Monday, May 30, 2016

Liberating King by Stephen Miller

"Liberating King" by Stephen Miller is a book about not letting sin control us.   This is not the type of book that says you will be perfect here on earth and never.  That was my first worry about this book.  Yes we are not to live in sin continually but we will mess up as we are still living in a sinful world. My favorite chapter was on being brave in others walking in faith while everything is going wrong around you.  Normally I don't quote from a book but this little section I am getting ready to quote was too good not to share.  "  Faith is not pretending everything is okay when it's really not.  Faith is going to God when your world is unraveling.  Faith is being brave knowing what you know now."   This was a very powerful and interesting book that once I picked it up I just could not put it down.  I do plan on keeping this one on my shelves.  I highly recommend it.

I was given this book from BakerBooks a division of Baker Publishing Group for my honest review and not required to give a positive.

Thursday, May 26, 2016

Silence in the Dark by Patricia Bradley

"Silence In The Dark" by Patricia Bradley is 4th book in the Logan Point mystery series.  This one's focus is Bailey Adams trying to get out of Mexico after danger decides to come her way but to get out she will need the help of her ex-finance Danny Maxwell.  Not to give much away but even if she gets out of Mexico the trouble will not leave her.   Even though this book is part of a series you do not have to read all the books in order as each is an individual book.  Knowing this book was going to be the normal mystery/romance style of book I was skeptical.  But I should not been this author is very good at writing a good mystery even with a bit of romance involved with it.   It was a fast paced novel with overall well developed characters.  My favorite character was not one of the ones I have already mentioned but I will not name who that was or why as that would give away part of the story.  I really enjoyed how the story worked thru two different countries.  I highly recommend me this book for a good summer read.

I was given this book from Revell a division of Baker Publishing Group for my honest review and was not required to give a positive review.

Tuesday, May 17, 2016

An Insider's Guide To Praying For The World by Brian C. Stiller

"An Insider's Guide To Praying For The World" by Brian C. Stiller is a book about praying for different countries and people. This book was not quite what I was thinking it was going to be. It gives a little bit on the history of each country or person or area (such as Mexican prisons), then a reading in the scriptures and points to prayer for that area.  It was an interesting book but it just seemed to zip over areas or even be very general as to not step on toes.  I do recommend it for an interesting book on praying for different areas but it just wasn't for me.

I was given this book from Bethany House for my honest review and was not required to give a positive review.

Annabel Lee by Mike Nappa


"Annabel Lee" by Mike Nappa is about a young girl named Annabel Lee and how her protector/Uncle takes to an underground bunker with instructions to not let anyone in unless they know the code.   While miles away a private investigator gets a mysterious visit from an old man looking someone that is connected to her ex-husband Samuel Hill. But to find out how both things are connected you will have to read this book if I say much more I will give too much of the book away. I will say that the cover made me think this book was going to be thriller or even horror type book but I was wrong (yep remember don't judge a book by its cover).  It did have portion of thriller type writing to it but to me it was more of a mystery with some darker undertones.  Be warned some sections with Annabel Lee's protection dog can be a little graphic.  This was a well written mystery that had a very good and interesting story with twists you sometimes are not expecting.  I highly recommend this book.

I was given this book from Revell a division of Baker Publishing Group for my honest review and was not required to give a positive review.

Monday, May 16, 2016

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

"The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot is about Henrietta Lacks an African-American woman in the early 1950's who had cervical cancer and how the doctors used/use her cancer cells to this day.  Also it not just about her cells that were used but also her family.  If you didn't know in the 1950's medical testing was commonly done without people’s permission or even their knowledge which is very sad.  This is a very powerful book on how we sometimes forget about the people and their families that medical research have used to get where we are today with medicine.   Her life was not easy and is was not easy for her ancestors.  You would think that since her cells helped so much in the research of cancer that it benefited family but you would be wrong.  In reality her family didn't even know her cells were used for medical research until over 20 years later.  It’s a powerful and very interesting read.  Definitely one I keeping to read again.  I highly recommend it for anyone to read.  


I was given this book from Blogging for Books for my honest review and was not required to give a positive review.

