The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

Genre: Fiction

Publisher: Penguin Random House

Reviewer: JAG

JAGS: 10

The year is 1936. The Heaven and Earth Grocery store is the only refuge for the poor black residents and outcast Jewish communities on ChickHill, in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. The promise of the American Dream is achievable by some. For others, a myth bought and sold on the backs of the marginalized. Namely, everyone who isn’t a bonified tried and true white Christian American. Immigrants need not apply. 

The story introduces us to Moshe and Chona Ludlow who own and operate The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, but also two theaters. A deaf black boy is wanted by the state, and the community of ChickHill bans together to keep the child safe from the dangers of bigotry and deceit.   

James McBride has taken us back to a time when social and civil injustices were as common as the rising sun. He has woven together a masterpiece of historical fiction, filled with a collection of quirky neighbors of ChickHill, that show kindness and equality when faced with adversity.

This book is a shining example of McBride's talent as a prolific writer. His purposeful storytelling brings meaning to a time in American history that most of us would rather forget. A story that only James McBride can tell. 

Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson

Genre: Mystery

Publisher: Harper Collins

Reviewer: JAG

JAGS: 6

Those who can't do, teach.

And Ernie Cunningham is no exception. Ern, to close friends, helps writers navigate the craft of murder mystery as a crime fiction aficionado. After one fateful evening with his brother, Ernie broke the cardinal rule of the Cunningham Family and snitched on his brother for murder. 

Fast-forward 3 years, and Ernie is headed to a ski lodge for a family reunion, and hopefully reconciliation with his newly released brother. Little does the Cunningham family know, including Ern, that this weekend retreat will be anything but normal. Death seems to follow wherever they go. Ernie must use every ounce of his deductive reasoning, and his "10 Commandments of Detective Fiction from Ronald Knox's 1929 playbook, to solve a rash of unexplained murders. 

Agatha Christie meets Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, meets Guy Ritchie, in this salute to the Golden Age of Crime fiction. Can Ern make peace with his brother and his family before the next body turns up? Are his skills as a sleuth as good as the literary greats he teaches about? 

Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone is a humorous take on crime drama. Confusing in parts, and drags in others, the story is overall pretty good. It was reminiscent of the movie Clue, just with too many backstories. Ern, the main character, could have been less self-deprecating. You are constantly reminded of his failings in life and his quest to be the Sherlock Holmes of the Cunningham Family. 

It's definitely a page-turner, only because you want to just finish it. Good palate cleanser if you had a month of hard fiction right before.  

  

Sing For Me by Karen Halvorsen Schreck

Genre: Fiction 

Pages: Soft Cover 

Publisher: Howard Books 

Jags: 7 

New York durning the Depression was anything but forgiving, especially for a young woman with a gift. Rose Sorensen knows the music coming out of her neighbor's windows and on the radio isn't what her Danish Baptist family would consider godly, except Rose has a secret. Not only does she know the lyrics to these songs, but she can sing them as beautifully as the performers. 

At first, Rose was content to hold this yearning deep down inside, until one random night, her cousin convinces her to sneak away and go to Calliopes, a jazz club in Bronzeville. What happens next is nothing short of miraculous. Rose enters a world where praising The Lord isn't just confined to hymns on Sunday, but also on stage performing in front of an audience. 

Sing For Me is a beautiful story exploring the bonds of family, societies norm, and the very notion of following your dreams. Karen Halvorsen Schreck has woven together memorable story that allows you to connect with the characters from the first page, right down to the last. 

The Jag Review has received a free copy of this book from Howad Books for our honest review. The opinions expressed are our own.

Fearless Hope by Serena B. Miller

Genre: Fiction/Amish & Mennonite 

Pages: Soft Cover

Publisher:  Howard Books/Simon & Schuster

Reviewer:  Jean Eastwood

Jags: 8

This is a captivating and wonderfully-written fictional story about an “Amish” woman named Hope who lost her husband in a tragic farming accident and falls in love again. This book holds your interest and you can’t seem to put it down, wondering what will happen next. 

The story takes place in Holmes County, Iowa. Since her husband died, Hope needs and starts a part-time housekeeping job for Logan, a writer from New York who just bought one of the old “Amish” homes. He starts to have “déjà-vu” feelings about the town, the house next door and the community in general. 

