Recap Book Chat

This amazing story is told through the eyes of Reuben Land (aka Rube), the middle child in a motherless family living in the cold Midwest. He suffers greatly from asthma, adores his older brother, Davy (16 years old) and his younger sister, Swede (8+ she has a birthday– definitely one of the coolest siblings we’ve ever met from the pages of a book).

Jeremiah Land is a father raising three kids on his own, but his full plate gets unbelievably fuller when life takes a disastrous turn. After he defends a girl being accosted by two thugs a  downward spiral begins. 

Jeremiah’s non-negotiable morning routine is his daily time in God’s Word which gives him peace and guidance as he faces the trials and troubles life throws his way. Many lines flow like a cool stream but one that stuck with me was, “Fair is whatever God wants it to do.”

Please join us as we recap Peace Like a River by Leif Enger, a beautiful book following the Land family through laughter, heartache, and healing. How blessed we were to meet this family! What a treasure!

“The world is yearning for men to show up, men who know who they are and why they are here.” We hear a lot about toxic masculinity, what about a masculine man of God? The ones who Grow Up and Show Up. They do not fall prey to the myth, “I’m not hurting anyone” as they fail to become the man God meant them to be choosing instead to engage in wasteful wiles that hijack their time. Ennui is a French word that means dissatisfaction that comes from not being mission focused.

“In Gen. 2:15, man was to keep the garden (NKJV), the Hebrew word, shamar means to guard, to protect and to watch over. Adam totally blew it.” 

Brant gives readers 6 Decisions TO SET US APART:

The point of real love is to want your loved one to thrive and flourish even to the point of self-sacrifice! What great gift these books would be for the males in your life!

The Men We Need and The (Young) Men We Need sum up God’s role for men with wit and pithiness that packs a punch!

Please join us as we dive into a subject that has baffled us for years, 

at times brought us in tears when we were unaware of their gears,

Brant has showed us how God wants men to be- beginning with their hearts,

Isn’t that where true transformation always starts?

Let’s journey through Kids’ Books from A to Z, 

As we bookishly celebrate back to school with glee!

As we endeavor to fertilize young minds we must be vigilant in exposing them to a plethora of books, priming the pump as one might say. Please join us as book suggestions are made that might ignite a love for reading in your little tike or emerging teen and all those in between. Resistant readers are those that have not found the right book. May we be as diligent as the proverbial prince searching for the foot that fit the lost glass slipper. 

No, dear listeners we will not waver, let’s discover a book for each little shaver : )

This episode gives listeners ideas to enrich or jumpstart the powerful habit of reading widely. 

This could even supply gift ideas for Christmas and birthdays and such. 

Let’s make reading books a language in itself, adding tried and true books to shelf after shelf!

Won’t you listen along as we strive to meet the challenge of finding books of quality all the way from A to Z?

Twenty-two-year-old Emmy Lake, hopeful war correspondent, begins her new job at

 Woman’s Friend is working under a bear of a woman, Mrs. Henrietta Bird. Mr. Collins writes stories for the magazine, he helps Emmy get adjusted to her position. Emmy types Mr. Collins's stories and helps with the advice column, Henrietta Helps, however, Mrs. Bird refuses to answer most of the letters because they are too personal. “Spines, Miss Lake, that’s what these women need.” But of course, Emmy’s empathetic heart can’t refuse the women writing in for Mrs. Bird’s help so she starts answering them on her own time.

Dear Anxious,

You should be very proud of yourself for doing your best when things are at their worst.

Emmy’s best friend and roommate, Bunty, helps her through a tough time when Emmy’s fiance 

ended their engagement. Her folks are supportive as well, “Is your mother doing the Fatheads speech? Absolute dunderhead…look at the bright side at least we won’t have idiots for grandchildren,” her dad said with a wink. Fortunately, even though fatheads may abound so do those of the handsome, brave, caring sort…enter Charles, Mr. Collins’ ½ brother.

