Sunday, April 27, 2014

All Heaven Will Break Loose (Review)


I recently finished reading "All Heaven Will Break Loose" by Joy Dawson. I really enjoyed this book. The author discussed how we need to make the priorities of Jesus our passion. The main purpose of this book was to talk about unity. As Christians we tend to lose our unity because we prefer to argue over silly things or somewhat insignificant differences in our beliefs. Dawson goes through the unity of the Trinity and how we must learn from their unity. We must try to follow in the footsteps of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.

Dawson is a missionary who has traveled all over the world and has excellent stories to share. She was very easy to read and I understood what she was talking about throughout the book. I do recommend this book if you are trying to understand the unity we are supposed to have on this earth.

Thank you to Chosen Publishers for a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

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All Heaven Will Break Loose: When We Make Jesus' Priorities Our Passion

Saturday, April 26, 2014

Lost & Found (Review)


I love reading personal stories and memoirs so I was excited to read this book by Sarah Jakes called "Lost & Found". I have actually heard of her pastor father, T.D. Jakes, although I have never heard his sermons before and I knew nothing about their family when I read the book. By the end of the book, I had great respect for Sarah and I really feel her pain. There is a struggle in her life with being labeled as a preacher's kid, and I know that is a tough road to walk. She is extremely open about the twists and turns in her life, but always solid are her parents. Her parents never gave up on her, and while some may think they didn't exude enough tough love, Sarah proclaims they gave her exactly what she needed, because they always showed Christ's love to her. I know this is Sarah's story and I don't want to take away from that, but I feel like her parents can teach us all a great lesson too. I, too, strayed when I was younger, and my parents always brought me back in much like the Jakes continued to rescue Sarah. My story is not as dramatic, but now that I am a parent I hope to show that same love to my children that my parents showed to me and the Jakes showed to Sarah.

What a great story. Well written and I love the honesty of Sarah. I highly recommend this book.

Thank you to Bethany House for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

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Lost and Found ITPE: Finding Hope in the Detours of Life

 

Friday, April 25, 2014

Girl at the End of the World (Review)


Every so often a book just captures your attention. I love those books - the ones where I read them until my eyes are itchy and I'm picking it up while the spaghetti is boiling or I'm waiting for my coffee to finish up. "Girl at the End of the Word" by Elizabeth Esther was one of these books for me. It is Esther's painfully true story of her childhood journey in a homegrown fundamentalist Christian group.

Her story, to me, is absolutely heartbreaking. It is the story of people who call themselves Christians but make up their own rules. And now Elizabeth is reaping what was sewn by her whole family - showing up in her life as PTSD and what have to be awful memories. I love how honest and open she is about her journey. But it just makes me so sad that she grew up not fully understanding the love of Jesus - because it wasn't shown to her. I am so happy to read the end of the book because I see that she has become a follower of Jesus through this very dark, windy road. And she doesn't blame God for what she was told. I love that.

A must read.

Thank you to Waterbrook Multonah for a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

You can buy your own copy from Amazon here (affiliate link):


Girl at the End of the World: My Escape from Fundamentalism in Search of Faith with a Future

The Devil Walks in Mattingly Review



I was excited to read "The Devil Walks in Mattingly" by Billy Coffey. It is hard to find a good suspense/horror novel that is not excruciatingly gruesome or gory. I have been through that phase with books and I am kind of over it.

The style of this book reminded me a lot of Stephen King's writing style. I happen to be a Stephen King fan, although I don't really read his books anymore, so this was a positive thing in my opinion. It was a pretty dark story. Twenty years after Phillip McBride's death, bad things start happening in the town of Mattingly. Phillip's death was ruled a suicide, but three people know it was murder. One of those people has been missing ever since the murder, and the other two are married, so they kind of thought all that was in the past. When the evil starts rising up, the entire town is turned upside down.

