Hamster Island by Joan Heartwell

I have often said, “How in the world do you rate a book on someone’s life story?” Was the spelling and grammar correct? Yes as far as I can tell. Was it a fun and entertaining book? No it was not. Then why did I read the book? My answer is simple. It was real.
The author grew up in a family with a grandma who was a kleptomaniac, a mother who was a religious nut case, a dad who was never home and an older brother and younger sister who were special needs kids. I would say mentally challenge, but others would say they were retarded. In other words… a very dysfunctional family.
I admire the author’s honesty throughout this book. She did not make herself out to be the perfect kid. She told it like it was. She did drugs, drank beer and tried to be away from home as much as she could growing up. Which often meant sneaking out of her home, or making up lies about where she was going.
Towards the end of the book I found it to be a little disjointed. I wrote the author about it. She said some things she was not willing to share. I can’t blame her as we all have parts of our lives we do not want to share. Unless you are a perfect person. I don’t know of one person who is.
After her grandma, mother and father died, she became the caretaker of her siblings. The author fought every agency she could to find a home or hospital to place them in. While we now have more ways to help we still do not have enough.

Eternity's Shadow by Mark Whiteway

“I have had the privilege of reading all six books of the Lodestone series. They are all good books, but to me the way the author wrapped up the series is brilliant. I found tears running down my face as I was reading the last chapter of this book.

As I have come to expect from Mr. Whiteway, there are many twist and turns. It is like riding a roller coaster at times. So many new planets we are taken too. So many new battles to fight.
We have some new characters in this book that I really like. I also like it that some of my favorite characters are brought back into this final book. Even though this book is written five hundred years in advance from now, I have found some of the same things that will never die.

There will always be good people fighting for others, and people who have a taste of power and then want to have more power and greed. They will stop at nothing that may get in their way.

I have found the author to be a bit of a poet and philosopher also. Here are a couple of things that stood out to me.” “Trees cast their crowns of orange, crimson and gold together in a continuous canopy. Broad leaves bowed beneath the weight of an early morning dew.”

“It is not what happens, but the fear of what might happen that drives people to madness.”

“Each of us walks in eternity’s shadow.”

REGINE'S BOOK

Regine, was a seventeen year old girl whose life was filled with all the normal things you would expect of a girl her age. She had a great family and friends, all of whom she loved with all of her heart. She could hardly wait until she was eighteen and graduated from high school. Regine and her friends had already planned to go to the same college.

Regine had not felt good for a few months and her mom took her to the doctor and they took some test. Then Friday the 22nd of August 2008 the doctor called and told Regine’s, mom Julianne, that Regine may have a rare form of Leukemia. They wanted her in the hospital where they could do testing right away.

When Regine got home that day she walked in and could see that her mom had been crying and asked her what was wrong? Her mom told her, and her world fell apart. She knew nothing would ever be the same. The girl that walked in the door, was nothing like the girl who would walk out.

Regine began writing in a blog about her life. She posted almost every day. She always received hundreds and even thousands of replies. She also had some good days and got to go to concerts with her best friend Eli Ann. Almost everyone in Norway knew of her and she got back stage passes, hotel accommodations, and even free food.

But as her deadly disease took a spiral she could not answer all of the people who posted on her blog. Regine wanted people to know what it was like living with cancer. She wanted to give people hope, and to teach them to appreciate each day they were alive. You will also read about medical terms and the research that is being done to try and help people. Her parents found a poem she had wrote before she died and I will leave you with it.

“My path has only one direction, there are no signs, it’s impossible to go to the left or right. It’s impossible to turn, I can only go straight ahead, but the road is crooked, it’s neither light nor dark in front of me. There’s a fog. And no one knows what ….will be found on the other side.”