Lisa Samson.

Quaker Summer is a story about Heather Curridge who has what some would call, EVERYTHING, a successful, loving husband, a wonderful teenage son, a beautiful home and a life most would envy. But, Heather feels as if she is falling apart on the inside.

She buys, buys, buys and does, does, does....to help fill that inner void within herself. But is her affluence keeping her from the will of God?

When her Son is the target of bullying, at school. Heather struggles over the guilt of her own past of bullying two less fortunate children.

Through unusual circumstances, Heather ends up at the home of two elderly Quaker women and through their example, she comes to learn what it is she is actually seeking...forgiveness and a purpose in life.

Picking Cotton: our memoir of injustice and redemption

by

Jennifer Thompson-Cannino and Ronald Cotton, with Erin Torneo.

I have to admit that when I picked this book, I did it entirely by it's name. So, I thought it was about cotton pickers and what they went through. Can you tell I didn't read the flap? I just picked it from a list of books.

I was surprised to find out that it was actually about a man who was wrongfully identified in a rape case and sent to prison for 11 years.

This is the true story of his life in prison and his forgiveness for the person who sent him there.

This story not only tells of his prison experience but also tells what happened between he and his accuser after he is released and their unlikely friendship that ensues.

It makes you question just how many people ARE in prison for crimes they never committed.

The Secret Life of Bees

I really enjoyed reading this book by Sue Monk Kidd, about Lily, who grew up believing she had accidentally killed her Mother when she was four years old.
At fourteen, she yearns to know more about her Mother and gain forgiveness for the act, somehow.

She lives on a peach farm in South Carolina with her father and her only friend, Rosaleen, who is a black servant.

Living in the sixties, in South Carolina, where segregation is still prevalent, she and Rosaleen find themselves in a predicament with some white men who Rosaleen will not 'bow' down to. Subsequently, Rosaleen is arrested and beaten, by these same men. Lily, decides to act.

Fleeing from the law and from Lily's demanding and harsh father, they subsequently end up at the home of three beekeeping sisters, Lily starts a journey that will eventually change both she and Rosaleen's life.

Southern Storm

I just finished "Southern Storm" by Terri Blackstock. This is her second in the Cape Refuge series. I have really enjoyed her last two books and will continue reading the series.

I am taking a break from that series to read a book I got from the library, "The necklace : thirteen women and the experiment that transformed their lives" by the women of jewelia and Cheryl Jarvis.

Four years ago, Jonell McLain saw a diamond necklace in a jewelry store window. The necklace aroused desire first, then a provocative question: What if we shared what we desired? Several weeks, dozens of phone calls, and a leap of faith later, Jonell bought the necklace with twelve other women. With vastly dissimilar histories and lives, the women transcended their individual personalities and politics to join together in an uncommon journey. Part charm, part metaphor, part mirror, the necklace weaves in and out of each woman's life, and comes to mean something dramatically different to each of them. What started as a quirky social experiment became something far richer and deeper, as the women transformed a symbol of exclusivity into a symbol of inclusiveness. They discovered that sharing the necklace was only the beginning: the more they shared with others, the more profound this experience became.--From publisher description.

I just started it last night. It's looking like it will be more than a book about sharing a necklace but how it affects each woman and what they learn from it.

What have YOU been reading?

Char