Emmy’s nights are spent volunteering at the fire station as a dispatcher. The bombings and fires made London in 1940 anything but safe. The camaraderie of Emmy and her friends during this terrible time in history draws readers into the fray living day by day in the shadow of bombings… surviving by grit and determination. When Bunty and Emmy’s friendship hits a stonewall Emmy embraces the challenge of what a real friend must do even when proverbial doors are slammed in faces… She shows up and she keeps on showing up even while trouble’s brewing at her day job as well.

Won’t you show up too? Please get a cup of tea and join Sheila and Kate, as they recap Dear Mrs. Bird by A.J. Pearce, a novel first rate!

“You can see God from anywhere if your mind is set to love and obey Him.”

Question: What is the chief End of man?

Answer: Man’s chief End is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever!

Written in one night on a train trip, Kate and Sheila recap A. W. Tozer’s powerfully written book, The Pursuit of God. This inspirational jewel was published in 1948 but timelessly impactful, challenging readers to look out instead of in. We cannot simply sit in a pew to please God; we must fervently pursue Him if we are to grow closer to Him. “Complacency is a deadly foe of all spiritual growth.” 

“Sin has twisted our vision inward and made it self-regarding.” Eli and his sons were sad examples of pursuing self instead of God. The self-sins are many: self-righteousness, self-pity, self-confidence, self-sufficiency, self-admiration, self-love and a host of others that can so entangle our lives causing us to stagnate.  

Are you ready to put down the spoon and dig deep to seek God wholeheartedly? “How tragic that we in this dark day have had our seeking done for us by our teachers.” As the parable told by Jesus about the 10 virgins illustrates, each one of us must prepare to be ready, we cannot rely on someone else to do the work. Let's make passionately pursuing our heavenly Father a vital part each day He gives us!

 Georgina Bassington-Hope is sent Maisie’s way because she thinks  Inspector Stratton and company did less than stellar work investigating the death of her twin brother. Georginia believes her brother, Nick, did not accidentally fall from the scaffold in the art gallery. She feels like he was murdered. Will Maisie and her trusty assistant, Billy, be able to uncover the truth? The suspects are many, Nick’s three artist friends, his brother, Harry with a gambling problem, the wealthy American that has paid handsomely for Nick’s previous works, and many more! When Maisie and Billy discover their office ransacked and their case map stolen they basically had to start over from square one. 

There’s some heartbreaking in this novel as readers see the class difference in London at this time, however class does not determine joy. Kate connected this to a book she’s reading, Created to Be His Help Meet, that explains how Gratitude comes before Joy. God stresses the importance of gratitude over and over in His Word.

Join Kate and Sheila as they reconnect with Maisie Dobbs. It’s 1931, she hits  the streets of London and the countryside as well to track down the truth. Some of our favorite quips and quotes:

“How might I serve?” (The most important question, learned from her mentor, Maurice)

“Things are rarely as they seem.”

“Choose your battles, Billy.”

“...if I am to keep Georgina Bassington-Hope out of your way, to effectively pick up your laundry, then wash and fold it, I should say you owe me a bit more than 15 minutes in a 3rd rate caff on Oxford Street.” : ) Maisie letting Inspector Stratton have a piece of her mind.

Are you ready to sip a cuppa and solve the mystery in Jacqueline Winspear’s

 Messenger of Truth? Happy reading dear listeners! 

One of our favorite quotes from Haven by Megan Wagner Lloyd is… “You don’t have to be big to be brave.” This book has love, adventure, and a whole lot of grit from a little cat that does not quit. Haven is on this journey to help Ma Millie, her human, who is very sick. She summons all her courage to venture outside to find the nearest neighbor, Jacob Levan, unfortunately he’s not home. This forces Haven to trek into town, a daunting feat for this fearful feline, but fortunately she meets a fox who volunteers to lead the way! But can the fox be trusted???

“Today’s biggest challenge will be the river,” the fox informed Haven. “Tomorrow, the ravine.”

