• Title: Outshine: An Ovarian Cancer Memoir • Author: Karen Ingalls • Print Length: 108 • Publisher: Beaver’s Pond Press • Publication Date: May 21, 2014 • Sold by Amazon Digital Services LLC • Language: English • Formats:Kindle, Paperback
• Goodreads • Genres: Memoir, Biography
I found this story incredibly informative and inspiring. There is little greater fear than hearing you have cancer—no matter whether you have a long family history of those that battled the disease or if it’s completely taking you by surprise. Most, if not all, of us, knows someone that has or had cancer. We usually watch from the outside looking in at how the person fighting for their life chooses to deal. Karen Ingalls gives us her firsthand, raw experience with one of the leading causes of death: ovarian cancer.
It’s a short book and I finished it in one sitting, finding myself wishing there was more. I couldn’t set it down and I’m amazed at how uplifting people can be when dealing with cancer. For me, this book isn’t just about fighting cancer or even teaching others about the seriousness of the issue. It’s about how she not only relied on her family and friends for comfort, but she relied on Jesus Christ’s unconditional love and grace. As I read through Karen’s story, I could see how her faith in the Holy Spirit grew stronger. Sure, she had her ups and downs, but she’s human. Still, she leaned on her faith, rather than crying out “Why me, Lord?”
At the end of the book, she listed signs to look for in ovarian cancer (formerly known as “the silent killer.”) and question suggestions for the patient and their families. I highly recommend reading Outlook: An Ovarian Cancer Memoir. It’s a quick, easy read, tightly and well written. Although I found myself fighting back tears, there were places where I giggled at the humor.
Overall Rate: 5 out of 5 stars
Biography
Karen Ingalls is the author of two novels and an award winning non-fiction book. She enjoys writing from her home office overlooking a lake in Florida.
Ms. Ingalls’s non-fiction book, Outshine: An Ovarian Cancer Memoir, won first place at the 2012 Indie Excellence Book Awards in the the category of women’s health. It was a top three finalist for the Independent Publisher Book Award of 2012 in the two categories of health and self-help.
The purpose of the book is to provide information about this too often deadly disease, and offer hope and inspiration to women and their families. All proceeds go to ovarian cancer research.Davida:Model & Mistress is about the love affair between her great-grandfather Augustus Saint-Gaudens and her great-grandmother Davida Johnson Clark. Very little is known about Davida except her role as a model for many of the sculptor’s famous works. Ms. Ingalls was able to use her imagination in creating the life of Davida. It won the Pinnacle Book Achievement Award for 2016.
Novy’s Son, The Selfish Genius, is about Murray Clark, who sought love and acceptance from his father, who had been raised as the bastard child of the famous sculptor, Augustus Saint-Gaudens. After reading Iron John by Robert Bly, Ms.Ingalls recognized what was missing in her father’s life.
She is a Californian by birth, a Minnesotan in her heart, and a contented Florida retiree. She loves gardening, golfing, and reading, but her real passion is writing.
A few months after Naomi is devastated when her sister is killed by a car walking to a friend’s house, she graduates college with an art degree and marries the man of her dreams, Jason. They embark on their newly romantic life together in Pacific Cove. However, life is less than happy when Naomi begins experiencing visions that keep her on edge.
Haunted Visions is a very light, quick read. My only issues is that the narrative tend to switch from past to present tense and back again, which can be confusing. The characters were two dimensional and their dialogue can be mediocre at times, but the story itself was very enjoyable. I read it in one sitting, eager to find out what was going to happen.
Haunted Visions is recommended to those who enjoy stories that include faith, love and has supernatural elements entwined. It is one that I wouldn’t mind reading again, and I’d be interested in seeing what other stories Ms. Grace will come up with.
Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Biography
J.E. Grace was born in California and has a background in Retail Management.
She now resides in the Midwest and retired from a career in real estate in 2012 to pursue her passion-writing. Her interests include poetry, painting in traditional oils/pastels, digital art and photography. Her work can be viewed on Society 6, Zazzle, and Fine Art America.
This is her debut science fiction novel. She tries to make her characters interesting and believable so that her readers can relate to them. Her writing has spiritual overtones due to her deep roots in her faith.
She is currently writing a fantasy novel with relationships to Christian values and is in the planning stages for a sequel to “The Zarion-Saving Mankind. Her new Pacific Cove Series Short Reads; Haunted Visions-Book 1 and Testament of Faith-Book 2, are due to be published Aug-Sept. 2016. There will also be a Book 3, entitled, “Love’s Enduring Legacy,” which she is currently working on.
ISBN13: 978-0718026820 ASIN: B010R7HOR2 Published: Thomas Nelson 3rd May 2016 Pages: 416 Genre: Christian Books, Religious and Inspirational, Literary
Description:
“IN A LIFE FULL OF LIES, HE FINALLY SETTLED FOR THE TRUTH.”
No one in Mattingly ever believed Bobby Barnes would live to see old age. Drink would either rot Bobby from the inside out or dull his senses just enough to send his truck off the mountain on one of his nightly rides. Although Bobby believes such an end possible—and even likely—it doesn’t stop him from taking his twin sons Matthew and Mark into the mountains one Saturday night. A sharp curve, blinding headlights, metal on metal, his sons’ screams. Bobby’s final thought as he sinks into blackness is a curious one—There will be stars.
