A Change in Direction

Here, Home, Hope by Kaira Rouda is great story about a woman finding herself, at the age of 30, to be in a crisis of sorts.  Kelly had a recent breast cancer scare and finds herself suddenly fearful.  Her comfortable life just doesn't fit right anymore. 

Her two growing boys are away at camp for the entire summer and with her nest empty she realizes she needs to make changes in her life.  She starts her Things to Change (T2C) list and leaves post-its with list items around her house and the dashboard of her car.  Her list continues to grow as she opens up to new experiences.

At the same time she realizes that her friends' lives are not as wonderful and serene as they seem on the outside.  Charlotte has fallen in love with another friend's husband.  Kathryn is in crisis and leaves her anorexic teenager in Kelly's care while she tries to regroup.  As if all these dramas weren't enough, Kelly begins her own business.  Everyone rallies around to help each other.

The changes in her attitude and the direction of her life are exciting and empowering.

Kaira's writing is witty and vibrant.  You will laugh, cry and cheer along the characters.

This is a great novel for anyone who enjoys a story of growth, empowerment and positive endings.

A Batch of Bios

Normally I prefer to read fiction, but recently I've read some really great biographies.  They were fascinating and rich with detail.  All of them page-turners for the most part.

The first one was "The Maybelline Story", by Sharrie Williams.  It detailed the history of the Maybelline dynasty from it's beginnings in 1911 up until the current day.  The family members are all very much characters and the story reads like a soap opera.  It even had a bit of mystery to it.  Definitely two thumbs up from this reader.

Not too long after that the next bio was "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot.  This is the story of how one woman's cancerous cell biopsy lead to the first cell cultures being grown.  From there they go around the world and are involved in an incredible number of discoveries and developments in the fields of science and medicine.  It also details the lives of her children and how they felt when they discovered what had been taken from their mother and how it had been used.  Again, it was written to keep you turning those pages.  Excellent read!

The last one was "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand.  This was my favorite.  It tells the story of Louis Zamperini, an Olympic runner who goes on to serve in the air force during World War II.  He is shot down over the Pacific and survives for 47 days on a life raft only to be 'rescued' by the Japanese.  The account of his time as a POW is amazing.  Laura's handling of the story is vivid and compelling.  I highly recommend this read to one and all.