Like I said, this is a dark story. If you don't like that genre, you probably don't need to read this book. If you enjoy suspense, mystery and thrillers, you'll enjoy this book. I will say another thing that reminded me of Stephen King is the amount of details in this book. I still think the story was great but some of it was confusing, and a couple of parts were tiresome - I suppose I felt there were small parts that could have been condensed. All in all a great read and I'd look forward to reading more by this author.

Thank you to Litfuse Publicity and Thomas Nelson for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

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The Devil Walks in Mattingly




Dancing with Fireflies Review



I love it when I come across a book that I can't put down. Such was the case with "Dancing with Fireflies" by Denise Hunter. I was a little wary when I found out it is part of a series, but trust me, that does not matter.

The story focuses on Jade McKinley, who returns home after she's ventured out on her own, but she returns single and pregnant, which is not something she wants to share with her family. Enter Daniel Dawson, someone who has been more like a brother to Jade than anything else. Not from his end though - he's always been in love with Jade.

In this story, Daniel is Jade's support system, confidante, and best friend, when she doesn't feel that she has anyone else. It's a really cute love story. It will make you feel good inside and you'll love the characters. Denise Hunter has truly written a story that made me want to get to the end so I could see the happy ending for myself (I knew it was coming!). I look forward to reading more by this author, and want to pick up the first book in the series now.

I highly recommend this book.

Thank you to Litfuse Publicity and Thomas Nelson for a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

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Dancing with Fireflies (A Chapel Springs Romance)



Critical Condition (Review)


I love a good thriller, and I have found that some of the best thriller authors are those who are in the medical profession. I just read "Critical Condition" by Richard L. Mabry, M.D. and he did not disappoint.

The story is full of twists and turns. A man gets shot on the lawn of Shannon Frasier's house just a day before her bad-news sister tries to move back in with her. Her father is diagnosed with a life-threatening illness. Things begin to happen to people her sister knows. And then Shannon is in the middle of all of it - not really knowing who all to trust or how to get out of this sticky situation. Meanwhile she has pretty much given up on her faith in God.

The book is one of those that is hard to put down. It's interesting and pulls you in. I love the medical stuff in the book - it's still simple enough for me to understand but intrigues me. I highly recommend this book.


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Richard Mabry Critical Condition
 

Thank you to Litfuse Publicity and Thomas Nelson for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

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Critical Condition



A Promise in Pieces (Review)


I just finished reading another book in the Quilts of Love series. This is called "A Promise in Pieces" by Emily Wierenga. I have read probably three or four in the Quilts of Love series and I have to say this one was my favorite so far. All the books in the series are from different authors and are very different in the stories. This story revolved around Clara. Clara and her family are taking a road trip, and to pass the time she begins to tell her childhood story to her grandson Noah. The story takes her back to her early childhood as well as a turning point in her life - when she became a nurse for World War II, without her parents' approval.

This journey was such a great read. I was actually very emotional reading parts of the book. I think Wierenga did a great job developing the characters and making sure the reader is invested in the story. I would love to read more by her in the future.

Thank you to Litfuse Publicity and Abingdon Press for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

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A Promise in Pieces: Quilts of Love Series (Quilts of Love (Unnumbered))

Claiming Mariah Review



I just finished reading "Claiming Mariah" by Pam Hillman and I really enjoyed it. In the book, Mariah Malone is overseeing her family's ranch after the sudden death of her father. After his death she sends a letter to his old friend, in hopes they could reconcile after a mysterious argument between the two of them. Unfortunately, the son of the old friend arrives on her doorstep, with awful news. The ranch isn't really her family's at all - it's his.

Mariah and her grandmother are about to be out on the streets. Slade allows them to stay on until they can gather up enough money to move out of town. But during those days, Mariah and Slade begin to fall in love.

There is a lot of mystery, backstabbing, and intrigue in this book. It's a great story that will keep your attention, and it has a happy ending. I definitely recommend this book.

