The Resilient Soul: Meditations on Inner Strength, Growth, and Balance by Tay Robinson

September 26, 2025 By Leave a Comment


The Resilient Soul: Meditations on Inner Strength, Growth, and Balance by Tay Robinson
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Non-Fiction, Inspirational (Buddhism/Stoicism), Contemporary, Historical
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

In a world filled with distractions, uncertainty, and relentless pressure, “The Resilient Soul” offers a sanctuary for those seeking clarity, wisdom, and personal growth. Blending the timeless philosophy of Stoicism, the disciplined path of martial arts, and modern reflections on life’s challenges, this collection of essays serves as both a meditation on inner strength and a guide to finding balance in the midst of chaos.

Through deeply introspective reflections, the author explores themes of resilience, mindfulness, and the pursuit of personal mastery, all while acknowledging the inevitability of suffering and the beauty of life’s transience. Each essay invites readers to confront the struggles they face—not with fear or avoidance, but with acceptance, grace, and a deeper understanding of what it means to truly live.

From stories that touch on the dangers of rushing through life in search of peace, to reflections on the ultimate confrontation with death, this book challenges you to rethink your relationship with pain, success, and time. Through the author’s unique lens as a martial artist and philosopher, you’ll find a blueprint for cultivating the inner fortitude needed to navigate life’s inevitable highs and lows.

Perfection isn’t possible, but progress is.

Some of the most memorable sections were the ones that explored the meaning of suffering and why it is such an important part of the human experience. This can be a difficult subject to think about, but the author’s sensitive and methodical approach to his ideas made a great deal of sense to me. I also liked the fact that he included so many stories in this book to help illustrate his points, including one about what happens when a character wishes they would never suffer again. That’s a thoughtful way to get one’s point across and to help the audience understand why pain isn’t necessarily something to run away from.

It would have been helpful to expand on many of the points that were made in this book as some of the sections were as short as a single paragraph. There were moments when I wished for more details and examples of the points that were being made as some of them could be vague at times. If these sections had been longer, I would have happily chosen a higher rating as the advice itself was wise.

I appreciated Mr. Robinson’s concerns about the ways in which social media and celebrity culture can distort our understanding of how the world actually works. If most people are trying to show their lives in the best possible light, this leaves too much space for the difficult stuff to be downplayed or ignored entirely and for everyone to begin to wonder if they’re the only one who is privately struggling with something. There were other layers to his argument that are too lengthy to include in my review, but I nodded along as I read his thoughts about how these diversions aren’t always as harmless as some people might assume they are. This wasn’t a polemic, simply conversational sections that talked about why beautiful photos or well-produced videos shouldn’t always be taken at face value when thinking about how to live.

The Resilient Soul was thought provoking.

Filed Under: Non-Fiction, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

King of Hearts by M. Jean Pike

June 5, 2025 By 1 Comment


King of Hearts by M. Jean Pike
Publisher: White Rose Publishing
Genre: Contemporary, Inspirational, Romance
Rating: 5 stars
Reviewed by Mistflower

After keeping a secret promise to a friend, Harper Blessings’ s life is spiraling out of control. Her food truck barely pays the bills, she’ s raising her rebellious brother and caring for her forgetful aunt…and she’ s four months pregnant.

When Aunt Clara wanders off at a carnival and hires the carousel operator who rescues her to do odd jobs, Harper’ s house-of-cards life begins to topple. The last thing she needs is a handsome drifter complicating her already problematic life. Or so she thinks.

Drifter Dalton Kingston has a few secrets of his own. Growing up as a child of privilege, he wanted for nothing…except love. Then an unspeakable tragedy causes him to walk away from it all, pushing love as far away as possible. Until love pushes back in the form of a beautiful woman who desperately needs his help, and the God he’ s not sure he can forgive.

This was a wholesome, inspirational, and heartwarming romance set in a small town where everyone knows your name.

Harper, the leading lady, is doing all she can to keep her head above water. Dalton, the leading man, is simply trying to make it through another day. They’re drawn to each other by their shared compassion and natural instinct to care for others. It’s amazing how their faith in God allows them to open their hearts again after the heartbreak they’ve experienced from people who were supposed to love them unconditionally.

