The Husband's Secret - Liane Moriarty

Title: The Husband's Secret
Author: Liane Moriarty
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 3.5/5
# pages: 389
Date read: December, 2017

My Darling Cecilia
If you're reading this, then I've died...

Imagine your husband wrote you a letter, to be opened after his death. Imagine, too, that the letter contains his deepest, darkest secret - something so terrible it would destroy not just the life you built together, but the lives of others too. Imagine, then, that you stumble across that letter while your husband is still very much alive...

Cecilia Fitzpatrick achieved it all - she's an incredibly successful business woman, a pillar of her small community and a devoted wife and mother. Her life is as orderly and spotless as her home. But that letter is about to change everything, and not just for her: Rachel and Tess barely know Cecilia - or each other - but they too are about to feel the earth-shattering repercussions of her husband's devastating secret.


The first 100 pages I absolutely loved! I couldn't put it down and raced through the chapters. But unfortunately it took a turn I hadn't anticipated, and became very dark. I still wanted to know what happened to the different characters, but almost didn't want to read more to find out - meaning that I put down the book more often than I would have otherwise, as I had to mentally psyche myself to what would come next. It's very telling that it was Tess' story I minded the least. Fortunately it never went down the road I feared the most (and I rather liked the ending with Lauren and Rachel), but it still detracted a lot from my general enjoyment of the book.

Still a very well-written book though, with Liane Moriarty's signature touch.

4 Keys to Hearing God's Voice - Mark Virkler

Title: 4 Keys to Hearing God's Voice
Author: Mark Virkler
Genre: Christian non-fiction
Rating: 4/5
# pages: 310
Date read: December 2017.

The keys that are examined, discussed in detail, and can be immediately applied to your life are:

How to recognize God's voice as spontaneous thoughts. Learning how to become still before the Lord. Looking for vision as you pray. Realizing the importance of two-way journaling. Filled with insights from years of hearing from God, 4 Keys to Hearing God's Voice also includes visual aids that enhance the teaching and learning experience. Very reader-friendly, you will find that the concepts and principles are easily adapted to your personal circumstances and lifestyle.


Nina recommended this book to me, and I am so glad she did! It's a fascinating book that took me a LOT longer to read than it should have - and for a really stupid reason to. At chapter 10 I was still only at 24% of my kindle book, and though it was excellent, it seemed rather daunting that it was THAT LONG!!! So imagine my surprise when it turned out that the next chapter was Appendix A!

Turned out, the book itself finished at 27% or so and ALL THE REST was the New Testament, which had been included in the ebook version. I felt slightly stupid not to have realized this in advance, and would probably have finished the book ages ago if I had.

That said, I really enjoyed how Mark Virkler took a practical approach to hearing God's voice - giving concrete examples and suggestions of what to do and how to train yourself to open your ear to the voice of God. Between his suggestions and Nina's advice I finally found a method that worked for me, and for the first time ever was able to consciously talk with God, rather than merely to Him.

I don't entirely agree with everything Mark Virkler wrote, but I thought it awesome to read this account from a person who's as left-brained as I am. Most other books I've read on the subject have been from a more right-brained perspective leaving me with almost more questions than I started out with.

A really excellent book, that I want to read again before too long, in order to make sure the messages "stick".