Author: Kim

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Author Highlight:

Cindy DeBoer

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SUMMARY:

What happens when you’ve reached all your earthly goals and you’re only twenty-eight years old?

What if you’ve realized the American Dream, and although you’re pretty confident it’s all a big blessing from Jesus, you still feel miserably lacking in purpose and fulfillment?

What makes a reasonably well-off American Christian family walk away from their perfectly scripted life—prestigious careers, dream home, lake house, nice cars, kids’ sports, frequent travel, perfect church, tons of family and friends—and follow God to the ends of the earth? How would any young family have the courage to leave all the things the world tells us to strive for and instead choose a life of intentional simplifying, serial downsizing, and two major moves overseas?

Cindy’s memoir chronicles their family’s unorthodox Christian journey that began as a result of praying in earnest: “Lord, help us to live what we say we believe.” Follow along as the DeBoers, a typical average suburban family, finds the courage to subvert a safe and comfortable life for a risky and riotous ride that led them to far, far better things.

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MY REVIEW:

I met Cindy for coffee back in late fall of 2024 when I was trying to figure out how to launch my life as an author. Someone I had been working with in the writing/publishing world connected us two, believing we had quite a bit in common. What an understatement. Cindy and I only planned on having coffee and meeting each other for an hour, but our conversation lasted far longer and extended to the point where we both apologized that we had to leave.

Cindy has an amazing story that most of us only dream of; she and her husband sold everything and moved their entire family to Morocco, believing they were called to do more in this life than simply live the American dream of amassing wealth and status. (Side note: I won’t even change peanut butter brands in my home because I’m afraid of rocking my kids’ world too much. So there’s that.)

Fair warning to all of you readers: this book makes you think. Cindy writes about things that haunt all of us, such as “elusive perfection–always reaching for something that’s just outside my reach.” You’ll empathize with her tiredness. “So very tired of trying to get everything right. I just wish I knew how to let it go.” While most of us can’t imagine actually acting upon that feeling, she does, and–spoiler alerts–finds it’s the best, most rewarding, life-changing decision she’s ever made.

Multiple agents told Cindy that she has a beautiful story that must be told…but it is rare that agents take risks on memoirs written by little known authors. Hollywood stars can have their life story written by a ghost writer and will publish millions of copies (I’m looking at you, Savannah Guthrie). But a religious woman from the midwest who has 1,000 Facebook friends? They passed on her, every time. So she did the brave thing and self-published.

If you enjoy her memoir, help her out and pass the good word far and wide. Or, even better, buy a few extra copies to distribute and help launch this midwestern mom and her important story.

PURCHASE:

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1. Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books

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SUMMARY:

Beverly Underwood and her arch enemy, Lula Dean, live in the tiny town of Troy, Georgia, where they were born and raised. Now Beverly is on the school board, and Lula has become a local celebrity by embarking on a mission to rid the public libraries of all inappropriate books—none of which she’s actually read. To replace the “pornographic” books she’s challenged at the local public library, Lula starts her own lending library in front of her home: a cute wooden hutch with glass doors and neat rows of the worthy literature that she’s sure the town’s readers need.

But Beverly’s daughter Lindsay sneaks in by night and secretly fills Lula Dean’s little free library with banned books wrapped in “wholesome” dust jackets. The Girl’s Guide to the Revolution is wrapped in the cover of The Southern Belle’s Guide to Etiquette. A jacket that belongs to Our Confederate Heroes ends up on Beloved. One by one, neighbors who borrow books from Lula Dean’s library find their lives changed in unexpected ways. Finally, one of Lula Dean’s enemies discovers the library and decides to turn the tables on her, just as Lula and Beverly are running against each other to replace the town’s disgraced mayor.

That’s when all the townspeople who’ve been borrowing from Lula’s library begin to reveal themselves. It’s a diverse and surprising bunch—including the local postman, the prom queen, housewives, a farmer, and the former DA—all of whom have been changed by what they’ve read. When Lindsay is forced to own up to what she’s done, the showdown that’s been brewing between Beverly and Lula will roil the whole town…and change it forever.

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MY REVIEW:

Wow. Talk about life imitating fiction. I had just posted my own short story about a community banning books–which was based on a library in my community facing a similar situation–when I received an email from my library letting me know this book was on hold. Honestly, I don’t even remember placing it on hold or where I saw the book in the first place.

This story is an all-true tale of the war we are currently waging against those who are afraid and want to ban open-mindedness and discussion, and those who believe it is the very definition of freedom. It’s a story of fitting in, feeling left out, of those who want power they will do just about anything to get it, and those who live in fear each and every day.