I found their love story to be especially encouraging because it tackled the theme of forgiveness—-something that can be incredibly challenging. Several characters in the book demonstrate what it looks like to forgive others, and in doing so, offer hope that forgiveness is not only possible, but necessary for personal healing and the strength of relationships.

Aunt Clara is a standout character. She’s the glue that holds both her family and the town of Redford’s Crossing together. I’d even go as far as to call her an angel in disguise. Her presence is endearing and uplifting, and she brings out the best in those around her.

The writing style immediately pulled me in–from page one, when Aunt Clara wandered to the carousel and met Dalton. The plot is original, the pace is steady, and the ending is absolutely delightful.

This is the kind of story I could happily read more than once. I wholeheartedly encourage others to give it a try.

Filed Under: Reviews, Romance Tagged With: , , , , ,

Rudy & Me by Brittany Gilbert

April 2, 2025 By 1 Comment


Rudy & Me by Brittany Gilbert
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Middle Grade (8 – 12 y.o.), Inspirational, Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

A twelve year old girl who is having trouble adjusting to her family dynamics finds refuge and encouragement with her Grandmother until she encounters unexpected obstacles.

Family is forever.

I appreciated the attention this book paid to Alzheimer’s disease, especially the more subtle signs that someone is developing it that kids might not pick up on. Brandy had no idea why her grandmother kept forgetting to do ordinary things like remember where she put the car keys or get dressed in clothing that’s appropriate for the outdoors. Her grief as she realized that these were signs their lives were about to change forever was written honestly and realistically.

The large cast of characters made it difficult for me to get to know most of them well. Other than Brandy, there simply wasn’t time to dive into their backstories, personalities, and interests. This made it tricky to remember who was who in some cases due to the dozens of people who were introduced in the storyline and how little I learned about them in general. I found myself wishing I could have had more time with a smaller number of characters so that I could compare their personalities to the main character.

It took me a while to understand why Brandy’s parents and stepfather were overlooking the obvious signs that she was struggling with adjusting to so many changes in her life over what was at most a few short years. I have to admit that I was annoyed with them at first for not paying attention to why her grades were slipping and why she seemed so frustrated. The explanation that was given for their choices softened my reactions to them, though, and reminded me that adults don’t always have everything figured out yet either.

Rudy & Me was thought provoking.

Filed Under: Reviews, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , ,

Anomaly by Jennifer Milne

March 20, 2025 By Leave a Comment


Anomaly by Jennifer Milne
Publisher: Auctor Press
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Romance, Inspirational, Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

What if every day you woke up as someone new?

Every day a new past, every day a new life.

Then what if one day you woke up and you were no one at all?

Ellie Coleman has been erased from existence and now she must fight for the love that no longer knows her and the life that is no longer her own.

What if you had to choose: to be erased and save the world…or to live and let it burn.

The world wouldn’t be the same if you, I, or anyone else weren’t in it.

Making the right decision isn’t always clear cut. What sounds good in the moment might turn out to have negative consequences in the future, and vice versa. I was intrigued by the many different factors Ellie and the other characters had to consider when deciding which choice made the most sense not only for themselves but also for the rest of humanity. There’s something to be said for embracing the nuances of life.

I struggled with the plot holes in this novella. For example, it was hard for me to understand how Ellie could continue to exist when she had been erased from existence. The reason given for this never made sense to me, and I found myself wishing more time had been spent explaining how it worked and why nobody expected it to occur. The ending, too, didn’t seem to fit what I’d learned earlier about the rules in this universe about what should happen to someone who exists despite every attempt to prevent that from happening. If only I could have had more information about how it all worked.

Time travel is one of those topics I automatically gravitate towards when I read speculative fiction. Even a small change in the past can have major repercussions in the future, and I appreciated how much time and effort the author put into extrapolating how her characters’ earlier decisions could logically affect what happened to them next. She clearly put a lot of thought into these passages!

