No One Ever Asked by Katie Ganshert Book Review

No One Ever Asked by Katie Ganshert
From back cover:
When an impoverished Missouri school district loses its accreditation, the nearby affluent community of Crystal Ridge has no choice but to open their doors to bussed students. Soon the lives of three very different women converge: Camille Gray, long-standing PTA chairwoman and champion fundraiser, faced with a rattling discovery that threatens to tear apart her picture-perfect world: Jen Covington, a career nurse whose painful journey to motherhood finally results in a happily-ever-after, but one much harder than she anticipated; and Anaya Jones, the first woman in her family to graduate college and a brand-new teacher at Crystal Ridge's top elementary school, unprepared for the minefield she is stepping into. As tensions rise, Camille, Jen, and Anaya will fiercely protect their loved ones-but at what cost?

This book was...interesting. And most definitely thought provoking. I can't say I loved it (as in I probably wouldn't go back and re-read it.) but I can't say I disliked it either. That said, it was hard to put down as I curious as to what each character was going to do next. 

This book tackles some tough subjects; most prominent being race relations. I appreciated that this book wasn't pushing any agenda and just explored both sides of the issue without sugar coating anything. It really pushes the reader to question what we think and believe about the different topics.

Each character was very unique and real. There were times I was happy for them, annoyed with them, frustrated with them. Throughout the book you really see how each character grows and changes with each choices they make.

The use of the prologue was interesting. It begins with an event that will takes place at the end of the book, and while the prologue was filled with some action, the rest of the book (leading up to the end.) are a bit slow compared to it.

This book alternates between three points of view and I found it to be easy to follow along with. It can be hard at times keeping more than two characters straight and I was never confused about who was who or what was going on. There did seem to be a bit too much going on at times. There was a lot of plot lines to follow along with and the ending climax was a bit odd as it didn't take much to escalate to that point. I just didn't find it quite believable.

Overall I thought this was a well done book and while it is outside of what I typically read, I did enjoy it.

No One Ever Asked releases on April 3, 2018. I received this book from Blogging For Books in exchange for an honest review.

Life After by Katie Ganshert Book Review

Life After by Katie Ganshert

From back cover:
It could have been me.
Snow whirls around an elevated train platform in Chicago. A distracted woman boards the train, takes her seat, and moments later a fiery explosion rips through the frigid air, tearing the car apart in a horrific attack on the city's transit system. One life is spared. Twenty-two are lost.

A year later, Autumn Manning can't remember the days of the bombing and she is tormented by grief-by guilt. Twelve months of the question constantly echoing. Why? Why? Why? Searching for answers, she haunts the lives of the victims, unable to rest.

Paul Elliott lost his wife in the train bombing and wants to let the dead remain buried, undisturbed and unable to cause more pain for his loved ones. He wants normalcy for his twelve-year-old daughter and young son, to see them move beyond the heartbreak. But when the Elliotts and Autumn are unexpectedly forced together, he fears she'll bring more wreckage in her wake.

I had never read a book by this author before, and when I first read the summary, I was intrigued. 

I really felt like I could relate to Autumn. Her emotions and struggles were so honest and very well written. Had I gone through something as horrific as Autumn, I probably would have reacted the same way. So I could understand where she was coming from. 

When I first started the book, I thought Paul was a jerk. He complained and was worried when his daughter wouldn't talk to him, but he never really gave her the opportunity to. My dislike of him started to go away once we know more of the situation, but it was a little frustrating to me at first. 

Reese was a very well written character as well, and Tate brought some humor to an otherwise serious story.

I liked that romance was not the focus of this book. It's very on the surface, and I was worried it was going to go deeper, but I'm glad it didn't. I felt like it would have cheapened the story.

This is a christian book, so faith plays a large part of this story, but I really didn't find it to be 'preachy'. 

The author deals with a very difficult topic-why do bad things happen? And not just that, but why do bad things happen to good people? I don't know that I would say that that question was exactly answered, but I would say that it was handled well. I personally do not believe we are always meant to know why bad things happen. We just have to know that if we believe in an all-knowing God, we have to believe that he has a hand in every situation, whether we are meant to know the why or not.

I liked the diary entries and letters throughout the book. It just added something a little different to the story.

Overall I enjoyed this book. I liked the characters and found it to be very well written. I will certainly be checking out other books from this author!

I received this book from Blogging For Books in exchange for an honest review.

Classic German Baking Book Review

I love to bake, and am a big fan of European baked goods. I would also consider myself somewhat of an experienced baker. So I was excited to receive this book and check out some of the recipes.

