Books, Movies, and Chinese Food

Summary from BN.com: Naomi's Gift re-introduces twenty-four-year-old Naomi King, who has been burned twice by love and has all but given up on marriage and children. As Christmas approaches---a time of family, faith, and hope for many others---Naomi is more certain than ever her life will be spent as an old maid, helping with the family's quilting business and taking care of her eight siblings. Then she meets Caleb, a young widower with a 7-year-old daughter, and her world is once again turned upside-down. Naomi's story of romantic trial and error and youthful insecurities has universal appeal. Author Amy Clipston artfully paints a panorama of simple lives full of complex relationships, and she carefully explores cultural differences and human similarities, with inspirational results. I can't believe that it's time to break out the Christmas books already. I mean technically summer JUST ended! I guess it's never too early though to get into the holiday spirit...

When Anna Mae McDonough left her Amish community four years ago to marry David, an Englisher, her family shunned her. Now eight months pregnant with their first child, she longs to return home for Christmas. But when she arrives, she doesn't receive the welcome she expects. Will it cause her to question her faith in God? I will admit before I started reading this book, I was very wary about it. I had read Clipston's first Amish book last year and I did not like it at all. In fact, I had major problems with it and swore that I would never read another of her books again. Then I saw that she had written a Christmas novella and I'm a sucker for Christmas books. So I picked up this books with very low expectations and was thinking that I would find myself being very disgruntled again. Therefore it was a complete shock to find that not only was the story done very well but that I found myself enjoying the book very much. The story deals with a couple with the wife being...

Rebecca Kauffman's tranquil Old Order Amish life is transformed when she suddenly has custody of her two teenage nieces after her "English" sister and brother-in-law are killed in an automobile accident. Instant motherhood, after years of unsuccessful attempts to conceive a child of her own, is both a joy and a heartache. Rebecca struggles to give the teenage girls the guidance they need as well as fulfill her duties to Daniel as an Amish wife. Rebellious Jessica is resistant to Amish ways and constantly in trouble with the community. Younger sister Lindsay is caught in the middle, and the strain between Rebecca and Daniel mounts as Jessica's rebellion escalates. Instead of the beautiful family life she dreamed of creating for her nieces, Rebecca feels as if her world is being torn apart by two different cultures, leaving her to question her place in the Amish community, her marriage, and her faith in God. I am split on how I feel about Amish books. On one hand,...