Left To Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust

Book Description

Immaculee Ilibagiza grew up in a country she loved, surrounded by a family she cherished. But in 1994 her idyllic world was ripped apart as Rwanda descended into a bloody genocide. Immaculee’s family was brutally murdered during a killing spree that lasted three months and claimed the lives of nearly a million Rwandans.

Incredibly, Immaculee survived the slaughter. For 91 days, she and seven other women huddled silently together in the cramped bathroom of a local pastor while hundreds of machete-wielding killers hunted for them.

It was during those endless hours of unspeakable terror that Immaculee discovered the power of prayer, eventually shedding her fear of death and forging a profound and lasting relationship with God. She emerged from her bathroom hideout having discovered the meaning of truly unconditional love—a love so strong she was able seek out and forgive her family’s killers.

The triumphant story of this remarkable young woman’s journey through the darkness of genocide will inspire anyone whose life has been touched by fear, suffering, and loss.

This is Immaculee’s first book.

Customer Reviews:

A Life Giving Antidote to Self Pity and Unforgiveness.......2007-10-04

This book deeply touched my heart. I found it was too difficult to read before bed but I had a hard time putting it down as well. Immaculee's story is one of true character and forgiveness that is more than just words. It truly challenged me to let go of unforgiveness. Nothing that was ever done to me....and I thought I had been deeply hurt...can compare to what she has had to forgive. This story is a light that shines the way on the difficult path of letting go of hurts, a path to which we have all been called by God. Immaculee tells of how this is, however, a path where Jesus leads and sustains and that ultimately ends in a freedom we could never have imagined.

Left to Tell Left Me Wanting.......2007-10-04

Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust was written by Immaculee Ilibagiza, a survivor of the Rwandan genocide. The story stands as an amazing testimony to the power of prayer and the importance of faith in prayer, but I wonder, how does all the God talk strike a non-Christian? Does it resonate with truth, with an A-ha! that changes a life, or does it exist as a concept without relevance?

The fact that the book is on the New York Times bestseller list says something, but what is it? Does the message of surrendering to Christ get glossed over by the same voyeuristic appeal that drives American culture to support Ultimate Fighting?

As a Christian, the way God moved in Imaculee's life is breathtaking and clear. It's without question. It inspires a hearty "Yes God. Bless you! You are faithful!" It stirs the soul, paints the picture of God's purpose in this world and shows where God was during the slaughter.

But despite that, the book didn't grip my soul. I enjoyed reading it, but it didn't possess me to the point of being unable to put it down. Living in a bathroom with seven other women for three months should be more than a statement of fact; I should live the emotional struggle between fear and faith, between death and life, with Immaculee. Instead, I experienced a foregone conclusion.

It's easy to say forgive your neighbor, but when that neighbor murdered your mother, butchered your brother and looted your home the magnitude of the act is incomprehensible. And the telling of that tale should have stirred more in me.

Left to Tell gets bogged down in details, of walking us through a holocaust timeline as lived by the author, and it's a journey without feeling. But that may just be my problem.

Amazing.......2007-10-03

Imaculee, If I could only meet you! This is a potentially life changing book. There is some shocking material but it is extrememly worth reading and will change you if you let it.

Left to Tell.......2007-10-03

Those of you who have struggled either to find a personal relationship with God, or to forgive those who have caused you harm, this book is for you. Those of you who have wondered what it's like to experience a holocaust from the inside, read this book. Immaculee has the riviting power of Elie Wiesel himself to convey the horrors of genocide, and to expose its demonic nature.

Suspense and God's Providence WON!!.......2007-10-01

Immaculee in her own words presents a chilling account of the brutality and that was happening in a small country in Africa and how with persevence , prayer and trust in God , shows the world that to survive WE must all not forget the Creator!!

Average customer rating:

A Book that Will Stay With Me
Fantastic Book!
boring book
Heroics by non heros amidst the banality of life
Irrelevant to me

Prayer for Owen Meany
John Irving
Manufacturer: William Morrow & Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0688077080

Amazon.com

Owen Meany is a dwarfish boy with a strange voice who accidentally kills his best friend's mom with a baseball and believes--accurately--that he is an instrument of God, to be redeemed by martyrdom. John Irving's novel, which inspired the 1998 Jim Carrey movie Simon Birch, is his most popular book in Britain, and perhaps the oddest Christian mystic novel since Flannery O'Connor's work. Irving fans will find much that is familiar: the New England prep-school-town setting, symbolic amputations of man and beast, the Garp-like unknown father of the narrator (Owen's orphaned best friend), the rough comedy. The scene of doltish the doltish headmaster driving a trashed VW down the school's marble staircase is a marvelous set piece. So are the Christmas pageants Owen stars in. But it's all, as Highlights magazine used to put it, "fun with a purpose." When Owen plays baby Jesus in the pageants, and glimpses a tombstone with his death date while enacting A Christmas Carol, the slapstick doesn't cancel the fact that he was born to be martyred. The book's countless subplots add up to a moral argument, specifically an indictment of American foreign policy--from Vietnam to the Contras.