If you side with Lula Dean, then this book is most likely not for you. But if you find yourself snickering with Lindsay when she swaps the books under the book covers, and you find yourself cheering for Beverly and all those who allow their mindsets to be changed (and freed) by what they read, then go ahead and place this book on hold. Or better yet, buy a copy and pass it on to other friends when you are done.

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2. Three Days in June

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SUMMARY:

Gail Baines is having a bad day. To start, she loses her job—or quits, depending on whom you ask. Tomorrow her daughter, Debbie, is getting married, and she hasn’t even been invited to the spa day organized by the mother of the groom. Then, Gail’s ex-husband, Max, arrives unannounced on her doorstep, carrying a cat, without a place to stay, and without even a suit.

But the true crisis lands when Debbie shares with her parents a secret she has just learned about her husband to be. It will not only throw the wedding into question but also stir up Gail and Max’s past.

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MY REVIEW:

I ended up purchasing this book because I wasn’t going to get a library copy before I left on vacation, and as library books make me unnaturally nervous (losing one goes on your permanent record, you know), I felt much more comfortable taking a book I own on a two-week vacation to Europe.

While it packed light (even for being a hardcover), I was a bit disappointed to find it was only 178 pages long. What? It should be clearly labeled as a novella and not a full-fledged novel. Due to its short length and my world’s longest layover (7.5 hours!), I was able to read the entire story in one day. My initial concern is that I would have nothing to read in Europe, but as it turned out, I read exactly zero pages in Europe. Between the busyness of the days and the difference in time zones, my brain did not have the energy to read the entire time I was there. (The other book I brought about Lisbon I began reading on my marathon layover–8.5 hours–on the way home).

While it was short, Anne Tyler wrote a lovely story. The plot is nothing complicated–her daughter is getting married and her ex-husband unexpectedly has to stay at her house–but Tyler doesn’t drive up the drama or make it anything it shouldn’t be. There are many emotions involved with weddings, but at no point does Tyler make it into a soap opera. The entire novel is read in a quiet to medium voice.

If you are looking for a quick, simple read, this is an absolute thumbs-up from me.

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3. Two Nights in Lisbon

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SUMMARY:

You think you know a person . . .

Ariel Pryce wakes up in Lisbon, alone. Her husband is gone―no warning, no note, not answering his phone. Something is wrong.

She starts with hotel security, then the police, then the American embassy, at each confronting questions she can’t fully answer: What exactly is John doing in Lisbon? Why would he drag her along on his business trip? Who would want to harm him? And why does Ariel know so little about her new―much younger―husband?

The clock is ticking. Ariel is increasingly frustrated and desperate, running out of time, and the one person in the world who can help is the one person she least wants to ask.

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MY REVIEW:

I purchased this book earlier in the summer as I planned on reading it while my family vacationed in Portugal. However, our jam-packed days and my exhausted brain in the evening led me to read exactly zero pages while I was there. I was disappointed, as I love to read novels based in my location when I travel, but I was excited to begin reading it when I arrived home. (I did see this book when I visited Livraria Bertrand, the oldest bookstore in the world which just so happened to be located in Lisbon. So fun!)

It took me longer than I anticipated to finish this book, especially since it was an engaging mystery. Jet lag and the immediacy of duties and responsibilities once I arrived home post-vacation left me little time to read. So I was glad the plot was engaging; I picked it up and read a few chapters with every free moment I had.

As I have mentioned before, I am not a huge fan of mysteries, often because I am so critical of them (which is probably why I will never write one myself). This one paced well and left me hanging until the end of the book. Skim readers beware: there are a number of names of different individuals involved in attempting to solve this mystery, so a cheat sheet of names and roles might be helpful. If I had one criticism of the novel, it was that the epilogue was too full of information and explanation that I wished had been scattered a little more through the plot so that we could have sown the benefits ourselves instead of having all of it simply handed to us.

This mystery gave me the vibes of John Grisham or James Patterson, but I would recommend this novel to anyone. AND if you’ve been to Lisbon (like I now have), there are a few great references to localities that you might be able to place in your mind. Even better.

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4. Sandwich

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SUMMARY:

For the past two decades, Rocky has looked forward to her family’s yearly escape to Cape Cod. Their humble beach-town rental has been the site of sweet memories, sunny days, great meals, and messes of all kinds: emotional, marital, and—thanks to the cottage’s ancient plumbing—septic too.

This year’s vacation, with Rocky sandwiched between her half-grown kids and fully aging parents, promises to be just as delightful as summers past—except, perhaps, for Rocky’s hormonal bouts of rage and melancholy. (Hello, menopause!) Her body is changing—her life is, too. And then a chain of events sends Rocky into the past, reliving both the tenderness and sorrow of a handful of long-ago summers.

It’s one precious week: everything is in balance; everything is in flux. And when Rocky comes face to face with her family’s history and future, she is forced to accept that she can no longer hide her secrets from the people she loves.

