Bury my heart at wounded knee
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I see Joe post enough about it on Facebook I figured I had to finally cave and try it.

Will part four involve a wounded knee that wouldn't heal after being dissected by space aliens? Only time will tell.

Good read, I suggest you buy several copies
847745
The poems of Allegheny, Monongahela are the sort that seep into your veins; painfully and beautifully, Erinn Batykefer's voice is "a whisper moving on iambs of blood." Her words are for those who cannot help but stare at the brush strokes of a Georgia O'Keefe and battered peaches with the same reverence. Her poems are for those who cannot sleep for the dreams that come are too much like real life. With a nostalgia for a childhood lost, her words reconstruct a "family album's crumbling pages." I reach for this book when I am crying for it reminds that I am not alone. I reach for this book when I am feeling nothing for as I read, and reread, I once again feel alive.  She insists, "As the knife is made to cut, I can be nothing/ less than I am, and so I will be honest: /I have no memory,and I'm always running away." Although the poet may be running, her book takes you with her. At times she holds your hand so sweetly and then, you can only brush her fingertips. But more often than not, she tightly encircles the thin skin of your wrist, leaving bruises for weeks to come.
1672294
I read the book out of a feeling of fate. I lost my husband on 5/26/2002, and then my son on 9/19/2003. I recall someone mentioning to me that I should read this book about healing after the loss of loved ones. I can't recall even who mentioned it, but I ran across it in a used book store and felt there must have been some reason for the coincidence. I have to tell you that my heart was not healed by Mr. Peart's journaling of his travels. I could truly feel his pain at times, but most of us do not have the luxury of jumping on our motorcycle and riding as he did (yes, I do ride.) We have to earn a living, taking our little baby broken heart everywhere we go. That was the part of the book about which I truly could relate, and the analogy I will hold on to. I'm happy he was able to find someone so comforting in such a short time to soothe his broken heart, but I think that is not reality for most of us. In truth, the pain remains and there is no knight in shining armour waiting in the wings to make those memories a distant past. The ghost rider is still by my side every minute, reminding me of what I no longer have, and making me question my purpose day by day. I go on hoping that one day I will find that answer. In the meantime, I don't drink away the pain or try to mask it. I work and grieve and get by, just like all the others who lose those they cherish most.
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This stunning Civil War novel from best-selling author Dennis McFarland brings us the journey of a nineteen-year-old private, abandoned by his comrades in the Wilderness, who is struggling to regain his voice, his identity, and his place in a world utterly changed by what he has experienced on the battlefield.

In the winter of 1864, Summerfield Hayes, a pitcher for the famous Eckford Club, enlists in the Union army, leaving his sister, a schoolteacher, devastated and alone in their Brooklyn home. The siblings, who have lost both their parents, are unusually attached, and Hayes fears his untoward secret feelings for his sister. This rich backstory is intercut with scenes of his soul-altering hours on the march and at the frontthe slaughter of barely grown young men who only days before whooped it up with him in a regimental ball game; his temporary deafness and disorientation after a shell blast; his fevered attempt to find safe haven after he has been deserted by his own comradesand, later, in a Washington military hospital, where he finds himself mute and unable even to write his name. In this twilit realm, among the people he encountersincluding a compassionate drug-addicted amputee, the ward matron who only appears to be his enemy, and the captain who is convinced that Hayes is faking his illnessis a gray-bearded eccentric who visits the ward daily and becomes Hayess strongest advocate: Walt Whitman. This timeless story, whose outcome hinges on friendships forged in crisis, reminds us that the injuries of war are manifold, and the healing goodness in the human soul runs deep and strong.

I really enjoyed this story. I think PTSD is often overlooked. I think many people don't want to acknowledge it. I loved the cover as well. Very provoking, and soft/subtle. I thought the scenes of the battlefield and baseball were just enough for me to get tastes but not overdone. This reviewer loved each word. Imaging vistors? Very interesting! Read, find out more and enjoy this wonderful story spun for us!
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Ive been meaning to read Kristan Hannah for some time. Shes been highly recommended to me by several friends. I can see why after reading THE GREAT ALONE.

This book hit all the feels for me. And how could it not? A veteran, broken, struggling, suffering from PTSD and the darkness that lurks deep in his soul, threatening to take over. A woman who loves him too much to leave, who lives on hope and faith and in fear. A young girl caught in the middle, struggling to make sense of it all, while falling in love for the first time.

The book is set in the 1970s in Alaska and its one of the things that first caught my attention, as I lived in Alaska during that time. Kristan Hannah took me on a sweet, wonderful trip to the past. Reading THE GREAT ALONE took me back to the summer of endless days and dark, cold winters. Her descriptions of the Kenai Peninsula didn't so much paint a picture for me, as it transported me across time and space. Once again I was a young girl picking the biggest and sweetest blueberries Id ever had. And yes, those mosquitoes! The Alaskan state bird. 