The book's mystic religiosity is steeped in Robertson Davies's Deptford trilogy, and the fatal baseball relates to the fatefully misdirected snowball in the first Deptford novel, Fifth Business. Tiny, symbolic Owen echoes the hero of Irving's teacher Günter Grass's The Tin Drum--the two characters share the same initials. A rollicking entertainment, Owen Meany is also a meditation on literature, history, and God. --Tim Appelo

Book Description

Owen Meany, the only child of a New Hampshire granite quarrier, believes he is God's instrument; he is.
This is John Irving's most comic novel, yet Owen Meany is Mr. Irving's most heartbreaking character.
"Roomy, intelligent, exhilarating and darkly comic...Dickensian in scope....Quite stunning and very ambitious."
LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK REVIEW
"John Irving is an abundantly and even joyfully talented storyteller."
THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOKR EVIEW

Customer Reviews:

A Book that Will Stay With Me.......2007-09-05

I read this book at the recommendation of a friend who said this was one of the top three novels she'd encountered, and I couldn't agree more! I would highly recommend this novel to anyone who wants to enjoy a richly written, inspiring and very satisfying "good read."

Fantastic Book!.......2007-08-26

Great book! This is so well written and refreshing. It has held my
interest and enabled me to picture everything Irving has written.

boring book.......2007-08-23

my son had 2 read this 4 school i think it was very boring and all over the place u cant make heads or tails where their going in this book also if schools have to seperate church & school this should not have to be read

Heroics by non heros amidst the banality of life.......2007-08-06

It was 4a.m. on a work day when I finished, closed, set the book down, and wept. Not just a tear, but buckets, the rest of the house asleep leaving no witnesses to this unexpected and potentially embarrassing event. Very uncharacteristic of me. I couldn't recall a similar reaction in all my reading ... but I'm getting ahead of myself.
This book on my short list of favorite (fictional) books - meaning books that I would actually read a second time (along with such unlikely books as Crime and Punishment (Dostoyefski), and The Name of The Rose (Umberto Eco), both of which I have read several times). I realize that individual preferences are intensely personal, but reading some of the other reviews I see that this particular book is one that evokes a passionate response by quite a few people (a number of people regard this as their favorite book). This usually points to the book's ability to touch on universal themes of the human condition. But it's not for everyone - personal preferences, you know. Irving is not a prolific author, but a disproportionate number of his books have been made into movies. This book was the basis for Simon Birch - an enjoyable but not great movie (much smaller in scope and theme than the book.)
Irving weaves a story where unlikely characters - in particular a small deformed boy with a squeaky voice - do unlikely things with unexpectedly good consequences. This book is the opposite of a heroic epic where the world is made better by the brave efforts of great people doing great things. In this book, small broken people stumble through life, playing, working, doing inconsequential things, but after it all, redemption comes in a single brief act that leaves a tiny corner of the earth much better than it would otherwise have been, and personal meaning in life is not in the banality of a life lived, but the unexpected opportunities at altruism.
As to why I wept, I'm still not sure. I certainly came to care about the characters. A sign of a good author. Irving's style is appealing - I like long stories since they give more opportunity for character development via embedded stories that don't necessarily advance the plot. Perhaps it was late and I was tired - like some other reviewers, I got to the point where I could not put the book down and had to finish reading it in a single go. I'd be interested to hear whether anyone else had a similar experience.

Irrelevant to me.......2007-08-04

I know most of you adore this book and definitely will think this review is not helpful, but I didn't like this book.

I believe the reason for this is that its satirical cuteness, which I think is the driving force, fails to cross the generation/culture cap and its appeal and irony is restricted to those who have a personal place in their minds for having experienced it in some way and can actually be personally relieved to deal with it in such a strange context as this book.

Owen Meany is definitely universal. I have a friend just like him, just as small and extrahumanly obsessed and strange (minus the religiousness, he can recite Old Norse poetry though). But much of this book just isn't.

It twists around the things which are important for America in a way that's so totally convincing and makes you see how innecessary and ridiculous it all is which is totally relieving if you actually have to hold on to and value those things because of some personal/cultural obligations. But if you've long ago dismissed them, religion and politics and great men and such, not in the teenager sort of way, but actually let them have no significance in your thought, then much of the appeal is just gone. That's my theory anyway.

Or said otherwise, it's like reading satire from some totally irrelevant historical period and geographical location. Like 1100's Turkish countryside or something. Even if you knew all about that place, if you didn't think like a person from there, it hardly appeals on a personal level.

