Lisa Henson

Jill Eileen Smith's latest novel, The Heart of a King, takes you back to ancient Israel, to the ending of King David's reign and to the ascension to the throne of his son, Solomon. Solomon has been renowned as the wisest of kings, and this book gives us an insight into his life and the lives of four women he loves, a fictionalized account grounded in Scripture.

Naamah the Ammonite, mother of Rehoboam who will be king after Solomon. Abishag the shepherdess, first a wife of King David as he nears the end of his life, then a wife of Solomon. Siti, headstrong daughter of an Egyptian pharaoh and worshiper of a foreign goddess. Nicaula, Queen of Sheba. Each of these women were important to Solomon, although they numbered as just a few among his many wives and concubines. Solomon asked God for wisdom, and God gave that wisdom to him. Clearly, though, it didn't keep him from making mistakes in his relationships with women.

Abishag was my favorite. She was unsure of herself at times, and sometimes longed to go back to her life among the sheep. But she was intelligent and kind, and when Naamah was clearly jealous of her, she sought common ground so that their relationship could improve.

Naamah was terribly needy. She was Solomon's first wife, and the mother of his firstborn son, and she wanted very much to be his only wife. She struggled with the fact that what she wanted would not come to pass.

Siti was probably my least favorite of the four, and to my reading, she gave Solomon the most grief. She pushed him to allow her to worship the goddess Bastet in Jerusalem, even though Solomon knew – and told her – that God prohibited the worship of foreign gods. She regrets her actions later, but she drove Solomon farther from his faith than he would have gone had she not been in the picture.

Nicaula was a queen in her own right. Solomon loved her deeply, but could not keep her. She had her own responsibilities, and was not willing to give her kingdom up to be queen of his. And I can't fault her for that. She took her duties to her people seriously, and after a short time, she left Solomon and went to tend to business.

Solomon. Ah, Solomon. He had sense enough to ask God for wisdom, rather than wealth or long life or military might, and so God gave him wisdom and more as well. Solomon was very wealthy, a very prosperous king. Yet he took multiple wives and concubines, going against the wisdom God gave him, and he saw that so much of life was futile, striving after things. But even Solomon can learn from difficulty.

The story is roughly equally divided among the four women. King David and Queen Bathsheba both appear in the story, and their roles are not large, but they are significant. David gives advice on kingship to his son, and Bathsheba offers a listening ear and wise counsel to the four wives of Solomon that we meet in the story.

This is a fictionalized account of a Biblical story. It expands on what we read in Scripture, and I think it's a well-imagined account of what Solomon's life and interaction with some of the women in it could have been like. If you enjoy historical fiction, if you've ever spent time imagining what actually happened as you read through the Bible, then this is a book you should check out.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of the book from Revell. All opinions here are mine, and I don't say nice things about books I don't like.

Book 2 of the Wingfeather Saga takes off right where Book 1 ends, and I do mean takes off. It is a rocket ride of adventure and tension and excitement, and worthy of binge reading.

The Igiby children know now that they are really the Wingfeather children, the jewels of Anniera. Janner, the Throne Warden. Tink, the High King. Leeli, the Song Maiden. And Nia is Queen. That brings burdens that each of them must shoulder. Janner is a wonderfully drawn teenager. He loves his headstrong, willful brother, but loses patience with the jams he has to pull Tink out of. After all, his role as Throne Warden is to protect the King. Tink struggles with the position he finds thrust upon him. He has never known his father, and he has no one to teach him how to manage the responsibilities of kingship. Never mind that he currently has no kingdom to be responsible for, Tink is constantly reminded that he is the king and must act accordingly.

In the course of trying to make their way to the Ice Prairies, Janner and Tink are separated, first from the family, and then from each other. Can Janner find Tink? Has Tink made an irredeemable choice? Will either (or both) of them find their family? What awaits them in the Ice Prairies? The story answers these questions in epic fashion, and we also get some insight into Podo's past.

I love these books. There is good and evil, and battle between the two. There is doubt, and resolution into faith. There is love and family and so much more. I've seen some reviews that describe these books as intense, and they are. But my 11-year-old is loving them, and so am I. They're great for reading aloud, or for reading to oneself.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley (and boy, am I glad I did!). All opinions here are my own, and I don't say nice things about books I don't like.

This is the first of Krista Davis' Diva series that I've read. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The characters were engaging, and I really didn't figure out who did it until well into the book. I'll be reading more of this series! Thanks to NetGalley for giving me access to a copy. #TheDivaCooksUpAstorm #NetGalley

The Sound of Gravel is Ruth Wariner's story of growing up in a polygamous cult. Her father was killed when she was young, and her mother married another polygamous man (as the book says, she was his second second wife). Ruth tells a tale of hardship - they were impoverished, living in squalid conditions, and the children were frequently left to fend for themselves. But there were moments of beauty and joy as well. If I hadn't had kids who required my attention and a job that actually wanted me to work, I could have easily read this book in less than 24 hours. It's well told, engaging, and it pulled me right in. I was provided an advance reader copy for review, but I can't wait to have my very own copy on my shelf.

I adore Auntie Poldi! I'm not quite as old as she is, but it is refreshing to see a middle-aged heroine who hasn't lost her sass and zest for living.

Poldi moves to Sicily, ostensibly to die. Her husband has passed away, and she's depressed. She finds a little house close to her family, and she reckons on drinking herself to death. But Auntie Poldi's father was a police officer, and she's inherited some of his investigative skills. When Valentino, a handsome young man who's done some work around her house, goes missing, Poldi wants to find out what happened.

The story is told from the viewpoint of Poldi's nephew, a struggling writer who stays with Poldi from time to time. He makes an interesting narrator! The story is also full of all kinds of detail about Sicily, and now I'd really like to visit.

There is a blurb at the beginning of each chapter that gives the reader a hint of what's to come. I really like that technique. The blurbs are hilarious, as is the writing in general.

And Poldi herself is an absolute joy. She is a mature woman who knows what she wants. When she wants to solve a crime, nothing will stop her from investigating. She charges ahead like a ship under full sail. And when she decides she fancies local investigator Vito Montana, well, nothing will stop her there, either. Even though she moved to Sicily thinking her life was over, it's the start of a whole new set of adventures for Poldi. Maybe she's not quite so ready to shuffle off this mortal coil after all.

Brava, Donna Poldina! You are an inspiration to us mature women everywhere, and I look forward to reading more of what you get up to in Sicily.