I have to highly recommend this book ("Casting Off" by Nicole Dickson). It was very good. I cried. I laughed. I was sorry to see it end. It was one of those books where when you got to the end, it was disappointing. Not because the ending wasn't satisfying but because you got to the last page!
The description of Casting Off from Amazon.com is: On a tiny island off the west coast of Ireland, the fishermen's handmade sweaters tell a story. Each is unique-feelings stitched into rows, memories into patterns. It is here that Rebecca Moray comes to research a book on Irish knitting. With her daughter, Rowan, accompanying her, she hopes to lose herself in the history of the island and forget her own painful past. Soon, the townsfolk's warm embrace wraps Rebecca and Rowan in a world of friendship, laughter, and love.
And it is here that young Rowan befriends Sean Morahan, a cantankerous old fisherman, despite his attempts to scare her off. As Rebecca watches her daughter interact with Morahan, she recognizes in his eyes a look that speaks of a dark knowledge not unlike her own. And when current storms threaten to resurrect old ones, Morahan and Rebecca find themselves on a collision course-with Rowan caught between them-each buffeted by waves of regret and recrimination. Only by walking headfirst into the winds will they find the faith to forgive without forgetting...and reach the shore.
Another book that I recently read was The Templar Salvation. It is a follow-up to the Last Templar by Raymond Khoury. The description of the Templar Salvation from Amazon.com is: Khoury's entertaining sequel to The Last Templar (2006) offers characters and plot lines that hew closely to the conventions of the religious thriller subgenre. In 1310, Templar knight Conrad of Tripoli stumbled on a trove of writings documenting the early days and divisions of Christianity. The Catholic Church has kept this material hidden since the fall of Constantinople in 1453, fearful that its release would undermine the church's authority and rock the foundations of Christian belief. In the present, Mansoor Zahed, an Iranian motivated by revenge for the CIA killing of his family in the 1950s, is bent on finding the trove and releasing it to undermine Western religion and stability. Meanwhile, FBI special agent Sean Reilly visits the Vatican on a quest to find a document that may help in his effort to rescue his love interest, Tess Chaykin, who's been kidnapped.
Any other suggestions that you all may have??
GOULDSBORO - Jane Ellen Vdoviak passed from this world Friday, Jan. 21, 2011, with her husband and daughter at her side at home. She was born Dec. 17, 1943, in Clifton, N.J., the daughter of Arthur and Doris Donnelly. Jane was a loving and devoted wife, mother, grandmother and friend to all. She never had a bad word or opinion of anyone. She grew up in Clifton, N.J., and was a graduate of Clifton High School and Fairleigh Dickinson University. She married her high school sweetheart and followed him to many places in the world as a Navy wife. After settling in Gouldsboro Jane taught school locally for 27 years, always enjoying the company of her students who are now active leaders in their communities. Jane is survived by her husband of 45 years, Steve; her loving children, Scott of Austin, Texas, Diana Jane and her husband, Jayson Knowles, of Gouldsboro and Steven of Bangor; her grandchildren whom she dearly loved, Jacob, Jordyn and Tori Knowles, all of Gouldsboro; and her sisters, Patricia and husband, Joseph Cahill, of Landing, N.J., and Gouldsoboro Point and Doris and husband, Dan, of Stanhope, N.J. She was predeceased by her parents. It was Jane's wish for her family and friends to think about what she was like before she became seriously ill and to remember her in that way. Visiting hours will be held 6-8 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 26, at Bragdon-Kelley Funeral Home, Milbridge, where a memorial service will be held 10 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 27. Those wishing to remember Jane may make gift donations in her memory to The Cancer of Maine at The Lafayette Family Cancer Center, 33 Whiting Hill Road, Brewer, ME 04412. A service of Bragdon-Kelley Funeral Homes. Condolences may be sent at www.bragdonkelley.com.