Average customer rating:

Pass It On...
Buy several NOW
Be careful what you pray for
Good, quick read
Short and sweet

The War Prayer (Harper Colophon Books)
Mark Twain
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0060911131

Book Description

Written by Mark Twain during the Philippine-American War in the first decade of the twentieth century, The War Prayer tells of a patriotic church service held to send the town's young men off to war. During the service, a stranger enters and addresses the gathering. He tells the patriotic crowd that their prayers for victory are double-edged-by praying for victory they are also praying for the destruction of the enemy... for the destruction of human life.

Originally rejected for publication in 1905 as "not quite suited to a woman's magazine," this antiwar parable remained unpublished until 1923, when Twain's literary executor collected it in the volume Europe and Elsewhere. Handsomely illustrated by the artist and war correspondent Philip Groth, The War Prayer remains a relevant classic by an American icon.

Customer Reviews:

Pass It On..........2007-05-10

This short narrative is simple and to read an understand. It gives the dramatic account of a blindly patriotic church service being interrupted by a "messenger of God," who proceeds to reveal the unspoken prayer of the congregation as heard by the ears of the LORD. It is, to put it breifly, a caution against self-centered prayer and/or a reprimand against needless bloodshed. This should be standard reading in schools and churches across the globe, especially here in the good 'ole war-mongering USA.

Buy several NOW.......2007-04-10

OK - A note from a middle american man on the War Prayer. This book should be read every morning at schools rather than the pledge of allegiance. It takes the american psyche of war and turns it on its ear, with no need for the author's typical wit. I have bought and given away many copies, but more importantly always have a copy hanging around somewhere in your house where visitors or your kids might come across it. They might pick it up, and to pick it up is the same as to read it for the ten minutes it would take anyone to get through it. If more and more people read this book, our culture could perhaps find a more humane view of what warfare truly is. Are you truly willing to pray that your enemies children will be left wandering, wounded, trying to find enough food to survive? I sure hope I know your answer.

Be careful what you pray for.......2005-12-15

"The War Prayer," by Mark Twain, is a short, parable-like story. The text, which is arranged on the pages like poetry, is accompanied by John Groth's black-and-white illustrations. The entire book, although unpaginated, is less than 100 pages long. The story takes place in a time of war, when "the holy fire of patriotism" burns in every heart. Twain tells of a church service in which the congregation is preparing to send its young men off to war. But an aged stranger interrupts the service with a message of his own.

The back cover of the book notes that "The War Prayer" was written during the Philippine-American war in the first decade of the twentieth century, was rejected for publication in 1905, and remained unpublished until 1923. Twain has crafted a harsh, bitter, and biting satire of how patriotism, militarism, and religion can come together. His searing message is well complemented by John Groth's stark, sometimes nightmarish images. Groth's impressionistic drawings look like he has lacerated the pages with his pen. Twain's "Prayer" has a timeless and universal feel. After all these decades, it still packs a punch.

Good, quick read.......2004-08-25

It doesn't take long to read -- maybe 20-30 minutes. Be sure the read the excerpt from Twain's biography in the first pages. It really puts it in perspective.

Short and sweet.......2004-05-27

Not only is this book super short and super easy to read, it is simulataneously thought-provoking. I am a fan of Mark Twain, and this book was a good one. It gives the "other side" view of war. Very eye-opening. Spend 5 minutes reading this book. :-)

The Worship Warrior: Ascending in Worship: Descending in War (Lifepoints (Paperback))

Average customer rating:

Informative
Ascending into His Promises
Fantastic!
Superb!

The Worship Warrior: Ascending in Worship: Descending in War (Lifepoints (Paperback))
Chuck D. Pierce , and John Dickson
Manufacturer: Gospel Light Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0830730567

Book Description

According to the authors, the Church is being prepared to enter its most dynamic season of warfare, worship and harvest. The key to victory during this time will be our worship. When we praise God, He comes into our midst and manifests His rule and authority in our environment. He actually abides with us and "seats" Himself in the very center of our lives to lead us in the paths He chooses for us. When we ascend in worship we go to the throne of God and receive our strategy from Him to fulfill His purposes on Earth. In effect, we align with God's purposes and then we descend with our marching orders to accomplish those purposes. The result of this supernatural process will be a great harvest of souls for God's kingdom.

Customer Reviews:

Informative.......2007-09-27

This is a great book with lots of instruction on worship to get into the presence of God.

Ascending into His Promises.......2007-03-15

After reading just one chapter of this book I felt the Power of the Holy Spirit opening up my spiritual eyes to see Him for who He truly is in my life. This book teaches you how to go up in worship and see the blessings of the Lord! It will truly be a blessing in your life! I highly recommend this book. Be Blessed.

Fantastic!.......2006-07-24

This book was by far the best book Ive ever read on worship- Chuck Pierce talks about ascending and descending in worship - it is awesome - has truly changed the way I view worship!I HIGHLY recommend this book!