One of the interesting changes I’ve seen in the inspirational genre over the past few years has been how often books do not mention this in their blurbs or other descriptions of their content. I did not go into this novella expecting to find religious themes and messages, so I thought I’d let other readers know in advance that it does have them. It’s important for readers to be able to find tales from the genres they love.

Anomaly was thought provoking.

Filed Under: Reviews, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , , , ,

You Will Be Peter by Jerry Lathan with Steven Manchester

February 19, 2025 By Leave a Comment


You Will Be Peter by Jerry Lathan with Steven Manchester
Publisher: Forefront Books
Genre: Historical, Inspirational, Fiction
Rating: 5 stars
Reviewed by Lavender

He’s one of the most well-known figures in cultures around the world, etched into stained glass, painted in frescoes, even caricatured as standing at the gates of heaven with a long white beard and keys in hand. But long before he was portrayed as a venerated and untouchable figure, Peter was simply known as Simon, a twenty-something fisherman in a far-flung Jewish province controlled by the Roman Empire.

Loyal and faithful, impetuous and passionate, Simon’s quiet life is upended by the arrival of a man called Jesus of Nazareth, rumored to be the long-awaited Messiah who would rescue the Jewish people from oppression. When Simon meets Jesus, the mysterious man tells him, “You will be Peter,” a prophetic statement that would slowly transform Simon’s life. Eager to be free of the Romans, Simon joins Jesus in hopes that he can guard this leader who will, undoubtedly, build an army to challenge Rome. But as Simon waits for the army to form, he watches Jesus show a compassion for others Simon has never seen before. The miracles Jesus performs—healing the sick, feeding crowds of thousands—show not a display of military might, but of service and love.

Real, relatable and impeccably researched, You Will Be Peter draws on the four Gospel accounts to weave Simon Peter’s story into one seamless tapestry. Readers get a front-row seat to Simon’s three-year walk with Jesus, as Simon watches the Son of Man feed the hungry, raise the dead, upend the status quo and challenge the elite during one of world history’s most pivotal seasons.

In perhaps one of the greatest miracles, we can see ourselves in Simon, this ordinary man Jesus chose to accompany Him. Simon wasn’t well-educated, but he was faithful and headstrong. Though he could rush to judgment and use a foul word from time to time, he was the kind of friend who loved fiercely and was doggedly loyal—until he wasn’t. Although he failed, Simon wasn’t cast away from Jesus’ mission. In fact, his failures and subsequent redemption made him a more empathetic and capable rock upon whom the Church was built.

With storytelling artistry that transports readers to the first-century world, with the sights, sounds, and smells of that time, You Will Be Peter shares an age-old story told from a new set of eyes: it’s possible for one ordinary person, however unlikely, to change the world forever.

In You Will Be Peter, authors Jerry Lathan and Steven Manchester craft a remarkable narrative that revisits the life of one of history’s most iconic figures, Simon Peter. Often depicted in religious art as the esteemed apostle with keys in hand, Peter’s origins as an ordinary fisherman are seldom explored in depth.

This story delves into the transformative journey of Simon Peter as he encounters Jesus of Nazareth, illustrating how an uneducated man’s faith and loyalty can lead to a monumental impact on the world. At the story’s outset, we meet Simon, a young fisherman living under the overbearing rule of the Roman Empire. His life is one of simplicity and routine, until the arrival of Jesus, a man whose reputation as the Messiah incites hope among the Jewish people. The moment Simon meets Jesus, his life is irrevocably altered when he hears the words, “You will be Peter.” In this prophetic declaration lies the promise of transformation—not only of his name but also of his identity and purpose. Here, Lathan and Manchester effectively set the stage for a profound exploration of faith, loyalty, and the potential for change in every individual.