But it was more than the trip down memory lane that drew me in; it was the beautiful writing, and the touching story of this dysfunctional family. While I wanted to rant and yell at Cora for staying with an abusive husband, my heart ached for her struggle. How do you give up on someone you love? For those of us lucky enough to never have experienced this kind of relationship, it might be hard to understand that walking away is not an easy option. However, the author did a wonderful job of not only showing Coras struggle with her faith that things with get better against her fear of staying and of running.

As for Ernt Allbright, Im not sure there ever was a time he was good, happy, and normal. And while it was easy to hate him, we could see that he wasn't all bad. He really struck me as a person who struggled with more than just PTSD. There seemed to be traces of bipolarism and definitely narcissistic personality disorder. Through Leni and Coras eyes we saw there was love fighting the darkness. Sadly, it didn't win.

The story is told mostly through Lenis young eyes. We experience her own struggle to fit in, to adapt, and the heartbreak that comes with finding out your heroes are flawed. Despite the dysfunctional dynamics in this family, Leni is devoted to her mom and its this relationship that gives the two women the strength to keep going and to try to make this new life work.

Kristan Hannah has written a beautiful, emotional story that is also devastatingly sad, yet full of hope. Her characters are complex, flawed and real. Her descriptions are full and vivid. This might have been my first Kristan Hannah book, but it will not be my last and I have no doubt THE GREAT ALONE will stay with me. Many thanks to St. Martins Press for advanced copy.
550396
I couldn't describe what he wrote so lyrically.  Any additional words would feel cheap, in a way.  But I can say that I was moved to my bones, in ways similar to Brokeback Mountain.  Ecstasy, grief, regret, yearning, reminiscence, love, passionits all there.  And its been wrenched from my heart and given back to me.  I don't know how Ill sleep, in both senses, but Im sure I will dream.
3702246
This is one of those treasures that you cannot bear to lay aside for any reason.  I sat to read til I hurt.  I walked around, reading, because I could not bear NOT to turn the page or leave it long enough to wash the dishes!

I lived through the period Clint Hill wrote about, so for that reason I was drawn to see what he had to say about that time in both our lives.  He told his story with such grace and dignity. I was in awe. I giggled, I wept, I could not leave the book until I finished reading every word.  When I had come to the end I had to sit with it and meditate on all that it contained.

Clint Hill and his family sacrificed much to serve and protect.  It brought to mind all the sacrifices that go on every moment of every day to care for our present day officials.  The important work these men and women do is very much behind the scenes and often taken for granted.

After reading about the procession of Presidents and their families who were served by Agent Hill and his compatriots I have a fresh appreciation for the Secret Service detail.

This is a book that will appeal to history buffs, people who loved or held disdain for one Leader or another, and people who remember the days and years of the Presidencies of Eisenhower, Nixon, Kennedy, Johnson and Ford.  It also whetted my appetite for other titles by Clint Hill.
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In the process of researching my first-ever trip to Guadalcanal (about a year from now) to see the place where my father served in the U.S. Army during World War II, I came across the name Keithie Saunders, because she is the U.S. Consular Agent for Solomon Islands and might be a vital travel-related contact for me during my visit. In looking up her name, I found mention of this book. I challenge anyone who reads it not to become seriously enraptured by the story of this family and what it did so energetically and selflessly to help people and help build a nation!  And, as I have been reading, that help continues today.

This the kind of book that Emily Dickinson must have had in mind when she wrote,"There is no frigate like a book to take us lands away." The Blums actually lived a Dickinsonian adventure beyond the poetry. They reached out to people in a real sense, one new friend at a time. To borrow a phrase from an organization I belong to, they rose to eminence by merit, lived respected, and died regretted.

I just can't figure why this book isn't the talk of the nation. Maybe it is by now, and I'm just crawling out from under my own rock. Or, maybe books on quiet heroism are only meant to be read by worshippers of quiet heroes, and in this obstreperous world, such worshippers may be few. Pity.