Superb!.......2003-01-09

This is one of the best books on worship I've read in a long time. The book talks all about "Ascending in worship, descending in war", just as in biblical times the worshippers led the people into war. It's about spending time with God in worship, in getting to know Him better, and to hear His heart, and then to go out from there to live life His way, including knowing how better to pray for people. I highly recommend it for all Christians!

A Distant Prayer: Miracles of the 49th Combat Mission

Average customer rating:

Pray It Never Happens To You
Touching & a Must for Those interested in WWII & Religion
Captivating
Talk about bad luck ...
A Compelling Story

A Distant Prayer: Miracles of the 49th Combat Mission
Joseph Banks , and Jerry Borrowman
Manufacturer: Covenant Communications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1577349059

Customer Reviews:

Pray It Never Happens To You.......2002-09-23

Joseph Banks was a head of my LDS Stake in Cincinnati. Often he would tell this tale live from the pulpit. As a youth, I somewhat 'checked out' as this is not the type of tale I wanted to hear, but kept it lodged in the back of my mind.

I read this book at the beginning of July, 2002. At month's end, Joe was back in Cincinnati to tell his tale once more to the congregation. How amazing that, even after all this country has experienced in recent years, the people there were only half-tuned. One even had the courage to question its Truth.

Want to get the Royal Hell scared out of you?! Read this one. Be sure and pray that this Never occurs to you.

Touching & a Must for Those interested in WWII & Religion.......2002-09-09

A book I will never forget. I could never imagine experiencing the hell that this man went through. I am so grateful that we have men like this hero who protect us. In light of recent national catastrophe's, this book is not only topical, but a story that will stay with me forever

Captivating.......2002-01-30

We bought the unabridged audio version and put it in the tape player in the car on a long trip. My 13 year old daughter and 11 year old son were both "glued" to their seats. Every time we stopped, they were the first ones to make sure I started it again. A very gripping story that holds your attention from the very first page. The man had incredible faith. His life was spared numerous times. I definately recommend the book.

Talk about bad luck ..........2001-12-12

A two-time recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross, Joe Banks served on a B-17 bomber out of Foggia Italy in World War II. If he could complete fifty missions he got to home. But on the 49th mission his aircraft was shot down, with all his crewmates killed. Joe parachuted into Germany where he was taken prisoner of war. He had to make a 600 kilometer walk across frozen Germany before escaping to Allied lines. A truly inspirational story that tells the price paid for freedom. A book that everyone in the family will read, from teenagers to grandparents.

A Compelling Story.......2001-12-04

I found this book to be very compelling. It was hard to put down. The author describes the experiences Joe Banks went through as a downed WWII flight crew member. This story shows his courage and heroism and his strong faith. I could hardly believe someone could endure such experiences. It made me feel most of us are very blessed in the life we have. This book is not just for those who like "ware Stories". I would recommend this book to anyone.

Strategic Prayer: Applying the Power of Targeted Prayer

Average customer rating:

An excellent book
Awesome book!
Learning to pray better

Strategic Prayer: Applying the Power of Targeted Prayer
Eddie Smith , and Michael L. Hennen
Manufacturer: Bethany House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0764203428
Release Date: 2007-03-01

Book Description

Learn to Pray Targeted, Specific, Result-Oriented Prayers Prayer practitioners Eddie Smith and Michael L. Hennen identify twenty-seven principles that will equip you to pray more purposefully and effectively. Using them, you will focus on the Lord’s answers rather than your requests understand strategies for a successful offensive grasp the critical importance of timing learn the enemy’s goals and strategies and prepare for victory as God’s glory is revealed Complete the practical survey that follows each principle to spiritually map your prayer target. Then use your map to effectively focus both personal and corporate prayer. This goal-based, proactive approach to prayer will bring results in individuals, churches, cities, and nations as you enter into partnership with God.

Customer Reviews:

An excellent book.......2007-08-06

Reviewed by Lori Plach for Reader Views (7/07)

"This then is how you should pray, Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one." In Matthew Chapter 6:9, Jesus teaches us to pray. People have been praying since the world was created. In fact, in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus Christ himself prayed the night before he died. So, are you one of those who just repeat the same prayers time after time without really thinking about what you are saying? "Why is it that my prayer is ineffective and never seems to be answered in quite the way I want it to be?" Perhaps you feel that praying doesn't even help, that God doesn't answer your prayers. If this is you, "Strategic Prayer" is for you.

"Strategic Prayer" is just that. Through this book, you are applying strategy to your prayers. Is it you are focusing on the Lord's answers instead of altering your requests? The enemy has his own goals and strategies that are in direct competition with your goals. Eddie Smith and Michael Hennen have developed 27 principles of strategic prayer for you to follow. There are ways to be proactive in prayer. You can be praying for the promises of God, for the prophecies of God, for the gifts of God, for the Power of God, for the Presence of God and for the Glory of God.

