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Two books plus two movies added sugar and spice to my life in recent weeks as the four productions enhanced my vision and verve.

***

Last week I ordered from Amazon Books the brand new novel, Watermelon Seeds by Fred Plocher, former next door neighbor here in Victoria when our kids were little. Now we only see him and Mary Sue in the summer when they return to visit from their base home in Arizona.

I read Watermelon Seeds in a couple days, intermittently, taking time out to eat and sleep. I didn't want the book to end for the same reason that some people tune into soap operas day after day. You get interested in the characters and you want to know what happens next.

In this book, which is a sequel to Stealing Watermelons published in 2014, we meet up again with the Watermelon Gang -- Bjorn, Ozzie, Pope, and Shu. If you didn't meet them in Fred's first book, that's okay. Watermelon Seeds can stand totally alone.

I don't use the term "soap opera" flippantly, for Fred's books do deal with daily events in the lives of the same group of characters and with their emotional relationships. This second book is replete with surprises and unexpected turns, which is partly why it's such a page turner.

The other reason it's a page turner for me is that I know the author and I imagine his imagination at work. Also, I know some places he writes about in Victoria, Waconia, Chaska, Excelsior, and other local venues. Plus, I think I've met some of his characters! But did you ever hear of Parley Lake Moravian Church?

Thank you, Fred, for giving me a break from Gazette and homemaking tasks for some hours. Good book title, Watermelon Seeds -- Tuan, Aana, Nick, Danny -- children of the Watermelon Gang.

***

The second book that got my attention in May was Sit, Stay, Pray: Lina Speaks Again by Robin Kelleher. Actually, the book hasn't hit the streets yet, but it will soon be available. I had read Robin's first book, Lina Unleashed: A Dog's Life with a Difficult Momma, when it was published in 2017, and Robin sent me a sample of her second book. I loved it.

Robin is a friend through our daughter Jenny and her husband Christopher. Plainly put, Chris calls her Aunt Robin! Her second book is funnier than the first. I like that you can put it down whenever you want and pick it up again without missing a woof, as Robin would say.

Although Sit, Stay, Pray is a sequel to Lina Unleashed, it too can stand totally alone. Robin's books are written with the voice of Lina, her Toy Australian Shepherd who happens to be the love of Robin's life.

Lina relishes being the mastermind on the end of her leash, while "Momma" doesn't mind being seen as the mindless one at the other end. The humor is clever and contagious, especially as the self- deprecating Momma takes us romping through fences in the pasture of political correctness.

Sit, Stay, Pray is a hilarious doggie-drama that teaches and triumphs. Thank you, Robin, for putting smiles on my face at every turn of the page.

***

Unplanned is the first movie we saw at a theater in quite some time, and it was worth the wait. Although the movie was most likely preaching to the choir (only the choir would make a point of seeing it), I've always said people should never forget to also address the choir, for the choir can always improve its voice in hearing the perfect pitch of truth.

I learned that Unplanned is a true story based on the memoir by Abby Johnson. For a long time Abby worked for Planned Parenthood and was even promoted to director. Her parents and her husband didn't want her working at an abortion place, but Abby thought she was helping people.

Then she happened to see an ultrasound and witnessed the reaction of a baby in the womb as it tried to escape the instrument that ripped it apart. The horrible truth of abortion was evident. Abby left her job and became active in the prolife cause to keep babies alive.

***

The movie Breakthrough is another amazing true story, also viewed basically by the choir, I suspect. It's about Brian and Joyce Smith and their son John who fell through the ice and drowned. Under water for 15 minutes, John was rescued by firefighters but efforts to revive him failed, and he was dead for 45 minutes, as definitively pronounced by hospital doctors and staff.

However, John's mother believed in the power of prayer and, in fact, prayed her son back to life. You've got to see it to believe it. Well, either that or you've got to sing with the choir and believe in the power of prayer.