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Book Review: The Nature of Small Birds by Susie Finkbeiner

August 14, 2021/0 Comments/in Fiction, My Library, Reviews /by Ian Acheson

This is a hard one for me to comment on mainly because not a lot happens in this story of a family told over four decades. We have three separate POVs, all first person, told over three distinct years: 1975, 1988 and 2013. Bruce and Linda, Dad and Mom, and first born, Sonny, short for […]

Book Review: The Chase by Lisa Harris

July 13, 2021/0 Comments/in Books, Favourite Authors, Fiction, Launch Teams, My Library /by Ian Acheson

We catch up with Madison James and Jonas Quinn three months after the end of The Escape. Madison has recovered physically from her wounds but it’s clear she is still struggling emotionally with not knowing who shot her and how they’re linked to her late husband’s killer. She isn’t given any time to quietly settle […]

Book Review: The Nature of Small Birds by Susie Finkbeiner

August 14, 2021/0 Comments/in Fiction, My Library, Reviews /by Ian Acheson

Book Review: The Chase by Lisa Harris

July 13, 2021/0 Comments/in Books, Favourite Authors, Fiction, Launch Teams, My Library /by Ian Acheson

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Book Review: The Nature of Small Birds by Susie Finkbeiner

August 14, 2021/0 Comments/in Fiction, My Library, Reviews /by Ian Acheson

It’s a story of family, of adoption, of the fallout of Vietnam, of growing old and coming of age. It’s about a mom’s love for her girls, a dad’s love for his girls, a husband and wife growing old together and falling more in love with each other, of grappling with parents and an adopted child’s impressions as a kid, a teen and as as an adult.

It’s quite ordinary. Every day stuff as we go to the mall, go on first dates, family vacations, fishing trips, visiting grammy and grumpy and caring for sick parents.

And it’s surprisingly captivating. Most of the time. It’s more literary than I expect from Christian fiction which was a nice change. An author is allowed to write about the ordinary in literary fiction. It’s almost essential. Finkbeiner keeps swapping POVs and years with ease and after a few chapters it’s easy to get in the groove, even though we’re unsure of what the next year and/or POV will feature next.

But it’s Minh’s story, the adopted Vietnamese girl from Operation Babylift, that I find most compelling. So much so I wish I had her POV. She arrives in a new country to new parents as a four year old and there’s always a sense of displacement whenever Minh or Mindy, as she becomes known, enters the story irrespective of whether she’s 4, 17 or 42. It adds a sense of discomfort to a very happy family story. Mindy is greatly loved and accepted and she knows this but it’s that sense of loss of not knowing her birth parents, of birth siblings, of birthplace. Finkbeiner does a great job managing this dichotomy.

I liked how the three POVs were very distinctive and their three characters were extremely likeable. I particularly appreciated how Bruce and Linda had found such contentment in the choices they’ve made and the life they’ve engineered together. And their love for each other is very believable and admirable. They’ve learnt how to love by championing the other and making the other each other’s focus and priority. I especially liked Bruce, a wonderfully gentle, kind man who adored his wife and daughters and grappled with the notion of letting his daughters fly the coup.

There really is a lot to like in this story and I recommend it heartily.

I received an early ebook copy as part of Revell Reads Blogger program via NetGalley with no expectation of a positive review.

Book Review: The Chase by Lisa Harris

July 13, 2021/0 Comments/in Books, Favourite Authors, Fiction, Launch Teams, My Library /by Ian Acheson

She isn’t given any time to quietly settle back into the job as the partners are immediately called into a bank robbery that is going down. These robbers serve to form the backbone of the plot for the story. On escaping capture, the foursome thrill seekers separate and send Madison and Jonas on a series of illusive chases as they endeavour to avoid jail time.

Like all her stories, Harris keeps the pace fast as we move from scene to scene on the hunt for these wily robbers. Meanwhile, the connection between our two US Marshalls continues to develop and grow and for one of them in particular, taking their friendship to something more becomes increasingly desirable. I like how Harris is developing this relationship. It’s a bit like those classic old detective TV shows where the romantic tension between the two leads is ever present and you wonder that it’s just a matter of time before they get together.

I loved racing all around Seattle and exploring its sights as well as some pretty islands further north close to the Canadian border.

We’re left hanging at the end of the story on all levels which makes me want the third and final instalment to arrive quickly so I can see how everything gets wrapped up.

I received an early ebook copy of the book from the publisher as part of their Revell Reads Program via NetGalley with not expectation of a positive review.

Half Sized Blog Element (Single Author Style)

Half Sized Blog Element (Multi Author Style)

Book Review: The Nature of Small Birds by Susie Finkbeiner

Book Review: The Chase by Lisa Harris

Book Review: The Nature of Small Birds by Susie Finkbeiner

Book Review: The Chase by Lisa Harris

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Book Review: The Nature of Small Birds by Susie Finkbeiner

Book Review: The Chase by Lisa Harris

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