Nancy B. Kennedy

I realize this book was aimed at a younger audience than I am, but that doesn't paper over the weaknesses. First and foremost, the glossy colored paper was nearly impossible to read through the glare, requiring I hold it at an awkward angle, which would have been difficult enough without bifocals. The book itself had some weaknesses; the superficial style, which barely touched the rich lives and work of the women profiled was unsatisfying. I would not have been satisfied when I was the age this book was aimed at. In addition, oddball errors, like when she discussed Abby Foster, and said she was married to Stephen Foster. That was fine, she was, but the author said he was the Stephen Foster, the famous songwriter. A quick Google search could have told them otherwise; I only did that search because she was attributing actions to Stephen Foster that happened after his death...and I happened to be sharing my space with a man who is an expert on Stephen Foster...the songwriter, not the man that was married to Abby Foster. In this day and age of easy research, such a mistake is outrageous. When something took me only three minutes and 27 seconds to verify, it seems the height of laziness to get it wrong. One wonders what else the author didn't check closely enough, and which I didn't catch because neither of us was enough of an expert on it.… (mehr)

Miracles and Moments of Grace was a very enlightening book with stories from "moms". This is a book with several short memories of a mom and her child; the moments they embraced and held onto in knowledge they were this child's mom and the child loved them as much as they did them.
The stories were told and wrote in the mom's voices which made them all a bit different in how they were told. I had hoped for a bit more gut wrenching, heart tugging but it was a good read and wonderful for short moments of reading time we all look for in our normal lives.
I received this book from goodreads and do appreciate the ability to read it and add it to my library shelves.… (mehr)

I got this book through Early Reviewers: my interest was in the medical aspects, not the application of a particular belief system. I do believe in a sort of miracles, or rather, I believe that all life is a miracle and all miracles are based on the laws of physics, biology, and the basic structure of the physical universe.

I had a lot of difficulty with many of the tales in this book, which seem to posit a world where good people, particularly good Christian people, have their wishes answered by a generous God, who does things for them that He wouldn't do for just anyone.

A few stories I found genuinely moving, particularly those written by people whose faith was not dependent on God providing miracles just for them. Others I found genuinely irritating: for example, the man who felt that God had turned aside charging elephants for him (while he was hunting those elephants, no less!)

If you are a certain type of Christian, this might confirm your beliefs; if you have a more open mind, or are not part of the Judeo-Christian tradition, you may want to look elsewhere for inspiration.… (mehr)