When We Had Wings by Ariel Lawhorn, Kristina McMorris, Susan Meissner

Oh my stars, this is a great book.  I am still so attached to the characters, their respective experiences during WW2 as nurses in the Philippines, held as prisoners of war in multiple camps, their survival, and beyond the war. Additionally, they were required by our US government to sign legal agreements NOT to share their experiences in the public eye or in print. The public media was orchestrated and controlled.

These nurses, many deceased, had information that was shared 50 years after the war plus research by   these authors that allowed for a brilliantly written story to be created around these facts.  Several people in the book were used in their original context from that period of history and quotes were included in this work of fiction. The three main nurses were based on real nurses as were other characters; Army nurse, Navy nurse, and Filipina nurse.  

I generally go from a finished book immediately to another book. I just cannot do that at this point in time.  I need to continue to process and dwell on what was written in this book. Yes, it really touched my heart and emotionally. Yes, I also cried.\ 

If you even remotely enjoy historical fiction, add this to your list or better yet move it to the top of your list and read it now.

Cooking from novels vs novel cooking

Yes, to me there is a difference.  For me there is nothing novel about cooking even cooking for one. I am also a bibliophile so when I can combine that with cooking then BONUS.

I was pondering breakfast and then early dinner followed by memories of books that fed these thoughts. I had a few small tomatoes, a partial package of spaghetti noodles, bacon that needed to be cooked, and a little minced garlic.  Hence Shakshuka for brunch and Spaghetti Carbonara for later. My meal planning for today is more than food, it is from reading.

Shakshuka came from reading “All the Flowers in Paris” by Sarah Jio.

Spaghetti Carbonara came from “Garlic and Sapphires” by Ruth Reichl.

Just like when I find unfamiliar words then search the meaning, the same holds true when a meal is mentioned but recipe not provided. Reichl included it in the book. With Jio, the recipe would not have provided added value to the story but the quick breakfast choice was important for what was going on at the moment.

Both books I would highly recommend and each could not be more different when it comes to genre.

So that being said or read, it would be interesting for me to know what other books inspired you as the reader to prepare a meal or a dish. Computer la-la land may not work best for my endeavor so I will post this to my blog then also to Facebook.

Here is to scrolling on …

Wild Prayer

Until recently I had never heard the term "wild prayer". According to the devotional by the same title here's the definition and a few comments from the writer Reenukumar which now makes perfect sense.:

"What are wild prayers? Prayers that give earthly license for heavenly interference to accomplish the unimaginable and the unprecedented. Many times, we are tempted to only take prayer requests that have a precedent in history of being answered. We ask God for the same miracle that has happened in the life of another person. But God waits to propel our situations into ground-breaking, history-making miracles if we have the faith to ask for that which is infinitely above and beyond human reach."

These words went straight to my heart. Why do so many model their prayers from what is seen or experienced by others when our needs and desires of our heart are our own? Just as no two people are the same, the same holds true for our prayer life whether it is one of need or from our own wishing list. We certainly are bold in other areas without little regard to how it hits so why are we shy when it comes to prayer?

Be outrageous! That meaning that only God can answer those things or affect change in people, situations, or circumstances that are beyond our physical reach. One cannot force change, real change, lasting change, but our God can and does regularly. He is still and always will be in the miracle making business. The only difference is you and also me.