Rhe's Book Shelf Archives - Cammo Style Love

Rhe’s Bookshelf – A Visit to Summer Grove with Cindy Woodsmall’s New Series

September 6, 2017 1 Comment

I am so excited to be doing a book review for ya’ll! It’s been awhile since we’ve paid a visit to my bookshelf and I’m really excited to bring you guys a new book from my favorite Amish-life author. Cindy first came across my bookshelf a couple years ago with the Amish Vines and Vineyards series which is the reason why I started reading Amish books in the first place. It never seemed like anything I would love but I did!! When the series was done I had some serious sadness and withdrawl issues. But Ms Woodsmall is back with what is going to be another amazing series; and I was lucky enough to check out the first two books.

summary

Twenty-year-old Ariana Brenneman loves her family and the Old Ways. She has two aspirations: open a café in historic Summer Grove to help support her family’s ever-expanding brood and to keep any other Amish from being lured into the Englisch life by Quill Schlabach.

Five years ago Quill, along with her dear friend Frieda, ran off together, and Ariana still carries the wounds of that betrayal. When she unexpectedly encounters him, she soon realizes he has plans to help someone else she loves leave the Amish.

Despite how things look, Quill’s goal has always been to protect Ariana from anything that may hurt her, including the reasons he left. After returning to Summer Grove on another matter, he unearths secrets about Ariana and her family that she is unaware of. His love and loyalty to her beckons him to try to win her trust and help her find a way to buy the café—because when she learns the truth that connects her and a stranger named Skylar Nash, Quill knows it may upend her life forever.

summary

The Old Order Amish life Ariana Brenneman loved vanished virtually overnight with the discovery that she was switched at birth twenty years ago. Now she’s immersed in the Englischer world, getting to know her mother and under the authority of her biological father, an atheist intellectual with resolute plans to expand Ariana’s worldview. Only Quill Schlabach, a childhood friend
living Englisch, can help steady Ariana’s tilting ground between the two worlds, but can she trust him after so many betrayals?

At the same time, Skylar Nash is forced to choose rehab or spend several months with her true relatives, the large Brenneman family and their seemingly backward life—no electricity, no technology, no fun. What the young woman can’t leave behind is her addiction to illegal prescription drugs and deep emptiness from the belief that she doesn’t belong in either family.
New ties are binding Ariana and Skylar to the lives they were meant to have. Can they find the wisdom and strength they’ll need to follow God’s threads into unexpected futures?

Review

So I didn’t read the back cover of book one, so I had no idea what was coming. Feeling emotional while reading a book is really one of the most important things I look for when reading fiction. I want to feel what these characters feel. That is what gets you through a book, makes you want to continue on and find out what happens. The writing, again, sucks you in as Cindy is so skilled at drawing you into the Amish world. The relationships of the family, and the love that the main character shows to the family draws you in. Quill is one of my favorite characters in Ms Woodsmall’s books. His passion and love for the faith, while in direct opposition to his life, was emotional. You could feel it coming from the book. I found myself simultaneously angry, imagining how parts of this book could never actually happen in real life….while also thinking, “What would happen if this was real life?”

Cindy’s books are an easy and enjoyable read, but don’t mistake that for simple or something that isn’t complex. The relationships are hard, and the reality of what these people are dealing with his powerful and very, very real. People might get angry at the way some of the characters behave, I know I did, but you have to understand the reality of the world these characters live in. It’s a very real world. Looking at these books as not only an enjoyable read but as an education as well is important. These books are an education for its readers, and Ms Woodsmall expertly does so.

have you read any Amish fiction? I’d love hear about it!!
And one lucky reader will win their own copies of books 1 and 2 of this series!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

~Rheanna

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Rhe’s Bookshelf – A Military Monday Book Review

Today’s #MilitaryMonday post is also a Rhe’s Bookshelf post. I am thrilled to be reviewing On Which We Serve, Part 1 – Where Life-Lessons Are Learned, by Edward Atkins. Edward Atkins grew up in New Jersey and went on to serve in the United States Navy in WWII. He continued his connection with the military throughout most of his life. This book is part of a trilogy of books about life on an Aircraft Carrier, as well as life in the MIlitary, during WWII.

Summary: The title, “On Which We Serve” is an anthology of values and virtues as derived from the activities taking place on the flight deck of a WWII fleet aircraft carrier as experienced by the author. This book consists of 355 full-page National Archive photographs, each of which has a half-page caption that seamlessly segues into a half-page discussion of life-lessons learned on that flight deck based on First Principles. These topics are such as responsibility, accountability, respect for others and self, earned self-esteem (those who have such will “never” do anything antisocial), empathy, trustworthiness, and similar values and virtues. The title also embraces the Navy motto: Honor (to see one’s duty), Commitment (to do one’s duty) and Courage (to fulfill one’s duty). This book is truly unique in that it is one of a kind for all time (first person) as well as being timeless.

What I Thought: As a military spouse and the granddaughter of both a Korean War Veteran and a WWII Veteran, books like this can be extremely thought provoking and emotional for me. They have the ability to transport me through time and try to imagine what it must have been like for those that served during this time. Things were so different back then, and to get an inside peak at what that must have been like from someone who was there is a priceless piece of history. These are truly life-lessons for all of us, and they should be passed on to our children and grandchildren. The author talks about the carrier at times, comparing himself at time to the carrier. It is clear he has a deep love, understanding and respect for not only the ship, but what he is doing on it. That comes through in his words clearly. At times it seems as though my grandfather is speaking to me – talking about hard work and doing the right thing. Things it sometimes seems as if our society has lost sight of; stopping to think about something other than themselves. Aside from being an extremely well documented history piece, it is clearly a deeply personal one.

I would recommend this book to anyone who particularly enjoys this time in our countries history, but servicemembers would do well to read such accounts. A kindred bond can be felt even decades later.

This book also contains amazing pictures that coincide with his story, and life on the ship. It’s really the pictures that move me the most in this book.

5 out of 5 stars – I truly love this book. Between the beautiful, yet deeply realistic picture of life on the ship and the beautiful photographs that further tell the story, it is a book that every household should have. The greatest generation, as they so fondly have been called, is an intrical part of our countries history, and one which is quickly leaving us. Holding on to stories and images like this is vital for going forward. This I believe whole-heartedly.