“What’s a ravine?” Haven asked. This delightful duo invites the reader to join the journey.

“What’s a home?,” asked the fox. “A home is a place that’s just yours…where you’re safe.”

“Life’s not safe…All the forest is my home.”

 Haven struggles to keep up with the fox as they journey through the forest, whenever her strength fails she focuses on rescuing Ma Millie. There is one danger the fox never tells Haven about…a bobcat is tracking them! 

What a wonderful mix of adventure, friendship, resilience, and purpose! Let’s join the boys for as they recap this beautiful book! Thanks to Aimee & Brody for recommending it!

Greetings Recapsters! Kate and Sheila dive into the Shakespearean comedy, 

The Taming of the Shrew. Kate is the older sister that is as easy to get along with as a mama bear robbed of her cubs. Her sister, Bianca, draws suitors like bees to flowers. Here’s the rub, their father forbids Bianca to wed until Kate is married. No one is up for this arduous task until Petruchio comes on the scene. He has come to Padua ‘to wive and thrive’ and Kate suits his liking, however, she resists so forcefully he calls her a wasp to which she replies,

 “If I be waspish, best beware my sting.”

How will Petruchio tame Kate? He shows up to their wedding very late wearing rags riding a nag. “He has some meaning in his mad attire.” Why was he late? What’s with his clownish clothes? Maybe, absence made Kate’s heart grow fonder and when he finally arrived she was thrilled that he wasn’t a no show. When asked about his clothes, Petruchio replied, 

“To me she’s married, not unto my clothes.” Then he whisks Kate away before their reception. 

Have you ever heard the phrase, ‘kill them with kindness’? He deprives Kate of food because it’s not good enough for her. Along with a new dress and the bed which were also not suitable for his new bride. As her ‘taming’ continues readers can see Kate slowly beginning to change into a better version of herself.

Some say Shakespeare crossed the line here. That he is a hater of  women but we beg to differ. He’s using humor and wit to show something very daring for the 1590s. Are you up for a bit of comedic culture? “...There’s small choice in rotten apples.” He is a wordsmith indeed, who but Shakespeare could make accident sound poetic…”’twas a fault unwilling.” 

The Taming of the Shrew: Act I - The Play's the Thing | Acast

Love Better: Untamed Love on Apple Podcasts

“And don’t you know that it is just when we are weakest that God can use us the most?” Wisdom from Mrs. Whestra, Andy’s neighbor in Witte, Holland. 

While Andy’s family went to church he would go fishing and show up right when everyone was exiting the building and listen to their comments so he could talk about the sermon at home.

Papa asked him when he was 17 years old, “What do you plan to do with your life?” What a clarifying question! Andy didn’t want to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a blacksmith so he joined the army. His mama gave him her Bible which he packed away at the bottom of his duffle bag, unread, until he was wounded and needed time to heal from a shattered ankle. 

“My sense of guilt wrapped around me like a chain–nothing I did — drinking, fighting, writing letters eased the stranglehold upon me.” He finally began to read his mama’s Bible. He wrote letters with Bible questions to a girl he had met, she helped him understand it. 

God’s Word caused Brother Andy to do a 180. Andy said, “Karl Marx said, “Give me 26 lead soldiers and I will conquer the world” meaning the letters of the alphabet. Well, this game could be played both ways.” 

Please join Kate and Sheila as they recap Andy’s amazing life story in God’s Smuggler by Brother Andrew with John and Elizabeth Sherrill. Andy evolves from a hooligan who played hooky from church to godly guy delivering Bibles to communist countries. Once when he was without a translator he used Bible verses to communicate! Remember Mrs. Whestra? Her family donated their VW car to  Andy for his travels to impossible places, trusting and praying and relying on God every step of the way.

“First, earn the right to get their attention; then show them Jesus – perhaps not with words but always with action.” We’re thankful we met Andy in our quest to read the best, you will be too!