"Strategic Prayer: Applying the Power of Targeted Prayer" is an excellent book which is well-organized by giving each principle its own chapter. There are many scripture references pertaining to the principles included. Each chapter also gives you key points, spiritual reconnaissance with questions that will help you evaluate which specific areas you need to address in your own life, and also questions which make the reader think about personalizing their prayers.

When you desire to pray for a particular desire or need, "Strategic Prayer" is there to help. This is an excellent resource for anyone who wants to target their prayers according to their specific circumstances. So, rather than giving up on prayer thinking that prayer is useless, or that God isn't answering your prayers, think again and take a copy of "Strategic Prayer" in your hands and it will help you through.

"Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak," Matthew 26:41.

Awesome book!.......2007-04-09

Eddie and Michael have written a book that is so powerful. I loved it. It's clear, direct, instructional and practical on how to pray strategically, knowing that the devil is strategic in everything he does as well.

The rules of engagement for warfare were beneficial. I believe every Christian ought to read Strategic Prayer. Delivering the Captives: Understanding the Strongman--and How to Defeat Him Breaking the Enemys Grip[[ASIN:0764201727

Learning to pray better.......2007-03-19

Eddie Smith and Michael L. Hennen are both prayer warriors, and gifted in intercessory prayer. Since spiritual warfare is alive and well today, they feel that the need for strategic intercessory prayer is necessary.

In this book, they address such issues as:

-- focus on the Lord's answers rather than your requests
-- understand strategies for a successful offensive
-- grasp the critical importance of timing
-- learn the enemy's goals and strategies
-- prepare for victory as God's glory is revealed

Included is a survey that follows each principle to spiritually map your prayer target. You will learn how to use this map to focus both personal and corporate prayer.

Strategic Prayer is written as a book to use with small groups, with a short read, key points spelled out, applications, spiritual reconnaissance, and ability to personalize it. I'd like to see lines for answers included in this book for ease in answering the questions in the spiritual reconnaissance and personalize it sections, however, the writer could use a notebook for thoughts.

On the whole, Strategic Prayer is well thought out and well-written. If you want to learn to pray better and more effectively, or if you want to guide your church into being a praying congregation, then Strategic Prayer is a great book to pick up.

Armchair Interviews says: Excellent for small groups and church libraries

Rachels Prayer: A Novel (Country Road Chronicles)

Average customer rating:

Confusing and predictable
Rachel's Prayer
Very good book
insightful Americana historical

Rachels Prayer: A Novel (Country Road Chronicles)
Leisha Kelly
Manufacturer: Revell
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Till Morning Is Nigh: A Wortham Family Christmas

ASIN: 0800759869
Release Date: 2006-07-01

Book Description

The Wortham family has been tested through hard times of injury, illness, and loss. But with the world on the brink of war, they are about to be tested again. And this time, they'll face the ultimate test: one of courage and survival. Just days after the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Robert Wortham and Willy Hammond enlist. As they head off to fight, their families are left behind to deal with fears of what lies ahead for their beloved brothers and sons. Armed with their faith in God and a bold prayer from Robert's girlfriend, Rachel, the Worthams and Hammonds can only hope for peace, strength, and a greater understanding of God amidst this cruel conflict that could forever change the future of both families. The continuing story of the Wortham family and book 2 in the Country Road Chronicles, Rachel's Prayer is a powerful saga of courage and faith during the Second World War.

Customer Reviews:

Confusing and predictable.......2006-11-02

Rachel's Prayer by Leisha Kelly examines the struggles of two close families during World War II, as young men from both families leave to fight.

The story tends to go off on tangents that appear to have no other purpose but to further over-emphasize the difficulty and pain that these families--the Worthams and the Hammonds--are besieged with. Apart from that, this book can be difficult to read because the narrator of this first-person tale changes with each chapter. It is true that this technique significantly opens the story and allows the reader to see important details from the eyes of the character most deeply involved, but it is also confusing and challenging to read. However, if the reader can overcome this nuisance, several interesting characters will be discovered within the tale.

Sarah Jean Wortham and Franklin Drew Hammond are the two main characters in this story. Sarah's brother Robert is fighting in the war, as are Frank's three brothers, Kirk, Joe, and Willy. Frank walks with a limp and is, for insufficiently explained reasons, illiterate. Because of this, he was unable to go to war and, instead, stayed at home with his verbally abusive father. Sarah is a quiet and gentle girl who struggles with her emotions while her brother is at war, and begins to wonder if her Christian faith is lacking.

Julia Wortham is Sarah's mother, and the third narrator of the story, though she doesn't feature as prominently as Franky or her daughter. Julia's point of view is mostly used to provide the reader with thoughts that are more mature than what would naturally come from the younger narrators. Rachel, though she is mentioned in the title, is barely even mentioned in the book. She is Robert's girlfriend and is waiting for him to return in the hope that he will propose to her.

