One Month to Live Book Review

This book definitely had some great ideas and advice in it to help live your life to the fullest.  The authors in this book, Kerry and Chris Shook have asked the reader to pretend that their life is ending in one month.  Then they go on to ask you what you would like to accomplish in that month.

I think this may be a really good book for some people without  direction in their life to read.  Or maybe they just need to open their eyes to the wonderful life that they currently have, and this book and ideas is one way to help to help them do it.

Personally, I thought the book was dull even through the good advice.  I found it very hard to get through and I did not want to read it.

I received this book for free from Waterbrook Multnomah in exchange for my honest review and opinion.

The Quotable Rogue by Matt Lewis Book Review

I have been a fan of Sarah Palin since she entered the running for Vice President in 2010.  I thought reading a book with a bunch of quotes from Sarah's feisty mouth might just be interesting.  For the most part, I was right.

Now I don't know too much about politics and the like, so some of this stuff I didn't even know what she was talking about.  But the parts that I did I thought that most of it was pretty funny, witty, true or thought provoking.

One of my favorite quotes was one that she made about Vice President Biden.  It was one that made me chuckle out loud.

If the election had turned out differently, I could be the one overseeing the signing of bailout checks and Vice President Biden could be on the road selling his book Going Rogaine.

If you are interested in, or if you like what Sarah Palin has to say, you should read this book.  It is enjoyable and can even help you learn something. You can read quotes from Sarah on topics like abortion, Barack Obama, Education, Media, Family and much more.

I received this book for free from Book Sneeze in return for my honest review.

Bible Stories for Preschoolers Book Review

     When I saw the chance to snag this book for a review, I took it!  See, this book would be perfect for the preschoolers that I teach during church.  I took this book in when it was my month to teach to read to my class.  We decided to start at the beginning and read through it.
      The stories were very engaging and interesting.  It held the attention of these small blessings very well.  We have read quite a few stories in it by now and we do like reading this book.
    I like that the book has questions and activities for the children to answer and follow.  This helps to instill those lessons into those fresh minds.
     One thing that has confused my assistant teacher, my students and myself is that in the stories that talk about God being there, He seems to be portrayed as an angel.  It is confusing I think to the kids because God is not an angel.  We have been sure to explain this to their little minds because they did ask about it.
    My assistant and I could not help but giggle at some of the pictures and the ways they are drawn.  There are a lot of pompadours drawn onto people.  Some of the illustrations also have people standing in weird ways or holding their hands in strange positions.  We have had a few laughs about that.
     All in all, this is an ok book.  The stories are good if you can get past the pictures.  I personally wouldn't go out and buy the book, but I am getting use out of it.


DISCLAIMER: Tyndale House Publishers has provided me with a copy of this book in return for my honest opinion.

Ascent From Darkness by Michael Leehan

I think it's something that all Christians wonder about.  What would it be like to be under the influence and power of Satan.  How dark and dreary that world must be.

Michael Leehan has written a book about his life and Satan worship.  He is now a saved man, going to church in the very one that Satan had told him to attack and kill the pastor.  Michael writes about his choice to follow Satan and the automatic distance he felt from the God that he didn't believe in when he opened those doors.

This book is written with powerful emotion and stark honesty.  Even though the subject and some of the things that I read about are scary, some horrifying, it was a good book to read.  It fills that natural curiosity enough that you don't really wonder anymore. 

The story of Ascent From Darkness talks about the power and unending love of our Lord Jesus.  Jesus has power over Satan and his devils.  He always loves us and will gladly forgive us, beckoning us back to Him with open arms. 

The appendix included in this book is very interesting material because it is testimonies written by Michael's friends or people that knew of his lifestyle and changes.  I think it's interesting to have someone else's outlook on his situation included in the book.

This review is all of my own thoughts and ideas.  I received this book to review with my honest opinions from Booksneeze and Thomas Nelson books. 

Go Big by Cory Cotton Book Review

Before I started reading the book I felt good things about it.  For one thing, I liked the design and the lay out of the book.  The colors are vibrant on the cover and the inside pages even have a little bit of color to them, even if it is just orange and gray.  Six pages into the book and I have to go and check out some of these Dude Perfect videos on YouTube.