As Simon embarks on his journey with Jesus, he initially envisions a rebellion against their Roman oppressors. The expectation of military might is soon overshadowed by the reality of Jesus’ teachings and actions, which emphasize compassion, service, and love over violence and dominance. Through miraculous acts, such as healing the sick and feeding the hungry, Jesus reveals a different kind of strength—one rooted in humility and selflessness. This evolution of Simon’s understanding is pivotal; it illustrates how personal growth often occurs through witnessing the exemplary qualities of others. The authors adeptly capture Simon’s internal conflict as he grapples with his hopes for a warrior Messiah and the reality of Jesus’ mission. One of the most compelling aspects of You Will Be Peter is its portrayal of Simon as a flawed yet relatable character. He is not depicted as a paragon of virtue but rather as a passionate individual who occasionally falters. His impetuous nature leads him to make hasty judgments, and he experiences moments of failure—most notably when he denies knowing Jesus during the latter’s trial. These human shortcomings resonate with readers, reminding us that imperfection is part of the human experience. However, what truly sets Simon apart is his capacity for redemption.

The story reveals that failure does not equate to disqualification from purpose; rather, it can become a catalyst for growth and deeper empathy. This theme of redemption is integral to the narrative and underscores the belief that everyone, regardless of their past, can contribute meaningfully to the greater good. The authors also excel in their vivid storytelling, transporting readers to the first-century world filled with sensory details—the sights, sounds, and smells of the time. This immersive approach allows readers to experience the historical context that shaped Simon Peter’s journey. It emphasizes the urgency and significance of Jesus’ mission during a pivotal moment in history. By placing Simon at the forefront of this narrative, Lathan and Manchester invite readers to see themselves in this ordinary man—their struggles, their hopes, and their potential for change.

Ultimately, You Will Be Peter serves as a powerful reminder that even the most unlikely individuals can alter the course of history. Simon Peter’s transformation from a humble fisherman to the foundational rock of the Church illustrates that greatness is often born out of everyday experiences, faith, and the willingness to embrace one’s calling, even amidst uncertainty. This narrative not only reexamines the life of a biblical figure but also challenges readers to reflect on their journeys, encouraging them to embrace their imperfections and recognize the potential for greatness within themselves. Through Simon’s story, we learn that the path to making a difference in the world begins with a single step of faith.

Filed Under: Mainstream Fiction, Other, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , ,

A Christmas Storm by D. V. Stone

December 16, 2024 By Leave a Comment


A Christmas Storm by D. V. Stone
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Genre: Romance, Paranormal, Holiday, Inspirational, Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

An early storm is brewing in Upstate New York, and military wife Lacey Prescott is caught unprepared when it turns into a blizzard. Defeated by her own lack of preparation and the recall of her husband’s Christmas holiday leave, her joy in the season is replaced by bitterness and anger.

In an unexpected turn of events, Lieutenant Matthew Prescott’s leave is reinstated. But the journey home is not an easy one since a Nor’easter stands between him and his family.

Amidst the storm’s fury, Lacey gets a glimpse of the past, present, and possible future, while Matt gets assistance from a mysterious stranger.

In a heartwarming story of determination, the resilience of the human spirit, and the unexpected kindness of strangers, the possibility of a Christmas reunion brings a sense of hope with a message of love and support from friends and family that embodies the true spirit of Christmas.

Everyone needs to slow down eventually.

Treating the weather almost like it was a character was a creative move that makes me want to read more from this author. Snow is beautiful, but blizzards can be deadly even for people who are experienced with them. I smiled and nodded along as the characters briefly discussed the things that can go wrong when the roads are treacherous for driving and a family hasn’t stocked up on food, fuel, and other supplies before the storm arrived. While the blizzard itself wasn’t sentient, its presence added plenty of conflict and tension to the storyline as Lacey and her loved ones tried to figure out how to best ride it out.

I would have liked to see more attention paid to developing the plot, especially since it was inspired by Dickens. The author could have done so much more with the intersection between Lacey’s stubborn personality and the blizzard that had her trapped at home. Some important plot points involving the dangers she faced were smoothed away when I thought they should have been explored in greater depth. I would have happily chosen a higher rating if the narrator had been willing to show more examples of the risks she took by not being prepared for this storm and not wanting to ask for help.