Logan has a fiancé (Marla) back in New York but that relationship does not last very long once he realizes he has fallen in love with Hope and her two children. He goes back to New York to break off the relationship with Marla and catches her cheating on him. He evicts her and puts his New York apartment (worth millions of dollars) back on the market again.

The ending is quite surprising in that we find out the main character Logan was actually kidnapped when he was a small boy while on vacation with his family in Sarasota, Florida. His name was Joseph then. Logan’s mom makes the long trip back to Iowa with him to apologize to the family next door for kidnapping their son and after a very emotional conversation with the family she is forgiven.

Hope and Logan get married and have their own child. Logan tries to learn the “Amish” ways to go back to his “Amish” roots and fit in within this community.

The sporadic insertion of the “Amish” language throughout the book helps the reader visualize the “Amish” culture. Their beliefs are very strong and they rely on the opinion of their Bishop for the moral decisions they need to make in life. This was a great read! 

The Jag Review has received a free copy of this book from Howard Books for our honest review. The opinions expressed here are our own. 

What Once Was Lost by Kim Vogel Sawyer

Genre: Fiction/Christian Romance

Pages: Paper

Publisher: Waterbrook Press

Reviewer: Jean Eastwood

JAGS: 7

Ms. Christina Willems, following in her late father’s footsteps, is the woman in charge of the “Brambleville Asylum for the Poor” in Brambleville, Kansas. One winter evening a fire breaks out at the asylum and she is forced to find temporary shelter for her only “family.” 

 

Set in the late 1800’s, times were hard, and the folks in the town of Brambleville took everyone in but the 11-year-old blind boy Tommy. Ms. Willems asks Levi Jonnson, the mill-owner in town to please take him for a short while. Levi reluctantly agrees, not really knowing how to care for the blind boy. Levi is a busy man with his mill business to run, so he sets up ropes so Tommy can find his way from the house to the other buildings. Tommy learns to clothe himself and builds confidence in his ability to take care of himself. Tommy is also learning the art of caning.

The mission director decides that now is the time for Ms. Willems to pursue another career. He not only stops the funding for the “poor farm”, but admits two of her “charges” to the Kansas Asylum for The Poor in Topeka, Kansas. Ms. Willems finds out about this and sells her father’s valuable pocket watch for train fare money to go and get the children and bring them back.

The villain here is a young man by the name of Hamilton Dresden who had also stayed at the “Brambleville Asylum for the Poor” under Ms. Willem’s direction. He is responsible for starting the fire and has been threatening Tommy with keeping that secret.

Mr. and Mrs. Dunnigan, a rich couple who adopted the two children from the Kansas Asylum for the Poor in Topeka buy the property of the “poor farm” and rebuild it. Ms. Willems has her job, her self-worth, and her father’s watch back. Levi proposes marriage to Ms. Willems and finds he can’t live alone any longer now that he has loved and cared for people in his life.

What Once was lost was a very pleasant book to read.  It was not too big and not too small. I enjoyed it and found it hard to put down. I recommend purchasing this book. It was a great weekend read.

Founders by James Wesley Rawles

Founders by James Wesley Rawles

Genre: Fiction

Pages: Paper

Publisher: Pocket Books

Reviewer: Virginia Armstrong

JAGS: 3

With America’s financial collapse, the entire infrastructure and the American way of life is fast becoming a distant memory. Founders is a fictional reality that threatens to be real in today’s day and age. No longer can anything be taken for granted, as store shelves lay bare and most businesses are closing their doors.  Forget doctors, forget petroleum, if you can find any luxury, will it cost you. Gasoline is now $25 dollars a gallon.

As the government disappears, a false government run by the U.N. takes over, out for power and control of the people.  No one is safe from there evil ways and deceptive practices as they try to take over one city at a time.

In come the Christian soldiers, scattered across America, ready and willing to fight for the life that they had known. Most have been preparing for this apocalyptic catastrophe for some time, others winging it with the knowledge and skills that they have.  Together, they are able to take down the bad guys with hopes of restoring America to its previous ways.

Founders is you typical Christian apocalyptic thriller, where only the faithful can overcome the obstacles faced in this type of situation.  The book skipped from different characters, locations and timelines that it made it truly difficult to keep the timing straight.  The men portrayed were kindly Christians who suddenly were able to pick up a gun and shoot to kill without batting an eye or an ounce of remorse.  The story lacked credibility due to the fact it never mentions the government nor politicians and the role that they play.  It appears as if they just vanish before the story even starts.  More than anything, the story reads as a how-to on how to prepare for an event of this type.  I would probably pass this one up. 

