I recently started reviewing books for Thomas Nelson.  I post the reviews on another blog of mine but this book was SO good, I wanted to share it here.

Faces in the Fire by By T.L. Hines

This morning I finished Face in the Fire by T.L. Hines. It’s my first book by this author but if this book is any indication of how he write is definitely won’t be my last.

The book follows four individuals through almost four separate stories and how their lives intertwine. The book genre is different from the normal book I’d pick up but I’m so glad I did. The narrative format of the book is unique and if not done right would have been horrid but this is done right. The random chapter numbering drove me nuts at first (it’s my “need for order” issue) but I quickly “got it” and it works.

Seriously, this is one of the best books I’ve read in a long time. I was entertained, I wanted to see what happened next, I couldn’t wait to finish the book but in a good way – I wanted to see what happened. To be honest, I can often tell you what’s going to happen in a book after the first few chapters. It wasn’t until the end of this book (last couple chapters) that I finally got the whole thing – which was good.

They book is described as suspense – I don’t know that I’d necessarily classify it that way but I can see that.
In all honestly, I can’t say enough about how great this book was. I’ll definitely be recommending it to friends.

= = =

From the back cover
Four lost souls on a collision course with either disaster or redemption. A random community of Faces in the Fire.
Meet Kurt, a truck-driver-turned-sculptor with no memory of his past. Corinne, an e-mail spammer whose lymphoma isn’t responding to treatment. Grace, a tattoo artist with an invented existence and a taste for heroin. And Stan, a reluctant hit man haunted by his terrifying gift for killing.

They don’t know each other, at least not yet. But something–or someone–is at work in the fabric of their lives, weaving them all together. A catfish, a series of numbers scribbled on a napkin, a devastating fire, and something mysterious. Something that could send them hurtling down the highway to disaster–or down the road to redemption. But they won’t know which is which until they’ve managed to say yes to the whispers in their souls.

Yesterday was AWESOME!    I took the new bike out. Got the breaks to stop squeaking, got a new cushy seat installed.  Loved it!  In the morning I took Ally & Kyle on a ride around the block, then we got some cash and rode to the corner market for an ice cream.  I mapped it when I got back home and realized we’d ridden 3.5 miles.  I was shocked they were able to do the entire thing — they were both pretty beat by the time we got home.

I had Rider Saturday night while Tami worked so he and I rode our bikes over to the corner deli for dinner then decided to go for a ride before we came back for ice cream.  Our little ride ended up bringing us all the way to Ally’s house only to realize they weren’t home (oops, probably should have called first).  It was Rider’s idea and he did GREAT the whole way there.  He was a little pooped (and a lot disappointed that they weren’t home) but he was a trooper and made it all the way back (I think the promises of ice cream were a big help).  We did it — 4.2 miles round trip.  He asked for two scoops of ice cream and said OK (he earned it) and he ate every melted drop of that ice cream.

Today was pretty laid back.  Donuts for me and Rider this morning followed by church.  I needed to go to Walmart and ended up buying Rider the fish he’s been wanting (that his mom said she’d get but hasn’t had time).  He was totally stoked and thinks I’m the coolest thing EVER now.    Tami was going to get him African Dwarf Frogs but I got the $0.28 gold fish.  She can upgrade if she wants.  LOL

Then we met Tami for lunch and I came home to start some laundry and clean up the kitchen.  I was going to go for another bike ride but got a frantic call from Tami — she was on her way to work and Brian & Faye had forgotten they were babysitting and were at a friend’s house for a BBQ.  So, I got the honors.  Rider wasn’t up to another ride or a walk so we stayed home and played Uno and Hit the Deck.  Brian picked him up just as the storm was rolling in.

I just finished watching Big Brother.  About five minutes into it I texted a friend “5 minutes into it and I remember why I didn’t like Jessie last season, not looking forward to another season with him.”  He’s the reason they have the saying “all brawn but no brains”.  It’s going to be a LONG season if we have to watch him for too long.

Now I’m watching a new show that I’m kind of digging “Drop Dead Diva”.  We’ll see.  I swore I wasn’t going to get hooked on another show but it looks good.

I’m also staring out the window at the awesome lightning show and listening to the thunder roll.    I LOVE it!

I should get to bed before too late…I’m biking to work tomorrow.    Should be fun.  (Yeah, ask me in the morning how much fun that was — and pray it’s not still raining or that idea won’t work.)

I’ve been watching a lot of movies lately. I’ve actually watched a few that were pretty good so I thought I’d share the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Flightplan I know, this movie has been out for a while. This is just the first time I’ve actually watched it. It was really good. I really enjoyed the movie and highly recommend it.

