Book Reviews for September 2010

In a Heartbeat: Sharing the Power of Cheerful Giving by Leigh Anne Tuohy with Sally Jenkins

The remarkable couple depicted in The Blind Side tells their own deeply inspiring story. First came the bestselling book, then the Oscar-nominated movie – the story of Michael Oher and the family who adopted him. Together, Leigh Anne and Sean raised two remarkable children – Collins and Sean Jr. – who share their deep Christian faith and commitment to making a difference. And then Leigh Anne met a homeless African-American boy named Michael and decided that her family could be his. She and Sean taught Michael that everyone has a blind side, but a loving heart always sees a path toward true charity.

Leigh Anne Tuohy grew up in Memphis and graduate from the University of Mississippi, where she met her husband; she now owns an interior design company.

Sean Tuohy grew up in New Orleans and played professional basketball for a summer after college; he owns more than seventy restaurant franchises. The Tuohys live in Memphis but travel all over the country speaking about their family, their faith, and how each of us can make a difference in the world.

The Last Talk with Lola Faye by Thomas H. Cook

Lucas Page, once an ambitious historian now resigned to mediocrity, visits St. Louis to give a sparsely attending reading – nothing out of the ordinary. Except among the yawning attendees is someone he did not expect: Lola Fay Gilroy, the “other woman” he has long blamed for his father’s murder decades earlier.

Reluctantly, Luke joins Lola Faye for a drink. As one drink turns into several, these two battered souls relive, from their different perspectives, the most searing experience of their lives. Slowly but surely, the hotel bar dissolves around them and they are transported back to the tiny southern town where this defining moment – a violent crime of passion – is turned in the light once more to reveal flaws in the old answers. As it turns out, there is much Luke doesn’t know. And what he doesn’t know can hurt him. Trapped in an increasingly intense emotional exchange, and with no place to go save into his own dark past, Luke struggles to gain control of an ever more threatening conversation, to discover why Lola Faye has come and what she is after – before it is too late.

Thomas H. Cook was born in Fort Payne, Alabama, in 1947. He has received several nominations and awards for his works.

Information retrieved from book jackets.