Christian Fiction Devourers discussion
Archived Group Buddy Reads 2019
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February Group Buddy Read - Tending Roses by Lisa Wingate
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I read this back in 2015 and thoroughly enjoyed it. It is the first book in the series Tending Roses, but I have not had a chance to finish the series. Who will be joining me?
I'm going to try to join in on this one! :)
I have started reading this book. It is wonderful. Hard to put down
Mod
Tending Roses is on sale for $1.99 on Amazon Kindle if you are looking for this book. https://www.amazon.com/Tending-Roses-...
I'm already reading it and so far it has my attention.
I just realized why I couldn't find this before...the folder has 2018
Thanks for the heads up Marie! I just fixed it:)
I just finished this book. I gave it 5 stars. I can't wait to hear what others thought.
It was a 5 star read for me also LInda.
Here are the discussion questions for Tending Roses. Please feel free to answer any or all of the questions.1. Lynne Hinton, bestselling author of Friendship Cake, a novel that celebrates female friendship, has praised Tending Roses as a “rich story of family and faith that reminds us of the bittersweet seasons of life and our call to care for each other.” What do you think she means by “the bittersweet seasons of life”?
2. How do the various characters in Tending Roses care for each other? Do you agree that we are all called to do so? Are we as obliged to care for people outside our families as we are for immediate family members? In your own life, how are you heeding or not heeding that call?
3. The wildflower journal continues to make mysterious appearances throughout the novel. Do you think Grandma deliberately leaves the book for Kate to read? Why does she choose to convey her advice in this way rather than verbally?
4. After reading Tending Roses and calling upon your own experience, do you think a mother or father can have a demanding career and still be a good parent? Is it naive to think you can “have it all”—both a satisfying career and an active role in raising children?
5. The author suggests that focusing on obtaining a lot of “stuff” makes it more difficult to nurture a healthy family. To what extent do you agree or disagree? If you wanted to simplify your own life, where would you start?
6. Some of the tension between Kate and her sister, Karen, arises from their very different situations—Kate’s as a stay-at-home mom and Karen’s as a childless career woman. Have you experienced a similar tension in your own family or community? What’s at the root of this kind of problem, and how might you begin to diffuse it?
I think that Grandma left the journal for Kate to read because she believed Kate would read it in her time. She used stories which made the message less threatening and more easily accepted. I have a daughter that I had to write letters/notes to if I wanted to convey something important to her because we had a hard time communicating without it turning into an argument. I don't know if she read them, but I hope so.
Love the letters to your daughter LInda. What a neat idea. 2. How do the various characters in Tending Roses care for each other? Do you agree that we are all called to do so? Are we as obliged to care for people outside our families as we are for immediate family members? In your own life, how are you heeding or not heeding that call?
I think we can care for people outside our family even if it is in just little ways: sending a card, praying for them, fixing an extra meal to take to someone. I know it is hard for me to do much more than that as I am a full time caregiver for my disabled husband. But I know that friends have told me they appreciate it when I send a card or drop a casserole by (which I do by fixing a double recipe when I am fixing our own). I truly believe that it is often the little things that count in showing we care.
I'm struggling to get through this book!! I'm on chapter 9 and it's just dragging. Does it get better?
Mod
6. Some of the tension between Kate and her sister, Karen, arises from their very different situations—Kate’s as a stay-at-home mom and Karen’s as a childless career woman. Have you experienced a similar tension in your own family or community? What’s at the root of this kind of problem, and how might you begin to diffuse it? I have not experienced a lot of tension for being a SAHM but I have at times wondered if I was "missing out." I love the way Grandma Rose told Kate that she needed to stop competing with her sister and realize that God had blessed each of them in different ways,
Just 11% into book and so far it is a slow read for me.
Nancy wrote: "Just 11% into book and so far it is a slow read for me."It was a slow read all the way through for me. I had high expectations because of her book Before We Were Yours but this is a completely different story and much less drama. I did enjoy the characters so im glad I pushed through and finished.
:( sadly I am running behind on reading this since my local library did not have copy but I am ordering it in and gonna read it just a little late for the month lol hopefully that is alright. Still new here
Mod
I am with you Sarah. I started it but went on to other books. I will finish it later.
When Kate Bowman temporarily moves to her grandmother’s Missouri farm with her husband and baby son, she learns that the lessons that most enrich our lives often come unexpectedly. The family has given Kate the job of convincing Grandma Rose, who’s become increasingly stubborn and forgetful, to move off her beloved land and into a nursing home. But Kate knows such a change would break her grandmother’s heart.
Just when Kate despairs of finding answers, she discovers her grandma’s journal. A beautiful handmade notebook, it is full of stories that celebrate the importance of family, friendship, and faith. Stories that make Kate see her life—and her grandmother—in a completely new way...