I Was Never Broken: Volume 2

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I read the first book in the series, A Dead Man's Eyes, and really enjoyed it, so I felt that this book would be as good, and I was right. I loved Lisa and Dorothy's characters. Lisa has a daughter Bridget, she is not as much of the main character as she was in the first book but she definitely contributes to the story.

Seriously, if you're grieving the loss of a relationship. Whether you were the one to walk away, or the one left behind. Read this. It will give you a brand new perspective of self-love; of how to love and be loved. I started the first volume at 16 and finished it at 25. I was going through a major life change. It became one of my favorite books because it captures honest feelings and of course, my voice. Something I lived through most of my life without. Ilsa is a little naive and is forced to grow up and understand that life is different outside of the colonies and she can't force others to believe what is the truth. New York Times bestselling poet and multi-platinum singer-songwriter Jewel explores her unconventional upbringing and extraordinary life in an inspirational memoir that covers her childhood to fame, marriage, and motherhood. In addition to the stories of her life, she shares her philosophical views on life and happiness and getting your life together when you have gone through traumatic events. She has pulled herself through all that heart break and wants to share what she has learned to help others. She admits that she is still a work in progress, but she states early on the book that we are not broken. "There is no real explanation for what spirit is, just a sense of it, but I know that a spirit cannot be broken any more than water can be broken, or any more than air can be split apart." There is more to the quote, but I won't go on. It's enough to say that this book made me think and feel and evaluate my view of life.

Living on a homestead in Alaska, Jewel learned to yodel at age five, and joined her parents’ entertainment act, working in hotels, honky-tonks, and biker bars. Behind a strong-willed family life with an emphasis on music and artistic talent, however, there was also instability, abuse, and trauma. At age fifteen, she moved out and tasked herself with a mission: to see if she could avoid being the kind of statistic that her past indicated for her future. Soon after, she was accepted to the prestigious Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan, and there she began writing her own songs as a means of expressing herself and documenting her journey to find happiness. Jewel was eighteen and homeless in San Diego when a radio DJ aired a bootleg version of one of her songs and it was requested into the top-ten countdown, something unheard-of for an unsigned artist. By the time she was twenty-one, her debut had gone multiplatinum. I love that this series focuses on rare cases. The plot for this book was disgusting, terrifying, and well-executed. It’s scary to think things like this happen today, and I found the presentation was authentic. But Jewel learns to sing, and joins Daddy on the road and in the pubs. She has a great voice and takes it to a music college in the lower 48.

Lori Duffy Foster is a former crime reporter who writes and lives in the hills of Northern Pennsylvania. She is the author of A Dead Man's Eyes, the first in the Lisa Jamison Mysteries Series, and an Agatha Award nominee. Lori is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, The Historical Novel Society, International Thriller Writers, and Pennwriters. She also sits on the board of the Knoxville (PA) Public Library. He holds meetings and retreats in the UK and Europe, clearly and directly pointing to the frustrations surrounding the spiritual search, to the nature of mind, and to the Clarity at the heart of everything. His uncompromising approach, full of humor and compassion, shatters the mind's hopes for a future awakening, revealing the awakening that is always already present, right in the midst of life. New York Times best-selling poet and multiplatinum singer-songwriter Jewel explores her unconventional upbringing and extraordinary life in an inspirational memoir that covers her childhood, rise to fame, marriage, and motherhood.I enjoyed this book immensely and although I value what Jewel has to say about her beliefs and her pursuit toward a happier life, I didn’t care for the parts that felt like a self-help book. It’s a personal preference but I usually find it more meaningful when I can form my own takeaway, rather than being told how I should interpret my thoughts or how to apply certain principles to my own life. Jewel Kilcher, known in the music industry solely by her first name, shares her powerful story of childhood trauma, homelessness, career success, and healing. For many years, Ilsa Redlich has helped her parents run a hotel in South Amana, but as the United States enters the Great War, she can feel her world changing. The residents of the towns surrounding the Amana Colonies used to be accepting of their quiet, peaceful neighbors, but with anti-German sentiment running high, the Amana villages are now plagued by vandalism, threats, and insults. Things get even worse when Ilsa finds out her family won't be allowed to speak German in public--and that Garon, the childhood friend she's long been smitten with, has decided to join the army. It’s probably a bit of a hybrid. Not that I consider myself a self-help expert, but if what I’ve learned in 40 years, with a lot of pain, can help somebody else in less time and less pain, that would definitely make the book worthwhile. I’m acutely aware of how people suffer, and that very few people talk in a transparent way about their suffering. It isolates us. I think it’s good when anybody can share their story with authenticity. I’ve learned a lot by listening to other people, about how they handle things, how they perceive things. I guess I feel a little bit of an obligation to share those things. As Lisa digs into Saul's story she remembers the girl that he tells her about, Chandra, who disappeared seven years ago on her way to the store. Never to be seen or heard from, Saul's story is that she is still alive and in the same sweatshop that he escaped from. The only problem to his story is that he does not know where it is, he was too intent on his escape to pay much attention along with his condition did not allow for many memories.