Overall, this book was a decent story. If I had read Leisha Kelly's other books and had already known these characters, I may have found the story more interesting. At the least, I likely would not have gotten so lost in the opening chapter when there are too many characters running around and it is nearly impossible even to tell which ones are the protagonists. After the difficult first chapter, however, the story picked up and seemed promising for a few chapters before settling into a steady, but somewhat dull, saga. I would recommend this book to anyone who doesn't mind a rather predictable story that is highlighted by interesting characters. - Sarah Haines, [..]

Rachel's Prayer.......2006-08-26

Rachel's Prayer is the fifth in the series of books that chronicles the life of the Wortham family and their friends and neighbors. It retains fresh storylines while keeping the characters true to their original personalities. Each book has expressed messages of faith while exploring the frailties of the human spirit. I will read about this group of characters as long as Leisha Kelly writes about them.

Very good book.......2006-08-10

I have enjoyed all of the books in this series. This is the last of the series. For some reason, I didn't enjoy this book as much as the others but it was still a very good book and I would recommend it.

insightful Americana historical.......2006-07-05

Not long after Peal Harbor, many Americans from all parts of the country enlisted. In Southern Illinois, Robert Worthem, his best friend Will Hammond, two of the latter's brothers, and other townsfolk join the army. By the third week in January, just over a month since the sneak attack, the new soldiers are off to war. Robert's parents and the Hammond's widowed dad are proud of their respective offspring but worry and pray for their safe return.

As if he knows his mom Julia needs solace Robert sends a letter home that includes a special prayer from his girlfriend Rachel. She shares the prayer with her spouse Samuel, her daughter Sarah and Willy's family especially his dad George and brother Frank. Each turns to God for comfort and pray that their loved ones will come home alive.

Four years have passed since RACHEL'S PRAYER with a new test of faith being WWII and its impact on the young males of the Worthem and Hammond families that are of an age to fight. Readers actually see the effect on those left behind praying for the safe return of their loved ones as perspective is rotated between Rachel, Sarah, and Frank. Americana historical readers will appreciate the inspiration and hope found in the message that belief and prayer enables those left behind are able to cope with their fears.

Harriet Klausner

Average customer rating:

Air Force brat
No prayers needed
I used this as my book report on it
A Classic.
A great read...

Half a Wing, Three Engines and a Prayer
Brian D. O'Neill
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill Professional
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Wrong Stuff : The Adventures and Misadventures of an 8th Air Force Aviator
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Untold Valor: Forgotten Stories of American Bomber Crews over Europe in World War II
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Book Description

Incorporating a wealth of new material, here is the riveting story of the bombing raids that broke the back of Nazi Germany, praised as "a well-researched, highly readable account of a B-17 combat crew's experience ... excellent." (Roger A. Freeman, author of The Mighty Eighth)

Customer Reviews:

Air Force brat.......2007-09-13

Bob Hullar was my father. I was born in 1948 and my Dad went back into the newly formed US Air Force shortly after that and retired as a bird colonel. While my Dad and I were pretty close, he didn't talk much about WWII and what he did. As a kid, I knew that he was a B17 pilot based in England and that he probably dropped a lot of bombs, but that was about it. This book opened up a part of his life to me that I didn't really know and couldn't possibly understand. My mother, Jean, provided a lot of documents, photos and information to the author as he was researching for it. "Half a Wing, Three Engines and Prayer" is very well written and factual, but also manages to convey the incredible dangers these men continually confronted and the courage they must have had to get back into those planes day after day. As I was reading it, I constantly asked myself "Could I have done this?" and "What was I doing at age 25... surely nothing like this!" It helped me to understand my Dad, who remained a quiet, complex man for the rest of his life and gave me a glimpse of what surely was his peak lifetime experience. For anyone who is interested in the World War II and the US Army Air Force, I think it is a must read.
Thanks to the author for undertaking this task and doing such a great job!

No prayers needed.......2007-06-05

It's always a pleasure to find a non-fiction account of any period which is so good you don't want to put it down. Here's an account of the American contribution to the bombing war in the European Theatre of Ops which is truely readable at all levels (no pun intended.) The story concentrates essentially on bombing operations, in a chronological order, explored mainly through the eyes of the bomber crews themselves as recorded in their diaries and wartime interrogations and de-briefings. These experiences are reinforced by solid research into US and German records, just to confirm the men's accounts. The story concentrates mainly on the crews of one bomber group as they go through their tour of duty. But in the process, it recounts what many men saw and did in the air over Germany. This is NOT a statistical account of the US strategic bombing offence. This is an up-close-and-personal account of men at war, trying to beat the odds and survive the full 30 Ops needed to finish a tour and go home. So when planes blow up beside you and Messerschmitts pop out of the clouds behind, you'll discover what it felt like to have your guns jam at the critical moment, to feel enemy cannon shells hammer your airframe, to sense the hand of death at the controls, then to see 'little friends' come racing to the rescue. The paperback edition contains some unpublished aerial photos, and some surprises - like a photo of the first US experiment with flying bombs, which looked like miniature Lightning fighters carried under a B-17s wings. Most of all, this book is a good read - covering lots of action at a ripping pace. It's a good, thick book and well worth the price. I was glad I bought it.

