Wednesday, August 31, 2011

God's Little Angels

 This is such an adorable story! My kids loved it and wanted me to read it again. The author, Sheila Walsh, did an outstanding job! This book is definitely geared towards the younger child. 
Gabby is a guardian angel who gets assigned to watch over Sophie. Raffles, the senior angel tells Gabby that Sophie needs a lot of protection. Sophie gets to ride her pony for the first time and there is a mishap. Gabby is there to keep her safe. That evening Sophie and her mom had a conversation. I really like how mom brought up the scripture and how she shared the message with Sophie. The story explains angels to children at a level where they can understand. God sent His angels to watch over us and they are always near by. Marina Fedotova did a really awesome job with the illustrations. My 3 yr old kept flipping through the book repeatedly to look at the pictures. You can check out the inside of the book at Amazon.com


 
Looking at the pictures
Psalm 91: 9, 11 The Lord is your protection...He has put His angels in charge of you. They will watch over you wherever you go.





I received this book for free from Booksneeze.com in exchange for my honest review.

Monday, August 29, 2011

The Bible Story

It's the bible in chronological order! I like that format it's written in too. It's like you're reading a story and all the characters come to life and you gain an understanding of what you are reading. This can be good as a guide for new believers or studiers of the word. The author tells us in the introduction that this book is not intended to replace your bible. This book's purpose is to help and encourage us to read our bibles.





I received this book for free from Bethany House in exchange for my honest review.

Murder, Mystery, & More

This story was full of graphic murders and mystery. Your usual detective, "Law & Order" type deal. I don't know how this was published under Bethany House though. The books I've read from them usually have a more profound Christian base to them. There was some religious context included though.

I found myself trying to figure out who the murderer was after the detective questioned each suspect. I thought for sure it was the father....until I read something that gave it away. And before that I thought for sure it was the professor. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. You really never figure it out until the end. Great writing and it kept me intrigued. I really need to read the 1st book in this mystery series. The book ended with no real closing which means THERE WILL BE ANOTHER BOOK! I'm looking forward to it's release so I can read that one too!

I received this book for free from Bethany House in exchange for my honest review.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Read and Sing

I was so thrilled to finally receive 100 Read & Sing Devotions by Stephen Elkins. I have a little worship service and bible lesson with my kids every morning after breakfast. It just helps start off the day in a good place. I was glad that a lot of the songs on this CD are ones I didn't have in our music library. So the kids and I have some new songs to learn. 
Each page has a devotional, a prayer, and a piece of scripture for everyday. Also listed for each devotional is what song on the CD goes along with that story. This is going to be very useful for the song part of our daily sessions.
Illustrator, Tim O'Connor, did an amazing job with the colorful pages. Each page has a picture that goes along with the story. My kids enjoyed flipping through the pages of this book.
Take a look yourself! Click --> Search inside the book!

I received this book from the wonderful folks @ booksneeze.com for my honest review.

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Emotional Story

"Waiting for Morning" by Karen Kingsbury had me in tears by the 3rd chapter. It's easy to relate to the main characters in this book. We've all suffered loss, but when it comes so quickly and tragically we experience so much more than just sadness. There's anger, there's sorrow, and there's that feeling of how to seek revenge on the one who caused it. We ask God, why? How could He let this happen? If we aren't relying on God fully, we can very well find ourselves moving further and further away from the arms of Christ. We find ourselves blaming Him instead. That is not a good place to be.
 When Tom and his 2 teenage daughters are returning home from their weekend camping trip they are hit by a drunk driver who ran a red light. Brian, the drunk driver, had been sober for 3 weeks. He was trying to be a better father for his new baby and a better husband to Carla. His father was an alcoholic and it killed him. Brian didn't want to be like his father.
Brian was not injured very much in the accident, and he crossed the street to see about the victims in the other vehicle. A young girl was laying on the ground surrounded by people helping her. She doesn't make it. Paramedics and fire crew were using the Jaws of Life to get her father out. An officer was close by talking to him to keep him alert. Tom gives the officer a message for his wife and daughters. He dies on the way to the hospital. Jenny was taken to the hospital and did not suffer any life threatening injuries.
Hannah was waiting for her family to return. She was very anxious and wondering what was taking so long. When she sees the squad car pull up she freezes. They give her the message and she immediately goes in to denial about everything that is happening. When she arrives at the hospital it all starts to sink in.  From that day forward Hannah's goal is to get the drunk driver convicted of murder so she can move on.
Hannah and her family were Christians. They attended church, they were a praying family. That was before Hannah thought God turned His back on her. She started missing church and started denying there was even a God. She didn't want to pray anymore. How could God not be there for her and her family when in need? He's not real. That was her only explanation for things. In the midst of all the craziness God placed all these people in her life that were also believers. The MADD coordinator, the officer on the case, and the prosecutor. They all offered prayer and biblical passages to help her.
While Hannah is busy with all the court appointments and MADD meetings, her only surviving daughter Jenny is feeling neglected. She still believes in God, but doesn't think her mother loves her. Alicia was her mom's favorite. She has been searching online about easy ways to commit suicide and things like that. There is a division in their home, and they aren't making it easy to be around each other.
If you've read my other reviews you know I don't like to tell the whole story. It's more enjoyable to read it yourself. I picked this book up Friday and finished it by Sunday. This is so real! This can happen to anyone you know. I just pray that if anything tragic like this were to happen to me or someone I know that they would not grow bitter towards God. There are people in this world who do bad things and we need to rely on the awesome power of God to get us through tough times. THERE IS POWER IN FORGIVENESS! I've never read the book of Lamentations until I read this novel. Thank you Mrs. Kingsbury for this emotional and powerful novel!



