On Green Diamonds Pursuing a Dream by Tom Tatum: a great book about life, love and baseball

On Green Diamonds Pursuing a Dream by Tom Tatum is a wonderful story about a young man who meets a retired baseball player and both their lives are never the same again. The story opens with Gabe “Fireball” Nelson, a retired professional baseball player, who is settling into a normal life with his wife, Heather, when a widowed woman and her son move into the neighborhood.

The Nelsons are immediately drawn to the grieving family. Tyler is a shy and withdrawn 8 year old whose only love is baseball. Gabe is able to use his knowledge of the game to help Tyler improving his baseball skills as well as deal with his father’s sudden death. Gabe and Tyler soon become like grandfather and grandson as Gabe teaches Tyler more than baseball. He teaches him the 22 rules to live by that his father gave to him. Gabe teaches him the importance of the Lord in his life and how to be a generous and thoughtful man to others. Through triumphs and setbacks, Tyler learns the importance of being a great leader on the field and off. Will Tyler achieve his dream of becoming a professional baseball player? What sacrifices must he make to get there?

I loved this book. I’m usually not a big baseball fan. I’m more a football fan. I normally watch baseball during the playoffs and the World Series. With the limited knowledge of the game, I was still able to enjoy this book and cheer Tyler on as he pursues his dream of green diamonds. I loved how Gabe’s 22 rules are applied throughout the book. I loved Gabe’s fish analogy of “a keeper” when discussing the birds and the bees with Tyler. Even though you may not be a baseball fan, I recommend this book. You will enjoy the journey of Gabe and Tyler through their love of baseball. The characters are real and relatable. I wish that I had a grandfather or father like Gabe Nelson. I highly recommend On Green Diamonds Pursuing a Dream by Tom Tatum. You will love it!

On Green Diamonds Pursuing a Dream is available on

Amazon in hardback for $29.99 and one the Kindle for $3.99

A wonderful new book: "Shadow Heart"

“Shadow Heart” by Pamela Taeuffer is a story of a young girl who is trying to overcome her dysfunctional family by working hard and earning her place at Stanford University. Nicky Young is a high school senior on her way to her dream college when she meets professional baseball player, Ryan Tilton. Ryan turns her world around and helps her experience a part of life she avoided and fear she wouldn’t fit in. There is so much I could talk about in this book but I don’t want to give away too much that I will pick a few of my favorite points.

My top 3 reasons why I love this book. First, the brutal honesty and accurate depiction of an alcoholic family. As a child of an alcoholic parents, I understand and developed many of Nicky’s defense mechanisms. I buried myself into studying and reading. Books had been my escape just as Nicky’s determination to better herself was hers. The learning to do things on your own and getting certain “information” from someone other than your parent is accurate. I also see the fear and ultimate defiance of Nicky is very real.

Second, the courting, wooing and sexual tensions between Nicky and Ryan remind me of my favorite romance writers, Kathleen E. Woodiwiss and Julie Garwood. The melt your heart, burning sensation through your veins feelings is great and helped made the emerging relationship between Ryan and Nicky so real and hypnotic. I haven’t read scenes like this in a long time.

Third, the wonderful insights that the characters around Nicky give her as she enters into a world she avoided. There are several quotes that I wrote down as I read this book because I thought they were great thoughts to remember. One of my favorites is when Nicky tells Ryan: “I’m sick of being strong.” As I child of alcoholics, I understand the need and desire to show no weakness for fear of falling victim to the same vice. But being or acting strong can only go on for so long. I never learned to be weak until I met my husband and was able to completely rely on him just as Nicky is learning to do with Ryan.

My only criticisms are, first, the fact that Nicky decides to date her friend, Jerry, to play the “same game” as Ryan and with the ease she does so. And it is a game that she perceives is being played. Although I do like when Ryan confronts her about her manner of dress, he says, “Dressing like this isn’t how you make yourself an individual or become independent.” Someone who avoided boyfriends, she seemed to be comfortable with having two. Second, Ryan asks Nicky where she will live when she attends Stanford, she acts like she is leaving the state when Stanford is only about 45 minutes from San Francisco. She could commute or live on campus and Ryan could visit. I don’t understand her fear that when she starts Stanford, their relationship will be over. Unless it’s her defense mechanism again or her fear that the relationship will get in the way of school.

Despite those nitpicks, which I’m sure were dramatic devices, I really enjoyed this book and eagerly await the rest of the series. I’m curious to see if Nicky ends up with Ryan or Jerry. Personally, I hope its Ryan because Jerry seems like a player in the making. I am going to keep an eye out for the next book, “Fire Heart.” “Shadow Heart” will have a place on the “keeper” shelf on my bookcase.