An Unorthodox Match

An Unorthodx Match by Naomi Ragen   336 pages

 I admit that I’m not well educated in the different sects of Judaism. I depend on great authors like Naomi Ragen to help me understand that extremely complex world. Usually, she does a great job.

Lola is looking for a sense of purpose and roots. She has known the world and all it’s twenty-first century trappings and tragedies. Yet she longs for a simpler life. That is why she has decided to join a Jewish Orthodox community in Brooklyn, New York. She has even changed her name to Leah.

Yaakov has recently lost his wife. He is struggling to raise his five children and continue his studies of the Torah. He has gotten a lot of support from family and friensds, but he know she needs more; he needs a wife.

As Leah and Yaakov navigate the idea of an arranged marriage, the attraction the feel for each other creates problem after problem.

 I had an extremelu difficult time with this book. At times, as in the first 40 pages, there was too much information on the various forms of Judiasm, which I had to read at least three times. I was never clear if some of the words were Yiddish or Hebrew. And if it was explained, I missed it.  I’m sure that this is why I didn’t care about the characters for the rest of the story.

The story seems well-written, the plot seems strong. But this just wasn’t my cup of tea. It’s the reader, not the writer in this instance. I feel bad about my ranking, but it’s an honest opinion.  “An Unorthodx Match” receives 1 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

Wisdom's Journey

Wisdom's Journey: Living the Spirit of Islam in the Modern World by John Herlihy, 237 pages

This book is partly about Herlihy's conversion to Islam but mostly him telling the reader why Islam is great and the parts of the faith.

He begins by describing Mystery and the choice to deny or confront it. He is critical of science and the shallowness of many in the modern world. He goes on to talk about accepting the faith and the details of the parts of it.

Herlihy provides information on the three distinct sources of knowledge which are the Quran, virgin Nature and humans themselves. He also covers virtues, prayer as ritual and the Hajj.

It was illuminating to some degrees. The partial description of his conversion and his personal experience with the religion were good. On the other hand, there were some aspects of the religion I was expecting him to talk about but were absent. He makes no mention of the place of women in Islam. Nor does he touch on Sunnis versus Shiites. For multiple reasons, I would not recommend it as the best source to gain knowledge of Islam.

Higher Is Waiting

Higher Is Waiting by Tyler Perry            Audio Book:  4hrs., 30 mins         Hardback book:  224 pages                      

A wonderful sharing of Tyler Perry’s life, good times and bad times, nothing held back and how God got him through every circumstance and helped him to achieve the success he has today despite the nay-sayers that tried to talk him  out of his dream.    Nothing comes easy there are always lessons to be learned from the hard things we humans have to endure in this life, but, Tyler Perry tells us that Higher Is Waiting.   God is right there if only we acknowledge Him and give him precedence in all things.    Mr. Perry has endured a lot in his life, physical and verbal abuse from his father,  but good people, his mother, his Aunts, different people who were brought into his path as teachers, like, Mr. Butler, the blind man who sold penny candies on a street corner.    Friends and family have always been important in his life but many of these same people tried to talk him out of his dream of writing plays and performing them for huge audiences.   Even faced with so many people telling him he couldn’t make it, he held onto his faith he learned as a child from his beloved mother, Maxine.   Even in dire circumstances like when he was put out of his apartment because he couldn’t pay his rent and had to live in his car, he kept his faith and kept the lesson not the sorrow.    He prayed and kept his faith knowing that this was what God wanted him to do with his life.   He did without to bring his dream to fruition and even then the first show he ever put on – paying the actors, renting the auditorium – the whole nine yards – that first night only 30 people showed up in the 250 seat auditorium.   He kept his belief, kept on praying and word go out and spread and more and more people came numbers growing with each new performance.   It wasn’t an instant success but God was honing him and purifying him and allowing him to trust more and increase in faith and be thankful for that which he received.   Then God blessed him in a magnificent way – SOLD OUT performances!   Requests for him to come to more towns, name recognition got more and more fans to this day God keeps adding to his story and like Job his faith sustained him through the hard times and God blessed him with more than he ever hoped for so that now he can use what God has given him to help others.     There are such words of wisdom in this book.    Tyler Perry is a great author, thinker, performer and humanitarian.   He has helped so many people down on their luck, like the grandmother raising 7 grandchildren (their mothers’ lives caught up in drugs) whose house burned down and seeing in the news the grandmother just wanted God to provide a way she could keep all of her grandchildren together and get them back.   Tyler Perry bought her a house and provided for the family including education of all 7 children.   That is just one of the great things he has been able to do there are lots of great uplifting stories here.   One of his friends came over to visit and talked about how horrible one of her family members was and how they always did bad and wouldn’t try to do better.     He invited her out in his yard (it was a really hot day).    He showed her the green grass in his backyard and asked her if she didn’t think it was beautiful and green?    She agreed that yes, the grass was lovely but couldn’t they go over and sit on the bench under the trees now?    He said, “Didn’t you just agree that the grass here is lovely?”   She said, “Yes, but it is so hot let’s go over in the shade.”   He said, “but you just said the grass islovely and that you liked it"   She got a littled peeved with him and said, “the greass is lovely but I want some shade.   It will be cooler if we go sit in the shade.”   He said that the grass was like the person she was fussing about.    Grass is good, but, it is grass and it can’t offer shade.   That is not grass’s purpose it can only be grass.   It’s not a tree.    Just like the person she was mad at.   She knows the person well and knows what they can and can’t do, what they will and won’t do.   So grass can’t be a tree no more than the person she was angry with can be anything other than what he was so why should she expect him to be anything other than what he is?   Grass can’t be no tree- it is what it is.  Don’t expect the person to change into something he is not.   Loads of teaching moments.    The man is a mega evangelist.   He would have a wider audience than Joel Osteen if he ever decides to go that route.    Excellent book.