 

 

America Libre by Raul Ramos Y Sanchez

Genre: Fiction

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing  

Pages:  Paperback

Reviewer:  Virginia Armstrong

JAGS: 4

During a drug bust, a young Latina bystander is fatally shot, spawning nightly raids by the Hispanic community in San Antonio.  The Governor of Texas vows looters will be shot on sight to deter the violence that is escalating.  Retaliating, Octavio Perez a radical community leader, calls to arms the Mexican-American people to react to this injustice.

National Guard Lieutenant Cole and his detachment are dispatched to control the rioting and looting.  The swarming mob fires first, leaving the National Guardsmen to go on the defensive, striking down twenty-three Latinos involved in the rebellion. In Los Angeles, Manolo Suarez wakes us to rioting that has crept into his own neighborhood.  Taking a job as a Security Director for the La Defensa del Pueblo, he decides to take on the United States Military with the help of local Latino gang members. The clash between Latino Americans and the US Government begins.

In AmericaLibre, the author tells the story of the growing immigration crisis and what could possibly take place if it isn’t dealt with.  His portrayal of characters is unbalanced and bias, and as for the writing itself, it was done well enough if you separate all the stereotyping that takes place.


Someone Always Loved You by Brooke Williams

 

Genre: Fiction

 

Pages: Paper

 

Reviewer: Virginia Armstrong

 

7 JAGS

 

For Jordan James, it all began with the phone call.  It was from the hospital.  She needed to get there A.S.A.P.  Her husband, whom she loved dearly, had suffered a heart attack.   It was imperative that she get there before it was too late.  She had to tell him…

 

For Jay, it began on his first day on the job as an EMT.  He had been driving the ambulance.  Saving lives, he’d thought proudly as he glanced over his shoulder at the patient.  Just a mere few seconds had passed in that glance.  And in that brief frame of time, a tragedy occurred, impacting his life far greater than he ever could have imagined.

 

By the time he turned back, it was already too late.  Ambulance collided with pedestrian and Jay could do nothing to prevent it.  From that point on, Jay and Jordan would never be the same again.  As Jordan lay in a coma, Jay stays at her side, agonizing over his guilt and unable to carry on with his life.   Both reflect on their past lives, the good and the bad.  What was and what should have been. It isn’t until Jordan finally wakes from her coma that all the pieces of their lives come together and they find where they truly belong.

 

Someone Always Loved You is a poignant story of a mother and son separated by adoption only to be reunited after a life-threatening tragedy. The story speaks of sadness, joy, hope and forgiveness as they each search for that missing piece within each of them. The story was well written.  A few times, the author switched points of view which I found frustrating. As for the characters, I found them to be a little too perfect, but likable. All in all, I thought the storyline was touching and worth the read.

 

 

 



Joyland by Stephen King



Genre: Fiction

Pages: Paper Back

Publisher:  Titan Books

Reviewer: Virginia Armstrong

Rating: 7 JAG

To keep his mind off his broken heart and his first lost love, Devin Jones takes a job at Joyland, an amusement park in North Carolina.  There, he meets Madame Fortuna, who eerily predicts his future.  Uncertain if she is for real or not, he ponders her words until, one by one, her predictions prove true.

Looking out for the one with the “sight”, he becomes obsessed with the ghost of Linda Gray, who was said to haunt the Horror House at Joyland.  With the help of friends, Erin and Tom, he begins piecing together the woman’s murder.   Exploring the Horror House, Tom witnesses something that he refuses to speak about.  Something that leaves him forever changed.

As summer rolls to an end, Devin decides to stay on at Joyland.  Its then that he meets ten-year old Mike Ross and his mom, Annie.  As a friendship begins to forge between the three, Devin starts piecing together the murder of Linda Gray.  As he gets closer to solving the puzzle, danger lurks nearby, forcing him to make a frightful decision.  Does he surrender his life?   Or does he sacrifice another’s?