Friends with Money Waste of your time. This money SUCKED big time. I like Jennifer Aniston so I was sure I’d like this movie. Not even close. It was bad. (Although, not even close to how horrible Margot at the Wedding was.)

Next I watched Proof. I actually saw a preview for it on another movie and thought it looked good. Nope. Another disappointment.

See, I’m being honest with you and saving you some time by telling you the bad but I have watched some good movies so keep reading.

Witless Protection was the next movie that showed up. I know you’re thinking well, duh. But, I like Larry the Cable Guy so I thought it would be funny. Nope. Another bad one.

With this bad run I’m just glad I belong to Blockbuster online and didn’t pay for each of these rentals. Yes, I pay the monthly fee but it’s a lot cheaper than each individual rental at the store. Plus, I got some other free rentals at the store which I can’t remember right off the top of my head.

National Treasure 2 – Book of Secrets Finally my bad streak ended. I had my doubts about this movie. I liked the first one but it had an ending so I wasn’t sure how they’d pull off a #2. It worked, and the movie was good. Definitely one to rent.

Annapolis a little predictable but it was good. If you can’t find something else that looks interesting this one is worth an evening. But, don’t drop other plans to watch it.

Rumor Has It… another disappointment but not nearly as bad as Definitely Maybe which should have been called Definitely Maybe NOT!

Honestly, by this point I’ve begun to doubt my ability to pick out movies. Seriously, I’ve watched so many that SUCKED that I was on the verge of canceling my Blockbuster membership and sleeping instead. Luckily my next arrival was An Unfinished Life which was extremely good. Followed by 21 and The Bank Job which both were worth sticking through my bad run.

Next I got Fool’s Gold and The Great Debaters which were both winners. The next arrival was Tyler Perry’s Meet The Browns which was good for a light evening. Followed by Chaos and Confidence which were both good.  (I watched Chaos and Confidence after each other and I’d recommend putting something else between them but that’s just because I don’t enjoy watching two crime movies one after the other.)

So, that’s what I’ve been doing over the past two months.

Last week Fred Meyer had these on sale for $1 each. So, I bought some for lunch. Looks OK, doesn’t it?

Yeah, so I cooked it and got this:

I’ll admit it tasted better than it looked. Although, I probably could have eaten two of them. Or, I could have made a salad to go with it…but that would have taken more work. LOL By the way, the reason you can’t see the yummy five cheese filling in MY picture like you can in the box top is because mine was only about 1/4 inch thick and covered by the mass of lasagna noodles. Oh well.

So, Jeeves really likes his job as Office Manager of Taylored Office Solutions. Unfortunately, the whole day doesn’t look like this.

I could handle that. I would gladly welcome him sitting in that spot all day watching me work and taking a nap (him taking a nap not me). Sometimes he actually spends his day like this. I’ll take that too. Heck, I don’t even mind when he gets on my chairback and lounges. But, NO. My lovely bundle of energy likes to run across my keyboard, then claw up my back to eat my hair, then fly off (because I yell at him because it HURTS) to mess up my perfectly organized piles of work. He’s crazy, I tell you. C-R-A-Z-Y!

But, I love him.

Do you like sending flowers? I do! I found this company online that has very good prices on flowers. I sent my first bouquet to my mom for Mother’s Day and she loved them (who doesn’t love flowers).

When my Aunt’s birthday came along I sent her a bouquet.

She called that evening to thank me for the flowers and commented a few times on how beautiful they were. Of course that made me feel great! So, today I got an e-mail from this company with a gift certificate for a future purchase. I wasn’t quite sure why but thought: cool! I got an call from my Aunt a little bit ago and she said that she’d called the company because the iris’ never opened. She said the bouquet is beautiful, it was shipped very well (they ship DHL which was a little odd to me) but the iris’ didn’t open. Now, normally I wouldn’t be recommending a company after they sent flowers to someone that didn’t open BUT, she was so impressed with their customer service that I had to tell you about it. When she called a real, live person answered the phone (is it bad that this needs to be mentioned? I think so!). They immediately offered to send her a replacement bouquet but she asked that they send me a gift certificate instead which they did immediately. (Thus the gift certificate I received today.)

So, even with the non-blooming iris’ I still have to say this is a GREAT company. If you’re looking to send flowers to someone give deLaFlowers a look. I think you’ll be please. I know I have been! (Plus, that 15% off coupon code is good even if you’re not sending flowers to your dad. And, it looks like it’s still good — but if it doesn’t work ask me because I might have a newer one so you can still save 15%.)

Don’t worry, if you need a reason to send flowers to someone just ask me.  I’d be more than happy to give you my address.  I’ll always accept flowers.

