I Recommend This Book

Just last week I finished reading a book called Confessions of a Transformed Heart by Nancy Sheppard. She and her husband are missionaries to Liberia and have been for some thirty years. They left family and friends soon after graduating from college and raised a family of five children there and in Ivory Coast, its neighbor country to which thousands of Liberians fled during civil war.
Sheppard is an accomplished writer with a straight forward style. Her effort to be transparent makes her story all the more compelling. This is no "look how sainted we are" narrative of her life, but rather a telling of how sufficient God is in the midst of innumerable hardships, some of which she brings on herself.
For a very real look at life in West Africa for one woman with a teachable spirit, read this book.
I came to know about it from one of my friends at church who works with Nancy Sheppard's daughter-in-law. The eldest son of Mark and Nancy Sheppard, John-Mark, and his young wife are awaiting the birth of their first child and then off to Liberia they go to continue the work in Liberia's interior.

Don't Miss This Book

Same Kind of Different as Me by Ron Hall and Denver Moore is a must-read in my opinion. It's on the New York Times Bestseller list but was unknown to me until my friend, Elaine, recommended it. It's a story in contrasts--black/white, rich/poor, educated/illiterate--that will grip you from the get-go. Read this amazing true story of sharecropper turned homeless black man, Denver Moore, who was born in the fifties in Louisiana, and international art dealer, Ron Hall and wife, Deborah, as they form an incredible bond because of Deborah's willingness to follow God's leading in working with the homeless in Fort Worth. A small volume that packs a powerful message!

Try This Book

             Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry, a book recommended by another blogger I sometimes follow is well worth the time it takes to read this small volume. I was not familiar with Berry's writings which also include That Distant Land and Jayber Crow, but I'm looking forward to reading others. It's a simple story of a woman's love, sadness, grief, and perserverance  in a world turned upside down by World War II and beyond. Berry is very adept at hitting the bullseye of emotion with the lives of ordinary men and women. He weaves this tale through Hannah's memories. I highly recommend it.

Great Read

Kate Morton has more than a way with words, she also has a knack for weaving a tale that continues to  draw you in before hitting you in the stomach with a surprising reveal. And so it was with House at Riverton, which I read several months ago, and again with The Forgotten Garden which I just finished. The novels take place in England, and England and Australia, respectively. Anglophile that I am, that's one good reason to pick it up, but by no means, the only one. Ms. Morton will not disappoint. She'll  paint an intriguing picture and keep you guessing till the end   http://www.katemorton.com/