The Generous Heart

Travel with me will you into the heart of an old woman with a giving heart. She makes the most exquisite quilts you've ever seen. The richest townspeople line up outside her door, time and time again, with bags of gold to purchase her one-of-a-kind quilts. But the woman would not sell them.

"I give my quilts to those who are poor or homeless," she told all who knocked on her door. "They are not for the rich."

The fame of the quiltmaker's talent spread to the King. The King had a love of wonderful things. So much so that he decided it would be fitting to celebrate his birthday TWICE a year! This of course would also require all the townspeople to bring him a gift TWICE a year! He collected and collected gifts but none made him happy.

This is where I want the author to insert some Christian principles. SIGH. However, when I read to baby girl, I'm comfortable doing so even if the author doesn't see the connection.

The King's greed led him to demanding a quilt of the quiltmaker. She refused. The King tried all sorts of methods to coerce the quiltmaker to make him a quilt. After all, that was the 1 gift that would satisfy him and finally make him happy. Right?! She told him,

"Make presents of everything you own," she said, "and then I'll make a quilt for you. With each gift that you give. I'll sew in another piece. When at last all your things are gone, your quilt will be finished."

Now for a greedy King GIVING was out of the question. So he pushed on to force the quiltmakers hand but she would not. Though she was locked up with a grizzly bear and left stranded on an island, she remained persistent. Her quilts were for the poor!

The King felt guilty for torturing her so he finally conceded. It started with a marble, then a few coats, however within weeks the King gave away all his treasures. As he gave, he began to smile. The townspeople were so happy! The King found his happiness, not with a quilt, but through developing a love of generosity and making others happy. In the end, the quiltmaker did indeed, make his quilt, as promised when he was finally poor. His last words to the quiltmaker:

"But I am not poor," he said. "I may look poor but in truth my heart is full to bursting, filled with memories of all the happiness I've given and received. I'm the richest man I know."

As I closed this book, I realized I was smiling, ear to ear. This simple children's story reminds me of the giving heart Jesus had and the call to be generous givers as He was. True happiness and fulfillment doesn't come from material things. In a world so materially driven, this little children's book provides such a good message on the importance of a giving heart. Though, I intend to put my own Christian spin on it...baby McGehee will definitely hear this one time and time again.

I should also mention, the illustrations of the quiltmaker and her quilts make ME want one! Beautiful job Jeff Brumbeau and Gail de Marcken.

It's About The Journey, Not The Ending...

I happened across this book in the library. Interestingly, it caught my eye though it was much shorter and smaller than the books around it. It was literally wedged between two huge books with large obnoxious titles. I quickly read the back and a snippet about the author and I knew it'd be a good choice. If you've never heard of the author or the book, take my advice and just read it. I'm not going to dive too much into the end of the book so that I don't ruin why this book is so incredibly intriguing. It's a page-turner folks and at only 100 pages, you'll be done with it in one sitting! Let me hook you in.

Mattie Cominsky is a married career woman and mother of a 2-year old girl. The book opens with a frustrated Mattie. She's irritated with her marriage. She's irritated that her marriage isn't where she thought it would be. She's irritated that her husband is a workaholic. She's irritated that her husband doesn't make time for her or pay attention to her when he is home. And the latest frustration is that he came home recently acting completely odd: offering to cook dinner, spending less time at work, and going on and on about how he had dinner with Jesus. Mattie is convinced her husband is going crazy. Not only is he loosing his mind, but he's spending more time in this crazed state at home and around their family. Mattie needs to get away from her husband and all his Jesus talk so she took a work-related trip to Tuscon, Arizon for the weekend. She was relieved to get away!

The book details Mattie's plane trip. She meets and observes some interesting characters on her plane ride. She's certain at the start of her trip, that perhaps a divorce makes the most sense. Right?! She gets into an odd argument with a "loud mouth" in the window seat next to her. Luckily the man sitting on the other side of her is seemingly normal and he's a counselor. Mattie dives into a dialogue with this counselor about the relationships in her life.

This is a must read!

Pursuit of Honor by Vince Flynn

Flynn outdid Mr.Grisham this time folks. I'm telling you reading this book was as delicious and delectable as plowing through the pages of our JK Rowling favorites. I literally could not put this book down. After almost 10 hours of reading, I finally decided my biological urges needed to take priority. I finished the book the next day and savored every second of it. If you like thriller or action movies, read this book. Okay, let's begin...

Meet Mitch Rapp, an ex-marine currently works for the special ops sect of the CIA. In other words, Rapp is from the old school. His methods of acquiring "intelligence" are a bit more physical than other legal alternatives. The book opens with a violent interrogation of Glen Adams, a federal agent suspected of treason. Adams had been caught giving out classified information to the press and conspiring to release a ton of government secrets on the REAL way the CIA operates. Rapp and his crew (other old school CIA'ers) grappled with whether or not to just knock off this guy or actually try to get useful honest information. All the while, trying to figure out how to cover their tracks. Just because the CIA operates under these less than humane measures, doesn't mean they are openly condoned. In other words, Adams (or someone that looks like him - a decoy) must be seen leaving the country or something else that explains his disappearance. We can't simply say....OH we knocked him off because he was a dirt bag. That wouldn't look too good on the CIA's record.

