Review: The Amish Midwife

The Amish Midwife by Mindy Starns Clark
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Billed as Amish fiction, it's really just more of a backdrop for an adoption drama. It was still good, but not what I was expecting.

Lexie was adopted by Mennonite parents in Oregon, but she has broken from the church and works as a modern midwife in a hospital. She lost her mother at a young age and when her father dies, she finds a mysterious carved box containing clues to her birth mother's identity. This leads her to Pennsylvania, where she assists as a midwife to the Amish. Confused yet? Don't be. The real drama is about Lexie, discovering who she is and who she thinks she should be, and some needless plot twisting.

Lexie is annoying and shallow. She dates a doctor and makes several comments about his apparent wealth. She's childish and pretty unlikeable. Enough that I was tempted to take away a star, because I have to like my main character to enjoy a book. However, the complications and side plots kept me interested, and in the end I gave it a solid three stars.

View all my reviews

Review: Plain Truth

Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I love Jodi Picoult's novels. They always deal with motherhood and family, and always have an interesting setting or topic. This one explores the Amish, family, and relationships. Plus a bit of mystery, which is never a bad thing in my book.

Katie Fisher has a baby in her barn. She is 18, Amish, and unmarried. And she denies both having been pregnant and delivering the baby. Enter Elle Hathaway, high-powered defense attorney. Elle is led into the case by her aunt, former Amish and Katie's aunt. Making her Katie's cousin, but I guess conflict of interest doesn't play in for defense attorneys. The court orders Elle to live with Katie before and during the trial. Everyone learns each other's secrets, and by the end you will be shocked to discover you knew the answers all along.

The ending, which I saw coming because I had read this a million years ago when it was first released, upset me far more than it did on my first read through. It's funny how your view of a book changes with your life's circumstances. But I still enjoyed it and I still rate it 4 stars.

View all my reviews

Fever 1793

Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Interesting young adult book about a young woman growing up in the midst of the yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia 1793.

Mattie is a strong heroine, but not perfect. I like that she was flawed and didn't always do the right thing. I also loved her silly grandfather. It would have been nice to get a better idea of her mother's motivations, but overall the characters were fleshed out well and realistic.

A good introduction to the devastation of the epidemic and how it impacted families. It is a time I hadn't read about before so I will find further reading to learn more.



View all my reviews

Kindness Goes Unpunished (Walt Longmire #3)

Kindness Goes Unpunished by Craig Johnson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


It's time for a road trip!

Walt and Henry take a road trip from Wyoming to Philadelphia (with Dog, naturally) where Henry will be presenting old Mennonite photographs found on the reservation to the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts while Walt visits Cady, the greatest legal mind of our time. But when Cady gets hurt after they arrive, Walt is on the case and working with the cops in Philly to solve a crime. Way outside of his jurisdiction with some serious conflict of interest going on, but we'll let that slide.

Lots of fun in this one. We get to meet Vic's family, and they don't disappoint. I love Vic's mom. Not what I would have expected based on how rough Vic is, but she is great. Vic's dad, however, is exactly what I pictured. We got more insights into Walt's relationship with Cady and the ending sets us up for some interesting potential plot lines in the next books.

Another great installment to the series.



View all my reviews

Social Science Week

Social Science

This week we each read a social science book from one of the subtopics we laid out for Reading University.  Our subtopics needed to fit one of the following criteria:

Anthropology - fiction or non-fiction book set in a culture or country different from yours
Religion - fiction or non-fiction book about a religion, sect, or cult, or about a religious figure
Psychology - fiction or non-fiction book about psychology, a psychological disorder, a psychiatrist, or where the main character has a mental disorder
Education - fiction or non-fiction book about education, an educator, or set in a school
Political Science - fiction or non-fiction book about a political movement, government, politicians, or spies


Books Selected:

Zach (Political Science - Politics and Governments)

A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
My rating: 4 1/2 of 5 stars

A Game of Thrones is an epic series by George R.R. Martin (aka the American Tolkien). In the first book, Ned Stark becomes the hand of the King, not by choice. What happens next is full of political intrigue, violence, and drama. If you enjoy medieval settings, adventure, politics, or high fantasy books, you should definitely check out this series.




Michelle (Psychology - Addiction and Recovery)

Blackout Girl: Growing Up and Drying Out in America by Jennifer Storm
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Pull out your powdered wigs and gavels, everyone, because judgments are incoming!

Blackout Girl is a book about one woman's journey into addiction at age 12 to her recovery 10 years later. Along the way, terrible, terrible things happen because of her poor decisions, the company she keeps, and her family. Yes, her family. I place partial blame on her parents. Jennifer Storm has a lot of love for her father and disdain for her mother. It's clear she doesn't blame her father for his poor parenting skills or lack of involvement, but there is a lot of blame for her mother along the way. I blame all three equally for the route Jennifer's life took. This book hits all of the qualifications for addiction: traumatic emotional event? Parental divorce? Siblings involved with a "bad crowd"? No parental rules, supervision, or involvement? Between the cutting, the drugs, and the staying out all night, I wanted to stage an intervention with the entire family.

I believe some people do have a genetic disposition for addiction, and Jennifer Storm also lived in an environment that created the perfect storm for her life's journey. Kudos to her for finding her way out before she killed herself, and she seems to have come to terms with who she is and has a relatively normal adult life.

You will want to shake her and her parents along the way, but stick with the story until the end to hear what she learned and how she made a commitment to change her life one day at a time. Then go hug your kids and tell them to never, ever touch drugs, and ground them for a week just to be safe. Just kidding! Mostly.


Maddie (Political Science - Politics and Government)

Divergent by Veronica Roth
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Divergent is set in future Chicago, and the government has split society into 5 factions: Dauntless for the brave, Candor for the honest, Abnegation for the selfless, Erudite for the intelligent, and Amity for the happy. When each kid turns 16, they go to a sorting ceremony and choose which faction they will join. That faction becomes their family. The story is about Tris, the choices she makes, and how she becomes her own person.  It is also about the government and how it impacts their lives with rules and regulations.