After flipping through the book I was surprised at the lack of recipe pictures. Considering this is a German recipe book geared toward an American kitchen (or at least geared towards people who might not be familiar with German recipes.) I found this quite annoying. 

Maybe it's the photographer in me, but I want to see what these things are supposed to look like! I want to be inspired to bake and I just wasn't feeling it. I mean, I'd venture to guess that most people (myself included) don't know what a  Schlesische mohnrolle is supposed to look like!

I was also a little annoyed at all the pictures of Berlin. Now, I like travel pictures, and I've been to Germany, and while it is a beautiful country, this is a cook book. Not a travel book. I don't think it's really appropriate to have a cake recipe paired with a picture of a strange mural somewhere. 

This is also not a book for a beginner baker. Most of the recipes are complex and take lots of planning. Which I don't exactly have a problem with, but I know that can be a deterrent for some people. 

On a positive note, the author does do a good job explaining each of the recipes, there is a section at the beginning explaining the uses of different ingredients in the book (and some you might not be familiar with, like baker's ammonia.)

I do also like her commentary about each recipe. The author explains a little about each recipe, where she got the recipe, the different ingredients in it, and other random facts. It injects some personality into the book. And it's kind of nice knowing the recipe might've come from the author;'s grandmother instead of just a random recipe from the internet. 

So overall, I was disappointed with the book. The lack of pictures and overall complexity of most of the recipes was disheartening.

I received this book from Blogging For Books in exchange for an honest review.

Gluten Free For Good by Samantha Seneviratne Cookbook Review

Check out the book here!

Let me start off by saying that I am certainly not going to be giving up gluten any time soon, but I have family members who eat gluten free for various health reasons. I've experimented with gluten free baking for years, and it's definitely a bit tricky.

This book is not just gluten free baking though, it has a lot of recipes for things that people who are gluten intolerant and people who are not might want to eat. Cooking two different meals can be a hassle sometimes, so it's nice to have recipes that work for all of us! There is a wide range of different types of recipes, I don't think anyone would look at this and probably want to try every recipe in this book, but there is definitely something for everyone as well.

I liked that at the beginning of the book the author has a good, in-depth explanation of different flours and ingredients used in the book. For someone unfamiliar with gluten free baking or new to gluten free baking, that would be very helpful! 

I thought the pictures in this book were really nice and well done. and the directions were clear and informative.

After looking through the table of contents, I was very interested in trying the recipe for a loaf of bread. I've never found any gluten free bread that tasted all that good. I've had some that are okay, but none that were really good.

I did use sorghum instead of oat flour like the book called for because I didn't have oat flour. (Sorghum is a very close substitute in terms of texture and flavor.) And I also used 1 1/2 tsp of xanthan gum instead of psyllium husk because I didn't have that either.

The bread turned out pretty well! I did mix up the directions a bit because that's just what I do. (I always let the yeast proof in the water (the recipe uses milk, but mine was bad and the water worked fine.) with a little sugar first before adding the flours.) I think that really helped the loaf turn out. The dough rose a lot and turned out nice and fluffy. Following their directions would have created a more close textured loaf. Taste wise it was pretty good! It held together really well and even stood up to being put in the toaster. Half the loaf was gone the first night I made it! So it was definitely a win in my house! Most gluten free breads I've tried crumble and fall apart really easily, but this was good.

Overall I would probably rate this book maybe 3 or 4 stars. Just because I think this is more of a book for people who choose not to eat gluten vs. people who a truly gluten intolerant. And probably over half of the recipes are things I know my family wouldn't eat. But there was probably a dozen recipes I would try.

Do you eat gluten free? What are your thoughts on gluten free foods?

I received this book from Blogging For Books in exchange for an honest review.

Wonderland - A Coloring Book by Amily Shen Review

 Alice in Wonderland was always one of my favorite movies as a kid. I was never really into princesses or things like that; I always liked stories that were about exploring and adventures.  

I was very interested when I came across this copy of Wonderland - A Coloring Book by Amily Shen on Blogging For Books!

First off, I was surprised at how well made the book is. The cover you see in the above pictures is a thick dust jacket, and then there is a pretty laminated cover underneath.

The pages are made of nice quality paper, perfect for coloring and not having to worry if your colored pencils or whatever you are coloring with will show through on the next page. 

Each picture is beautifully done and very detailed. If I had to say one negative thing about this book, it would be that some of the pages are a little too detailed! It's a little difficult to get your colored pencil sharp enough to be able to color some of the tiny little places.

This book isn't just a coloring book, it also has a story inspired by the original Alice's Adventures in Wonderland running throughout the book.

Overall, I was very pleased with this book and I will definitely be spending some time coloring it's beautiful pages!

I received this book from Blogging For Books in exchange for an honest review.