Rating: 
Summary: An Excellent Read!
Review: A wonderful, humorous and poignant book about letting go of our own vain efforts and letting God reach the lost. It reminds us all that only God can speak to each person's heart and bring them to Himself. Be ready to laugh, cry, and enjoy this excellent book!
Rating:
Summary: A Candid and Compelling Story of Redemption
Review: Bette Nordberg does a exemplary job accurately portraying all the push/pulls between loved ones whose lives have taken a very different course than our own. With skillful phrasing and geniune heartfelt passion, Bette finds the balance between compassion and truth. I closed the last page of this book with a grateful sigh that Bette tackled such a difficult subject with so much care and grace.
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Summary: Unconditional Love
Review: Bette Nordberg has done it again!! Of the four books I've read written by Bette, Season of Grace is my favorite. There's no doubt that she spent many hours not only researching but also putting her heart and soul into writing this novel about an extremely sensivite topic. The main character, Colleen Payton, taught me a great deal about love, compassion, perseverance and hope. When she finds that her twin brother, Stephen, has been stricken with AIDS, not once does she turn her back on him. The guidance and inner strength that she receives through her faith in God is a marvelous example for me. I highly recommend Season of Grace. This page turner novel can't help but impact your life as it did mine.
Rating:
Summary: Engaging, Intelligent, compassionate
Review: Colleen Payton is delighted when her brother, Stephen MacLaughlin, shows up out of the blue for their mother's birthday. Her twin has been estranged from his family for years over his alternative lifestyle, and after a disagreement at the party, he storms out. Colleen, determined not to lose him again, drives from her small town in Oregon to his Seattle home --- and finds out a truth she wasn't prepared for: Stephen is very ill with the AIDS virus.
After dealing with the emergency at hand (Bette Nordberg is a former registered nurse and therapist --- not only are her scenes of caregiving accurate, they're also fast-paced and interesting), Colleen decides to bring Stephen back to her own home. But there are so many problems: Colleen doesn't consult her husband Kevin, nor does she talk to their two teenaged children. She also ignores the fact that her brother neither shares her Christian faith nor wants to do so. Most of all, Colleen has spent a lifetime pushing away her family members --- and a personal secret that is tearing her up inside.
Few authors, Christian or not, are willing to confront terminal illness honestly and lovingly. Yes, lovingly: for although Colleen faces all manner of criticism, from her husband to her son to her fellow parishioners, her care for Stephen takes over every aspect of her being. Whether she is waiting patiently in a doctor's office for him or trying to decide what he'll want for lunch, Colleen is the very model of a modern caregiver.
Nordberg does not let this dwindle into a heartwarming tale of footrubs and hospital vigils. There's a much bigger issue at stake. For some authors, that issue would be Stephen's sexual preference. Nordberg does deal with this, deftly weaving in details from Stephen's life (his companion's earlier death from the same illness, his childhood feelings about being different, etc.) along with reminders that modern Christians have fundamental disagreements with homosexuality. There is never a question in the novel that Colleen or anyone in her community believes Stephen's lifestyle is the best choice.
However, Nordberg is also too sensitive a storyteller not to realize that the biggest issue --- of faith --- needs to be tackled, and Colleen would never have to confront her own demons if she were simply allowed to change bedding and shed tears. Her controversial decision to bring Stephen to her home forces her to own up to why having him there is so important to her. The truth, once revealed, frees up her energies to remember that God is present even in the midst of this grief and pain. And if He is present, what does that mean? What does it offer?
Surprise, surprise: there are no easy answers. But there are easier and more meaningful communications once Colleen, Kevin, and their family have come to recognize that faith lived out in the smallest ways can have an impact. All too often, stories of conversion and of fatal illness can be tedious. This book is neither; it's engaging, intelligent and compassionate.
--- Reviewed by Bethanne Kelly Patrick
Rating:
Summary: Twin Ties So Aptly Put
Review: I couldn't help but be pulled into the story of a TWIN relationship explored on this delicate subject. Bette did such a complete job of portraying the close ties of connection between twins and yet also the strain that's created when major decisions about marriage and family values have to be "excused" within that relationship and within a family. I am a twin myself and am presently in the grieving process at living without my womb-mate. Bette's words I believe helped heal my hurt and encourage my recognition that sickness and loss are a part of life. But with a family's comforting ties one's review of life can be less painful. Faith in God truly brings a spiritual strength you don't know you have until the difficult times. Just reading of the twins' cycle of faith added real hope and grace into my situation. Thanks, Bette, for another challenging, practical, grace-producing approach to living day-to-day in our world. Please keep writing on the "edge-y" issues of life!
Rating:
Summary: Another fantastic book (and author) for your 'To Read' list!
Review: I couldn't put this book down! The story and people were all so real that I was sucked right in and couldn't stop reading. Bette created a family with all the flaws, reality and beauty of real life. The uglier issues of prejudice and alienation were not overlooked, but very clearly acknowledged. What a fantastic, uplifting story. Bette has the gift of enticing the reader in, and then holding them until the very last word.
Rating:
Summary: Another fantastic book (and author) for your 'To Read' list!
Review: I couldn't put this book down! The story and people were all so real that I was sucked right in and couldn't stop reading. Bette created a family with all the flaws, reality and beauty of real life. The uglier issues of prejudice and alienation were not overlooked, but very clearly acknowledged. What a fantastic, uplifting story. Bette has the gift of enticing the reader in, and then holding them until the very last word.
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Summary: AIDS and Christians
Review: I really enjoyed this book because the author realistically shows how the main character, Colleen, struggles with how to relate to her homosexual brother who has AIDS. I found it a moving and engaging story of love and forgiveness. It also helped me compassionately understand what someone with that illness has to go through.
Rating:
Summary: AIDS and Christians
Review: I really enjoyed this book because the author realistically shows how the main character, Colleen, struggles with how to relate to her homosexual brother who has AIDS. I found it a moving and engaging story of love and forgiveness. It also helped me compassionately understand what someone with that illness has to go through.
Rating:
Summary: A Sensitive and Informative Book About Aids
Review: I stayed up until midnight to finish this book. I cried and felt with the characters from beginning to end. Although this is a fictional story - it seemed real to me with the knowledge of the increasing occurence of AIDS in our society. Colleen, the main character, showed me what real love is all about. As she became stronger through trials, I grew in my understanding of Grace. The Christian perspective was wonderful! This book will touch many lives! The characters were so real that I feel that I have actually lived through this with them. To watch all of the family members react to AIDS in their family was a study of our society today. This is a good book for all family members to read - old and young. I challenge everyone to read this informative book! Kudos to the author! and Thanks!
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