God’s Men

Books

Author: Buck, Pearl S.

When I clear off my bookshelves I really hate to donate a book I haven’t read. I’m sure this one originally came from Mum and Dad’s shelf. From the cover it looked dated but I enjoyed a previous book by Buck so I started this one.

Although the cover photo is dated the story is timeless. First published in 1951 it tells the story of two American boys, raised in China, where their fathers were missionaries. William was raised in a household with servants catering to his every need; he attended school along with some posh English boys who looked down on him. Clem, on the other hand, was raised in poverty and never attended school. What he as able to learn he taught himself from the few books he was able to find.

Fast forward to when both boys are back in America. William has been very successful in starting newspapers and he feels he can never be rich enough. Clem has struggled financially but through hard work he also became a millionaire. What each of these men do with their money is on opposite ends of the scale.

We need more Clem’s in the world today.

Goodreads Rating: * * * *

The Last Caravan

Books

Author: Byrne, Anna

I was honoured that, after complimenting Anna on her book, she asked me to write a review for Amazon and Goodreads. Here’s what I wrote:

When I was living through a health issue Anna hosted a workshop based on her first book – Seven Year Summer. It shifted my perspective on the end of life and specifically my own demise. 

In none of my imagining could I come up with a lovelier way to leave this world than that described in this book. Mary was unique in the way she lived her life so it shouldn’t be a surprise that her death was also very unique. The commitment of her “dying team” is a powerful testament to community. That Anna was talented and brave enough to tell Mary’s story is a gift to everyone who reads it.

Goodreads Rating: * * * * *

Cosmetic Bag

Journal

The Guild decided to spend some of our money and our project was to make and fill cosmetic bags for our women’s shelter. I’m not a fan of making bags and I’m certainly not a fan of zippers but it was for a good cause so I decided to participate.

We were working from a very old pattern and at some point it was decided that there needed to be a demo for those people who were having problems. I thought I should get a start on the bag before the demo and I was only at step 2 (the zipper) before I had issues. So off to the demo I went.

I took photos and when I tried again at home everything went reasonably well until it was time for the lining. My bag was about half the size of what it should be. I chatted with a guild member at one of our swims and she suggested I had perhaps sewn the zipper onto the wrong side. Another look at the pattern and my small bag and I realized that was the issue.

So I bought another zipper (two more actually just in case) and started again. Things worked better this time but I had major issues with the lining. It was much too large for the size my bag came to but I wasn’t about to start over so I stuffed it inside and sewed it by hand.

Never again! The pattern wasn’t very clear on directions, both of the ladies handling the demo had different methods and neither of them matched the pattern directions.

Done is done – not pretty and really not very well done but …

Needless to say my idea of making these as Christmas gifts for my granddaughters went out the window!

Noah Barleywater Runs Away

Journal

Author: Boyne, John

I downloaded this book for our recent Saskatchewan trip and completely forgot about it until I got a notice that it was due in a couple of days. I was able to renew it for three weeks but it only took a week to finish it.

As I started reading I thought it was more of a children’s story and I could see reading it aloud to someone about the same age as Noah. I had a bit of an insight into what the story was really about very close to the end when the second character in the story wishes he had never become a real boy. Yes, it is the story of Pinnocchio but long after Geppetto has died.

I’m not so sure it is a good kid’s story but I certainly enjoyed it.

Goodreads Rating: * * * *