I’ve never reinvented myself in how I hear that word used. I wanted, with 0304, to write a dance album that was smart, that was my tribute to Cole Porter, that had great melodies. It’s the same writer; it’s the same heart that informs all those records. I sort of describe it like my closet. If you go in my closet, you’ll see sweatpants and jeans, and you’ll see couture dresses. I like all those things. It doesn’t make me a different person because one day I like dressing in a fancy dress versus my jeans. I find the perception of music that way a bit odd. I don’t think fans use music that way. I don’t think fans feel like a different person because they have a Johnny Cash record and a Britney Spears record. I think a lot of fans have a lot of different types of albums on their phones, on their playlists. And I think artists are capable of the same thing. I feel like I am, certainly. As for being called “poetry”, I humbly disagree. My fondness for the power of poetry led me to select this title. Instead, it is a run-on reflective essay of sorts, merely in a verse style of sorts. Oh, please sort this mess out.I think my disappointment comes from the fact that the story had a lot of slow spots. Now, the story itself was very interesting and when I first read the description of the story, I saw a lot of potential for this book to be very tense. Too tense, in fact. But, it actually had a fairly comfortable feel to it despite the intensity of the story. I think that is where the slowness of the book turned into an asset. There is a lot of normal everyday life in this story. It is not non-stop tension and fear. We still get a very good look at life in the Amana Colonies and this book still retains that simple feel that I have come to love about this series. It actually ended up as a fairly well-balanced story that was a relaxing experience. So, despite some minor disappointment, I can say that this was still a good book and a worthwhile read. I didn’t love it like I thought I would, but I didn’t dislike it either. Firstly can I just say I squealed in delight upon receiving this book. I had heard so many great things about it and wanted to read it myself.

I really didn't know what to expect from this book when I first took it home, but I am so glad I read it. Jewel has shared deeply personal, often painful stories of her childhood in rural Alaska, her teenage years, her struggle to find herself and her art, her rise to success, the conflicts with both her dad and her mom, her other personal relationships and now her experiences as a mother of a young boy. What do I say about Saul? He was a wonderful human being. The strength (mental and physical) that he showed throughout the book was terrific. Of course, he was damaged. Wouldn’t you be if you were forced to work in a basement and treated as less than a human? I loved seeing him open up to Dorothy and begin the healing he needed. She grows up in Alaska with an absent hippie Eastern Meditation con-artist as a Mother. And a slightly abusive Musician Outdoors man father. And brothers and sisters that almost never enter the story. So basically her parents did a mind trip on her. There are times that I find myself tearing up or feeling overwhelmed. However, despite the sadness, the book also manages to be hopeful and inspiring.Dorothy was the other main character in Never Broken. She was mentioned a few times in the first book but never was made into much of a character. Well, in this book, she was one of the main characters. My heart broke when she realized she felt so protective of Saul because of an unspeakable loss she had experienced years earlier. Saul reminded her of her son. She was also a bad b*tch who wouldn’t give up Saul, no matter what. I was really surprised with this book, in a good way! I enjoyed the first book, and was excited to continue on in the Lisa Jamison journey. Never Broken by Lori Duffy Foster is a mystery/suspense novel. It's the second book from the Lisa Jamison series.