During my visit next year, I hope I have a chance to meet the author, and I almost tearfully regret that I will never have the chance to meet Alvin and "Mum" Blum. Through the book, I feel as if I have come to know them well, and I have already fallen in permanent love with them and their story. Surely, by telling this story, Mrs. Saunders has gone a long way to change the emotion wrought by the name Guadalcanal--to change it from war to love. This book must not be missed, and I hope that it is flung far and wide across the planet that Alvin and Gertrude Blum defended with that love.
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This book, along with O'Brien's award-winning novel "The Contract Surgeon", together form a living picture of a crucial time in this country's history, giving life to a small group of people whose actions had long-lasting repercussions that reverberate to this day. Everyone I've spoken to who lives close to Nebraska's Pine Ridge Reservation, where Red Cloud's followers eventually gave in to the U.S. Army, has felt a hopelessness about the people currently living there. Why? These books paint a picture of the origins of the current problems around reservations,a window into the proud past of the Lakota Sioux, and a moving account of the sacrifices of their greatest leaders. It also gives a feel for the attitudes of a number of Americans involved at the time: those who felt the Indians were almost less than human, those who sympathized and tried to help, and those who were caught between, trying to do the best they could, despite the inevitable mistakes they ended up making as imperfect human beings.
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I felt I was able to relive with the author some of the harrowing experiences, through the stories. The experience reminded me of the time, I ran the 6 mile trail at Chancellorsville, where Stone Wall Jackson was shot.  As I went from trail monument to monument, I almost felt like I was carrying my rifle along the trail, and could imagine the Yankee soldiers in the trenches and gullies. The book also revealed what,  I believe, real leadership is about;  (empowering people to be all they can be in any given situation).  I have a number of close friends who are Vietnam Vets.  Every one of them struggle with some post traumatic stress, and or the effects of Agent Orange.
 Chapter 46 is helpful in understanding the emotions of coming back to the states.  I want to thank you, Bob, and all who have served our county. Thank you for writing the stories of the men under your command as well as relating stories from other vets. I felt honored to have known one of the heroes personally.  (This guy that I knew in high school, I called "Brother Bob").
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I read this book in airports on a flight from Houston to Dallas, TX. I am sure any number of people wondered why this flannel-wearing guy reading City of God kept crying in his seat. I am certain the man sitting next to me on my flight when I got to page 185 thought I was having a breakdown.

There's this line: "I don't even know what 'this' is,' said Kelsey, 'but I could do this forever." She's talking about offering ashes to people in the Mission neighborhood of San Francisco. The book has built emotionally to such a high level when this sentence is spoken, I burst not just into tears but into sobs.

Miles' book is, on the surface, quite simple. It's about offering ashes in public one day in San Francisco in 2012. But a good chunk of the book is devoted to the years building up to 2012 when Ashes to Go or Taking Ashes to the Street was a developing habit around the country.

Miles is adept at describing the beauty of the liturgies they offer in her church. She is also adept at describing her city, her neighborhood. She loves her place, and is committed to it. So this is not just a story of imposing ashes, but a story of the people who deeply need and desire them.

It is about the beauty of public liturgy and a world in need of "more forgiveness."

Reading this just a few days after Ash Wednesday 2014, the book resonates on so many levels. I plan to share it with others widely and wildly.
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I've had ALS for 18 years, and I love to read and understand Bo's perspective as a PALS spouse. When I get down, I read this book to help me feel justified by my fears, yet learn how to give my worries to God and live for today. Thanks Bo for your amazing faithful advice on how to find joy in the midst of suffering through our beautiful battlefields. God bless you.
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Australian Chaplain plays songs from this for me during my tour in Afghanistan.  Haunting.  My son is a Sapper with the US Marines so extra poignant.
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I bought this book at a Christian bookstore. I've been waiting for decades for something and every year my heart has been broken more and I've been disappointed by hope deferred.  I've heard just about every sermon on waiting, I've done extensive Bible Studies, so because the titles of the chapter intrigued me, such as, "When waiting feels offensive," I had to read it.  I kept reading this book, assuming that at the end, the author would have victory over her "suffering."  I have to say, I don't know if she did.  My question is, did she learn to find happiness while still coping with the disease?  Did she learn to find last peace while living with unmet prayer request?  Does she love life, her life? I think she does.  So, here is where I part with the author. I cried at the end of the book, because I felt like I had to give up hope for my situation and learn to cope with the truth that I may ALWAYS be in this condition.  My condition is a broken heart.  So, now I think it's possible that my heart will never be healed. It's been broken now pretty much near all my life. I study the Word cover to cover all day long. I love the LORD with all my heart, all my strength and all my soul, and for near three decades, He has carried me and picked me up at every juncture when I think I can't pick myself up again. He does it because He is faithful, but this didn't book did not give me hope that my broken heart will some day be healed.  There are too many extenuating circumstances to go into detail about how many people are involved with my broken heart, but like Ann, I too am a writer.  I've written several books.  Like Ann, I've written them "From the Valley; Looking UP!"  My hope is that someday, GOD will give me victory over despair and that my last few years will be years on the mountain top, not life in the valley. I've lived here all my life by GOD's will.  Otherwise, how can I help others with my writing if I didn't live out Malachi 4:2  But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays. And you will go out and frolic like well-fed calves.  I need at least a few years to frolic so I can give the next person who has lived a life as a "Job's Princess" hope that some day, they may frolic, also. I have to say, I didn't find this hope in this book, BUT, she did speak to my heart as far as waiting is. She nailed it. It helped me a lot for the most part.
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Joe Cooper, Mark Williams' hero in Holy Ground is a mentally wounded Vietnam Vet who flies a police helicopter like the Lone Ranger rode Silver, only with music. He's a two-fisted, two-gun cop who doesn't hesitate to face the bad guys, and yet he's tender hearted enough to show respect for the homeless and dispossessed. Reading through the pages of Holy Ground we get the feel of what's like inside a cop's heart and head and we suffer along with Cooper. We begin to see the world through a Vet's eyes, and we come to understand Coop's affinity for the walking wounded of American's lost citizens. This is more than a book about what Vietnam did to those who served there, or even what it's like to be a cop in the sky responding to emergencies and developing situations. It's about one man's fight to make sense of it all and how he lays it all on the line every day to protect and to serve. Readers beware: Don't start this book if you aren't prepared to read it in one sitting. It will grab you and pull inside its pages without mercy. Don't say I didn't warn you.
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I am the worst at taking things for granted. This morning I woke up in a warm house while it sleeted and snowed outside. I had soft-boiled eggs and fresh brewed coffee for breakfast after I used our indoor bathroom. I threw snowballs at my kids because my muscles had oxygen-rich blood flowing to them because of my defect-free heart and healthy lungs and because my nerves functioned properly due to my healthy brain and spine. I hit the cat because I don't throw very well. I started my paid-for and functioning vehicle after saying goodbye to my beautiful wife and made it the 20 miles to my great job on less-than-ideal roads without incident. It is easy to take things for granted. Even really, really nice things.