With that being said, I enjoyed the modern spin the author put on A Christmas Carol. It was updated nicely for the twenty-first century and included a protagonist that I found relatable and generally pretty likeable, too. Her flaws were realistic, especially considering the glimpses of her past that were shared with the audience that showed why she’d become such a fiercely independent adult. Honestly, I could see myself acting just like her if I’d had her childhood and young adulthood!

This is the third instalment of a series that does not need to be read in order.

A Christmas Storm was heartwarming.

Filed Under: Reviews, Romance Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

The American Weekly Covers Of Edmund Dulac 1924-1951 by Albert Seligman

October 18, 2024 By Leave a Comment


The American Weekly Covers Of Edmund Dulac 1924-1951 by Albert Seligman
Publisher: Dulace Books
Genre: Non-Fiction, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Inspirational, Historical
Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Much has been written about Edmund Dulac’s mastery of art deco and design since his death in May of 1953. He was born in Toulouse, France in 1882 and was educated as a lawyer, although he rebelled and later studied art at the Ecole des Beaux Arts. He is best known as one of the giants of the ‘Golden Age of Illustration’ along with Arthur Rackham and Kay Nielsen. His beautiful watercolor book illustrations are still in print today, and the original first editions are scarce and highly valued.

Dulac emigrated to England from France in 1904 and he was in London at exactly the right time for the invention of color separation photographic reproduction. Prior to the color separation process printers relied on wood blocks or expensive and complicated chromo-lithography to include color illustrations in their books. Most illustrators (Arthur Rackham and W. Heath Robinson, for example) used line drawings to hold the difference in the color changes. Dulac was a watercolorist and this new technique allowed him to paint the colors just as he would normally, without bold lines defining his subjects. He received numerous commissions for the new ‘gift books’ with full color tipped-in plates mounted on heavy art paper. He began an arrangement with both Leicester Galleries and Hodder & Stoughton, the book publishers, to paint watercolors for their illustrated gift book editions which would be sold in the gallery exhibit once a year. He produced fifty oriental style drawings for The Arabian Nights in 1907, forty drawings for an edition of The Tempest in 1908, twenty watercolors, again in his now signature orientalism style, for The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam in 1909. Subsequent editions were The Sleeping Beauty and Other Fairy Tales in 1910, Stories from Hans Christian Andersen in 1911, and twenty-eight watercolors with dozens of line illustrations for The Bells and Other Poems byEdgar Allan Poe in 1912.

In 1923, “Edmund Dulac, the Distinguished English Artist,”as he was billed on the front covers, was contracted by the Hearst organization to paint watercolors for The American Weekly magazine, the Sunday supplement for the newspapers. The contract lasted nearly 30 years. Dulac painted 106 watercolors from 1924-1951 for thirteen different series for The American Weekly. Although these watercolors were highly praised at the time, their reproduction was only sporadic, with some appearing in The Illustrated London News over the years, and once in a 1936 picture book titled Gods and Mortals in Love.

The American Weekly illustrations in this book were photographed from the San Francisco Academy of Comic Art, which was owned and operated by Bill Blackbeard. After Bill’s passing in 2011, the entire collection was moved to The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum at Ohio State University.

This 100th anniversary edition contains all the series with some of his other illustrations. They have been restored as well as possible, as many of the front covers had deteriorated over the years. I have also published these illustrations in more detail in a series of six books, with the original captions. They are available as eBooks and will also be released as print editions.

These pieces of art are worth much more than a thousand words.

It’s not very common for Long and Short Reviews to receive requests to review such image-heavy works, so I leapt at the chance to get to know an artist I hadn’t heard of before and see examples of his watercolours. Many of them told a story, whether it was from the Bible, Greek mythology, The Arabian Nights, or some other famous source that most readers will probably be at least somewhat familiar with. There is nothing like seeing these tales come to light thanks to the magic of art, and I would have happily kept reading and gazing for many pages to come.