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MY REVIEW:

Good news: this might go into my top-10 favorite read of all times.

Bad news: this book is geared toward a very narrow crowd. I’m specifically looking at you, middle-aged women. Those of us who might be raising late-teen to early-adult children, who simultaneously love them at their current age and desperately want a tiny body to snuggle.

Sandwich is a simple story told in Cape Cod, Massachusetts at the same weekly rental cottage where this family has vacationed for decades. It holds all the memories, the traditions. And the narrator, a 54-year-old woman, is caught in complexities of her own age and her family’s stage of life.

The first paragraphs of the first chapter captivated me and never let up. There’s an overflowing toilet in the rental cottage, adult kids calling from outside the door, “I can smell it! It stinks!” and a quick moment to note how his biceps look sexy in his t-shirt as he plunges.

I empathized with Rocky for almost the entire book. The dynamics of raising adult children, of loving their independence and wanting to smother sunscreen on them. Waking up every day puzzled by changes to her body and why no one explained those things might happen. Of finding that decisions she made earlier in her life only dig a deeper groove of regret into her brain.

It’s a story of family, of making sandwiches for the beach, of trying to understand your kids as adults, of becoming comfortable with your body and your age and who you were and who you want to be. Of daily recommitting to love your spouse, even though neither of you are anywhere close to the naive kids who pledge to love each other eternally.

This book is about the messiness of life, but it particularly resonates with the mid-40s to mid-50s female. As one character summed it up perfectly, “It’s so crushingly beautiful, being human.”

I will offer a fair “heads up” to those who choose to read this book: Newman is real and honest in her portrayal of Rocky, the matriarch and narrator of this story. She uses language and raw, vivid physical descriptions. If you are a squeamish reader when it comes to either of those, I might steer you clear of this book.

But for all my midlife friends out there who need a deep self-reflection into their soul, this one’s for you.

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1. Turtles All the Way Down

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Summary

Aza Holmes never intended to pursue the disappearance of fugitive billionaire Russell Pickett, but there’s a hundred-thousand-dollar reward at stake and her Best and Most Fearless Friend, Daisy, is eager to investigate. So together, they navigate the short distance and broad divides that separate them from Pickett’s son Davis.

Aza is trying. She is trying to be a good daughter, a good friend, a good student, and maybe even a good detective, while also living within the ever-tightening spiral of her own thoughts.

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My Review

After struggling through my last two books, I was ready for a book which I wanted to dive into and never return.  Reading had been hard, and I wanted to make it easy, effortless again.  For me, the middle grade/young adult genre almost always does that for me. 

I have been a long-time fan of John Green. While he is most likely known for A Fault in Our Stars, I personally preferred Looking for Alaska.  I had seen this book advertised on in the young adult section at Strand Bookstore on my recent trip to NYC; when I saw that it was available for immediate pickup at my local library, I went over that very day and claimed it. 

In short, I began and finished this book on the same day.  It captivated me the way I hoped.  The characters were real and believable; Aza is clearly struggling with her own personal issues, but that does not discredit her friends Davis and Daisy from their  equally real problems and daily struggles.  Through this Green paints an important picture that no one’s life is perfect. 

In the same way that Shu beautifully captured the difficulty of understanding an eating disorder in Louder than Hunger, Green walks the reader through the world of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. 

I would highly and readily recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of young adult.  And I just learned that it is also a movie, and I love to watch movies based on books because I love to remind myself how the book is always better than the movie.  Every time. 

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2. The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club

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Summary:

It is the summer of 1919 and Constance Haverhill is without prospects. Now that all the men have returned from the front, she has been asked to give up her cottage and her job at the estate she helped run during the war. While she looks for a position as a bookkeeper or—horror—a governess, she’s sent as a lady’s companion to an old family friend who is convalescing at a seaside hotel. Despite having only weeks to find a permanent home, Constance is swept up in the social whirl of Hazelbourne-on-Sea after she rescues the local baronet’s daughter, Poppy Wirrall, from a social faux pas.

Poppy wears trousers, operates a taxi and delivery service to employ local women, and runs a ladies’ motorcycle club (to which she plans to add flying lessons). She and her friends enthusiastically welcome Constance into their circle. And then there is Harris, Poppy’s recalcitrant but handsome brother—a fighter pilot recently wounded in battle—who warms in Constance’s presence. But things are more complicated than they seem in this sunny pocket of English high society. As the country prepares to celebrate its hard-won peace, Constance and the women of the club are forced to confront the fact that the freedoms they gained during the war are being revoked.

Whip-smart and utterly transportive, The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club is historical fiction of the highest order: an unforgettable coming-of-age story, a tender romance, and a portrait of a nation on the brink of change.