And lucky me, I was fortunate enough to find the very first video that they created, which I actually read about in those first 6 pages.  And if I do this video embedding thing right, it's here:
<iframe width="560" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/PD6eQY7yCfw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

And I watched and liked this one too:
<iframe width="560" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/0n4tqhBd0h4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

As you read this book you will enjoy hearing about their amazing story of how they started Dude Perfect and the awesome shots they do.  I appreciate the fact that Corey is honest about how hard some of these moments were.  You can almost imagine yourself there, at each shot that he describes.

If you want to read a book that will inspire you and teach you, this is the book to read!  I am glad that I chose this book to review!!  I would recommend this book to anyone, not just those looking to start their own business.  I think the tips and tricks learned in this book can help a person on any path in life.

I was given this book from Tyndale Books and all I had to do was read it and write this post with my own thoughts and opinions.  They are all MY opinions!

With Book Review by Skye Jethani

Skye Jethani has broken down our relationships with God.  According to him, most people are in one of these categories:Life Under God, Life Over God, Life From God and Life For God.

He explains each of these different ways that we commune with God throughout his book.  Jethani also includes illustrations that he has come up with to help those who learn visually and they are added to help you learn yourself or explain to someone else.

One of my favorite quotes that are on the book is by Margaret Feinberg, the author of Spiritual Rhythm.  She says:

You can't read this book and not see yourself and others differently!

There are some points in this book that I am not sure that I agree with.  And I will admit that there were some times when I was confused on the point that was being made.

The book includes Appendix A and B with some very useful information in those sections!  Appendix A is written on communing with God.  Appendix B is a discussion section that includes questions for you to discuss with others in a group setting or with a friend.  You could also discuss those questions with yourself for further growth if you don't have another person to read it with!

I received this book for free from Booksneeze.com in exchange for my own opinions.

The Remnant by Tim LaHaye & Jerry B. Jenkins Book Review

Talk about action packed!  Missiles, fighter jets, sneaking around, darkness, burning sun and so much more!  The Remnant is living up to the rest of the series for sure!  This is the tenth book in the series.  I only have 2 left to read! 

The imagination of these two authors is great and awes me.  I understand that they get the basic facts from the Bible.  But then to be able to see that in real life!  That is talent to me.  I just love reading their books.  It's definitely entertaining.

I only have two more books to finish for my reading challenge!

Winnie Book #1 Wild Thing Book Review

I just finished reading this book last night.  Winnie by Dandi Daley Mackall is a Christian horse fiction for young readers.  The character, Winnie Willis, is a 12 year old lover of horses.  She knows her stuff to! 

There was one disturbing part that I felt should have been kept out.  When Winnie takes a job answering questions about horses through email, she decides to open up to a customer called Hawk.  She tells this stranger more than I think she should at 12 years old.

Other than that part, the book was good.  I can't say excellent, I have read better horse books.  I like that there were Bible verses used in the book and references to how much God loves us. 

All in all, this is a book I will keep for my daughter to read.  We may even have to get the rest of the series!

Disclaimer: This book was given to me by Tyndale to read and review with my own honest opinion.

A Place Called Blessing Book Review

This was a GREAT book!  Now I have to be careful what I say so I don't spoil anything for anyone who wants to read it.  YOU SHOULD TOTALLY READ THIS BOOK!!

One of the best books that I have read in a long time.  This story is unbelievable and well written. 

A book written to prove each person's worth in this world.  God has a purpose for us all.  Everything happens for a reason.  Most of us don't get to see what happens in the bigger picture.  A Place Called Blessing puts that all into perspective.

I definitely recommend this read to EVERYONE! 

WHY HAVEN'T YOU READ IT YET?

Disclaimer: This book was given to me to review with my own opinions by BookSneeze.com.

Love and War by John & Stasi Eldredge Book Review

I tried really hard to like this book.  I just couldn't.  It was just way to slow or something for me. 

I did find some interesting points in the book.  One was that children of divorced families don't fare in life as well as children who grew up with a family intact.  But that was a statistic that most people are already aware of I think.

Another interesting point that I liked was this quote:

We want to be able to offer something to our spouses out of a full heart, and not merely bring them our need.

That is always a good reminder to me.  I tend to just want want want out of my marriage.  I have to remind myself that I have to do some things for him too.

It's not all about me!

That's what I always tell the kids.  "It's not all about you!"

I'm sure there are many readers out there that will enjoy this book and use it to help their marriage grow in Christ.

