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The Generations Series: A Little Lower Than the Angels (Book 1) – Caryl McAdoo
If you love the stories of the Bible, if you are new to reading the Bible, or a seasoned expert looking to expand on the stories surrounding the creation of the human race- this story is the perfect place to start.
This first in The Generations Series, titled A Little Lower than the Angels, takes you through the lives of Adam and Eve, and Cain and Abel, and how the choices they each willfully made affected the rest of their lives.
You will experience Abel and his interactions in Heaven with various cherubim, his constant questioning of when the rest of his family will join him, and the biggest question of if Cain himself will be able to join him there.
Watch as Adam and Eve deal with the disobedience and sin of Cain, and his disappearance with his sister and wife, Sheriah. Adam and Eve are again left alone, Eve seemingly unable to bear the burden of her guilt that all of this tragedy her family is experiencing is due to her original sin in the Garden of Eden. Will she ever be able to repent enough and again enjoy a life on Earth with her husband? Your heart breaks right along with her as she buries her son into the ground, not quite understanding her husband’s insistence that they are from the earth, and to it they must return.
The facts in this story are true to the Bible, and come from the King James Version. The story is one interpretation of what life may have been like; what this family may have experienced as they lived through the ups and downs of their lives during this time period.
This story is a triumph for Biblical fiction: it gets everything right, while adding to the story to allow the reader to experience what the early Christians went through for and because of their faith.
I do not think Caryl McAdoo could write the remaining books of this series fast enough for me!
Be sure to visit her website for more great reads! I have another one already, and cannot wait to read it!
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Lost – Gregory Maguire
Gregory Maguire went out on a limb with this story, creating a completely original character for the focus of the story. It is centered around an American writer, Winifred Rudge, who makes her way to London to visit a distant cousin. After publishing a best-selling story, she is ready to begin her next novel; a story about a woman who is haunted by the spirit of Jack the Ripper.
Her cousin, John Comestor, has disappeared in thin air, his apartment in the middle of being renovated. His girlfriend proves useless in the search for John, and the downstairs neighbor is not much more of a help. The apartment is haunted by someone who resembles Mr. Ebenezer Scrooge himself. There are many other quick appearances of characters of literary history.
There are also subplots going on that I did not find necessary to the story. Instead of adding to it, they seemed to make it more difficult to enjoy.
I liked this story well enough, but it was not one of my favorites by Mr. Maguire. I have read all of his stories but one, and I find that they tend to be hit-or-miss for me. This could have been well beyond “good”, but I guess it’s like they say, “You can’t win them all!”
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Tuesday’s Thought For The Day!
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Fireproof – Eric Wilson
Such an amazing, powerful story! The movie is just as good as the book, and for me to say that is pretty much a miracle!
I love reading books that are based around religion (I am of the Lutheran faith, a denomination of Protestants). This story really touches home on how to save a marriage, when most are willing to go to the lawyers, sign some papers, and try to make it disappear.
A firefighter is losing his marriage; his wife is done with being ignored, and he is done with her not taking care of him. So his father gives him a pact to follow for a month, no matter what. Do what this journal says, and if it doesn’t work, then you should probably get divorced.
We watch as he does everything required, yet is met with brick walls from his wife. He has a major issue with his mother anyhow, so he is curious to see how his father made this work.
I am not one big on giving spoilers, but when he realizes his mother was actually the one to give this “contract” to his father, he finally understands some of the many components of making a marriage work.
This book is a must read; it is not filled with religious overtones if that is not your thing. It definitely shows you the important things in life. How to live your life, how to forgive, and how to be great!
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Need More Spooky Reads For Halloween?
Haunted Highways: Spooky Stories, Strange Happenings, Supernatural Sightings
Retold by Tom Ogden, these short stories are based on myths and urban legends. What these have in common is that they all take place on a highway, road, trail, or path of some sort. Due to the fact that there are thousands of such myths and urban legends, Mr. Ogden chose 4 categories to loosely stick to, while still sharing a good representation.
The first category is about vanishing hitchhikers (a story you have heard immediately came to mind, didn’t it?) He included The Phantom Hitchhiker, Resurrection Mary, the Weeping Woman, and The Prophecy.
The second category is titled Street Walkers. No. Not those street walkers. The firsts two stories in this section will take you to Hawaii. Next you will travel to Tokyo and learn about Oiwa’s Ghost. Back in the States, you experience The Funeral Cortege of Baynard Plantation in South Carolina. John Brown’s Body takes you through the Civil War Era, into West Virginia. The Nun’s Walk and The Occurrence at the Creek Road Bridge wraps up the 2nd section of the book.
