Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Gathering the Threads
    Gathering the Threads
    Gathering the Threads
    Audiobook12 hours

    Gathering the Threads

    Written by Cindy Woodsmall

    Narrated by Stina Nielsen

    4.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    The third and final book in the Amish of Summer Grove series, from The New York Times and CBA best-selling novelist Cindy Woodsmall, brings an Old Order Amish young woman and an Englischer woman who were switched at birth full circle, as they decide where their futures will lie. After several months living out in the world with her birth family, Ariana Brenneman is back living in the Old Amish community that she grew up in. The shock of discovering she and Skylar Nash were switched at birth has not worn off but both young women are regaining their footing and trying to determine what lies ahead-the Amish life or an Englischer one? Ariana must also decide if Quill Schlabach will play a role in hers or not.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateAug 15, 2017
    ISBN9781501960758
    Gathering the Threads

    More audiobooks from Cindy Woodsmall

    Related to Gathering the Threads

    Titles in the series (3)

    View More
    View More

    Related audiobooks

    Christian Fiction For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Amish On Vacation

      May 30, 2020

      Amish On Vacation
      7 min read

    • Article

      Good Neighbors

      Oct 31, 2019

      Good Neighbors
      9 min read

    • Article

      Love & family

      Dec 28, 2022

      Australian author Peggy Frew creates characters you feel you know and long to help. That aching compassion draws you in and despite its traumatic world of addiction, Wildflowers is impossible to put down. Meg and Nina have always lived in their dazzl

      2 min read

    • Article

      3 Family Dramas

      Aug 12, 2020

      This story of clandestine passion displays daring originality in its verse form. Ana and Connor have been sneaking around in hotel rooms for three years, building a hot-house affair alongside their marriages. But then Connor dies, and Ana hears the n

      1 min read

    • Article

      3 Family Dramas

      Aug 12, 2020

      This story of clandestine passion displays daring originality in its verse form. Ana and Connor have been sneaking around in hotel rooms for three years, building a hot-house affair alongside their marriages. But then Connor dies, and Ana hears the n

      1 min read

    • Article

      Great Reads

      Jun 9, 2023

      Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general—also known as her tough-as-talons mother— has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates stri

      2 min read

    • Article

      March’s BOOK CLUB

      Feb 3, 2022

      Nothing in life is black or white, as this timely novel shows. When polar opposite best friends Elizabeth and Bryony have children, they know they may bring them up differently, but not how divided they’ll be when it comes to vaccination – and how on

      2 min read

    • Article

      Winter Warmers

      Jun 23, 2023

      BY BETH O’LEARY QUERCUS Reading a Beth O’Leary book is like connecting with an old friend. One of those friends with whom you sit on your couch in your comfiest clothes and get a story worth listening to that will make you laugh and feel sad and eve

      3 min read

    • Article

      'Ladysitting' Offers Candor And A Singular Take On A Tale Familiar To Many

      May 6, 2019

      As Lorene Cary tells the story of her Nana and the stress and sadness all too common for caregivers, it's her recounting of her upbringing and ancestry that is most engaging and captivating.

      3 min read

    • Article

      Growing Mighty: How A Jamaican Author Created A Freer Life

      Nov 29, 2023

      At the outset of her searing memoir, “How to Say Babylon,” Safiya Sinclair writes that her upbringing in a strict Rastafarian household in Montego Bay, Jamaica, involved “[watching] the men in my family grow mighty while the women shrunk.” But Sincla

      2 min read

    • Article

      Great Read

      May 18, 2022

      Great Read
      5 min read

    • Article

      Books

      Apr 16, 2021

      Books
      4 min read

    • Article

      Books

      Apr 22, 2022

      Books
      4 min read

    • Article

      Book Club

      Oct 12, 2022

      Book Club
      5 min read

    • Article

      Book Club

      Feb 9, 2022

      It’s 1924 on the cruise ship Endeavour, where a dead art dealer and a stolen painting set the scene in this murder mystery. Ship’s Officer Tim Birch is tasked with helping tetchy detective James Temple investigate the death and search for clues to th

      2 min read

    • Article

      February’s Book Of The Month

      Feb 9, 2020

      I’m a huge Marian Keyes fan. For me, her novels strike the perfect balance between dark and light. Yes, she’s hit on a formula - usually there’s a large Irish family, always lots of humour mixed with a weighty theme such as addiction, and relationshi

      1 min read

    • Article

      Books

      Aug 19, 2022

      Books
      4 min read

    • Article

      House Of Secrets

      Aug 15, 2021

      In THE HOUSE UPTOWN, by Melissa Ginsburg (Faber & Faber, $32.99), 14-year-old Ava leaves Iowa to travel across the country to New Orleans. Her mother has died, her father has never been in her life. She is to live with her grandmother, Lane, an artis