A Fool and His Monet by Sandra Orchard


"A Fool & His Monet" by Sandra Orchard is about Serena Jones who is part of the FBI Art Crime Team who besides doing her normal cases is also on the hunt to find out who murdered her grandfather.  It starts with Serena in an undercover operation to recover stolen artwork and then goes into the main story which is of 2 stolen paintings from a museum a friend of hers works at.  Since this is a mystery.  This was a fast paced mystery that at points you could kinda figure out who were some of the people involved in the theft but you are not sure how they are involved.  It was a good story but I kept getting very annoyed by Serena's Aunt who is a wanna be cop.  Anytime that character showed up in the book I wanted to throw the book as that character annoyed me that bad.  But that also spoke to me on how well this writer can write when they can write a character so well that I personally get annoyed by them  I also did not enjoy the love triangle in the book.  But other than it was a well written and good mystery and I do recommend it.

I was given this book from Revell a division of Baker Publishing Group for my honest review and was not required to give a positive review.

Friday, May 13, 2016

A Powerful Secret by Dr. Kevin Leman & Jeff Nesbit

"A Powerful Secret" by Dr. Kevin Leman & Jeff Nesbit is the 2nd in the Worthington Destiny novel  series about a powerful business and political family.  It starts with the oldest son Will Worthington dropping out of his race for president to protect his family from scandal.  Which cause his brother Sean confusion and then all kinds of emotions as he learns the possible scandal revolves around him. When I picked this book I was really hoping the political portion of the books was a just a bit of it but it wasn't it was a major factor in this book.  I truly believe if I had read the first one in this series I would not have picked this one to review.  Not don't get me wrong it was a well written and a decent story but I am just not a fan of books heavy in the political side of things.  No it was not preaching one side of the political spectrum over another its just dealt a lot with the behind the scenes of the political world.  I left that world years ago so I don't like reading about it however if that world does not bother you then this is a great book to read a decent story and well written.  So for people that don't mind politics then this is a good fiction story to read.

I was given this book from Revell a division of Baker Publishing Group for my honest review and was not required to give a positive review.

Monday, May 9, 2016

Homeschooling Stereotypes

Ahh the life of a homeschooling mom.  Yep another weird thoughts from me that may step on toes.  So here goes.  Please read thru to the bottom to understand my point of this post.


Stereotypes - my truth
1.  Only homeschool - Nope my oldest graduated from public High school.  My youngest started homeschooling after 1st grade in public school.  Homeschooling is not a salvation issue so it may not be right for everyone.
2.  The homeschool uniform (long jean skirts, jumpers and if you have sons they are in a polo shirt and slacks) - Nope, jeans with black t-shirts, accessories that may have bats on them or studs or spikes, boots most of the time (and not the in style ones more like platform, or dr. martens style or studded type) and almost always wearing an old biker leather.  Yes I do still wear long jean skirts they are comfy to me.  My youngest son t-shirt and jeans, I think he might own one polo shirt but no slacks.
3.  Never read or listen to secular books or music.  - This one makes me laugh as my house we love to read lots of variety of books for example one I read recently for fun was on the funeral home industry and death (not including the one I just reviewed).  Music in my house is very varied our playlist might have a classical song, then a secular hard rock song, then Christian rap, then blues, then country, then a Hymn, then maybe a French song, and then who knows what the next song will be.  If a song is not blatantly anti-God we will  listen to it.  But be warned there are a lot of modern Christian music songs that are actually anti-Bible if you take them to the scriptures so those go thru big scrutiny also.
4. Die-Hard republican - nope die-hard independent as the republican party is no different from the democrats and its been that way for years not just recently.
5.  Does not work outside the home - I have a very part-time job to help pay for a few of our bills.
6.  Homeschooling is easy - Can I laugh my head off on that one.  Yeah right.  Yes there are easy days but then there on insanely hard days.  But over all its so worth it as his education levels have gone up so much more since we started homeschooling him and with my husband's work schedule he gets more time with our youngest.

Why did I share this because I am tired of seeing and hearing the attitude of all homeschool families fit into one little type of box.  No each family is different and we need to remember that as homeschoolers or even not homeschoolers.  Also as homeschoolers or any Christian we need to stop trying to fit the mold that our society either secular or Christian has set for us and be how God created us.  The only caveat is that it needs to be in line with scripture not against scripture.