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My Review:

I chose this book because I had seen it on a stand in a local bookstore in Old Town, Alexandria, Virginia while on vacation. It turns out that I had read another of Siminson’s books years ago, The Last Stand of Major Pettigrew. I don’t remember any of the details of that book, but I do remember enjoying it.

What I enjoyed most about the Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club was the time period in which it was set. Post World War I was a fascinating time globally, but especially England where the warfront was a much closer geographical reality than here in the States. Add in the complicating factor of gender, where the post-war story is told from the perspective of women, and you have a delicious plot. Similar to World War II and Rosie the Riveter, women in the 1920s were asked to fill in roles while the men went away to fight. They offered their employable skills and appreciated being part of the workforce. However, after the war, the men returned and all was expected to fall back to normal. But how can you go back when you’ve tasted freedom and experienced independence?

I found the historical gender rules of the day to be fascinating, especially in high society. Chaperones and propriety were the main concern of the day. But thrown in a few women wearing chaps, goggles and helmets, and you have the recipe for a perfect storm.

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This book was truly delightful from start to finish, and even if the story closed up a little more neatly than I personally prefer, sometimes in this life we all need a happy ending.

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3.  Our Last Days in Barcelona

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Summary

Barcelona, 1964. Exiled from Cuba after the revolution, Isabel Perez has learned to guard her heart and protect her family at all costs. After Isabel’s sister Beatriz disappears in Barcelona, Isabel goes to Spain in search of her. Joining forces with an unlikely ally thrusts Isabel into her sister’s dangerous world of espionage, but it’s an unearthed piece of family history that transforms Isabel’s life.

Barcelona, 1936. Alicia Perez arrives in Barcelona after a difficult voyage from Cuba, her marriage in jeopardy and her young daughter Isabel in tow. Violence brews in Spain, the country on the brink of civil war, the rise of fascism threatening the world. When Cubans journey to Spain to join the International Brigades, Alicia’s past comes back to haunt her as she is unexpectedly reunited with the man who once held her heart.

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My Review:

Our Last Days in Barcelona is the fifth book in a series of fiction books set in Cuba. My husband and I were fortunate enough to visit Cuba in the fall of 2016 before tensions once again arose between our two countries, all but shutting down the border for American tourists. Cuba is a beautiful and complicated country, and even in my short visit there of only a few days, I left part of my heart there. I read the first book, Next Year in Havana, and was immediately hooked on the plot which was largely historical fiction about Castro’s rise to power, the violence that tore the country, and the heartbreak between those who fled and those who stayed. The next books in the series have followed the same family, although they have greatly differed in topic and therefore my interest.

This novel was not my favorite in the series. I have owned it for some time but finally decided to read it as my family is traveling to Barcelona this summer. While there is a base of historical fiction in this novel–Cleeton always does her research–this one was a little too “beach read-y” for me. Lots of complicated romantic relationships, “longing” and whispers and glances and soft touches. And unfortunately the feminist in me cringes when a woman who is escaping a bad relationship and finally tastes her own freedom and independence simply lands in the arms of a new man.

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​If you enjoy a good romance and want to learn more about the Cuban-Spanish historical relationship, I would highly recommend this book.

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4.  It’s All or Nothing, Vale

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Summary

No one knows hard work and dedication like Valentina Camacho. And Vale’s thing is fencing. She’s the top athlete at her fencing gym. Or she was . . . until the accident.

After months away, Vale is finally cleared to fence again, but it’s much harder than before. Her body doesn’t move the way it used to, and worst of all is the new number one: Myrka. When she sweeps Vale aside with her perfect form and easy smile, Vale just can’t accept that.

But the harder Vale fights to catch up, the more she realizes her injury isn’t the only thing holding her back. If she can’t leave her accident in the past, then what does she have to look forward to?

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My Review:

As I have mentioned previously, my favorite genre is middle grade fiction. Recently, I had been introduced to novels in verse and have come to appreciate how other titles I recently read offer a full, worthwhile narrative tale in a concentrated amount of words.
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Unfortunately, It’s All or Nothing, Vale didn’t live up to the level of my previous middle grade verse novels. It just felt that Arango was working too hard to sell a heartbreaking tale, and I just never deeply connected with the main character. The plot felt to me too stereotypical with a character wanting to overcome an obstacle. Overall, I found I didn’t care much about the plot, the main character or what happened to her. It just all felt flat.​
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The novel did offer a fascinating look into the world of fencing, and it did provide the reader with a strong cultural angle. It is also a quick read, as many novels in verse can be.
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Overall, I simply cannot recommend this book, as I just believe there are too many other books and not enough time to read them all. If you’re interested in a novel written in verse, I would instead recommend Enemies in the Orchard by Dana VanderLugt or Louder than Hunger by John Schu.