Unbroken by Lauta Hillenbrand (author of Seabiscuit)

Unbroken is authored by Laura Hillenbrand and is a World War II story of survival, resilience, and redemption. It chronicles the life story of Louie Zamperini, an olympic gold contender in the 1936 olympics held in Germany. The book tells events of his life, how adventurous and mischievous he was, until he got serious about running in high school. His brother, Pete, another fast runner, helped train Louie and encouraged him to run in the 1936 olympics.




This book is about more than the Olympics, however. World War II came and many men were drafted, including Louie. It tells of the branch of service he was in and the training he went through in the armed forces. It portrays the bravery of the men he fought with, especially with the equipment they were given to fight with. And to fly in. I learned more about the airplanes used for World War II than I care to know.



Unfortunately, one of Louie's command attacks didn't make it, and he was plunged in the ocean with 2 of his men. I was amazed at how they lived each day in the ordeal of being on a raft in salt water with nothing around them but more salt water and sharks!! If that wasn't bad enough, they were rescued by Japanese and were made POW's. After reading this book I have greater respect for our POW's and what they went through. I honestly don't know how they survived the atrocities that were given to them.



This book will make you so thankful for the freedom we celebrate and experience in the United States. It will also remind you that God is a God of miracles. I encourage you to read it!! I received this book free from Waterbrook Multinomah for an advance reading as part of their Blogging For Books program . I was not required to write a positive review and therefore, the book review is 100% my own opinion.

Call of a Coward

Call of a Coward (The God of Moses and the Middle-Class Housewife) is by Marcia Moston and chronicles the part of her life when God calls her and her husband to minister in Guatemala.  Actually it was her husband who felt God calling them to foreign missions.  Marcia was not so sure.  I loved the honesty she shared as she told of their trip into Mexico and then across that border into Guatemala, bringing their young daughter with them.  She shared the fear she had of the banditos and the unsafe roads they had to travel to the village they lived at in Guatemala.  How many of us would travel on a road when all we could see from our window was a sheer drop off into a canyon below?  (shudder)

I also loved how Marcia prefaced each chapter with insight God had shown her.  I particularly liked the preface to chapter 4:  "Those kicking and screaming death-throes moments when you realize you aren't and you can't are God's opportunities to show you He is and He can."  She shared how her day went and how she had to have someone prepare the food and do the laundry otherwise that was all she would be able to do day after day, instead of ministering to the women around her.  She also shared how it wasn't always easy to give up the life she knew in the States and when a missionary brought her chocolate, she really didn't want to share it with the people she was serving.

The author told her story with humor and I believe that is why I enjoyed the book most of all.  Because life just isn't always easy and sometimes you just have to laugh at situations God puts you in.  I appreciated Marcia's candidness, her honesty, and how God answered her prayers.  She is an example to all of us to minister where God has put us.

I received this book from Booksneeze in return for a book review which is entirely my own opinion.