One of the riveting stores of my youth was of the five missionaries killed by the Auca Indians of Ecuador. So when I found End of the Spear by Steve Saint in our church library, I eagerly plucked it off the shelf. Author Steve Saint is the son of pilot Nate Saint, who flew the… Continue reading End of the Spear – review
It was a thrill to hear, yesterday, that Sir Ernest Shackleton’s ship Endurance was found in Antarctica’s Weddell Sea. If you’re interested in the story of the exploratory expedition to Antarctica, during which the Endurance was crushed by sea ice and sank, I recommend Shackleton’s riveting book South. I read and reviewed it in 2020.… Continue reading South: The story of Shackleton’s 1914-1917 Expedition – Review (repost)
It’s All About Love: Confessions of a Caregiver by John Murray My rating: 5 of 5 starsWhen John Murray’s wife Rita was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease just over 13 years ago, it wasn’t a big deal to them. However, in the years following, the disease has impacted the life of this senior couple in increasing… Continue reading It’s All About Love – review
The Minister's Wife: A Memoir of Faith, Doubt, Friendship, Loneliness, Forgiveness, and More by Karen StillerMy rating: 5 of 5 stars I first discovered this book when I attended a webinar on writing spiritual memoir hosted by an Ottawa writing group, where the author, Karen Stiller, was the presenter. I was intrigued. Watching a later… Continue reading The Minister’s Wife – review
After reading the first few pages of Amee’s Story, I wasn’t sure I would ever finish the book. That’s not because it was poorly written. Rather, it was so well written I was pulled back into a difficult time in my own life. However, I persisted with the reading and I’m so glad I did.… Continue reading Amee’s Story – review
In years past we have attended the PNE (Pacific National Exhibition) and visited the barns on the fair grounds. However, I will never view them with the same casual attitude I have till now, after reading Sumi Kinoshita’s book Shikataganai—It Can’t Be Helped. That’s because those barns at Hastings Park became the home of Canadians… Continue reading Shikataganai–It Can’t Be Helped (review)
Patricia Mussolum’s little book the Freedom of Dependency packs a big punch as it riffs on an apparent contradiction—how dependency on Jesus leads to a life of freedom. Part testimony, part teaching, part a dare to greater faith and obedience, Mussolum covers a lot of territory. In fourteen brief chapters with intriguing names like “The… Continue reading The Freedom of Dependency (review)
The Way of Letting Go: One Woman's Walk toward Forgiveness by Wilma Derksen My rating: 5 of 5 stars The abduction of their 13-year-old daughter in November off 1984 shunted Winnipeg residents Cliff and Wilma Derksen onto an unfamiliar and horror-strewn track. The discovery of her body seven months later, bound and frozen, provided closure… Continue reading The Way of Letting Go (review)
Well: Healing Our Beautiful, Broken World from a Hospital in West Africa by Sarah Thebarge My rating: 4 of 5 stars In Well, Sarah Thebarge immerses us in her three-month experience of working as a Physicians’ Assistant in a missionary hospital in Togo, West Africa. From her first days of climate and culture shock to… Continue reading Well (review)
It Happened in Moscow: A Memoir of Discovery by Maureen Klassen My rating: 4 of 5 stars It Happened In Moscow begins with a surprise phone call to Herb and Maureen Klassen’s Moscow apartment in 1993. That call opened a Pandora’s box of secrets. Herb’s parents (C.F. and Mary Klassen) had immigrated from Russia to… Continue reading It Happened in Moscow (review)
Violet Nesdoly 