The Council of Dads by Bruce Feiler

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Summary: Upon learning of his cancer diagnosis, Bruce Feiler creates a council of dads to mentor his soon-to-be-orphaned daughters.


I was given a copy of this book by the publisher.

"Take a walk for me."  

I cried at page 32. But the good kind of tears, where you remember the awe-inspiring moments of delivering your child and knowing you have a loving partner who has your back, for life. Though I’ve never met Bruce Feiler and his wife Linda, I wish that I could be a part of their lives.  

Bruce Feiler, the man who wrote “Walking the Bible,” is suddenly told he has a seven-inch tumor in his left femur.  

He will die.  

He panics about leaving his twin girls fatherless and so, with his wife, decides to create a “Council of Dads” to mentor his daughters and also serve as a testament (and memorial) to his life after he dies. As readers, we meet each member of the Council of Dads and Bruce reviews their shared history and also asks what each member can provide to his girls. Male friendship is so different from female friendship (and we recognize that Bruce is so lucky to have these men in his life) and their shared memories offer much-welcomed comic relief to a sad, but also uplifting true story. The true tragedy is that a man who made his living walking is now unable to do so.  

Interspersed with the intros are composites of actual e-mails that Bruce sent out, chronicling his diagnosis, treatment and progress. The e-mails are the best parts of the book - so full of raw honesty, joy in his silly daughters, aching with love for his wife, and always ending with, "Take a walk for me."  

I predict that this book will become a popular book club selection over the next three years, as both women and men analyze their past and current friendships and ask themselves, "What will my friend say my life meant?"  

Read this book. You don't want to miss it.

Women Who Try Too Hard: Breaking the Pleaser Habits by Dr. Kevin Leman

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Summary: Women try to create a positive relationship with their husbands but only know how to relate to their fathers instead. 


I loved Leman's The Birth Order Book but when Dr. Leman says "Bravo" to a woman who stays with her husband after his affair, I just got sick to my stomach.

The writing is old-fashioned and sexist. He describes each composite woman (individual case studies) as "attractive" or "slim and graceful" or as a "faded beauty." It felt like something the writers of TV's "Mad Men" would consult if they needed to create a therapist character.

You'd be better off watching an episode of "Bewitched" or maybe even "The Burning Bed."

The Promise of Morning (At Home in Beldon Grove series) by Ann Shorey

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Summary: A pastor's wife grieves the death of her children while her husband struggles with a challenge to his ministry. 


I was given a copy of this book by the publisher.


Love is not enough to keep a marriage going. Faith in God is not enough to keep a marriage going. But faith in God, and love, and a commitment to living your best life all help, no matter what era you live in. This tender, poignant story shares a marriage in crisis, as two people try to get their needs met while staying happily married. I love stories with happy endings, too.

I can't imagine the pain of losing a child, and so while I ached for Ellie, I winced reading this. Reliable birth control in 1846 was rare, so when Ellie refuses to have sex with her husband to avoid giving birth to another child who might die in infancy, I fumed.

Ellie and Matthew are growing apart, with the stress of following a budget, farming, raising their children and dealing with family secrets. And then they're not even having sex? And the rain threatens to destroy the crops?

The problems just keep appearing. When each character focuses on what God wants for them, or the lessons the Bible teaches, things get better. But it was not preachy-preachy, as so many Christian fiction books can be.

Matthew is forced out of his church and feels so insecure he doesn't want to fight back. It doesn't help that Matthew rails against a public performance of Macbeth, without knowing the story.

Reading this story was a treat, reminding me that people have ordinary stresses, no matter the time period they live in, but it was also absorbing watching the characters dealing with problems exclusive to that time - like flies in the butter, kids running off to fight in wars, itinerant preachers, corsets, and wagons with flat tires - ooops, broken axles.

I enjoy reading romance novels where the characters have a real relationship with God, and this book was no exception. 

On Mystic Lake by Kristin Hannah

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Summary: Housewife Annie is lost after she and her husband separate and she moves back to her home town.


My husband asked me, "Is that the Sean Penn movie you're reading?" and I said, "No, that's Mystic River, not On Mystic Lake." I was so disappointed in On Mystic Lake. Kristin Hannah writes such well-thought out, full, compelling characters that I had really high expectations. (Firefly Lane is amazing!) When Annie's teenage daughter leaves for a semester abroad, Annie thinks she and her husband can finally reconnect. Instead, he tells her he's in love with another woman and leaving her. Cliche, sure, but Hannah would handle it well, I believed. Annie spent her whole life being a mom, and housekeeper, so I thought this would be a novel about finding yourself, and what makes you happy. So Annie runs home to Mystic River and her father and promptly hooks up with her high school sweetheart, Nick, who married her best friend, Kathy. Kathy committed suicide eight months ago, leaving a floundering Nick, and lonely daughter Izzy, who became mute suddenly and is convinced she's disappearing. Annie becomes Izzy's housekeeper, despite her father's concern. Annie rants to him, "You told me I need to find a project. What am I supposed to do - cure cancer? I'm a wife and mother. That's all I know. All I am." Okay, Annie, how about finding a therapist? Or a career counselor? Did feminism pass Mystic River by? Ridiculous. Especially since she starts living at Nick's house, cooking meals, planting a garden, doing crafts. Finally, Annie's friend Terry asks what I was hoping to ask Annie, "You just spent twenty years waiting for a a man to come home - now you're waiting for another man?" Exactly, Terry. Apparently, it's fine to be a housekeeper/wife/mother if it's the right man, and he doesn't cheat on you. I was so disappointed. Co-dependent love story - almost worrisome, overly-sentimental reflection, but no real growth in any of the characters.