Book 82 - Redeeming Love

My eighty-second book was Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers. This book is about Angel, a prostitute living in the Gold Rush. She hates being a prostitute, but it is the only thing she has ever known, having been sold into it at the age of 8. While she is out walking, she is seen by a man named Michael Hosea. God tells Michael that she is the women that he is supposed to marry. He visits her in the brothel, intending to take her home with him. She has been proposed to many times, so she thinks that he is just like the others. However, unlike the others, Michael keeps coming back. One night, after Angel is beaten, almost to the point of dying, she is rescued by Michael, who insists that they be married before he will take her home. She agrees, thinking she is close to death anyway. After he nurses her back to health, she still doesn't believe he actually wants to be with her forever. Even after she runs away, he goes and gets her again. Finally, she decides that he might just be exactly what he says. As she starts to open her heart, she also starts to fear even more. Because, even though Michael vows to love her forever, she still has a secret that even he might not be able to take. Based on the story of Hosea and Gomer from the book of Hosea in the Bible, this is a great story for anyone, but especially believers.
Grade: A+
SC: 7
V: 7
C: 1

Book 81 - What Happened to Goodbye

My 81st book this year was What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen. As with all of her other books, I loved this one. It just took me a long time because of rehearsals for something at my college called Tiger Tunes...long story. Anyway, this book is about Mclean, who is a girl that reinvents herself everytime she moves somewhere new with her father. After they move to their fifth town, she somehow accidentally tells a new friend that her name is Mclean, instead of the planned name of Liz. As she gets closer to her new friend Riley, she also begins to grow close to Dave, the "good" boy next door. Although he appears to be the standard goodie-two-shoes, he isn't quite what he appears to be, proving that even the people that look the cleanest have secrets of their own. While she navigates the problems of being herself for the first time in years, she also has to solve the problem of her mother, who hasn't left her alone since the divorce, even though that's exactly what Mclean wants. And just when Mclean finally finds a place where she actually wants to stay permanently, what will happen if her father decides to move again?
Grade: A
SC: 3
V: 2
C: 3