Book Review: After the Leaves Fall

http://blog.booksontheknob.org/I love to read!  I have always loved to read!  Now that I am a wife and the mother of a toddler, I don't always get time to read.  Sometimes, I make time by staying up late to read.  I pay for it the next day, but at least I get my book fix in!

One of the blogs that I follow is called Books on the Knob and it has allowed me to expand my reading library without sacrificing space.  They post about free and almost-free ebooks available from Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and several other sources.  I recommend this blog if you want to get free books for your reading habit.  However, keep in mind that they post about a variety of different books including books that I would not recommend to anyone (erotica, witchcraft/occult, and other sinful topics).

An ebook that I read recently is After the Leaves Fall by Nicole Baart.  It's about a teenage girl named Julia who has suffered some hard times.  Her mother left her when she was nine years old, and her father passed away when she was about 14.  She also falls in love with her best friend Thomas who later breaks her heart.  Most of the story focuses on her freshman year of college where she majors in engineering and dates the TA of one of her classes.

The story left me wanting more -- not because it was such a great book, but rather because it lacked plot, depth, meaning, and a satisfying ending.  It was interesting enough to keep me reading it, but unless I can get the sequel for free, it's not interesting enough for me to read the sequel.  I was disappointed in the choices that the girl made -- although, for her to keep the baby is the RIGHT choice.  (Sorry for the plot-buster.)  The discussion questions at the end alluded to how she found her way back to God and I frankly just did not see that in the book.  The ending made mention that she was seeking, but that part of the story was not well-developed at all.  It made it seem like this is the kind of book that "you only know it's a Christian book because they stick a few Bible verses in it and mention God once or twice."  If you take those few mentions out, you are not left with a Christian book at all.

And the little chick story?  Totally did not get that at all.  If you get it, feel free to enlighten me in the comments.

Singleton Community Center, Bartlett, TN

My daughter and I visited the little playground located at the Singleton Community Center in Bartlett, TN.  It's located at 7266 Third Road.  I don't know what the Community Center is all about; perhaps I'll check it out the next time we visit this playground.

The thing I like best about this playground is that it's in the shade!  This would be the perfect playground to go to on a hot summer day!

As you can see, it's a small playground, but Gracie loved it!  She smiled the whole time we were there and didn't want to leave.

My daughter is very adventurous: she likes to climb on the larger play equipment!

I'm thankful that she did NOT want to try out this suspension bridge.

She did seem to want to slide on the bridge, though!

Here she is peeking through the little tunnel.  She thought it was funny that she saw me on the other side.

I had read that there were baby swings here, but apparently not.  That's the only drawback to this playground.

Yale Road Neighborhood Park, Bartlett, TN

Yale Road Neighborhood Park is one of the parks maintained by the City of Bartlett, TN.  It is located at 6241 Yale Road.  Here is the location on GoogleMaps.

 There is ample parking available at the front of the park, and it is easy to get to from Yale Road.

 From here you can see the playground.

 From the parking lot, you walk down this hill to get to the lake or to go up the steps to the playground.

 A few people brought bread to feed the ducks.  The ducks decided they had better things to do.

 However, the turtles showed up in droves to partake of the free food!

 Here is a view of the playground from the lakeshore.

 This John Deere 'Dozer is just the right size for small fry.

 However, my daughter was more interested in the BIG play equipment!

 It didn't take her long to head for the stairs.  She actually went down the slide before I could even get down and go to where she was!

 She loved this swing!  It's only been in the last week or so that she has liked swinging.

 There is a walking trail that goes through the park.  To avoid going down the stairs, I took the trail back to the parking lot.  It was a little bit longer walk, but easier to navigate.

 

They do have benches and picnic tables as well.

All in all, we really enjoyed this park.  It is very well kept up and is a very pleasant place to play in.  Next time we go, we will take bread for the ducks.