Lisa Wingate

What a powerful, eye opening read. I knew about "The Trail of Tears", but not of the land, Oklahoma!

This is a dual time read, and I loved how the author seamlessly wove this story together.

Be sure to read the author's notes at the end!

This read opens your eyes to the greed that goes through the ages, and those that have never have enough, and don't care about whom they hurt getting it. Unfortunately, in the early 1900's it was children, and we though the eyes of the author meet this children and get to know some of them.

There are surprises, and then wow surprises, and most you won't see coming!

I received this book through Net Galley and the Publisher Ballantine Books, and was not required to give a positive review.… (more)

Wow is all I can say about this book this has by far been the best book I have read. I have read plenty of books but this one was the best I don’t even have words for this book although the people in the book or fictional the stories are real and they’re based on true story. It is unbelievable that Georgia tan was able to get away with what she did for so many years all those children that died and were never reunited with their parents all those children’s given two homes that missed treated them all those children that were molestedAnd beat it’s so sad so many parts of this book brought so many tears to my eyes makes me look at my own children and just want to hang onto them so tight and never let them go because there are some weirdPeople in this world I don’t want to give away any more spoilers because I’m sure there’s a Tonna people that have not read this book yet but for those of you who read it you know what I’m talking about.… (more)

You can never go wrong with a Lisa Wingate novel; A Thousand Voices did not disappoint.

A lovely, sing-song feeling story of Dell, a young half-Choctaw woman trying to sift through her past while not disturbing her present. Rich with tidbits of Choctaw history, A Thousand Voices finds Dell searching for her birth father in secret so as not to hurt her adoptive white parents. When Dell meets the Reed family over the Labor Day Choctaw pow wow, she is filled with a new sense of belonging as she learns about her heritage as she instills some lessons of her own to her new friends.

A very easy flow to the book that will keep you wanting to turn the page. I’m always so impressed at the easy flow of dialogue in a Lisa Wingate book and A Thousand Voices left me smiling at its reality.

A very good book.… (more)

After reading Lisa Wingate's, Before We Were Yours and loving every word of it, I highly anticipated my read of The Language of Sycamores; unfortunately, it fell flat for me.

I say this a lot in my reviews, "there is nothing wrong with the book." It is beautifully written, using wonderfully visual, flowery words and phrasing, the characters are believable, likable, and endearing, and the story is good - and that's where it fell apart for me; the story was too good. Maybe it's just me, perhaps the older I get, the more cynical I become, or maybe, just maybe, my life is a unicorn, and all the pieces don't fall into a lovely, complete picture at the end of the day and I can't relate to such stories.

The Language of Sycamores is a story of two sisters, one who partly chose and partly did not choose a career over family, the other who chose family. Through life circumstances (one sister loses her job and has a second cancer scare), the girls come back together, join up to help care for a neighbor girl who lives in what we can guess is a bad situation, and reunite their long-lost distant family. The jobless sister becomes involved in a summer children's program and gains a job with the organization. She doesn't have cancer, the neighbor girl presumably has a good rest of her life with the two sisters and their families, and everyone lives happily ever after. Throw in a preachy undercurrent that doesn't entirely develop until the last few pages, and all boxes get checked.

Again, a nice story, nothing wrong with it, just so unrealistic to my understanding of the world it was difficult for me to lose myself in its pages. Perhaps I'm just jealous.

I would, however, recommend this book - it is a very well-written and crafted novel, and for the right reader, one not quite as seemingly jaded as this one, it would be a delightful read. As for me, perhaps I need to look for my language in the sycamores.

… (more)