Even really, really amazing things. As a Christian I have found it easy to take the story of the greatest of lives for granted. I have come to the Scriptures and the stories with a ho-hum, same-old same-old, Weve been here before attitude. My familiarity with this narrative, coupled with the residual sin that still entangles this justified sinner, has often bread a contempt of the apathetic sort.

The first time I encountered this truth it crushed me. I never expected this story to lose the, deserved, impact it had had on my thoughts and affections. As I have grown in my faith and endured the spiritual valleys and spiritual dryness that God uses so often for my good, I have realized that this is part and parcel of being a finite, sinful being engage in active, spiritual battles. So, instead of lamenting my trip through the valleys, I have learned to look for ways that the Shepherd is leading and comforting me through them.
Behold the King of Glory by Russ Ramsey is a work that will be used to refresh many a weary traveler. Ramsey takes the reader through the biblical narrative in a fresh way. Behold the King of Glory reads like a historical fiction about the life of Christ but with an emphasis, a heavy emphasis, on the historical. The historical aspect is Ramseys fidelity to the biblical text. Ramsey harmonizes the Gospel accounts and presents the life of Christ in one narrative rather than four accounts.

But there is fiction. And this will be off-putting for some but I do not think it should be. This is not a search for the historical Jesus or a veiled attack on the sufficiency of the Scriptures. Ramsey is presenting the Scriptural portrayal of Jesus. What he does helpful is to make explicit the implicit. Ramsey includes in the narrative the thoughts and feelings of characters and the cultural assumptions of the time. He gives context. What you would normally find in the study notes of a Bible, Ramsey weaves into this narrative.

So, we should not burden ourselves with questions like Did Peter really think that? or How would we know that Thomas said that to the other disciples? or etc... The answer is, of course, We don't know. And while it would be wrong for someone to present these sorts of speculations as the revealed word of God, Ramsey does not. This is not a new translation. It is not designed to supplant the Gospel, it is a supplement. This is a teacher teaching us the word through story. And doing it very, very well.

Behold the King of Glory reminds us of the fact that this story of God become man, this story of redemption accomplished, this story of love to the point of death, this story of victory over death actually occurred. It happened in real time, in a real place, with real people, and accomplished real results. God actually became man. Jesus Christ actually tabernacled among us. He actually taught, healed, rebuked, and performed mighty acts. He actually died and he actually rose. He actually ascended and will actually return again. Ramsey reminds the reader of these truths in a way that consistently points the reader back to the Scriptures, refreshed and ready to meet the God of the universe in the pages of his revelation.

I received a review copy of this book from the publisher
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Emotionally my heart is full.  This is not your typical book about military veterans becoming part of the sniper team run by Alex.  They aren't in the jungle, or Ireland or the desert but the run down suburbs of DC.  Veterans still fighting the fight while living on the streets and coping with severe PTSD.  Winters does a beautiful job capturing the reality of what our heroes deal with upon coming home from service, families never understanding, walls closing in and memories of dead soldiers.  My heart went out to Jake and Lacy as they battled a greedy man involved in many disgusting "projects."  Although this is book 16 in the sniper series each book has it's own storyline with a mission and love interest.  The occasional team member will make their presence known and assist the mission.  Thanks to Ms. Winters for my advanced copy, I wrote my review voluntarily.