Thank you to Litfuse Publicity and Tyndale Fiction for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

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Claiming Mariah



Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Guiltless Living (Review)




I recently read Ginger Hubbard's book called "Guiltless Living: Confessions of a Serial Sinner Captured by the Grace of God". It's funny because Hubbard just came onto my radar and I'd been dying to read some of her stuff. Now that I've read this one book I can't wait to read more from her in the future.

Ginger Hubbard uses humor and complete openness to reach her readers. She tells stories of her mistakes that I could 100% relate to. I love that she is so transparent but she does not revel in the mistakes she has made. She learns from them. I love the way that she writes and I did not want to put the book down. In this book Hubbard talks about encouragement, humility, God's grace, patience, generosity, and being a servant, all while easily relating it to real life scenarios and scripture. There is also a Bible study guide included at the end of the book.

I definitely recommend this book and like I said, would love to read more of her books in the future.

Thank you to Cross Focused Reviews and Shepherd Press for a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

You can buy your own copy from Amazon here (affiliate link):

Guiltless Living



Monday, April 21, 2014

The Third Day (Review)




I recently read this book, "The Third Day" which is a retelling of Luke chapters 22-24. Alex Webb-Peploe has created a comic book based on the scripture which tells about the Passover, Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus. When I was growing up my favorite Bible was "The Picture Bible". It was all scripture put into comic strips. I still read it to my children because they love the pictures but it is more mature than most children's Bibles. This reminded me a lot of that Bible. The artwork is fantastic and the story itself is something kids need to know about and it will keep their interest. Older children can easily read it by themselves. I highly recommend this for parents of young children and for older children to read so they can better visualize what took place in history.

Thank you to Cross Focused Reviews and The Good Book Company for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

You can buy your own copy from Amazon here (affiliate link):

The Third Day: The Gospel of Luke 22-24

Saturday, April 5, 2014

The Queen's Handmaid (Review)


If you enjoy historical romance/drama that is set in Biblical times, this is the book for you. I just finished reading "The Queen's Handmaid" by Tracy Higley. I will admit that when I started the book, I wasn't too sure about it. I didn't understand the politics and I kept getting people confused. But about halfway through the book, it started clicking for me. There is so much mystery and drama and intrigue in this book, I just couldn't put it down at the end.

Higley has obviously done her research for this book. The book is set in 39 BC and most of the conflict is between the countries and governments of Egypt and Judea. Lydia, a handmaid in the story, knows she has an important role to play in her life, but she doesn't realize for such a long time how important she really is. The book is a great story of how God has everything planned out for our lives.

Thank you to Litfuse Publicity and Thomas Nelson for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.


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The Queen's Handmaid
 

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The Queen's Handmaid
 


 

Friday, April 4, 2014

The 500 Hats (Review)



Well, I am one of those people - I love to read books written by other women with tons of scripture and wisdom packed in. I have read "The 500 Hats of a Modern-Day Woman" by Joyce Ellis and I can't say enough great stuff about it. This lady definitely understands what it means to be a wife, a mother, a cook, a maid, a chauffeur, a launderer, a nurse, a counselor... and many other roles, all rolled up into one person! Being a woman is a tough job, although it is very rewarding.

I just loved reading this book. It was down-to-earth and kept my attention. I found myself nodding my head with so many things throughout the book. I like how Ellis did speak about the Proverbs 31 woman but she brought so many other characteristics from scripture into the book. I loved the quotes from real women at the beginning of chapters. I enjoyed the reflection questions and scripture at the end of chapters. It made the chapter really tie together and made me do some searching on my own. And she gives you tons of other resources throughout the book as well.

I highly recommend this book if you are of the female gender. I think everyone should read it. If only just to realize you are not alone in this journey that can sometimes feel so lonely.

Thank you to Litfuse Publicity and Encourage for a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

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500 Hats of a Modern-Day Woman: Strength for Today's Demanding Roles