Mennonite In A Little Black Dress

I don't think middle age is about learning to live with ambiguity; it's just the opposite. It's finally developing the resolve to reject ambiguity and embrace simplicity. (p. 127)

Not long after Rhoda Janzen turned forty, her world turned upside-down. From the outside, it seemed she had everything she wanted: a fulfilling job, a beautiful lakeside home, and a brilliant husband of fifteen years. But then her husband announced he was leaving her for Bob, a guy he met on Gay.com --- and that same week a car accident left her with serious injuries.

Under circumstances like these, what was a gal to do? Naturally, Rhoda crossed the country and returned to the land of Borscht, Zwiebach, and corduroy-covered Bibles. Her own spiritual path had long parted ways with the Mennonites, ... . But the oddball Mennonite community welcomed her broken body and soul with open arms and generous advice. ... It is in this safe place that Rhoda came to terms with her failed marriage; her desire, as a woman, to leave her sheltered world behind; and the choices that both freed and entrapped her.  (cover)

This book is taking too long to read, but for some reason it has kept my interest and I find myself finally reaching the end. Mennonite In A Little Black Dress: A Memoir of Going Home by Rhoda Janzen analyzes, reminisces, and shares Janzen's feelings and opinions about growing up in a Mennonite community and then leaving it to live a life of her choosing. But this life is interrupted with a divorce and car accident that brings her back to her roots and family during her recovery. I'm not sure if it's her sarcastic sense of humor or her different way of analyzing the events in her life, but I found this a slow read and only moderately interesting. All in all, though, I'm glad I stuck it out to the end. I did laugh out loud and I did find some of her discoveries inspiring.

44 Cranberry Point

I love living in Cedar Cove, but things haven't been the same since a man died in our B and B. Turns out his name was Max Russell, and Bob had known him briefly in Vietnam. We still don't have any idea why he came here and --- most important of all --- who killed him. Because it now appears that he was poisoned. I sure hope somebody figures it out soon!

Not that we're providing the only news in Cedar Cove these days. I heard that Jon Bowman and Maryellen Sherman are getting married. And Maryellen's mom, Grace, has more than her share of interested men! The question is: Which one is she going to choose? Olivia --- I guess it's Olivia Griffin now --- is back from her honeymoon, and her mother, Charlotte (who's in her mid-seventies at least), seems to have a man in her life, too. I'm not sure Olivia's too pleased....
(back cover of book)

Yep, I'm back to reading another in the Cedar Cove series! Guilty as charged! Debbie Macomber's 44 Cranberry Point was a quick and enjoyable read, but it was also more predictable than the past books. A common theme of forgiveness was threaded throughout several of the stories in this book. And once again, there were weddings and babies, old loves and new, and continuing dramas for the residents in this quaint little town.

Yes, yes, yes.  I am ready for the next book in this series! Again, guilty as charged! 

Agent 6

I enjoyed the first half of the audio book Agent 6 by Tom Rob Smith, but for some reason it did not hold my interest like the first two books of this series. I hope to resume listening to this book at a later time.

Lone Survivor

And it occurred to me that any one of them (a group of immaculately turned-out new SEALs), on any given day, would have done all the same things I'd done in my last combat mission in the Hindu Kush. I wasn't any different. I was just, I hoped, the same Texas country boy who'd come through the greatest training system on earth, with the greatest bunch of guys anyone could ever meet. The SEALs, the warriors, the front line of United States military muscle. I still get a lump in my throat when I think of who we all are. (p.379)

But I did live my dream, and then some, and I guess I'll be asked many times whether it had all been worth it in the end. And my answer will always be the same one I gave so often on my first day.

"Affirmative, sir." Because I came through it, and I have my memories, and I wouldn't have traded any of it, not for the whole world. I'm a United States Navy SEAL. " (p.380)

Wow... a powerful and informational memoir from one of our Navy SEALs. Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and The Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10 by Marcus Luttrell with Patrick Robinson is a memorable read about a mission in the summer of 2005 to capture a notorious al Qaeda leader in the mountainous areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Luttrell writes this book to commemorate his colleagues who lost their lives during this operation of which he was the only survivor. I very much enjoyed this book and definitely recommend it to others.