Disclaimer: I received this book free from Waterbrook Press books to read and write my own review.  The opinions are all my own and were in no way swayed by anyone or anything but my honest feelings.

Imaginary Jesus by Matt Mikalatos Book Review

This was a very odd book.  The story was very out there for me.  There were Jesuses popping up all over the place.  Meticulous Jesus, Traditional Jesus, New Age Jesus, Free Will Jesus and lots more.  It was all very confusing.

I think that the point of this story is that we need to get to know the REAL Jesus.  Not ones that we make up in our mind to fit the image or thoughts that we want.  We need to search for Him and only follow that Jesus.

I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone to read though.  I think if someone is searching for Jesus, this book would only add to the confusion.  There is not a whole lot more I can say about this book.

Disclaimer: I received this book free from Tyndale Books in exchange for my honest review.  These thoughts are my own.

Desecration by Tim Lahaye & Jerry B. Jenkins Book Review

This is book nine of the Left Behind series by authors Tim Layahe and Jerry B. Jenkins.  In all there are 12 books.  The action and truth packed into these books are so exciting! 

Desecration tells the story of the remaining Jews that are still alive after the 3 1/2 years that started the Tribulation period.  God, of course, is going to protect the Jews and get them to the land of safety.  How this is done is edge-of-your-seat-exciting!

Chaim Rosenzweig is now posing as Micah, and leads the People out of the Antichrist's grasp and into safety.  Rayford is flying helicopters and shooting high powered auxiliary that takes his hearing away.  I won't be a spoiler and tell you the miraculous way that he gets his hearing back though, you'll have to find that out for yourself.  Chloe is bored and tired of being left behind and goes out for her own adventure.

The story opens with the verse that ended The Mark, book eight.  Those who have received the mark of the Antichrist suffer from those boils and in places it is funny.

Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, 'Go and pour out the bowls of the wrath of God on the earth.' So the first went and poured out his bowl upon the earth, and a foul and loathsome sore came upon the men who had the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image.             Revelation 16:1-2

I thoroughly enjoy these books and am anxiously waiting to read the other three!

No He Can't Book Review by Kevin McCullough

No He Can't by Kevin McCullough

This book had a lot of useful information in it.  Many things about Barack Obama that I did not know.  After learning those things, it opened my eyes more to the type of man and leader he is.  But this post isn't about my opinions of Obama, it's about the book

I have to say I was excited to read a book that told "how Barack Obama is dismantling hope and change".  But Kevin McCullough was very negative throughout the whole book.  I understand it is a book about what Obama does wrong, but I think it was more the way that McCullough said things.  He repeated a lot of stuff too.

It took me a long time to get through this book because of the way that it was written.  I wanted to know how Obama was dismantling our country, but this just doesn't seem the right book for me.  However I did find some good information in it.

All in all, I don't know if I would recommend this book to someone else.  Maybe someone with more political knowledge or more patience with reading governmental subjects.

Disclaimer: This book was given to me to review with my own opinions by BookSneeze.com.  My opinion has not been swayed in any way, shape, or form.  It's all my own.

Praying for Your Future Husband by Robin Jones Gunn & Tricia Goyer Book Review

Before I start gushing about the book, I want to explain why, as a married woman, I wanted to read it.  A couple of years ago, I found a Christian author online named Tricia Goyer.  I really don't remember how I found her, but it may have been on Facebook.  I just remember that I really liked her, right away.

I waited and waited for the Walmart near my house to get one of her books in.  I was looking for Love Finds You in Lonesome Prairie Montana which she wrote with Ocieanna Fleiss.  If you're interested in this book, check it out here. I had to go to another Walmart to finally find it.  I read that book and just fell in love.

I have been waiting for the chance to get another book that Tricia Goyer wrote, but have not been able to.  But here was my chance!  I had a chance to pick a book for a review from Multnomah books and one of my options was Praying for Your Future Husband by Tricia Goyer and Robin Jones Gunn.  So I grabbed the opportunity!

I also have an 8 year old daughter, who will one day be old enough to read this book and give her the basic principles for praying for her future husband.

Now onto the book gushing:

Praying for Your Future Husband was a book that was very hard to put down!  The first night I read 86 pages and stayed awake until nearly 1am trying to read as much as I could.  My eyes were so heavy that I thought weights were hanging from my lids.

I'm going to start with the appearance of the book so I can make sure to hit every part!