I enjoy cooking and I enjoy getting coupons.  So, a few months ago I found that Kraft’s website has some great recipes and tips.  I subscribed to the website and got a nice perk, they send you an AWESOME magazine every season.  Here’s the cover of the Summer, 2008 edition:

Now, I’m a touchy feeling person so I like getting the hard copy magazine (plus it has coupons inside).  If you want it (it’s FREE) go here to subscribe for yourself.   If you prefer you can just look online for recipes and tips.

All the recipes, obviously, use Kraft items.  They are all SUPER simple and they always look so yummy. 

Enjoy…

This was kind of fun. It’s like the donate a mammogram website only you learn something while you’re there (which also means you’re there a little longer). For every word you define correctly you donate 10 grains of rice. In just a couple minutes I donated over 400 grains of rice. That may not seem like much but since October 7, 2007 (when the site began) over 1 BILLION grains of rice have been donated. Doesn’t cost you anything, doesn’t get your inbox jammed full of spam. It does, however, stretch your brain with vocabulary. It’s fun. Great. Give it a try.

Till later…

This is the fourth book by Jane Green that I’ve read recently. This last one was actually by accident. I went to pick up a book a couple weeks ago for my original trip to CA. This one looked good so I bought it, it wasn’t until I picked it up to read that I realized it was by the same author of 3 of the last four book I read. LOL I figured that was a good sign.

I was right.

Swapping Lives was a great read. I highly recommend picking it up.

Being a single career woman I was able to relate to Vicky, the single career woman in the story who swaps lives with Amber, the wife and mother of two. It so easy to look at what you don’t have and wish for that. This story takes at look at whether the grass is greener on the other side. I can’t say this book is life changing or anything like that, but it is an easy, fun read that I really think will make you think about your own life whether you’re married or single, a parent or childless.

Of course, I have to give you my disclaimer: I’m a sucker for psychology type books and TV shows. I watch reality TV to look at the interaction between the participants and how the situations change the individual. I enjoy watching how a situation different from what you’re used to will help someone become a better person.

Till later…

Oh, and one hint, ALWAYS save your posts when you’re typing them! Ugh. LOL

It’s not uncommon for me to read a book then see the “based on” movie at a later time. I usually try to read the book first, and often I’m disappointed by the movie. I think the most recent book/movie was my biggest disappointment yet.

One evening I saw the movie “The Redemption of Sarah Cain” on TV. I have a fascination with the Amish community so when I saw the movie I thought I’d enjoy it, so I DVRd it and watched it. When it started I realized it was written by Beverly Lewis and I usually like her work. The movie, however, wasn’t all that great.

A week or so later I went to my parents and my mom had just finished the book, so I took it to read. I wasn’t really looking forward to it but my bookshelf doesn’t have many unread books at the moment so it got moved to the top of the list.

Much to my surprise (not that I should be) the book is NOTHING like the movie. Seriously, N O T H I N G! OK, I’m sorry, the main characters in number and name are the same (well, the ones that weren’t left out of the movie) but other than that and the fact that the kids are Amish and orphans the books is completely different from the movie. For goodness sake, they take place in two different locations (Portland and Lancaster county!!!) and Sarah had a completely different career which was a pretty big part of the movie.

Why say the movie is based on a book if nothing in the movie even closely resembles the original story?

So, my recommendation: buy the book and use your movie watching time more wisely.

Till later…

I’m not a super frequent flyer but I do ride the skies fairly often. I used to be an American Airlines customer but since moving I’ve had to choose another company. (I guess Hickville isn’t big enough for AA to service.) So, I tend to fly Southwest a lot recently. I have to say, I don’t really like Southwest all that much. I don’t like the “cattle car” feel that you get when you wait. I really dislike the pushiness of the customers….Southwest is the only airline I’ve flown that gives me that feel. But, I have found one thing that I REALLY like about Southwest so let me sing the one praise I do have for them.

They make it REALLY easy to change your flight. My first experience came when I purchased a ticket then they went on sale for cheaper two days later. I was PISSED! I called them to complain and the lady said “just repurchase the ticket”. See, Southwest has this policy that even if you purchase a “non-refundable” ticket you can still change it and if the price is cheaper you get a credit for future use. You don’t get your money back, but you do get the credit to use with them again later.

Also, if you need to change the day you are flying all you do is rebook the flight and apply the amount from the first flight to the second. SUPER EASY! This trip I’ve already rebooked my flight two times. Didn’t cost me a penny. No other airline does that.

Now if they’d just let you go stand-by for free. See, with American Airlines if you get to the airport early and haven’t checked baggage you can ask to be put on an earlier flight. If there’s room they’ll let you go earlier for no charge. Not Southwest…they charge you for a new ticket. Pretty dumb if you ask me. Why not let someone take up an empty seat earlier. But, oh well. It’s actually pretty rare anymore that I fly without checking my baggage.

Till later…