I used this as my book report on it.......2006-06-01

Half a Wing, Three Engines, and a Prayer , written by Brian O'Neal, is the historical account of a B-17 Bomb Wing in Europe during the Second World War. Though many crews and other wings are followed in the book, the central story is that of the 303rd "Hell's Angels" Bomb Group and the B-17 crew of Lt. Bob Hullar. The period covered is from training in 1942 to combat over Europe from 1943 to 1944.

Though several previous histories of Air Combat in World War II had been written, few had given the full perspective of the individual bomber crew. For B-17s, this consisted of 10 men, 3 of whom were officers and the rest enlisted. Together they flew the airplane, operated navigation instruments and radios, sighted and dropped the payload, and used machine guns to fend off attacks from enemy aircraft along the way. Often noted by the book was the fact that nearly 25% of these air crews would never return from the European Theater of Operations.

The crews of the 303rd Bomb Group began their training for the most part in 1942, following the American entry into World War II. These men came from all walks of life and trained at bases all across the country before being assembled at a base in Washington for their final phase of training, where they trained as the crew they'd be a part of in Europe. From there, they were sent to England, where the 303rd was based as part of the strategic bombing campaign of the 8th Air Force against occupied Europe and Nazi Germany. The Group operated the four-engined B-17 "Flying Fortress", and crews typically flew different airplanes during their tour in Europe, which required 25 missions to be completed. Bob Hullar's crew would fly no less than 10 different aircraft during their tour, several of which were later destroyed, rendered irreparable by damage, and one of which had to be ditched in the English Channel.

O'Neal relied heavily on interviews from members of the crews, particularly that of Bob Hullar. Each chapter of the book is devoted to a mission flown during the Hullar crew's tour, their targets ranging from coastal towns in France to large industrial cities deep in the heart of Germany. Likewise, the missions varied from somewhat un-remarkable to enormous aerial battles and fierce anti-aircraft fire. Regardless of the target, however, every mission posed extraordinary danger to the crews who flew on them. They remained in constant fear of their own destruction, and this perhaps played a role in how well the individual crew members could remember the particulars of each mission decades after it occurred. When events could not be correlated with the accounts of the crew's, O'Neal turned to the official records of the 303rd Bomb Group and even those of the German Luftwaffe to determine what actually occurred during the air battles documented in the book.

The story of the American Amry Air Force in Europe was first made famous by the story of the crew of the Memphis Belle, which was the first B-17 to complete 25 missions and served as the platform for a now famous documentary on the subject, made during the war. Since that time numerous documentaries and books have been produced on the subject, making it one of the more well understood aspects of the war in Europe.

Overall, one learns a great deal from the individual accounts that are contained in the book. They give an eye-witness view to the carnage and fast-paced action that occurred thousands of feet above the earth during the air war, and offer a glimpse into how it actually felt to be caught in the middle of this. One is surprised to learn the ineffectiveness that often plagued American bombing missions, which frequently missed their intended target or did little damage, despite the involvement of hundreds of airplanes for each mission. At times there were well over a thousand aircraft, both bombers and fighters, engaged in accomplishing these missions. The crew of Bob Hullar , one finds out, was lucky to survive the slaughter that took place at 25,000 feet on an almost daily basis, and the story of the air war in Half a Wing, Three Engines, and a Prayer is forever memorable because of it.

A Classic........2004-05-18

Whether this is your introduction to daylight bomber operations over Europe, or you've read hundreds of accounts, Half a Wing, Three Engines and a Prayer will not disappoint. What really sets this book apart from a typical account, is that O'Neill has managed to get the entire crew's recollections mission by mission. Each individual's perspective is different, and taken as a whole provides a remarkably complete picture of life on a B-17 crew during the most intense period of air combat in the ETO. You will be hard pressed to find a better book on the subject.

A great read..........2003-12-24

This book is highly informative. My father, a B-17 Bombardier in the 8th Air Force apprecitated the authenticity of this book. Well written without the Hollywood fluff.

Average customer rating:

Shattering story
A Dark Story
Gruesome...
horror from a different time
A wild ride

A Prayer for the Dying
Stewart O'Nan
Manufacturer: Picador
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Amazon.com

When his town's sleepy summer tranquility is shattered by an outbreak of diphtheria, Jacob Hansen--constable, deacon, and undertaker--stares at an impossible dilemma: save both himself and his family or observe his many duties? Although he's nearly convinced that it's possible to do both, the inexorable and crushing horror of Stewart O'Nan's fifth novel, A Prayer for the Dying, is that evil doesn't flinch, that its insistence can obliterate goodness, corrupt humility. "When won't faith save you?" Jacob wonders; the silence soon deafens him.