Let's back up a minute and let me get you up to date with what's just happened. Tensions are high because post-9/11, another terrorist attack has occurred on US soil. This attacked killed almost 20 including a some U.S. Senators. It took place right in the heart of DC. The government is searching for leads, the FBI hasn't come up with anything, the President is getting anxious to provide answers, and the CIA is using it's own "methods" to coerce information and follow their own trail. Fast forward back to Rapp and now you see the vehicle spurring his warpath.

One other key character should be detailed and that's Nash (his first name escapes me at the moment). Nash is also an ex-Marine working with the CIA. He's a part of Rapp's crew. They've known each other for years and have grown very close.Nash is married with 3 children. He's torn between having a balanced family life and performing his very undercover work for the CIA. In short, he's not home or mentally checked-in very much. During the recent attacks, he watched his secretary be blown to pieces. In fact, he still has shrapnel all over his body. He's pretty scarred by the experience and has began to shut down a bit. Nonetheless, he's in on the Adams job and supporting Rapp. Or at least, he does in the beginning...

The author jumps from perspective of a variety of characters. A few chapters from Rapps point of view. Then, a chapter thrown in from the terrorists point of view. Yup! That's right, he writes part of the book from the POV of the terrorists on the run from the attacks. They are a band of 3, Hakim, Kareem, and Ahmed. This pack of 3 presents an interesting trio! For starters, Kareem is the hot-headed "commander." He has the tactical sense to lead the attack. Ahmed is his faithful subordinate. Hakim is Kareem's childhood best friend. Hakim spent a few years in the States prior to the attacks while Kareem stayed in Afghanistan fighting the US Soldiers. Hakim wanted to absorb US culture and customs. He developed a love of reading American literature including authors such as Ernest Hemingway. Interesting, yes?! Kareem sees Hakim's seemingly genuine immersion in the "West" as polluting his mind. These two are on the run together. But, with Kareem's trigger happy attitude and general distrust of Westerners, he's delineated from the strategic escape plan Kareem has spent years putting together. This has led to a series of mistakes that ultimately leads to their demise. I'm purposely not ruining this part for you in case you decide to read.

The book chases Rapp, primarily, through his exploration of finding the culprits behind the attack, Kareem and his crew. It takes him into all sorts of political depths from press conferences, near death experiences, reflecting on the loss of his own wife and unborn child, foreign bank accounts, security deposit boxes, violent interrogation, Columbian drug cartel, and Russian mobsters.

The story comes to an action packed ending with Nash's oldest child, his daughter, held hostage by Kareem, in the center of Washington DC. SWAT team, FBI, CIA, et cetera are all there as this crazed maniac threatens to take the life of this little girl to show America he's NOT a coward!

Must read.... Ah! I held back so much in HOPES that you'd read it.

My Verdict on The Appeal

I don't want to short change you from the drama Grisham includes. Please be sure that if you choose to read this book, I've left out a pretty hefty amount of colorful drama from my posts. To pick up where we left off, Krane has decided to put all their hope in Ron Fisk, a well-to-do Christian conservative, in a state supreme court election against a more liberal incumbent. The strategy here is to employ a more conservative court. There are 9 justices on the Mississippi Supreme Court and 4 are fairly conservative and 4 are fairly liberal. How does this relate to Krane Chemical's $41 million appeal? Conservative supreme court opinions tend to favor big business. In other words, is Krane TRULY liable for these cancer-related deaths? And if they are, isn't $41 million a bit excessive? After all, they DO have a company to run! The rationale here is that liberals say HECK YEA they are liable and conservatives favor limited to no liability with much less financial penalty. All in all, Fisk on the Supreme Court would likely mean more conservative verdicts. Thus, when the Krane case hits the Supreme Court docket, they'll likely get the lower courts judgment for $41 million reversed. That's Mr. Trudeau's hope anyway.

The campaign proceeds and it gets down right nasty. There are all sorts of slanderous attack ads being generated by Fisk's campaign manager. Keep in mind Fisk is truly a stand up guy. He truly does want to run a clean campaign. However, the folks that have "recruited" him to run have other ideas in mind. They are spending millions upon millions on direct mail advertisements, TV ads, et cetera to dirty the incumbent's name. They even strategically create drama! You'll have to read yourself to hear about some of their tactics. It really makes you wonder if this really happens during elections. Crazy!

Okay, fast forward to the height of the election campaign, Fisk wins! Isn't that a surprise?! Remember he has no clue WHY he's been "recruited" to do this as no one has brought up the upcoming Krane appeal to him. As a Supreme Court Justice, Fisk votes on a few big business cases and he consistently affirms limited liability. True to his political platform, he votes conservatively. Krane's case is coming up on the docket soon and it looks promising.