I enjoyed seeing how Edmund’s personal style evolved over the years as certain painting and sketching techniques became more or less popular depending on the era. I have basic knowledge of the various art movements of the twentieth century and was able to pick out a few of the biggest ones while taking note of his work. Readers who have deeper understandings of this slice of history will no doubt notice some things I missed! The beauty of collections like this one is how nicely they can adapt to people who approach them from a wide variety of perspectives.

Mr. Seligman’s summary of Edmund’s life and work in the beginning was thorough and educational. I appreciated how much effort he put into sharing the most important details of this artist’s life while keeping this section succinct, too. That’s not always easy to do when writing about topics one is passionate about, so kudos to the author for knowing where to draw the line.

The American Weekly Covers Of Edmund Dulac 1924-1951 was a beautiful peek into the past.

Filed Under: Non-Fiction, Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Pent Up Thoughts by James B. Agape

September 23, 2024 By Leave a Comment


Pent Up Thoughts by James B. Agape
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Non-Fiction, Poetry, Inspirational, Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

“Pent Up Thoughts” is a remarkable collection of journaled thoughts, messages, and poems that shine a captivating light on the complex depths of mental health and self-care. This book beckons readers to take a soul-stirring voyage, delving into the complexities of anxiety, depression, self-love and acceptance, relationships, coping mechanisms, healing, and the widespread stigmas surrounding mental health. Divided into six sections, each part sheds light on an indispensable angle of the mental well-being experience, beautifully intertwined with self-care, resilience, and hope topics. This collection seeks to provide solace, inspiration, and a sense of connection to those battling mental health challenges or searching for a deeper understanding of the human experience and themselves.

Hope is essential and can be found in even the hardest circumstances.

I appreciated the time and effort the author put into describing just how exhausting and hopeless life can feel when someone is struggling with anxiety, depression, or other mental health issues. Even small steps in the right direction can feel as difficult as running a marathon or climbing Mount Everest. This isn’t always something that people who have never struggled with mental illness can easily understand, so I was glad to see it spelled out so clearly. Understanding that headspace is imperative to beginning to heal as well as to figuring out how to help someone who feels trapped by their illness.

The repetition in this book made it difficult for my interest levels to remain high. Certain points were brought up in almost every chapter without clear explanations as to why the author was mentioning them again. This would have been more effective if those sentences were trimmed down or if new information was included in later references to those subjects in my opinion.

The poems were beautiful, and I appreciated their steady cadence and rhyming schemes. Mr. Agape used those rules to explore the wide variety of emotions he experienced before, during, and after his diagnosis became official. There’s beauty to be found everywhere in life, especially in the parts of it that most people would struggle with if it happened to them. He has a real flair for this form of writing and it is my hope that he will be able to publish more of it soon. If or when there’s another poetry collection from him, I’d love to read it!

I should note that I was not aware this was an inspirational title when I requested it. The religious content is an occasional part of the author’s advice and takes up about ten to fifteen percent of the entire book. Still, it was and still is an important part of his life and healing process, so it was interesting to see how his faith affected the choices he made as he struggled with the hardest portions of his mental illness.

Pent Up Thoughts was thought provoking.

Filed Under: Non-Fiction, Poetry, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Dance in the Meadow by Cathay O. Reta

February 28, 2024 By Leave a Comment


Dance in the Meadow by Cathay O. Reta
Publisher: Keep Walking Publications
Genre: Contemporary, Inspirational, Non-Fiction
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Xeranthemum

What do you do when you become widowed, leave your church family of 45 years, retire from your job and move halfway across the country? You get real with yourself. Emerging from a season of loss and the unraveling of every belief and certainty she had so carefully cultivated, Cathay began to sit in conversation with God. With God, not to God. Listening to the still, small voice of her spirit, their conversations went deep and released a well-spring of life and wisdom. These musings will leave you feeling inspired to reflect on your own life and to find answers to questions you didn’t know to ask. They will leave you knowing that you are not alone.