      2 min read

    • Article

      Better Books

      May 10, 2023

      Sarah Penner (Harper Collins, $32.99) In 1873 at a château outside of Paris, a séance is about to take place led by spiritualist Vaudeline D’Allaire. Known worldwide for her talent in conjuring the spirits of murder victims to find out who killed the

      2 min read

    • Article

      Bitter Harvest

      Feb 6, 2022

      THE CANE, by Maryrose Cuskelly (Allen & Unwin, $36.99) In a small North Queensland town in the 1970s, the main industry is sugar cane. Australian journalist Maryrose Cuskelly’s first work of fiction is centred around the big burnoffs of the cane fiel

      2 min read

    • Article

      Book Club

      Jul 7, 2021

      by Cathy Rentzenbrink (£14.99, HB, Phoenix) Juliet, Liam and their young son move into Juliet’s late mother’s house on Magnolia Road, where it seems lots of families are living ‘happily ever after’. But while stay-at-home dad Liam seems to be getting

      2 min read

    • Article

      SUMMER Reading SPECIAL

      Dec 28, 2022

      In last year’s Booker Prize shortlisted Oh William! we found narrator Lucy Barton reconnecting with her first husband, William, following the death of her second husband. In this sequel COVID has hit New York and William takes control. As a scientist

      10 min read

    • Article

      Reading Room

      Sep 11, 2019

      Ann Patchett’s genius is in putting families and their fragile intimacy under the microscope. In The Dutch House, this unique author is at the height of her powers with a tale you won’t want to put down. The novel opens with eight-year-old Danny Con

      4 min read

    • Article

      August’s BOOK CLUB

      Jul 1, 2021

      Just a stone’s throw away from Brighton Beach, Acacia Villas seems like the perfect place to live. But when someone attempts to kill nosey resident Priscilla, gossip starts to spread. Trouble is, Priscilla’s list of enemies is almost endless. The sec

      2 min read

    • Article

      Off The Shelf

      Aug 4, 2021

      What if we could speak to the dead? It would be a rare person processing the loss of a loved one who hadn’t wished they could pick up the phone and have one last conversation. The Emporium of the Imagination is inspired by the true story of the wind

      5 min read

    • Article

      Book CLUB

      Mar 1, 2022

      Book CLUB
      1 min read

    • Article

      Hot Right Now!

      Sep 3, 2020

      Alysia Vasey’s earliest memories are of walking alongside her grandfather as they explored the West Yorkshire moors they called home. As an adult, this love of wild things stayed with her. Now, Alysia has evolved into one of the UK’s most successful

      2 min read

    • Article

      Pageturners

      Dec 1, 2021

      Aussie fiction sensation Liane Moriarty returns to familiar territory with this domestic mystery founded with the disappearance of grandmother Joy Delaney. Joy and husband Stan met as champion tennis players and went on to create their own tennis aca