In Fisk's spare time, he coaches his son's baseball team. This most recent game was quite tragic. His son was hit in the temple with a fastball. Severe damage was done to his son's brain and motor functions. In the midst of seeking medical attention, a doctor made a silly mistake that cost his son a large percentage of his motor functions. Fisk is outraged. His friends and family say SUE SUE SUE! But, of course...being the big business person he is, this would seem highly contradictory. Fisk begins to do a little soul searching and learns that his position on the issues may be changing, now that his family has been personally and wrongly affected by big business. Hmmmm.

Krane case vote comes up. It's dead locked, 4 to 4. Do we affirm the $41 million settlement and make Krane pay? This would of course open the fence for anyone with cancer in cancer county to file a case and expect a large verdict. Or, do we return the verdict and render it excessive? Before Fisk's son was ever hurt, it was a "no-brainer" for him. Limit liability! Krane should NOT pay. But, now his feelings are involved. His child is involved. What does he do? As he sits in the hospital room near his son in ICU, he writes his judicial opinion to render the verdict excessive. He caves. I'm very surprised this was the path Grisham wanted Fisk to take. I was certain that he'd change his mind after the incident with his son. I'm a little dissatisfied with the ending. The final chapter returns to Mr.Trudeau, CEO of Krane, during a dinner on his $75 million yacht, a recent purchase in celebration of his victory in the appellate courts.

As I close the book, I can't help but wonder...does this really happen? Where do I stand on these issues? How did politics get so dirty?

Setting The Scene

There is nothing like curling up with a spicy suspenseful and scandalous Grisham novel and grinning as I turn each page. His traditional writing transports us to some sort of judicial or legal related controversy in the southeastern part of the country. Tennessee and Mississippi are typical stomping ground for his characters. This particular book is focused in Mississippi. Now please understand, that I am from the South (Texas --> the REAL south) so I enjoy reading novels based on southern traditionalists. For starters, southerners say "yall." So, venture with me if you will to Mississippi.

The premise of the book is based on a court case facing Krane Chemical. The book opens mid-court preceding. Krane is being sued by widow Mary Grace for illegally dumping toxic waste in the public water system and thus causing cancer in her husband and child. The cancer eventually killed both her family members and she's taken up suit. She's represented by Payton & Payton law firm. Now there's several layers to the story here. This particular location of toxic waste dumping has not just affected this family. It's affected the entire city. The toxic waste seeped into the public water system and cancer broke out everywhere. 1 in 4 citizens developed some type of cancer. The death rate sky rocketed. The city became known as "cancer county." Krane denies all dumping, of course. The third layer to this story is that Payton & Payton law firm reluctantly tackled this law case. They bankrupt their entire firm representing this case. This was a critical case as it was the first against Krane accusing them of such monstrosity. The long drawn out court case proved worth it. Mary Grace was awarded 41 million for her loss. WHAT!!!! Yes, this is all just SETTING THE SCENE for the book.

The CEO of Krane Chemical, Mr.Trudeau takes the hit. He realizes that because of the appeal process and generally slow-processes of the judicial system, the actual 41 million won't be paid out for over a year. Krane averages about 40 million in revenue each month. This hit, if isolated, isn't a big deal. The problem is, the precedent the case sets. Now every Tom, Sue, and Sally with cancer in "cancer county" presumably has a case -- and a BIG one! Krane has to appeal this verdict to the Mississippi Supreme Court. But Krane, specifically Mr.Trudeau cannot risk loosing his appeal. In short, he needs to BUY his verdict.

Hmmm. You can't bribe existing justices. So Mr.Trudeau fronts a hefty 7 million to a promising private organization, Judicial Vision. JV promises to elect a candidate to run in the upcoming election BEFORE the appeal makes it to the supreme court. JV explains that they specialize in getting people elected. JV scouts out a prime candidate for the supreme court; a squeaky clean politician. They find Ron Fisk. Fisk is a lawyer with no prior political ambitions. However, after a quick presentation from JV about how the MSC needs to be strengthened with more conservative justices. He takes the bait. At this point he has no idea that he's being pawned to deliver a verdict.

JV seems a bit sketchy. Grisham definitely has more to reveal about this company. They are sleek and slimy, I sense it. The campaign for Ron Fisk has started. He's running against incumbent McCarthy, a liberal female soft on conservative justice.

This is getting down right dirty. Tisk Tisk Krane Chemical.

Why Me? Why You? Why Here?

How did we get here you ask? You and I on this blank blog page... not yet full of words, but instead a crazed book lover trying to come up with quirky words to make you want to come back here again and again. Well, my purpose is simple. I miss drowning myself in books for hours on end, looking up only to realize that I've neglected all biological urges for the past 6 hours.

In order to push myself to spend my new found time as a stay-at-home mom reading and writing, I'm inviting you to tune in regularly for updates on the good, the bad, and the-ugly. (Though I don't often pick up ugly books. LOL) Just kidding, some of my favs look like they've spent a few years in an alley way. So we'll start our journey with my current book: The Appeal by John Grisham. You'll quickly learn that I'm a Sidney Shelton and John Grisham kind of girl. I also read multiple books at a time so patience please! :)

I'm also quite a movie-buff as well, so tune in for special updates on my recent flix!

Thank you MSF for inspiring me to make time for a hobby I truly love.

Okay... let's go!