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IN THIS ISSUE
Vol 5 Issue 1
January 2015
Barefoot Book Reviews by Mahala Church As I compiled a list of books that influenced the world or me, it quickly became obvious that what I learned from a book— new ways of seeing others and history is what made them memorable. Books that not only changed my life, but those of others, filled my mind as I sat down to write. Since I read voraciously, and have since I was a small child, I had to stop listing books when the titles and authors began to fill pages upon pages in a composition book. It took some heavy-duty weaning to get to the list below. Strongly influenced by women protagonists, I’m not surprised that I give careful attention to the development of characters in my own writing. You will, no doubt, find this to be an eclectic list.
The first women (girls) who influenced me with their pluck were Anne of Anne of Green Gables (L. M. Montgomery), Jo in Little Women (Louisa May Alcott), and Dorothy in Wizard of Oz (L. Frank Baum). All three protagonists were on exciting quests, and all three achieved what they set out to do—no trivial task for a young girl in the timeperiods in which they lived—regardless of the naysayers.
Books that inspired my life and took me through moral dilemmas are high on my list of favorites. All of these books profoundly affected my view of the world. I discovered new ways of problem solving, new ways of viewing ethnicity, new ways of responding to strife, new ways to value being female, and new ways of testing my faith. This list includes Corrie ten Boom’s The Hiding Place, Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird,
Reviews Barefoot Reviews - Mysteries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Jackie’s Jargon - Romance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Shannon’s Space - YA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 The Book Breeze - A Little Bit of Everything. . . . . . 7 Interviews Cathy Perkins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Lynn Lovegreen. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 New Releases. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2, 4, 5, 6 Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, Leon Uris’ Exodus, and C. S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens still holds a special place on my bookcase. Dickens’ study of broken people, those wounded so deeply they cannot see beyond their selfish needs, cannot respond to others with anything but cruelty, and cannot imagine forgiveness. Today, it might well be written as a “serial killer gets even” saga with an emphasis on the over-thetop scenes of blood and gore, but that would not do justice to the cruelty and despair so evident in Great Expectations. It wouldn’t take readers on the roller-coaster ride of love and hate, self-loathing, and retribution to be followed by redemption that Great Expectations does so well and in such depth. It wouldn’t create memorable character studies that, like Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt (another eyeopener and favorite of mine) leave an indelible impression on our lives. It would be impossible to create a list books and authors that influenced my life without including Agatha Christie who always challenges me to make my little gray cells work overtime and deduce whodunit. Her books are literary puzzles, making me see that all is not as it seems. (Continued next page)
Un d er S ta r ry Ski e s
Hired as the town’s school teacher, Maria O’Donnell arrives in the Colorado Territory in 1875, only to find her uncle was mysteriously murdered.
Rancher Tye Ashmore is content with his life until he meets the pretty schoolmarm who stubbornly refuses to jeopardize her teaching position with a marriage proposal.
Can they work together to uncover her uncle’s killer and find love under Colorado’s starry skies? Or will unknown enemies keep them apart? Judy Ann Davis, Author
© 2015 The Book Breeze
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