      2 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Gathering the Threads

    4.5/5

    26 ratings8 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      Listened to all three, wonderful! Couldn’t stop listening! Thank you for the great stories.
    • 5/5
      The series begins with Ties that Bind followed by Fraying at the Edge before concluding with this book. I have already read quite a few of Cindy Woodsmall's series and each time I have believed that that one was the best one I have read, that is, until I would read the next series. This time I jumped in on the last book first. I don't recommend doing that with this author, because when she writes a series, they are usually books that are closely linked to each other. Fortunately, before the first chapter, this book had a running summary of the previous two books that I haven't read. It was so well summarized that I had no trouble reading this book by itself. But again, I really don't recommended that. Cindy Woodsmall's outstanding talent is to connect us deeply with her characters so that the reader forms an emotional bond and experiences the turmoil written about with the character. This is such a rare gift for a writer, so that when I find one I like to search for all their books and read them through. That's how I feel about this series. When I read the summary, I had to chuckle. It read like a soap opera. I say that in the kindest manner possible. This series is intense, if all the books are like this one. There are several well-planned out plots, complex characters, schemes, turmoil, twists and turns, and just plain anguish laid out in the first two books that continue in this one. It was quite an amazing task to see how it all resolved. But it was definitely and happily resolved, in a way only this author can accomplish. There are so many characters that are important to the series. Ariana is the one that stands out the most. Skylar is also another but not as much the focus as Ariana. Book three resolves a long standing issue between Ariana and Quill, a neighbor she had known since her childhood who had left the Amish years ago for reasons no one in the small community of Summer Grove really knew about and thus was a forbidden friend. Nevertheless, he plays a prominent role all throughout the series. Among the complexity of details there arises a theme that may surprise the reader as it becomes clear. Ariana learned about bullying while she was "out in the world" with her birth father. Interestingly, bullying takes on a whole different shape and color when she encounters it in the Amish community after she returns. Had it always been there and she had never noticed before? The running questions then became how would she deal with it living at home with her parents while preparing for her upcoming marriage? This was not a cut at the Amish community by the author, but rather a commentary of society, that it can happen anywhere, even in places we don't expect to find it. Finally, just like other books by this author, the spiritual elements of the story are authentic, realistic, respectful while helping us to gain some fresh perspectives on the character of human nature in general. Cindy Woodsmall's series are some of the best faith-based books I have ever read. They are not filled with platitudes or pat answers. Real issues are realistically dealt with that touched my heart deeply. Even though I haven't read the first two books, I know I will soon. So I can heartily recommend this series for you. If you like intense, complex characters who are not stereotypical Amish or non-Amish or former Amish, you'll love this series. Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from Blogging for Books on behalf of the author. I was not required to write a review, positive or otherwise. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."
    • 5/5
      Title: Gathering the Threads (A Novel: The Amish of Summer Grove #3)Author: Cindy WoodsmallPages: 352Year: 2017Publisher: WaterBrookMy rating 5 out of 5 stars.The series begins with Ties that Bind followed by Fraying at the Edge before concluding with this book. I highly suggest reading the books in order as the story develops on many fronts with differing characters plus it is quite enthralling to read. I found myself caught up in the story of Arianna and Skylar’s predicament as well as how it was impacting the community and families.The author did a wonderful job by including a recap of the story from the first two books in the series to help remind readers what has occurred in the plot up to this point. I found including that very helpful, especially when time has elapsed between books for those who are voracious readers to be reminded of what happened as well as who the players are in the story.The author really kept me suspended as I kept reading to try and learn what the final decision for Ariana was going to be. I really found the story intriguing as the main two characters Ariana and Skylar throughout the series were on a journey of discovering who they were and what they wanted to do with their lives even in the midst of trying circumstances. Grab the books and then be prepared to sit and be engaged in the story from start to finish. Then, consider sharing the books or gifting copies of the books to other readers too!Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255. “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
    • 5/5
      The final installment in the series The Amish of Summer Grove will give closure to characters lives while bringing unexpected changes. I have been eagerly awaiting this book and it certainly was worth the wait. Can you imagine babies being switched at birth? It can be so unsettling for everyone involved. One of the hardest things is for the two children involved to realize they are living with the wrong biological parents. What I really like about the story is that one child belongs to an Amish family and the other to an English family and how the author shows what it is like to struggle in each environment. I will recommend that readers should read the first two books in the series to really understand the dynamics of the families. Ariana has been away for several months getting to know her "real" parents. The author does an amazing job of showing the struggles that Ariana has been through. What a shock to leave your Amish life and be forced to go with complete strangers. The Amish community doesn't welcome her home entirely. The scene with the bishop at her house with her dad was very explosive. My heart went out to her. She feels pulled in all directions and must find peace within herself. Skylar is very different from Ariana. She came from the English world and has tried to fit in with her new Amish family. She has had a rough life dealing with some addiction problems. She reminds me of a little girl who wants to be accepted so bad, but her jealousy gets the best of her. Skylar is definitely not a big fan of Ariana's. There were times I felt the Amish leaders were very hard on Ariana and Skylar seemed pleased with that. Quill to me is a hero. He has such good qualities and wants to help those who want to escape to a better life. I think if Quill hadn't been around, Ariana may not have adjusted to her new life as well. It was interesting to read how Ariana had problems giving up a few of the English ways. The author digs deep into the emotions of the characters and I could feel their pain, struggles and need for answers. The final installment in this wonderful series definitely shares about faith, forgiveness, and love. What will Ariana and Skylar decide about where they feel they belong? Don't miss this conclusion to a wonderful series where we got to know characters that find grace and loving families. I received a copy of this book from LitFuse. The review is my own opinion.