If you haven’t been completely freaked out yet, you will continue on to the 3rd part of the book, Phantom Travelers. This immediately brings to mind many movies that scared me so much as a child, I will not watch them even now. Included are The Long Ride Home of Peter Rugg (275 years and counting!), The Return of Mad Anthony Wayne, The Man Who Disappeared, The Ghost Train (numerous people claim that while traveling the highways along the same route that President Abraham Lincoln’s funeral train took, they see his train), Telly’s Phantom (yes, Telly Savalas), and The Curse of Little Bastard, in case if you ever wondered what really caused James Dean’s car accident.
Part Four is Lost Souls. A mixed bag of ghosts that include cowboys, Indians, and fair maidens of the Old West. Phantoms on horseback, an Irishman who opted to dance with the devil, and read about strangers stuck on a certain set of railroad tracks being pushed to safety by a busload of children. How better to end the book than with a tale on Route 66, or “The Highway to Hell”, as the author puts it.
These stories are all fairly short, none over a few pages long. Most of these are tame enough, without blood and gore and just scary, in that I will be sharing them with my girls with no worries.
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To Heaven and Back – Mary C. Neal, MD
Mary C. Neal, a highly skilled Orthopedic surgeon, drowned in a kayak accident. A trip down a waterfall found her pinned underwater, unable to be rescued by her companions before she drowned. This trip led to another profound trip that would change her life forever.
Mary wasn’t raised in what some may consider an overly-religious environment. She knew who God and Jesus were, but her family’s religious activities did not move beyond attending church on Sunday. The divorce of her parents at a time when divorce was still uncommon, 1971, filled Mary with embarrassment and an overpowering desire to drive away any man who was interested in her mother.
Allowing her life to spin out of control, drugs and alcohol became a part of her teenage life until an automobile accident would change her life. A missionary trip to Mexico would put her on the path to her future medical career.
As an adult, Mary had the ideal family life; the white picket fence with all the extras. After the kayaking accident, her brief trip to heaven had her feeling joy and love that she still finds difficult to describe. She was saddened when she was told it was not her time, and she had to return to Earth, and her body.
This was the beginning of a very difficult, very intense healing process for Mary, both physically and emotionally. Like others who have had this experience, Mary did not want to be on Earth, she wanted to be in her heavenly home. It was not that she did not love her family, it was due to the profound feelings she experienced while in heaven.
A premonition from her son that he would not reach his 18th birthday indeed came true, and brings another aspect to this story of how her experience helped her accept and handle such a devastating situation.
This book is one of several detailing life-after-death experiences. It does have a fairly strong religious overtone to it, but it is certainly not bashing you over the head telling you to “repent and be saved!” I do have a strong faith, but have also had others who are not religious read this book and tell me they thoroughly enjoyed it.
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Better Than I Hoped, and Not What I Expected
Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter – Seth Grahame-Smith
Being a huge fan of all things Abraham Lincoln, I was a little worried when I first picked up this book that it was just going to be horrible, and ruin my penchant for Abe forever. Boy was I wrong!
Even persons vaguely familiar with Abraham Lincoln are likely aware of the love he had for his mother. Her passing was devastating to the young Abe, and although he loved his step-mother very deeply, no one could fill that void.
That is where this journey begins. It begins with Abe finding out a vampire is responsible for his mother’s death. He discovers a vampire colony that is responsible for numerous unsolved deaths. And then he meets Henry Sturges. Vampire extraordinaire, Henry has the same goal as Abe. Henry teaches Abraham the ins-and-outs of vampires, and Abe is a willing student.
What did the vampires have to do with the Civil War and the reshaping of our nation? More than you would ever believe. This story is told from the 3rd person perspective, with the journal entries of Abraham Lincoln dispersed throughout.
We all know who won the war, and what became of Abe, so I will not spoil the story any more. But if you like history, Abraham Lincoln, or vampires, you definitely need to read this book!
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Favorite Books For Halloween!
What are your favorite Halloween / scary books?
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Friday Fun Facts!
Patricia Cornwell
Born: June 9, 1956
Wrote: numerous Kay Scarpetta novels, starting with Postmortem, as well as The Body Farm, Potter’s Field, and numerous others, with the latest being 2014’s Flesh and Blood. She has also written a couple other series, but no where to the extent of the Scarpetta series.
Awards: Too many to list them all, but they include the Edgar Award, Sherlock Award, and British Book Awards.
Personal: Patricia married one of her professors shortly after graduation, and divorced 9 years later. She was in a relationship with a married female FBI agent before meeting and marrying Staci Gruber in 2005.
She suffered with Anorexia Nervosa and depression, as well as bipolar disorder.
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