Out of the Ashes by Tracie Peterson

"Out of the Ashes" by Tracie Peterson and Kimberley Woodhouse is the second book in the Heart of Alaska book series. The series takes place in the early 1900's while Alaska is still a territory.  In this book we meat a Frenchman named  Jean-Michel Langelier who wants to escape the memories of war.  At the same time an woman from his past a young widow named Katherine is there trying to heal from an abusive husband.  We have some of the characters from the first book as we see more of their stories but mainly it is about Jean-Michel and Katherine so you could read this book without having read the first one.  This was a well paced story that was a romance but mainly it was about healing from our wounds and not letting them guide the future of the characters lives.  I highly recommend this book series.

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

The Last Girl by Nadia Murad

"The Last Girl" by Nadia Murad is the powerful story of a young woman who was life as she knew was stolen from ISIS. Nadia was a poor young woman just living her life in her Yazidi community Iraw when ISIS came thru and destroyed her life in ways no one should ever have to go thru.  I just don't know how she has the strength to write about the deaths she seen and the rapes she had to endure as being used as a sex slave by ISIS.  The emotional and physical torture she dealt with most could never even live thru let alone write about.  But her story and the story of many other victims of ISIS need to be heard. If you want to read this powerful book then you need to know this is not a warm fuzzy book it is telling the real truth.  The evil of people (she talks about not only the men members but also the woman members) blows my mind but I know it is out there.  I highly recommend this book so you can know what other people and some of the refugees have had to go thru.

I was given this book from blogging for books for free and was not required to give a positive review.

A Plain Leaving by Leslie Gould

"A Plain Leaving" by Leslie Gould is the first book in the Sisters of Lancaster County book series.   It involves Jessica Bachman who left the Amish life and now has to come back to deal with her father's death.  Most of her family is not happy to see her but some are and she learns of interesting plus important things of her families past and present.  This was an interesting story as it wasn't the normal former Amish woman comes back and everyone welcomes her with open arms.  No, it was the opposite most were I would say hateful to her.  It was interest book that combined a story of the present with a family story from the 1700's.  It did not have the normal Amish fiction style romance it was mainly just about a good old fashioned story.  I highly recommend it and can't wait for the next one.

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

Fire Road by Kim Phuc Phan Thi

"Fire Road" by Kim Phuc Phan Thi is the memoir of the woman who as a child who after being being burned by a napalm bomb a iconic Vietnam war picture was taken.  It not only talks about her childhood before and after the bombing but her adulthood also her faith.  What a powerful book on forgiveness and the peace that comes from it.  Her story is so powerful and I will admit hard to read.  The physical and even the emotional pain the author survived is just mind blowing.  When I first seen this picture in high school I did believe she could survive what happened.  So to read her story on what happened afterwards was just mind blowing.  I just don't know what else to say but I highly recommend it.

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

Education A La Carte by Dr. Kevin Leman

"Education A La Carte" by Dr. Kevin Leman is a book where the author talks about choosing the best schooling for your child.  This book was interesting in one point it gave some decent advice and information on helping find the right path for your child.  However at other times it seemed to focus so much on your child having to be the best and go to college.  Well that is not true for everyone some are not going to college and will still be wonderful Christian people.  It read also like one of those books that say if you don't do it my way you will fail and are wrong no matter what.  Our focus as Christian's is for our children to lay a foundation of not just education but of faith if that may be there as a youth or it may not be there until they are older.   This book was just not encouraging for m e and I just can't recommend this book.

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

Hurt Road by Mark Lee

"Hurt Road" by Mark Lee his story and how God set Mark Lee's path in ways he would not have chosen.  You may not know the name Mark Lee but if you are a fan of the Christian band Third Day then you know his music.  Truthfully I am not a big fan of Third Day but I do enjoy some of their music.  So I was interested in learning more about one of their band leaders.  Mark Lee does have an interesting life while in points it is average like every other persons life.  This was an interesting look at his life and if you a fan of Third Day or his then I recommend it. 

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

Tora Fright Patches Things Up by Tracey Madder

"Tora Fright Patches Things Up" by Tracey Madder is a children's book is about forgiveness.  This was a cute little kids book that encourages forgiveness with an emphasis on siblings.  The story is about Tora a little girl monster who makes a special award winning art project that gets broken by her little brother.  Her mom helps her while discussing how Jesus wants us to forgive others.  The artwork is so cute and colorful you just want to look at it regularly.  I so recommend this book as it is a very cute and wonderful book to teach little kids God's forgiveness.

I was given this book from Tyndale Blog Network for free and was not required to give a positive review.