Book Review: "The Fiddler" by Beverly Lewis

It's book review time again!  This time I selected "The Fiddler" by Beverly Lewis. I think I was having a fit of homesickness when I chose this book. I don't usually read the Amish novels unless there isn't anything else...Sorry! I have read some of Beverly's previous works, and honestly she usually does a pretty good job with it. I truly enjoying reading about roads and landmarks and people that are familiar to me. (I spent all of my teen years in Lancaster County, so when she says the main character exited the turnpike at Morgantown and filled up at the Turkey Hill, I get a little excited because I can still see those places in my mind's eye.)

Anyway, here is the description from Beverly Lewis' website (http://www.beverlylewis.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=239:home-to-hickory-hollow&catid=15&Itemid=136)
Amelia "Amy" DeVries, a 24-year-old violinist, is disillusioned with life and love after the collapse of her long-running romance. Weary of endless rehearsals and performances, Amy sets out on a road trip through the Pennsylvania mountains. She leaves her cell phone behind so life's demands can't intrude on her solitude. She doesn't know, nor care, where she will end up.
When her car breaks down deep in the mountains, Amy realizes the flaw in her "no cell phone" plan. She abandons her car and walks the winding roads, searching for help. Following the smell of woodsmoke and the sound of music, she finds a rustic log cabin. There she meets a young Amishman--and through him a community--that will change her life forever.

What I liked
As I said earlier, I like that I can picture the setting in my mind's eye, having lived there for so long. It's a lovely setting, and I am pleased that she chose that area (where she also lived) instead of another Amish Community, like the groups in Ohio or Indiana. I also liked that the author obviously did some research into new territory. There were references to difficult musical concepts and classical Master's and their pieces, as well as the nuances of musician's individual styles. I appreciated the effort.

What I Didn't Like
This book didn't really seem to follow the usual pattern of the other books I have read by Beverly Lewis. It seemed to focus more on the "Englischer" more than the Amish community and it made it flow a little awkwardly. I believe the usual draw for her work is the sampling of the quaint simplicity of the Amish people and their way of life that the story gives you, and I don't think this book really supplied that sampling.  I also felt that the pace of the book felt rushed, and that made the love story seem less providential and more coincidental.


To summarize, I think that the book is an ok read, and if you are already a fan of Beverly Lewis, you will likely be more forgiving than I was. Since I already don't care for this type of book, I was probably a little cynical in my view of it. If I were to read the next book in the series (which I likely will not) I would hope to see the storyline put back in the farmhouses and fields and less in the head of the Englischer.

Gee, Diapers!

I've been diapering the littlest kiddo in cloth diapers for about a week now, and I have come to the following conclusion; I am super-mom.  Just kidding!  Actually, there has been a sort of evolution of thought that has occurred here. The first day, the little one decided she needed to poo a few extra times, just for good measure, and I pretty much gagged through the entire dump and swish process. The next day, I gagged just a little less. A week later I don't gag anymore but I do groan inwardly a little bit. (who doesn't?!)  I don't particularly enjoy putting my hand in the toilet. That said, I actually think it isn't too bad and if I ever have another baby, I just might cloth diaper from the beginning. 


I'm using gdiapers, which is actually what they call a hybrid system. If I wanted to I could switch out my cloth insert for a flushable/biodegradable/compostable one. As it is, that would kind of defeat my whole purpose in cloth-diapering, which is to save money. Contrary to popular belief, Pastors do not make alot of money. In fact we make bupkus from DH's salary (definition of bupkus: a paltry sum; very little; a minimal amount) so it is very important that we save money wherever possible.  Now, we live in an area where overhead is high (our rent eats up half our monthly pay! YIKES!) so I was hesitant at first to make the switch. I was worried the water and electric bills would eat my savings and make all those gaggy moments go to waste. But after doing the math I realized that we would still be saving about 1200 bucks a year on diapers, so I went for it.  The nice the about the gdiapers is the gpants are reusable. You don't have to throw those little suckers into the wash every time, and when you do wash them you can just throw them into your regular load and dry them on low. The liners (the vinyl thing that holds the cloth insert) can be machine washed, too, so I throw them in with the cloth inserts and then hang them to dry.  Those cloth inserts are the parts that amaze me. My kiddo really made them gross, so when I threw them into the wash at the end of the week, I expected them to be smelly and stained when I took them out. But I was wrong. I added some Clorox 2 Free and Clear in there and they came out fresh and with no stains at all. :) And the gdiaper people weren't kidding when they said that the hemp gets softer everytime you wash it. I want a pillow made out of these suckers. They're very soft. Oh, and the other nice thing about this system is the flushable liners that go over your cloth. They catch (most of) the poo and you flush it away. that way you don't have quite as much mess on the cloth to clean up. I like easy and I like when messes go away, so it is a winning combo for me.   Oh, and one more thing: they are so cute!!! I picked out a bunch in this color:





I'd have put up a picture of the little one wearing these sassy little numbers, but the last thing I need is The Man saying "Hey Weirdo, why are you posting a picture of your little kid's butt online?" So, that's a photo that never happened. ;o)  But you can go to http://www.diapers.com/ and check these out yourself if you are interested. That is where I ordered mine (I love their fast, free shipping!) and I had a good experience. Here is the link to the gdiapers page:   http://www.diapers.com/buy?freetext=gdipbundles1b&viewheader=n

So, there is my adventure.  Oh, and one more final thought: my Granny cloth-diapered and she had 6 kids...someone ought to go and kiss that woman' feet! That's a whole lot of nasty nappys! (I wondered how long she gagged?)