Hey, I read a non-fiction book... and loved it

It says a lot about a non-fiction book if by the middle of the first chapter it's still in my hands. Even more so if I only put it down ONCE between peeling back the front cover and turning over the back with a satisfied sigh.
Only a mere handful of fiction books have earned can't-put-it-down-even-in-the-bathroom status from my finicky reader self.

Darcie's know the author disclosure: Kim Woodhouse is a good friend of mine. I've met her family and been to The House. I've even gone swimming with Kayla (she's a beast in the water let me tell you). So when I say reading Welcome Home is like sitting and listening to Kim tell her
family's story in her own voice, I know what I'm talking about.

Life is hard right now. Harder than ever for most of us who don't even have family members alive who lived through the Great Depression. People are wondering where God is. Americans, myself included, bought into the lie that if you love God and obey Him, life will be prosperous and full of vim and vigor.

Currently, people are either turning toward Him in the tough times or walking away. Welcome Home couldn't have been released at a better time. Kim doesn't come across as this unflappable churchy girl who bounces around on her tip toes saying, "God is good. All the time. All the time, God is good," to everyone she meets.

She's brutally honest about those bleak moments when God seemed invisible or absent. Her pain and hope are shared with clarity; even the studliest reader will be hunting for a tissue box. And think about the true nature of God and our purpose here on earth.

Most of all you will laugh. My poor asthmatic mom started hyperventilating while reading about an incident where the TSA suspected Kim of being the next uni-bomber. There is a lot of pain in Kim's story, but the pain juxtaposed on the joy is what makes the joy extreme.

You gotta go get yourself a copy of this book. Christmas is coming, nab a few for presents.

And best yet, pick up a few extra copies to hand out to people who are really hurting right now because life just sucks for them.

Happy reading!

Kimberley Woodhouse is a wife, mother, author, and musician with a quick wit and positive outlook despite difficult circumstances. A popular speaker, she’s shared at more than 600 venues across the country. Kimberley and her family's story have garnered national media attention for many years, but most recently her family was chosen for ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, The Montel Williams Show, and Discovery Health channel’s Mystery ER. Welcome Home: Our Family’s Journey to Extreme Joy, releases from Tyndale House Publishers September first. In addition to her non-fiction, she also writes romantic suspense and children’s books. Kimberley lives, writes, and homeschools in Colorado with her husband and two children in their truly “extreme” home. www.kimberleywoodhouse.com

Here's the blurb on the book

Overwhelming trials . . . met with overcoming joy.
Kayla Woodhouse is not your typical twelve-year-old. Due to a rare medical disorder, she feels no pain, doesn’t sweat, and needs protective cooling gear just to go outside. With her restrictive lifestyle; countless hospitalizations, including brain surgery; and the resulting mountain of hospital bills, what’s a family to do?

How the Woodhouse family has faced seemingly impossible challenges is a story that has captured the hearts of America. Millions of people have experienced glimpses of their lives on Discovery’s Mystery ER, The Montel Williams Show, and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (recently voted one of the show’s all-time best episodes!).

Now Kayla’s mom, Kimberley, takes readers behind the cameras to reveal their family’s journey as never before told. From medical sleuthing to cross-country moves, from freak fires to battles with insurance companies, Welcome Home proves that truth really is stranger than fiction. This candid life story reveals both success and failure and demonstrates how, even during tough circumstances, to shift your life from heartbreak to extreme joy.

Peek inside the Woodhouse family’s life (and their famous house) with a 16-page photo insert.

Spice it up, people!

You're missing out if you haven't read Searching for Spice by Megan DiMaria! The cover may look chick-lit, but it's so NOT.

Below is my review of the book, first published on Title Trakk.

Searching for Spice
by Megan DiMaria

“He’s standing in the middle of the kitchen, the questionable carton of half-and-half in one hand and a mug of steaming coffee in the other. His plaid robe hangs partway open, the belt loosely tied over wrinkled pajamas. A look of perplexity transforms his intelligent features into a caricature of a hapless sad sack.”

Sound like someone you’d want to lure into a steamy affair?

Linda Revere, assistant to an upscale photographer in Metro Denver, does. In fact, she initiates extreme efforts to seduce this clueless man, her husband. But wouldn’t you know it; when Linda launches her LAME (Linda’s Adventurous Marriage Experiment) plan rumors of an illicit affair burn through Dream Photography involving her boss and a co-worker and worse yet, Linda is subjected to the whims Carol the Wrecking Ball – a wealthy client her employer wants to keep happy. If that isn’t enough…

As her life spins out of control, Linda lowers her romantic expectations. She and Jerry are about to reach the twenty-five year benchmark in their marriage.
Jerry surprises Linda with an anniversary trip to Aspen. Unfortunately, Linda’s resigned her LAME plan to being lame. In fact, lying next to him night after night evolved to an exercise in tolerance.

Will Linda’s heart open to the wooing by her Savior as trials escalate? Can her marriage survive a cataclysmic discovery further down the road? Megan DiMaria crafts a novel so compelling, so real, you forget you’re reading fiction. Readers of all ages and stages of life will relate to the diverse cast of characters.

In past reviews, I’ve touted Barbra Kingsolver’s Poisonwood Bible as the paradigm for three-dimensional characterization on a two-dimensional page. DiMaria soars to paradigm quality.

Life is hard. Just when we think we’re through the fire, another log, a squirt of kerosene, or even a bomb is thrown in before the embers cool. Searching for Spice doesn’t shy away from this reality, however, the book is anything but a downer. DiMaria uses humor to buoy readers through the tough stuff Linda, Jerry, Emma and Nicky must face as a family.
Another strong thematic thread is the friendships Linda has with both Christians and non-Christians. These friendships are a lifeline.

Too many contemporary novels give men a bad reputation. Searching for Spice breaks that mold, restoring lost integrity to the male sex. Marriage is valued as something worth fighting for, not a disposable activity.

Megan DiMaria transcends the boundaries of genre, using fiction as a powerful tool to teach all of us how much Jesus loves us and comforts us in our deepest pain. Spice is a MUST READ for both men and women.

You can buy Searching for Spice at Borders, Amazon, Christianbook.com and other book retailers.

I urge you to support authors of great fiction and buy their books for yourself, friends and family.

In the coming posts, I will be posting reviews of some fiction you don't want to miss out on!