This book took me a while to review because I kept making notes, re-reading certain passages or chapters and brought the book with me on trips. For people who are aghast at readers who mark pages in books, they’d explode because I have chapters, pages and sentences underlined (in pencil) and I have post-it notes sticking out all over the place and weird items being used as bookmarks. I found many references I could relate to in my own life. I found inspiration and experienced more Aha! moments than I expected while reading Cathay O. Reta’s journey with God as she navigated the dark times that followed upon becoming a widow. For the first time, she was defined not by the person she married or the job she had and what she did during it, but as her own person. Thing is, after identifying herself as part of everything outside herself, how does she see herself when all she has is … herself? All good questions.

There are many chapters and sections in the book so at first it might look overwhelming. The chapters are short, like baby-steps on a journey. Each one tackled a perception of self that needed to be torn down and re-written with the focus on how God sees and loves us. There is strength to be gained when we get out of our own way and let the good Lord lead us where we are meant to go. Dance in the Meadow is a year’s journey in the life of the author; what she learned, the internal conversations she had during meditation that led her to self-awareness, and their results. It may sound a bit woo-woo-ish, but meditation is practiced all over the world as part of many religious rituals and practices. The concentration needed to accomplish deep meditation is hard. Our world is inundated with distractions, noise and problems, and they affect the mind to the point it’s as busy as the world. At times, it is almost impossible to shut out. The author found a way to escape from the chaos, but it was not an overnight thing. Again, baby steps.

Elvis Presley was a distraction at one point (I do that kind of thing), the realization that rain isn’t an enemy, it’s adulting that makes it so, and the idea that certain foods weigh you down in unexpected ways (Chapter 25), was eye-opening. In Chapter 27 I learned that clutter isn’t restricted solely to our homes, but our souls and hearts, and is just as distracting and burdensome. What was interesting to me was the explanation of how love works. Not the love we read in romance books, but a healthy, non-commercial, spiritual, and profound love that is hard to put into practice. We’re actually out of touch with its true application in our lives. The author discovers that and more on her relationship journey with God. I even found it fascinating that we really do jump to negative interpretations. When we hear our boss say, I’m going to give you a challenging project, or if you are told, ‘here’s something to challenge you’, our response is most often negative, and we jump into self-protection mode. Yeah, I relate to that. But there’s another way to look at it, and Chapter 31 offers up that way. All I know is, that chapter is me.

There were a few observations and sections I didn’t agree with, some parts I gave the side-eye to, but overall, this book really does deliver an insightful, positive, and uplifting look at healing after the upheaval of becoming a widow after decades of being married and being part of a couple. Healing is not easy or quick, but with the right focus, it can happen.

Dance in the Meadow was a book I savored slowly. It’s going on my keeper shelf, mostly because of all the markings and notes I made, making it a book I’ll revisit for reference and to be reminded of what is and should be important in my life. To remember that I’m loved, not because of anything I’ve done or will do, but just because God loves me, unconditionally, unceasingly, and unswervingly. People can’t help but put conditions on it, whether they realize it or not. This book helped me to remember how it’s supposed to be. I’m glad I read it.

Filed Under: Non-Fiction, Other, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , ,

Soul Ryder by Nita Lapinski

January 15, 2024 By Leave a Comment


Soul Ryder by Nita Lapinski
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Paranormal, Contemporary, Inspirational Fiction
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Lavender

“Am I dead?” the young girl, Leah asks. Addie, a Clairvoyant Medium struggling with her own horrific loss, is compassionately hesitant to reveal the truth.

Join Addie and her insightful dog, Roka as they work to untangle the unimaginable tragedy that has left Leah bewildered and confused. They must race against time and Addie’s own unforeseen challenges to guide Leah to a very important crossroad.

This book is an interesting look into the life of a clairvoyant medium. Addie gets visions of dead people, all the while dealing with her own pain, the loss of a child. Leah visits Addie often, trying to give her a message.

Addie experiences people on the other side of the veil, and it affects her deeply. She must figure out how to help Leah, but it is taking her toll on her.

Soul Ryder is a short and easy-to-read story. This paranormal tale unfolds quickly and tugs at the emotions. Hopefully the author will write more stories, giving readers an inside view into her protagonist’s gift and how she helps others.

Filed Under: Mainstream Fiction, Other, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , , ,
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