BLESSINGS, By Anna Quindlen

This is the story of Lydia Blessings, a feisty, crabby woman in her 80's who lives in a beautiful estate, which is also called "Blessings". Widowed when she was young, she never remarried. Her only daughter is married, herself 60 years old with no children. Lydia's family is long gone, her only brother dead as well. So she lives alone in her childhood home, with only her memories to keep her company. She's not entirely alone: her daughter visits every so often, she has a housekeeper that comes on a daily basis, and she also has a property caretaker who lives above the garage. The caretaker, Charles "Skip" Cuddy, has his own story - he's an ex-con, and he had a miserable upbringing. But even though he has a shady past, he's a good, hardworking young man.

The story opens up with a teenage couple dropping off a "package" in the middle of the night at Skip's door. When Skip finds it, he realizes that someone has abandoned a baby there. He tries to keep it a secret, but soon Mrs. Blessing finds out and surprises him by helping him keep his secret. The baby, who he names "Faith", brings a lot of joy and laughter to Skip and Lydia. Faith gives Lydia a way to remember her youth, and she gives Skip a feeling of finally having family to love. Together they plot to keep this baby a secret until they can figure out how to keep her permanently. But then a situation one night turns Skip and Lydia against each other, and soon after that, the birth mother appears on the scene.

The story is simple, but it's made interesting by the details of each character's life. We find out the whole truth about Skip's past crime, and we also find out about Lydia's own indiscretions in her youth. Also told are the Blessings family secrets, some which Lydia had known about for years, and some which come to light during the story. In her old age, she looks back and sees things a bit more clearly than when she was a young woman. She also realizes that some things she thought were secrets, were actually known, but just not discussed "in those days".

BLESSINGS was a bit of a slow read. At first I struggled to get into the story. Once I did, I enjoyed it, although it was not quite the page turner I expected. I read a few reviews that complained about "jumping" around in time: Lydia is in the present, then she is in her past, then we're in the present, but a day later. I was sometimes confused by that, but soon got the hang of it. Also, I was able to guess some of the family secrets ahead of time. But still, it was enjoyable. It was a story about family, secrets, and the effects that generations have on each other. The ending was realistic - which unfortunately, made it sad.

THE BUCKET LIST

I was not prepared for what a touching movie this would be. I don't know why..I knew the subject matter. Two men meet in a hospital room, with terminal diagnoses. So they compile a list of things they want to do before they "kick the bucket". Their "bucket list".

Morgan Freeman plays Carter, and Jack Nicholson plays Edward. Carter is a family man. His kids are grown, but he's always been there for them - a loyal husband and father. He's worked 45 years as a mechanic to provide for his family. Edward, is a corporate billionare. He's been married four times, and he owns the hospital in which he is now a patient. His trusty assistant Thomas, is played by Sean Hayes. These two men are different as night and day, but they find themselves at the same place in their lives - in a hospital bed, facing death. After a few days as roommates, Edward finds Carter's bucket list in the trash, and begins to add to it. He offers Carter the opportunity to accomplish the things on his list. At first, Carter is hesitant, but Edward tells him that he's "got nothing but money" and wants to do this while they still feel good enough to do it. Much to the frustration of his wife, Carter accepts the offer. So they go off, around the world, slowly but surely crossing things off the list. (Thomas comes along with them to handle the details) But the fun comes to an end when Carter adds a particular item to the list - for Edward to reconcile with his estranged daughter before he dies. Edward throws a tantrum and leaves Thomas and Carter standing on the street as he drives away, furious.
They go back to their lives, but as we know their time is limited, the story takes the turn that we have been expecting all along. The death, the funeral - it was very heart wrenching, but it was the last scene that got me. Have your Kleenex ready.

As I mentioned, I didn't think this was gonna be as good of a movie as it was. I figured I'd enjoy it - after all, how can you go wrong with Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman? But wow, it was a really really great movie. (note: there is bad language - especially from Edward) There was a lot of contemplating life and death. Carter was a man of faith and Edward just...was. But as their friendship grew and death lurked around the corner, Edward hoped he was wrong.