Joyland is a coming-of-age murder mystery filled with youthful notions and innocence.  Not your typical Stephen King novel, yet the characters are engaging just the same.  As the story jumps from a twenty-one year old to the same person forty years later, it’s easy to visualize Devin Jones at both stages of his life.   The story is of friendships made and lost, of life, death and the beyond.  As usual, King’s characters have a way of becoming real, the emotions now shared between the writer and the reader.

Ghost Dances proving up on the great plains by Josh Garrett-Davis

Genre:  Fiction

Published by:  Little,Brown and Company

Pages:  Hard Cover

Rating:  7 JAGS

Ghost Dances proving up on the Great Plains speak volumes from the narrative of a young man coming of age in the richness of history and vast emptiness of the prairie. Josh Garrett-Davis takes the reader on an exploration of the rise and fall of the Great Plains from the eyes of a child-looking for an identity through stories of bison, Native American Ghost Dances and the lure of heavy metal rock bands. His quest to find answers in the plains marks a journey that will defend his character.

This was an interesting read. Josh Garrett-Davis put out a story of incredible detail and heart. You could not help but imagine sitting right next to him as he rode down long stretches of highway through a vast emptiness. I would recommend this book for a new purchase. The story is relaxing and thought out in a way to make you feel like you are part of the conversation.  Perfect pick up and purchase. Really enjoyed.

This Bright River by Patrick Somerville

Genre:  Fiction

Published by:  Little,Brown and Company

Pages:  Soft Cover

Rating:  4 JAGS

 

In Patrick Somerville’s new book, This Bright River, Ben Hanson is lost in life living aimlessly day to day- no carrier, no prospects, and no ambition. He is approached by his father to move back to the sleepy town of Ben’s youth, St. Helen’s, WI to take care of his recently deceased Uncle’s home. He accepts, and with that, memories of his childhood and the mysterious death of a cousin he left behind.

Lauren Sheehan, Ben Hanson’s formally estranged high school lab partner and formally Dr. Lauren Besco, has been divorced for four years from a man she thought she knew- and she too is lost in life living in St. Helen’s, WI.

As fate would have it, Ben and Lauren meet up again, and the self discovery begins. They drive from Madison to Milwaukee, and all over Wisconsin to learn the truth about Ben’s cousin, and in doing so, learn to unburden their lives and to look for a connection with honesty and trust. 

At exactly the 200^th page, and I remember this because I glanced up to the top right, I silently asked myself; “Did I miss something?” I honestly imagined myself as a therapist as I read this story. Each time I opened this book, I felt like I was in an hour session with the main characters. Not to mention, they all had to have smoked a joint before coming to therapy.

 It felt like work. Something’s were funny and the story even made me feel nostalgic, but I felt better finishing This Bright River then I did starting it. The back drop of small town Wisconsin living was surprisingly accurate and comical. I would not purchase new, but wait for it on resale shelves…reduced resale shelves. Keep the gift receipt if you get it as a present.

Dry Ice by Bill Evans and Marianna Jameson

Genre:  Fiction

Published by:  ForgeBooks

Pages:  Paper Back

Rating:  4 JAGS

The Dry Ice review or red flag about this read should have been the reviews by ABC’s Good Morning America Anchor George Stephanopoulos and GMA’s TV Weather Editor Sam Champion-not to mention Bill Cosby and Regis Philbin that should have made me, the reader, refrain from purchasing new. 

Engrossing?!  No!

Compelling Reading?! No!

Terrifying?! If by terrifying you mean my mind would wander to something scarier, than yes. Terrifying as a paper cut.

Deep in the Antarctica frozen wasteland lays a weather monitoring installation known as TESLA. The brain child of Dr. Greg Simpson, TESLA is a fully functioning global weather station bankrolled by an equally large global agricultural conglomerate that can control the weather. Dry Ice opens with the sudden removal of Dr. Simpson because of recent rouge weather patterns created by Dr. Simpson for the U.S. Intelligence agencies.

Tess Beauchamp, up and coming Climatology scientist and rival of Dr. Greg Simpson, is pegged to replace him as head of TESLA, but Dr. Simpson will not give up control of a weapon of such scale.  Simpson triggers a planetary Armageddon in retaliation, and it is up to the brilliance of Tess to stop the global genocide that Dr. Simpson has initiated.

Purchase Used! Good quick read, but definitely not worth the $9.99 to purchase new. See if you could get someone to buy it as a gift.