Saturday, May 7, 2016

Where The Light Gets In by Kimberly Williams-Paisley


"Where The Light Gets In" by Kimberly Williams-Paisley is about the author and her mother as her mother suffers from a rare form of Dementia called primary progressive aphasia.  Some may know the author as the wife of country musician Brad Paisley but I recognize her more as the bride from Steve Martin's remake of the Father Of The Bride.  She brings up both of those points of her life but they are not the focus.  Her focus is on her relationship with her mother and the disease that has taken the mother she has known all her life (as of this writing her mother is alive but the dementia has taken her mind as her family knows her). Dementia in any form is horrible but I did not realize this form of Dementia (primary progressive aphasia) takes away so much in the aspect of communication and recognizing family.  I am so blessed that the author has shared this part of her family life to spread awareness to the World.  In the book she talks about how at first her mother and father wanted no-one to know as it her mom was young when diagnosed in her early 60's.  But I am so glad that over time the family has decided to open up about the struggle of this horrible disease.  I am glad to have read a book that did not hide the good and bad times of this disease.   However this book is not just about dementia but also a daughter's relationship with her mother pre-dementia and currently with the dementia.  The author has wrote a powerful book that I could not put down once I picked it up.  I highly recommend this book for anyone as you never know when you will know someone with dementia.

I was given this book from Blogging for Books for my honest review and was not required to give a positive review.

Morgue By Dr. Vincent DiMaio & Ron Franscell


"Morgue, A Life In Death" by Dr. Vincent DiMaio & Ron Franscell is book about being a forensic pathologist and the details in cases that a normal person may miss.  The authors bring up still famous deaths we know about today and others that are not so well known.  This book is not for people with a weak stomach as it is very graphic on the details found during an autopsy.  I will admit that does not bother me as I am always intrigued by how a mortician or forensic pathologists can figure out how someone died by an autopsy.  It is a field of study that I am always eager to learn more about.  This book did not disappoint in my thirst for unique knowledge.  I think one of the sections that I liked the most was his chapter on when they dug up Lee Harvey Oswald's body to verify it was him that was dead in the grave.  Also another section I really liked was the authors thoughts on Van Gogh's death of suicide as I am fan of Van Gogh's art.  If you are intrigued by this type of work and don't mind the graphic nature of it then I highly recommend this book.

I was given this book from Net Galley for my honest review and was not required to give a positive review.

Wednesday, May 4, 2016

In The Land of Blue Burqas by Kate McCord


"In The Land Of Blue Burqas" by Kate McCord is about the author (under a Pseudonym name) life witnessing to and living with Afghanistan Muslims.  This was a very informative on the culture and life of the Afghan people.  Us westerns do not understand a lot of their culture just like they don't understand our culture.  The author really trys to help us understand things such as why they cannot accept a Bible.  She really goes into depth on explaining that when they receive a Koran its showing they are now a Muslim not like in our culture where if you receive a Bible then you just have got a Bible.  As it does not mean that you are a Christina in our society just cause you own a Bible but in their culture it means you are a Muslim if you own a Koran.  This book was very eye-opening and I really enjoyed how the author would use scripture and their own knowledge to explain Jesus's truths. This was a very good eye opener to Afghanistan culture that I would never have gotten unless I go over there myself.  I also really enjoyed that she talk about that us westerners do not need to go over there guns blazing on how we are right and they are wrong but that we need to go over there like Christ said which is to love our neighbors.  I highly recommend this very informative book. 

I was given this book from Moody Publishers for my honest review and was not required to give a positive review.

Monday, May 2, 2016

Lead Me Home by Amy K. Sorrells




"Lead Me Home" by Amy Sorrells is a story about Noble Burden and Pastor James Horton realizing that God has not left even though life has thrown them curve balls that they were not expecting.  This book was such a well written story that I could not put it down once I started reading it.  The story is well developed we see the main characters how they are today and intertwined in the story is some of the back story of how they got to where they are today.  I really enjoyed how the book showed that not everyones life as a Christian is peaches and cream even pastors have rough times.  Also that sometimes we can feel so alone even in a crowd when we are going thru a tough time.  The book was not overly emotional or dry but it did keep you feeling for the characters.  It was just one of the best novels I have read in awhile especially on the topic that God doesn't move but we can and do move from him.  I highly recommend this book as an excellent story of how God is there for us during the good and bad times.

I was given this book from Tyndale Publishers for my honest review and was not required to give a positive review.

Thoughts on my hubby

27 years ago was the summer before my senior year in high school and I went for a walk that would change my life forever.  I just wanted to ...