An ostensibly inured Civil War veteran, Jacob watches helplessly as his neighbors in tiny Friendship, Wisconsin, are stricken with disease: simply hearing a mother say of her daughter, "She's sick," becomes chilling. Yet even as his wife and baby fall ill, Jacob patiently, dutifully tends to the helpless and buries the dead. When panic erupts, however, and he grapples with the tragedies accumulating before him, he feels the prick of spiritual doubt, even succumbs to violence. "Is this the devil's work?" Jacob asks as he struggles to discern the good in a world without order, watches those he serves turn against him, and disregards his own moral outrage.

O'Nan's style is taut and often oddly lovely, its immediacy braced by an unnerving second-person voice. The novel is, at root, spiritually terrifying. It forces us to consider at what remove we truly are from evil. Overwhelmed with checking his own despair, Jacob begins by pondering how to halt wickedness and ineluctably finds himself sustaining its slow creep. You wonder if he ever had a prayer. --Ben Guterson

Book Description

Set in Friendship, Wisconsin, just after the Civil War, A Prayer for the Dying tells of a horrible epidemic that has gripped the town in a vise of fear and death.Jacob Hansen, Friendship's sheriff, undertaker, and pastor, is soon overwhelmed, though he continues to do what he can.But Jacob cannot control the plague's rapid spread, the panic that takes over Friendship, or his own feelings of despair.Dark, poetic, and chilling, A Prayer for the Dying makes us consider if it's possible to be a good man in a time of madness.AUTHORBIO: Stewart O'Nan's first collection of stories, In the Walled City, won the Drue Heinz Literary Prize.He is the author of four previous novels, Snow Angels, The Names of the Dead, The Speed Queen, and A World Away.He lives in Connecticut.

Customer Reviews:

Shattering story.......2007-07-01

A PRAYER FOR THE DYING is possibly the most emotionally-shattering novel I've ever read. O'Nan knows the way to quickly lure the reader into the lives of his characters and then skewer you with trauma. In this one, Yellow Fever strikes down a small midwest town shortly after the civil war had ended and we watch as its preacher/sheriff goes mad from his ineffectualism and heartbreak. Love it or hate it, this is one novel you'll never forget.

A Dark Story .......2007-06-03

Whoa and yikes! This was one dark, dark tale. Told to us by Narrator Jacob Hansen who speaks to himself in the third person. Which is an interesting way to narrate a novel.

Jacob is the town of Friendship's sheriff, undertaker and pastor. Six years after the end of the civil war an epidemic of diphtheria overtakes Friendship. Jacob is called upon to attend to the sick and dying with the town's doctor.

As the epidemic spreads so does wild fire that threatens both the healthy and the suffering. Jacob feels responsible to keep the people outside of friendship safe from the townspeople's illness and at the same time save the survivors of Friendship from the wild fire. A seemingly impossible task.

In taking the second victim of the illness to the doctor's she says to Jacob
"In Heaven you forget everything. In Hell they make you remember"
No you think it's the other way around. "Maybe so" you say.

A thoughtful question, which way is it? Which would you prefer?

This is a dark and sometimes gruesome tale that tells of the horror of war and illness and the hard choices that survivors must sometimes make.
As well as the consequences of loss.

This was very well done...now I need something light to read!

Gruesome..........2006-08-18

Set in a tiny Wisconsin town a few years after the Civil War, this story centers upon a diptheria epidemic that suddenly and completely sweeps over the people, killing them one by one and setting the horrified survivors at the brink of insanity. It's completely gruesome, but like the proverbial trainwreck, you're powerless to set it aside until the gory end.

horror from a different time.......2006-07-03

Overall, this is a great book. However, one should know that the narrative is in the second or fifth person where when you read its like you do this and then you do that, which throws me off whenever a book is written like that, which is the only reason i am giving this book four stars. its about a plague, in the civil war era, and a fire, and one mans struggle to do what is right while at the same time losing his marbles...check it out, its a good read...if you prefer a more modern horror approach and have to read stewart o'nan, try the night country instead.

A wild ride.......2005-10-11

I took this book on vacation. Big mistake. This is not a vacation or beach book. It was a very quick read and had me reeling for several days. It took me three days to decide whether or not I liked it and would recommend it. I would, but the readers need to be mentally prepared. His most Stephen King-like book that I've read so far. So many levels of horror here. So many.

Allow the Water: Anger, Fear, Power, Work, Sexuality and Practice of Non Violence

Average customer rating:

Allow the Water: Anger, Fear, Power, Work, Sexuality and Practice of Non Violence
Leonard Desroches
Manufacturer: Trafford Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1412019680
Release Date: 2006-06-30

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