I received this book from Multnomah Publishers for my honest review.

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Very Educational

This is a really neat book. I requested this book because Ken Ham helped compile and edit the contents. "BEGIN-A Journey Through Scriptures for Seekers and New Believers" takes you through the bible and it's scriptures. Each page includes facts and cross references about what certain things mean, what was going on at the time, etc. I am not a new believer, but I still learned a lot about the bible. I did find it a little interesting when they are explaining why we will be vegetarians in Heaven. I guess I really never thought about eating. They explains the whole complete covenant thing about why we will be vegetarians...just interesting.
At the end of the chapters they give other references to do more research if need be. I'm glad to have this as a reference book for bible studies.


I received this book from Master Books a Division of New Leaf Publishing Group for my honest review.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Time For Those SATs

My children won't need to use this book any time soon, but what a great addition to our library. I do have friends who have children preparing to take their SATs this school year, which is why I requested the book. Many moms in the homeschool group I'm a part of might also be interested in hearing about this book. SAT & College Preparation Course for the Christian Student is designed so that the student can do a few lessons a week instead of having cram sessions weeks before. Integrated into to these lessons are scriptures and devotionals to encourage them to grow in Christ.

THIS IS WHAT THE BOOK SAYS:
This book for Christian students offers:
    *Helps in building study skills
    *Development of an extensive vocabulary
    *Encouragement in the development of writing skills
    *Opportunities for writing practice essays
This book will "help develop and reinforce godly character that will hopefully follow the student and lead to success in college and in life."

I think this looks more like a book for someone who's maybe a freshman or sophomore who might be preparing early on. It says there are 4 components of this course: 1) A daily devotion, 2) Reading & vocabulary exercises, 3) Math & verbal exercises, and 4) test taking strategies. Don't rely on this book alone for your SAT preparation. It's great for the soul though. The book gives you a little schedule of what your child can do on test day as well. It is a little heads up on what you can expect to happen that day although times will vary. I would probably not buy this book, but I also don't have children in high school. I will let a student borrow it and see what they think. You can find this book on Amazon.com for a steal at less than $20!

I received this book for free from Master Books, a division of New Leaf Publishers, in exchange for my honest review.

Monday, August 1, 2011

Kings Unveiled

My husband and I were both excited to receive Unveiling The Kings Of Israel. This book will come in very handy when my husband is putting together his bible lessons. This is a very nice reference book! There is a lot of biblical history in this book. There are many real life pictures of biblical places too.

You can search inside the book here on Amazon.com.
You ca look at quite a few pages. It starts with mankind's ancestors, which begins after the flood with Noah and his family.

Learn about Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Esau. Continue through to the dead sea scrolls. Lots of good information packed into this little book. We are so happy to add this to our bible study library!

I received this book for free from Master Books a Division of New Leaf Publishing Group for my honest review.

Another Great Story from Cindy Woodsmall

I think Cindy Woodsmall might just be my favorite new fiction author. After her "Sisters of the Quilt" Series I had to read another one of her books. I didn't realize "The Harvest of Grace" was #3 in the Ada's House book series so now I have to read the 1st two. I just downloaded Book #1 in this series.  The eBook of Cindy’s first book in the Ada’s House series, "The Hope of Refuge," is specially priced at only $1.99 for a limited time! That's a steal I couldn't pass up! Click here to choose how you would like to purchase and download. 

I love Cindy's characters in this story. Cara and her daughter escaped a stalker and is now living amongst the Amish community. She is learning the language and going to classes so she can marry the love of her life. She in confronted with her father, who was never around growing up because his next drink was always more important. Then there's Sylvia who wasn't yet ready to say yes when her "beau" asked her to marry him. The next day he had asked her little sister instead. She is a strong female and could run a dairy farm on her own if she had to. After her and her ex had a confrontation in the barn, she had to get away. Her dad eventually let her leave to work on another farm where they had no children. Then we have Lena, with a birthmark on half of her face she probably never thought she would find her true love. But boy did he ever! She got quite a catch! Grey is a widower and to respect his dead wife's parents, he and Lena had to hide their affection for each other from the public. Only their closest friends/family new about their love for each other. Grey's dead wife's only brother returns home after completing rehab to offer his family a different lifestyle than farming. You would think Aaron's parents would be happy to see him, but there was a lot of anger there. So many relationships and all the struggles that come with them. They learn to rely on God. They realize they have to let go of pride and let God restore them. A lot of things happening in this story and everything works out. I love happy endings. Thank you again Cindy Woodsmall!

* Book Signing Tour!

Cindy will kick off her The Harvest of Grace book signing tour with a stop at Lifeway in Memphis, TN on August 9th. She’ll also be meeting fans and signing books in Arkansas (Conway, Little Rock, Harrison, Rogers, Jonesboro), Oklahoma (Tulsa, Oklahoma City) Kansas (Topeka), and Missouri (Kansas City, St. Louis, Branson, Springfield). If you live in any of these stops, Cindy would love to meet you! Details are available here.



I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah for my honest review.