The Magic Bone

Title: The Magic Bone
Author: Jennifer Derreth
Genre: True Story-Non Fiction
Source: Paperback
Rating: 5 out of 5 paws


Right before Jennifer Berreth learned that she was pregnant, she was visited by an angel. When she saw him, Jennifer was filled with the overwhelming feeling that everything was going to be OK. Her mother had seen the same angel before Jennifer's own birth. Her mother knew that it was her uncle Dick, still keeping watch over his family.  When Jennifer's son Ethan was diagnosed with cancer, Jennifer couldn't stop thinking about a visit from uncle Dick and another loved one and what they had promised. The following experiences proved to both Jennifer and Ethan the reality of angels and the lasting effects of the deepest, strongest love.

I haven't read a book that has touch me deeply as this one has.  Jennifer and Ethan's story is beautiful, heartfelt, and painfully real.  When you pick up this book, you will cry, it was hard to suppress the tears while I read their story at lunch at work.  Cancer is scary to hear for anyone, but when that person is a two year old child and you are his mom, it is devastating.  I cannot imagine the emotions Jennifer had to have felt in the years after his diagnosis, but her words express them beautifully, you find yourself praying and crying with her.  I honestly don't fully know what to say about this book other than how moving and inspirational it is.








Their story is one that needs to be told, it needs to be shared with others.  I recommend picking up this book.  It's a short tale, as Jennifer tells it beautifully and effectively.  There are honestly no words that would do this book justice other than to say it needs to be read and once you read it, you yourself will be changed.  You will find hope, and maybe a little bit more belief in guardian angels. 








This is probably my shortest review because I am left speechless. Pick it up today and read their story, share it with others.

Miss Fortune

Miss Fortune: Albina Hume
Media: E-book: Nook
Rating 4 out of 5 stars

Recommendation:  If you enjoy memoirs and life stories.  Would I return to it?  Probably not, memoirs are not my go to read, but I did enjoy reading this one.  Albina has a voice that resonates off the page.

All Albina Hume wanted was to either hide her inability to pronounce the letter “R” or correct it.  Never did she think her inability would take her down the paths that it did.  She struggled to find ways to hide her mispronunciation including trying to learn English.  Her journey begins with her fear of being unable to find love and get married because a boy in her class called her a “crow” and in her mind ‘who would want to marry a crow?’  This instills her fear of the inability to pronounce R words.  That fear takes her down many roads including a pyramid beauty business, strip clubs, even a prison cell for 51 days.  She encounters con men, unhealthy relationships, endangering friendships, and more.  Everything she goes through drives her force to find her dreams, yet she is held back by her fears.  Once she releases those fears, the possibility for her dreams become endless.

From the very beginning, in the prologue, Albina pulls at the readers’ emotions as she describes her excitement for her wedding.  While reading readers can’t help but also wonder what significance the day has until she reveals it is on the same date she was raped 10 years prior.  She mentions this incident early on in the story giving the impression, the book will have something to do with overcoming it and the emotions related to the act.  But once readers get to that point, it is done and over with and she moves on to something else.  With that being said the rest of the books keeps readers mystified as Albina struggles with her inability to pronounce the letter ‘R’, to being conned into travelling to Greece illegally, and even being in jail for several days among other things.  Despite everything the story is that of a woman who overcomes all her struggles, all the bumps and bruises of life to find all her dreams coming true.  

The tone of the book is very casual as if the author is speaking to a close personal friend; this allows the reader to feel connected with her and her story.  It is a touching tale of a woman struggling to find the happiness we all long for.  Her quest for this happiness causes her to make decisions based on impulse and desire.  She hops from one relationship to another looking for love it isn't until she meets Abelardo and his desire to NOT have children does she look out for her own desires.  She then gets introduced to the man who will become her husband.  Her journey is not an easy one, it is filled with trials, and heartache.