Scrap Everything

by Leslie Gould

Elise didn’t want to be in the town at all–and certainly not in the scrapbooking shop…

A month after Elise Shelton and her family arrive in Forest Falls, Oregon, she wanders into Rebekah Graham’s scrapbooking store. Elise deems Rebekah too perky and judges scrapbooking to be another never-gets-done chore, but she’s also drawn to the community of women who gather to crop their photos, lay out pages, and share their lives.

The women rally around Elise when her husband is called back into the army and her family is thrown into turmoil. When Rebekah’s daughter faces a medical crisis, challenging Rebekah’s desire to control her life as tightly as she plans her scrapbook pages, the women must support each other.

As both women battle to overcome their fears and to grow in faith, they discover unexpected gifts–and an unlikely friendship that will change their lives.

Genres: Christian Fiction, Christian, Chick Lit

322 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Leslie Gould is the #1 bestselling and Christy Award-winning author of fifty novels. She received her MFA in 2009 and has taught writing on the university level. Leslie enjoys traveling, hiking, and history. She and her husband, Peter, are the parents of four adult children and two grandbabies. Visit her at http://www.lesliegould.com/.

Reviews

[Trina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would actually rate it about a 3.5. It was a good story, but parts were very repetitive. Especially how the story line went with Mark. A lot of problems and no real clear solution. It seemed more distracting than adding to the story.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was pretty good. Not as much scrapbooking references as I expected but still a good story. It's Christian fiction and I'd recommend it.

[Lori Noe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love to scrapbook, so this was a good read. Important message about trusting God.

[Leaon Star · Rating 4 out of 5]

I LOVE crafting, and the fact that this is a christian book... delighted me. I'd definitely read more from this author.

[IrishFan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this one up at a used bookstore going out of business sale. It was an ok book. I didn't mind that it is Christian based. But the story was just a little flat, not fleshed out very well. The main character Elise seems a little standoffish and selfish, and Rebekah comes off as needy and dependent. I also didn't care for Mark, he was a whiny, bratty boy, and even though Elise wonders several times why he doesn't care about school or what is going on with others, we never get to delve more into what happened to him. Of course ** SPOILER **


we all knew that Elise would cave and get tested to donate the kidney to Pepper and that it would all work out in the end.

Eh to me, not sure I would read any more of her books.

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Elsie Shelton is unhappy about moving to Forest Fall Oregon, the home of her father in law. She agree to move to this town with her military husband and family in order to spend some time with his father. Afterwards, they are moving to Seattle where she has always wanted to live. While shopping one day, Elsie wanders into Rebekah’s scrapbooking store. Elsie decides to give scrapbooking a try, although she isn’t thrilled about the idea. She is surprised when the women from the scrapbooking store reach out to her when her husband is unexpectedly called back into military service. Rebekah’s daughter faces a medical crisis that challenges her faith. Rebekah and Elsie find God provides friendship as a support through their struggles in life and faith.

This was a nice easy read. I flew through it in one weekend. It was good for distracting me from not feeling well. I think I especially liked the combo of scrapbook and reading! I certainly know the attraction of scrapbooking and getting involved in that activity! I don’t know why I had left it on my TBR shelf for so long! I guess the cover wasn’t as attractive as I wanted. But, this was a good example of don’t judge by the cover, the book inside was well worth the read.

[Veronica Noechel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked up this book on impulse at Archivers, drawn in by the novelty of finding a novel (there's a bad joke in there somewhere) amongst the how-to books. I've read and enjoyed scrapbooking-themed mysteries in the past, so I figured why not. I later discovered it was a work of Christian Fiction. Now, not being a Christian, I'm not really *into* Christian fiction, but while Christian themes and lingo ("fellowship" meaning "hanging out together", "visiting" translating to "chatting", et al.) were evidenced throughout, it wasn't particularly obrusive or alienating for the most part. That said, (sort of a spoiler) prayers being answered are no excuse for a slipshod, rushed and poorly executed ending. The author took the time to create some interesting, likeable characters for the reader to become attached to, as well as interesting and unlikeablle characters as well (John and Ted were both pretty wooden and a bit unkind to boot.) It's a cheap trick to "solve" everything with a single ephiphany that comes out of virtually nowhere. That's not to knock Christian fiction in general. The end could have been done well *and* included the religious overtones. This book, unfortunately, just doesn't do it.

[Linzy Alivia]

This book was so good. It was so hard to put it down to get other things done. I walked away from reading for about 5 months and Scrap Everything was the perfect book to get me back in the mood. I love how the book wasn't just centered around scrapbooking, but it was a story about friendship, which everyone has. What a great book!

[Jakki · Rating 5 out of 5]

I especially enjoyed this book as every character spoke to me directly because of their experiences and/or knowledge that match with mine: kidney transplant, adoption, scrap booking and army reserve deployment. The book's message is about trust and love. An incredibly uplifting story with characters I would like to know.

[Meagan | The Chapter House · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really sweet story! Brought back a lot of scrapbooking memories, as well as memories of my grandfather, who was on kidney dialysis for decades resulting from strep in the Army. Mark got on my nerves a bit (as did Elise, because I felt she treated her boys very differently), but I still enjoyed the book and its resolution very much.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was okay but I thought that the author was trying to put too much drama into one little book. The author was very good at leaving you hanging at the end of the chapters so that you were dying to know what happened.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this quick, fun read.

[Terri · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn't even finish this book! Now I LOVE to scrapbook, so I thought I could identify with the characters, but this story was going nowhere....waste of my time.....

[Tommie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really didn't think I would like this book but it kept me engrossed the whole way through! Not sure if I would recommend it, but it was certainly well written.

[Nancy Hoffman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book because of the way it explored the ideas of friendship and family.