The cover was very catching and refreshing.  The young lady is in a field of wheat(?), soaking in the sun while praying under a blue summer sky.  Definitely a book that catches your eye!  I also loved the size.  It was very light and easy to fit in my purse.

The format and decorations of the inside were also very pleasing to my eye.    The pages have feminine touches on them and are extremely inviting.  How I would have loved to read this book when I was a young lady.  And what good it would have done me!

The book includes 12 chapters of different topics that a young lady can pray for her future husband.  I think all of these could also apply to older ladies who are still waiting.  The story of each author flowed from chapter to chapter as they touched upon topics such as praying for his heart, praying for protection, praying for strength, praying that he will be a God lover and praying for commitment.

Along with the personal touches that each author adds they have included a list in each chapter.  In the chapter Pray He Will Be a God Lover, for example, there is a list telling you exactly how to pray for that, like praying

that both of you will set your hearts and your affections fully on the Lord.

Each chapter also has testimonies from other women and prayers to recite to guide you along your praying journey.  At the end of each chapter there are discussion questions that can be answered in a group or used as personal enrichment.

This is a book that I rate with 5 stars and would personally recommend for any single woman, young or old, who are waiting for that special love to come into their life.  You can go directly to Tricia Goyer's website to order this book.

I was given this book to review with my honest opinion from Multnomah Books.  

The Fight of Our Lives Book Review

I don’t know if it’s just me or what, but the book that I recently read for a review was just not one I could follow.  Maybe I would need to be better informed about current events and such and I’d understand this book more.  I don’t know.

The Fight of Our Lives by William J. Bennett & Seth Leibsohn sounded like a great book to read.  The full title is The Fight of Our Lives Knowing the Enemy, Speaking the Truth & Choosing to Win the War Against Radical Islam.  

I wish that I could say that the authors do a good job explaining this subject, but honestly, I didn’t understand much of what I read.  I understood parts of the book, but I was so lost that I couldn’t fit it into what I had been reading.  

The authors seemed to jump around a lot to me.  I am wondering if this book would be better read by someone who has kept up with these issues more than I have.  I am sorry to say that I haven’t kept up with it enough to follow.

This book was given to me by Thomas Nelson publishers and Booksneeze.com to read and review in my honest opinion.  I was not persuaded to write my post in any way.

Secrets of the Vine by Darlene Marie Wilinson Book Review

I read a very interesting point in a book today.  The book is called Secrets of the Vine by Darlene Marie Wilkinson.  Darlene uses the verses from John 15:1-2, 5, and 8 to illustrate God and Jesus relationship to us.  In that verse Jesus talks to his disciples about being the Vine and they are the branches.  The illustration used in the book was that those verses talk about three different people.

The first person is Jesus, as the Vine.  He is the main stem that grows out of the ground and supports the branches.  What I found interesting is that the vine doesn’t produce the fruit.  The branches do, which is us.  Then there is the Vinedresser, who lovingly takes care of each branch without fail or without leaving any behind.  That Vinedresser is God.

We, ladies, as Christians, are the branches.  It is up to us to produce more and more fruit.  That is the point of this book.  God wants us to create fruit in abundance, and that in return blesses us in abundance.  How do we create fruit?  We are creating fruit every time we do something nice for someone else and God gets the glory for it.

Darlene shares 3 secrets in this book, but I am not going to reveal them. You’ll have to buy the book and read it to find out.  But what I can reveal is that by reading this book, you will learn how to become closer to God, how to harvest more and more fruit and how much our Father in Heaven loves each and every one of us.

By reading this book you will walk away knowing how to abide with God and know that He tenderly and lovingly wants the best for us.  This book is definitely something I would recommend to someone else!

WaterBrook Multnomah Publishers has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book providing that I write a review in my honest opinion.  I was not persuaded to write this book review in any way.

The Reason Why by Mark Mittelberg Book Review

Have you ever wished that you could read a simple, yet thought provoking book about why Christians worship God?  Has there ever been a time when you wished that it made just a little bit more sense to you?  Or do you have friends who ask you questions, but you aren’t quite sure how to answer them?

Mark Mittelberg has taken the book The Reason Why by Robert A. Laidlaw and rewrote it to update for our times and standards.  He took a book that explained “in a thoughtful and accessible way why he [Robert A. Laidlaw] was convinced that faith in God makes sense” and put it into a language that we can understand now!  And believe me, you can understand it.

