Roots and Sky - by Christie Purefoy: Bookreview

Title: Roots & Sky. A Journey Home in Four Seasons
Author: Christie Purifoy
Pages: 208
Publisher: Revell
Release Date: February 2nd, 2016
Genre: Christian Nonfiction, Memoir, Essay
Format: Kindle

I got to know a bit more about Christie Purifoy because of her podcast which she co-hosts with Lisa-Jo Baker, Out of the Ordinary. It's more a mom podcast, but I like listening to it and take what applies to my life. As we should do with mostly everything we listen to and read about. #justsaying

This book is very poetic. If you are not at all familiar with Christie this might be surprising. She reminded me a bit of Ann Voskamp and her ability to turn the mundane into poetry. This is what Christie does: she takes the normal, ordinary, every day things and looks at them through a deeper and more profound lens. You need to pay attention to her words, not approach the book feeling tired and just wanting to get this book over with. There is a lot of good stuff in here and she offers quite a few thoughts to ponder.

I liked how she structured the book in four parts, each for one of the four seasons. The first one is autumn because that was the season when she and her family moved into Maplehurst, the house her husband and her had dreamed about for a long time. Autumn is also the time of year when her youngest daughter, Elsa was born. I liked her take on each season and how she relates to them and how these look like in a new city and a new house. I tried as much as possible to read a season in one sitting, or at least to not let too much time to pass before I moved to another one because I wanted to see what she saw in each one. The book reads like a collection of journal entries. A few times she talks in the present tense and I had some moments where it seemed that some ideas made sense to her, but were a bit more tricky for me as a reader to get them and be able to be keep up with them. As I said, the language is quite poetic, you need not rush in reading it. I enjoyed reading her take on some things, although I don't necessarily agree with her completely. I kept imagining what she was describing and I so wish I were able to visit Maplehurst myself!

She has a new book coming out this year called Placemaker. I hope it get to read that one as well.

I received this book a long, long time ago from the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts expressed here are my own.

A Light in the Wilderness - Jane Kirkpatrick -- Book review

A Light in the Wilderness  by Jane Kirkpatrick is the kind of book you have expectations of because it has a lovely cover. I've only gave it 3 stars on GoodReads.

I liked it, it wasn't bad. I most definitely enjoyed the historical parts, and the information at the end of the novel (about what happened to the main character and to her family) were one of my favourite elements of the novel. Obviously, this is based on a true story, as even the novel's blurb says.

I liked how the main character was presented. What I didn't necessarily like was the rushed feel the novel sometimes had. At times it felt like it was staggering, only to pick up the pace over the next few chapters. This is probably because the novel's aim was to present the whole life of Letitia, the main character. 

This novel goes very well with the popular current tendencies of presenting books and movies that have to do with the Civil War and African Americans' rights. I personally like the emphasis it is put on these social issues.

All in all, the novel is a nice read.

I received this copy for review through the Net Galley program, from Revell publishing house, part of the Baker Publishing Group. All thoughts expressed here are my own.