Yet it is not death that greets him beyond the veil. Instead, he returns to the day he has just lived and finds he is not alone in this strange new world. Six others are trapped with him.
Bobby soon discovers that this supposed place of peace is actually a place of secrets and hidden dangers. Along with three others, he seeks to escape, even as the world around him begins to crumble. The escape will lead some to greater life, others to endless death . . . and Bobby Barnes to understand the deepest nature of love.
Body of review:
Have you ever thought what being dead would be like? If you have you might want to read this book.
Thanks to NetGalley and to Thomas Nelson for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I understand this book is part of the author’s Mattingly series although is the first book I read by this author. In my opinion this book can be read as a stand-alone and be enjoyed without any knowledge of the rest of the series.
I hesitated when I saw this book recommended in Net Galley as I realised the publisher is considered a publisher of Christian books, and although that is not a problem for me per se, I don’t usually read books within that category and it’s not one of the things I look for in my reading. But the description of the book, and the fact that the author has been compared to great American Southern writers, convinced me to give it a go.
With regards to the plot… I had an accident in January this year. I thankfully was fine (the car not so much) but I had a strange thought afterwards. What if I had actually died at the accident and what I went back to and I thought was real life wasn’t such but just the afterlife that just happened to look exactly the same as my previous life? It might have been the shock, but I kept thinking about that for a while. When I read the description of the book, I realised that what I thought at the time is somewhat similar to what the main character, Bobby, experiences. He has what appears to be a car crash at the beginning of the novel but wakes up the next morning with no clear memory of what had happened. Strangely enough he realises he can tell what’s going to happen next, as if he’d already lived that day. Eventually he is told that he’s dead and he becomes a member of an ersatz family of dead people who are caught up on what they call the Turn, whereby they keep again and again repeating the same day, as if they were Bill Murray in Groundhog Day, but with far fewer laughs.
The book is told in the third person but from different points of view, although the main one is Bobby’s. The assemble of different characters (and old widow who becomes the mother of the group, a preacher who’s lost her faith, a battered wife, a young boy who’s lost his alcoholic mother, an old teacher who only believes in science, and a young man with more brawn than brains) have very different views on what this place is. For some, it’s heaven, for others is hell, and others try to find a scientific explanation for it, it’s either a bend in the river of life, or a mirror. They all have secrets and unresolved issues and the author is very good at creating complex characters that are anything but clichéd. They are all flawed and that’s what makes them human.
We might have our suspicions about what is really going on and I very much suspect this book will mean different things to different people. It is a book about redemption, and about second chances (or even multiple chances) and about how we might not be able to choose our circumstances, but we can choose how we react to them and we can try to be the best version of ourselves possible.
If I already said that the book can be interpreted and read in many different ways (in another review somebody mentioned Groundhog Day meets The Twilight Zone, and yes, that’s true), the ending can also be open to many interpretations. I won’t go into detail but I think whatever the faith, or lack of it, of the reader, that should not impede the enjoyment of the novel.
For me this book falls into the category of literary fiction, and as such it might not be to everybody’s taste. It is beautifully written, with nice cadence and rhythm to the words, but it isn’t a page turner or a quick read. It is contemplative and it has its own pace (like the river mentioned by one of the characters). The novel delves into psychological, moral and transcendental questions and the characters are not immediately likeable or recognisable (perhaps with the exception of the young boy), but if you are intrigued by such themes and are prepared to go exploring, you might discover a pretty special book.
Ratings: Realistic Characterization: 4.5/5 Made Me Think: 5/5 Overall enjoyment: 4.5/5 Readability: 4/5 Recommended: 4/5 Overall Rating: 5/5
Buy it at: Format & Pricing: Paperback: $11.11 Kindle: $10.27
Contact:JasonRoyle.net Contact Form on the Right side bar for Book Review Requests.
Who is Jason?
Author Bio: Jason serves as the pastor of St. Paul’s UCC in Schaefferstown, PA. He is a graduate of Sewanee: University of the South School of Theology with a Doctorate in Ministry and Johnson University with a Master’s in Theology. He and his wife, Heather, have two children (Katelyn and Nate) and one loyal but lazy dog (Rudy). You can find his book, Judas: Misunderstood HeroonAmazon. Connect with Jason on his site,http://www.jasonroyle.net/and on Twitter at@JERoyle.
Ronovan’s Take: Jason writes from where he believes in a way to help others understand truths not traditions. He and I agree a lot on these elements. Honest, trustworthy, and a great guy.
Why is Jason here?
I read Jason’s book at his request and enjoyed it greatly. A little spin on the idea of Judas that I actually agreed with in basic meaning. I felt LitWorldInterviews needed to branch out to the spiritual and faith areas of books and Jason, after my interview with him that is here on LWI, I knew I had found the person. Non-judgemental, likes to hear other people’s ideas, a teacher and a learner at the same time.
What does Jason do here?
Jason writes Features and Book Reviews. If you want him to review a book please contact him through his contact form on his site.
Remember to check out his book on Amazon,Judas: Hero Misunderstood. It’s only .99 and worth it. A somewhat quirky read about the trial of Judas.
![Pacific Cove: Haunted Visions (Pacific Cove Short Read Series Book 1) by [Grace, J.E]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/5110rGJLkGL.jpg)