Murder in the Afternoon

Murder in the Afternoon by Ella Jo Sadler   167 pages

On September 15, 1959, Quaker, Missouri, was a sleepy farm town. Locks didn’t need keys, neighbors weren’t strangers, and keys were left in car ignitions. Summer was still clinging to the community located about an hour-and-a-half south of St. Louis. 

Besides the farm, the Barr family ran a grocery store in the lower level of their family home. They lived above it.  Ella Jo Barr was 16 years-old.

Two teenage boys were seen walking along the dusty road that ran in front of the house. They carried a rifle. Not surprising at this time and in the place, and wouldn’t be terribly surprising today. They may have been hunting or target practicing.

The boys were hot, thirsty, and stripped to the waist. They wanted a car. As they approached the Barr homestead, they made a plan. First they went into the store, distracted Lynn Barr by ordering a sandwich. Then one of them shot Lynn in the back.

Upstairs, Lynn’s wife, Valle, thought she heard something, but noises were common on farms in the daylight. That and sound traveled without the benefit of trees to swallow it.

After the boys finished in the store, they made their way upstairs. Valle, hearing them climb the stairs, went to the door, where she was shot in the shoulder. They went inside the house. Now out of ammunition, when they encountered Ella Jo and her friend, Bobbie Lou Sharp, they beat them with the gun stock.

This horrific true tale about that brutal afternoon is a true story. Google “Barr Murders in Washington County MO 1959” for more info on the assailants and what happened that day.

This is not the best written book; it has a lot of holes. I suspect that’s because it’s all Ella Jo could remember. She wrote this book sixteen years after the events. Still it’s harrowing, unputdownable, and will leave readers with nightmares---and a little paranoid about leaving anything unlocked. 

Afterparty

Afterparty, by Daryl Gregory, 304 pages

In the not-so-distant future, there has been a "smart drug" revolution- people can create recipes for drugs and print them on chem jet printers.  When a girl is brought into the psych ward and starts going through terrible withdrawal from a drug that made her "see God," a fellow patient becomes personally involved.  Lyda Rose watches the withdrawal and knows that the drug she took is one Lyda swore would never come to light again.  She sets out on a trip that takes her across Canada, into the U.S., and crosses paths with cigarette-smuggling First Nations, dangerous drug dealing immigrants, her girlfriend from the psych ward who goes off-medication in an effort to help, and the scariest of all: her past.  This book offers a great deal to think about regarding faith, God, drugs, and the brain.  It also has a bit of a mystery to it, so there's a little bit of everything in it.