When I chose this book, I was thinking that it would be boring.  I know why I follow God, I just trust and believe.  But I thought there might be some easy ways in the book for me to explain it to friends who ask me questions that I can’t answer.  

The size of the book was a perfect size to fit into my purse!  I was actually starting to like it more and more by the way that it looked and felt.  I am a HUGE book feeler person.  lol  Do you know what that is?  I like the way that certain books feel in my hands.  I have favorite types.  This was one of those types that I liked.  That’s all the more I will say on that topic, before you all start calling the Wacky Farm to pick me up.

Mark Mittelberg took topics such as “Is There a God?”, “Can the Bible be Trusted?” and “Who Was Jesus and What Was His Purpose?” and created chapters from them.  In each chapter he goes into explicit but very simple details.  If you don’t understand why you are a Christian after reading this book, then read it again!  You will soon understand!

I think one of my favorite parts of the book was near the end where there is a place that explains the decision of Salvation.  Mr, Mittelberg than procedes with a prayer to assist those who are ready for that decision.  As I said before, this may be something that you need to do yourself, or maybe this can help you help your friend.  I want all of my friends to be in Heaven with me.  Don’t you?

After I am done with this blog review, I am handing this book to my friend to borrow.  She is a newer Christian and has questions.  I am sure this book will answer some of those for her!  If you or someone you know can benefit from this book, order it from Amazon.com for only $5.99 brand new or lower if you buy a used book today!

Tyndale House Publishers has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book providing that I write a review in my honest opinion.  I was not persuaded to write this book review in any way.

The Never Ending Story by Michael Ende

 

How many of you remember the movie The Neverending Story?  My sister and I used to watch this movie quite a bit.  It was one of my favorites.  I hadn't watched it in about 20 years, but I pulled it out the other night.

My yearning to watch the movie began when I picked up the book and started reading that.  Usually when I read a book that also has a movie, I like to read the book first, all of the way through and then watch the movie.  But this time, it had just been too long since I had seen the movie that I couldn't wait.

The book began very much like the movie.  Of course, there are a some differences like all books and movies.  I was enjoying the book.  Not even to the halfway mark though, the book was crawling into new territory.  And I mean crawling.

I think there is a reason why the movie only used part of the book!  The rest of the book went into this story that was just stranger and stranger.  I did not care too much for the rest of the book.  I was very glad to see that Atreyu and Falkor were in the story until the end though.  But I was disturbed that Artex never came back to life.  I always liked Artex.

I am going to keep the book for the kids to read.  You never know, they may enjoy the story better than I do.  And it will always work for a book to read for a book report!  If you'd like to check the book out on your own, click on the click from Amazon on the left.

I did this review because I wanted to.  The book is my own that I bought brand new at the bookstore.  It was not given to me to review.  The opinions are also my own!

 

Book Review for 31 Days of Power by Ruth Myers

31 Days of Power by Ruth Myers left me wanting for more.  The front cover of the book says “Learning to Live in Spiritual Victory” and I expected to be taught something.  Instead the book was filled with prayers to say for 31 days.  

The prayers were good prayers and used Bible verses, but I just expected more information.  I am aware that prayers are more powerful when you actually use Bible verses in them.  But I was not aware that I was buying 31 days of prayers.  I thought it was more like a devotional to help me for a month to learn about Spiritual victory.

The second part of the book talked about the dynamics of warfare as it was so called.  But I still found this section lacking.  Lots of Bible verses once again, but there wasn’t really extra information that helped to explain the verses.  

I read this book for 31 mornings.  I couldn’t wait for those 31 mornings to be over though.  

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the Multnomah Books book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Book Review for Fasting by Scot McKnight

I found the book Fasting by Scot McKnight to be boring and repetitive.  I thought that the author just kept repeating his ideas about fasting over and over but in different ways.  I really wanted to like this book, but I couldn’t.  I wouldn’t recommend this book to anyone.  Or for that matter, the other books in the Early Practice Series.

I also thought that the way that the author wrote about this serious issue was almost in a non-serious way.  I didn’t glean any helpful information from this book.  

The author kept using different of samples of fasting and I didn’t understand his language of fasting as body talk, body grief, body hope and the other weird ways that he put it.  I thought his way of explaining the whole subject was very confusing.  I had such high hopes for this book and it was just not up to my standards.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.