Saturday, November 24, 2012

It’s Been A While

For those of you who know me and have been a fan of my other blog Diary of A Transplanted Southerner, know that I had another blog on AOL that had this name. Sadly when I transferred it to Blogger, I picked up a troll of sorts so I closed this blog and opened the other. Well, I am happy to say that I am opening this one again. Mainly because I am starting my life over and I am no longer in Michigan. I moved out yesterday and not looked back.

This blog will now be reopened because I can finally blog freely again! So, keep your eyes peeled for a new entry (aside from this one) coming soon! For now I have unpack my stuff and settle in to my new home. Thanks for hanging out with me!!

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Be Still My Soul~ A Review

Joanne Bischof starts her career as novelist with this amazing book. She is in the process of writing book number two in the series right now. You can find her web site here. She is definitely an author to watch!

Her first book Be Still My Soul is set in the Appalachian hills. We meet Lonnie who is shy and likes to be in the background. She is a wonderful girl and has a quiet, strong faith about her. Her father  however, is abusive towards her and it is reveled why in the book, so I am not going to say it here, you will have to read it to find out! Sarah, who is Lonnie’s aunt and best friend is the source of Lonnie’s faith. Lonnie dreams of moving in with Sarah and learning to make soap from her, so she can lead a quiet happy life. Then she meets Gideon. Gideon is a self centered boy who thinks everything that is wrong is not his fault.

He walks Lonnie home and tries to take advantage of her. She socks him in the jaw and goes into the house,  unaware that her mean spirited father saw the whole thing and thinks the worst! Before she knows what happens she is supposed to marry Gideon and does not even know him!!

She is sad and upset because she can not convince her father that nothing happened. He wants her gone from his house. Both Lonnie and Gideon do not want to marry each other and do so under great protest. Gideon’s mother is less that friendly to Lonnie because she thinks that Lonnie’s mom stole Lonnie’s dad from her when they were teenagers. So, when Lonnie is living at the house with Gideon’s family she takes that out on Lonnie.

Soon after being married, Gideon decides that it is time to leave their home town to go to another town that is about a weeks walk away to start over. Before they can reach that town, they have so many adventures on the trip and end up meeting Jeb. As Gideon’s frustration with Lonnie finally comes to a head and he snaps and hurts her, Jeb shows up like an angel sent from heaven.

Jeb takes Lonnie and Gideon to his house to meet his wife Elsie. Lonnie and Gideon end up living there while the story plays out. To find out what happens next you will have to read this book.

I enjoyed this book and it was easy to read. I could not put it down when I got started because the story just entranced me.

I got this book for free from WalterBrook Multnomah for the sole purpose of this review.

Be Still My Soul by Joanne Bischof (Chapter 1 Excerpt)