One of the lines in the movie is: You measure yourself by the people that measure themselves by you. So consider this: who aspires to live life the way you do? As a Christian, this is a very important question. We live in the land of the Christian Lifestyle - but is it enough to be happy and live a clean life? Paul said, Imitate me as I imitate Him (Jesus). A study of Paul and Jesus will tell us that there was more to their lives than just random acts of kindness. Both gave their lives to make sure that we were assured of what awaits us after this life is through. So do we imitate Paul as he imitated Jesus? Do we risk all to make sure that others know the way to be saved? Or do we live a good life and hope that someday, someone will ask us what it is that makes us happy? That doesn't seem to be the way Paul lived, or the way Jesus lived. They laid it out on the table in truth and love. I gotta tell you - I am not doing that. I'm failing miserably in that area. I am afraid, of what? I don't really know. The prayer of the believers in the Book of Acts was for boldness. They got persecuted, and instead of asking for safety, they asked for boldness. Ouch. Lord, give your children boldness to speak Your Word to those who are perishing in this world.

Whereas you do not know what [will happen] tomorrow. For what [is] your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.
James 4:14

ADAM By Ted Dekker

First, I'd like to say that I hope you'll go to the link above and click on the video in which Ted Dekker talks about this book. He explains it beautifully - that this book is about the very real supernatural world.

It's about an FBI agent, Daniel, who has been in pursuit of a serial killer. Actually, he is obsessed with the capture of this killer, to the point that it's destroyed his marriage. Finally, Daniel comes face to face with the deranged murderer and is killed himself...but is resuscitated. Now he's desperate trying to remember the killer's face, as well as tormented with horrible panic attacks. While he has no memory of what he saw, he knows it must lurk deep in his brain...if only he could go into his mind to retrieve that memory...but how? And now the killer is threatening to come after Daniel's wife. He wonders if re-experiencing his "death" could somehow bring those memories to surface.

The story starts out with part one of a magazine article about the serial killer, who has been caught. It tells the life story of this murderer, and how he came to be who he is. But then it switches back to the actual story, in which Daniel is trying to find the murderer. We go back and forth throughout the book. So while Daniel knows nothing about him, we are given a glimpse to who he is, before he even appears in the main story. It was a fascinating angle to take.

One of the reasons I want you to go hear Ted's own explanation of the book, is because he feels its one of the most important books he's written to date. It is about demon possession. It is about the reality of the spiritual realm. It is about how the greatest danger is to not believe in evil at all. Which is how I see the world going now.

Ted Dekker is one of the best. His books hook you from the first sentence, and while they are riveting in their own right, he also manages to include some profound spiritual truth or lesson.

MILK GLASS MOON & HOME TO BIG STONE GAP By Adriana Trigiani

MILK GLASS MOON and HOME TO BIG STONE GAP are the last two in the Big Stone Gap Series by Adriana Trigiani. I've previously reviewed the first two: Big Stone Gap and Big Cherry Holler, the first which I loved, the second, which I didn't love. The entire series (4 books) spans 20 years, and we get to see many ways in which Ave grows as a person, and many ways in which she continues to struggle with the same weaknesses and fears. As I mentioned, I didn't love BIG CHERRY HOLLER, but I'm glad I continued reading, because these two definitely captured the magic of the first book!

MILK GLASS MOON finds Ave and Jack, happily married now, having grown a lot since the marital troubles they endured in the previous book. Their daughter, Etta, is ready to graduate, and Ave is excited for her to go to college and begin her young life! But Etta seems to want to plan her own life! So Ave's journey of letting go begins.

We also continue to read about the lives of various characters we love: Pearl, who was just a high school girl at the beginning of this series, is a grown woman now - a very smart business woman at that! Fleeta, the crusty cashier at the Pharmacy is still there, providing a lot of comic relief; and Iva Lou, Ave's dear friend, faces a life or death health crisis.

HOME TO BIG STONE GAP is especially a bittersweet story. Ave learns to appreciate the things in her life and to love people for who they are, and not for who she thinks they should be. She has matured a lot, as one can only after they have been through joy and sadness. As Ave and Jack age, their mortality becomes more of a reality, especially after Jack has a health scare. Ave is learning to savor life, and to accept the past and her shortcomings, as well as those of others. She learns to live each day fully, because you never know how much time you have with the people you love. There is a lot of real life going on in these books - and there were definitely parts where I had to wipe the tears off my face as I read.

At the beginning of this series, Ave had just turned 35, and after 20 years, she is definitely retrospective of all she's been through. The final book wrapped things up beautifully, with more time given to what Ave was thinking and how she looked back to evaluate all her life's experiences. One touch that the author added was to include recipes of dishes that were made at various events (although they are old-fashioned full-fat recipes, with heavy creme or lard, or Crisco, or butter as ingredients!)

A very enjoyable reading series!