    • 4/5
      Gathering the Threads by Cindy Woodsmall is the final novel in The Amish of Summer Grove series. Ariana Brenneman is returning to the Old Order Amish community where she was raised before it was discovered she was switched with Englischer, Skylar Nash. Settling back into her old life, though, is not easy. Arianna is no longer sure what she believes in and needs time to think things through. Arianna is less accepting of authority (being told what to do). Isaac, Arianna’s father, does not understand the changes in Arianna and is worried her attitude will affect other members of the family (the Amish leaders are not pleased). Rudy, Arianna’s beau, has been waiting for her to return so they can marry, but he does not understand the dilemma facing Arianna. Quill Schlabach is the one-person Arianna can discuss what she is feeling and thinking, but the Amish leaders (and Arianna’s father) to do not approve of Quill. Everyone has an opinion about Ariana, her behavior and her future. But what does Ariana want? What is God’s will? Skylar Nash has adjusted to life in the Amish community and with the Brenneman’s. She has found her niche, but she worries what will happen now that Ariana has returned. Each woman must discover where they truly belong. The path to their future will fraught with potholes, but, at the end, they will find what their hearts truly desire. Gathering the Threads is well-written and engaging. It contains nicely developed characters that grow and change over the course of the series (Nicholas is a great example). I do feel the pace was a little slow. Gathering the Threads is the third book The Amish of Summer Grove series, and the books are best read in order. There is a great summary at the beginning of Gathering the Threads that reminds readers on what occurred in the Ties that Bind and Fraying at the Edge (it has been a year since the last book). My rating for Gathering the Threads is 4 out of 5 stars. I did feel the story dragged on a little long with some parts of the book feeling like filler (they were unneeded and did not enhance or add to the story). I would not survive one day living Amish. It is a patriarchal society that goes against my beliefs. I felt bad for Ariana (while cheering for her) when the Amish leaders attacked her for not bowing to their authority and rules (I loved it when she took back her cellphone). It was difficult for her to be standing with one foot in each world (one in Amish and one with her biological parents). The Christian element is prevalent throughout the story, but it is handled beautifully by the author. I like the themes of acceptance, forgiveness, faith, and love. I do feel the end was a little rushed. Ariana reaches a decision about her future (one her own) and then the story concludes. The ending is heartwarming and nicely wraps up the three-book series (no dangling threads). We get a little glimpse at what the future holds for Arianna, Skylar and their families. I was especially pleased to see closure for Frieda Miller (about time).
    • 5/5
      Gathering Threads is the dynamic conclusion to The Amish of Summer Grove series, and what a read and journey you are about to embark on as you turn that first page.Now this book can be read by itself, there is so much information provided to bring you up to date, but don’t deprive yourself, the first two books are tremendous and you don’t want to pass them up, and yes I have read them.Ariana, Abram, and Skylar, the Trips, or triplets, or torn apart twins because of circumstances way beyond their control. With this book both Ariana and Skylar are living with Brenneman’s, of course with their twin Abram, and find sibling rivalry at its best.This book is about closure, and forgiveness, and putting your feet on the right path, and yes the author has given us all of this. There is heartbreak, and then there is love and compassion, above all the Love of God.Ariana never wanted to go into the English world, but she did and has now returned to her roots, but you can see Gods plan written here, especially in the form of her atheist father Daniel. Then we see broken Skylar, and she is now drug free, but trying to find her place in her Amish family, and Abram, the kind, sweet, young man, who finds himself in love, but of course there are problems to overcome.We are also reunited with Berta and feel her pain and anguish, trying to live faith, but yearning for her family. There is so much injustice in this small community, and your heart will break for this strong woman, and you will love her son Quill, whose reputation in this area of Amish is not good, and yet he has a heart of gold and is there for his fellow men.There is a wonderful Epilogue at the end of this book, and I would love to continue here and receive more updates, but it is time to say goodbye, and you will be missed!I received this book through the Publisher Waterbrook, and was not required to give a positive review.
    • 5/5
      This has been one of my favorite series ever. This was the last book in the series and it wraps up everything wonderfully. Ariana has to learn to fit back in with her Amish family without forgetting her new English family. As much as she wanted to be back in her Amish family it is harder than she thought to give up some of the independence that she found in the English world. Skylar is also still trying to get over her drug dependence and decide whether she wants to go back to the English world. This book flows so wonderfully and I love the ending. I received a copy of this book from the author for a fair and honest opinion that I gave of my own free will.
    • 5/5
      The concluding book of the Amish of Summer Grove series, Gathering the Threads, takes an already unusual story for "Amish fiction" and packs a powerful ending as the threads of this group of people thoroughly mended together by family, life, faith, and community are finally sewn together into one beautiful finality.This is not your typically sweet, quaint story of the people who are of Amish Christian beliefs and live in their strict community. It is one where the outside world has already broken the barriers and now openings to customs, people, problems, thought processes, and solutions so very different from their own bring to the forefront issues long buried or tolerated. And yet into their own rigidly controlled faith community where the Bishop's rule overrides all thought and even Biblical injunctions, they find that they still have obligations to the laws that government people of all communities.Interestingly, Gathering the Threads is also a story about an awakening to social injustices and a move to secure the protection of those abused in their homes. There is a need for change and a need for forgiveness.And there is love or romance that is tenderly woven through and it is, of course, quite discrete and definitely a good, clean read.While Gathering the Threads, can surely be read as a stand-alone book, it will be more enjoyable to read books one and two in the series. I personally recommend you read the books in succession simply because they are all good reads and worth delving into.DISCLOSURE: I received a complimentary copy from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing to facilitate a review. Opinions are my own and freely given.