Five Brides by Eva Marie Everson

"Five Brides" by Eva Marie Everson is about 5 women roommates who become the closest of friends to the point of deciding to buy one high end wedding gown to share even though none of them is engaged to be married.  I know for me to purposely choose to read and review a romance is odd.  But this one sounded very different than the typical Christian romance novels and it was. It starts with the one of the ladies Granddaughter getting ready to be married in the dress (the original story takes place in the 50's).  Then it goes into the telling of how the met and into the bulk of the story.  Each of the ladies (Evelyn, Betty, Joan, Magda, and Inga) are very different in personality and backgrounds except Magda and Ingo who are sisters.  The difference in the ladies adds so much to the story.  It did not go the typical route I was expecting it to go which was very nice.  The book wasn't so much about each women's trip to love but more about the women growing and getting to know each other and themselves better.  I enjoyed each of the women's stories but I think I enjoyed Betty's and Evelyn's were my favorite well Joan's at the end I really go into.  I felt bad and happy for each of the ladies.  I would love and hate to see this book turned into a movie as it would make a beautiful story but modern Hollywood would make it into a sex story which it wasn't at all.  This author has a way to take a story that could be the typical love story and turn it into a more developed story than just love.  I highly recommend this book even if you are not a big fan of romance novels which I am not a fan of.

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

Desperate Measures by Sandra Orchard

"Desperate Measures" by Sandra Orchard is the third book in the Port Aster Secrets series it revolves around the heroine Kate Adams who has been looking for miracle plant that torn apart her family.  You can read this book not in order of the series which is what I did.  I did enjoy the story to a point.  I am just not a big romance person even if its mixed with mystery. Also I thought at points in the story there were too many characters to keep track of at times.  Also I just could not get into the story with the "miracle" plant.  I just could not connect with a story involving a plant.  Maybe its cause plants are just not my thing.  It was a good mystery overall, some things I figured out but others parts I was not able to figure out.  I will still recommend this book as it was a good mystery novel if you can get into it.

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

"I'm Happy For You Sort of...Not Really" by Kay Wills Wyma

"I'm Happy For You Sort of...Not Really" by Kay Wills Wyma is about finding contentment in our world of comparison.  I really wanted to really like this book a lot but it turned out to be an ok book.   I was warn out just reading how often the author and her friends compared themselves to others.  Yes we all compare ourselves to someone at sometime but the amount she writes about is just overwhelming.   I am mean yes I do compare myself to others at times but then I try to remember we don't see their whole life. Plus God made us with our likes and strengths different no one is going to be the same. Also to me when people are focused on comparing to others they have a tendency to also look down on others that a very different from them which is the attitude I usually get.  The point that really got me was when she was upset that a medical professional called one of her children not normal and that upset her.  Ok maybe that just bugged me cause all my life I have been a not normal person in society's eyes and don't think its a bad thing.  Yes she does come to the realization that we are all not normal but it just kinda bothered me that at first she thought that was a bad thing.  There were some encouraging parts to help you find contentment but not enough for me to warrant keeping the book to refer to when I need to.  This is one of those books that I am just not sure if I want to recommend it or not.  So I will leave it up to you to decide if you should read it or not.

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

Update

For my few readers sorry I haven't been here to write.  My oldest graduated High School at the beginning of the month.  Then my youngest got sick so its been a busy last couple of weeks.  Also I hit a reading slump but I am coming out of it so please bare with me while I get back into the swing of things.

Controversial Topic - Family Size

Just a quick thought of mine on family size.  Yep I am going to talk about the thought of letting God decide your family size.  Most people think if you let God decide your family size you will end up with over a dozen children or more.  Wrong, I am a prime example that is not true.  I have two boys with a 8 year difference between them both and then one child in heaven that I lost to a miscarriage when the youngest was about 1 and 1/2 years old.  We have let God decide our family size and he closed my womb when I was about 29 or 30 not long after the miscarriage.  Would I like to have more children yes I would but that is not in God's will for us.  I get really irritated when other Christian's that have let God decide give me the attitude oh you chose to only have two children here on earth you did not leave it to God.  Nope we left in God's hands.  Just because I don't have a large family doesn't mean that God is not in control.  Sometimes it seems like people don't remember that even in scripture not everyone had large families.  Seriously I don't remember reading that John the Baptist was the oldest of a large family (since Elizabeth was advanced in age I figured he was their only).   I understand that large families get looked down upon in Christian and Secular society. But small families have a tendency to get looked down upon by some in the Christian community but not so much in the secular society.  Its one of those things that not everyone is going to have a large family.  Also I mean seriously if God wanted to you to have children nothing can stop him neither birth control or even money if you are meant to adopt.  Also we should not look down on those that can't have any children.  I am thankfully I had my children young (I was barely 19 and almost 27 when I gave birth to my two sons) if I had waited until my 30's I would not have them.   Also there is nothing wrong with being single and not having children.  I just want Christians to look at couples or people with no children, a few children or lots of children the same way which is God has blessed them in His own way.

How To Love Your Neighbor by Amy Lively

"How to Love Your Neighbor without being weird" by Amy Lively is a book about sharing the Lord with the people in your specific neighborhood.  I picked this book to review as I thought it would be interesting and a good read.  But it ended up rubbing me the wrong way.  I am not saying that we are not love the people that live near us but this book takes the Good Samaritan story about loving your neighbor and making it sound like that it is just about loving the people that live around you.  Which it is about loving everyone around you and far from you also.  It is an interesting read but it did not really give me very many tips.  One of the big things that really kinda of bugged me was the insistent attitude that you must invite and get to know the people in your neighborhood.  Well not everyone lives in a safe neighborhood where you can just go and invite your neighbors over to you home. Sometimes we forget not everyone can live in nicer neighborhoods where you can do that.  Even small towns can have neighborhoods where there is drug dealers and neighbors shooting at each other. I have seen both of those as a child and teenager in my neighborhood and I lived in a small town (population of about 1,800 people).  Yes we knew our neighbors but we also knew some we just would not invite over for coffee.  Even as an adult I have lived in areas that it would not have been safe to invite people over.  I could not just move so I could be in a nicer neighborhood.  Sometimes loving your neighbor is knowing they are there and praying for them otherwise you could be risking your family's safety.  The other point of the book that rubbed me the wrong way was the constant use of the Message paraphrase it is not a good paraphrase at all so any book that uses it a lot bothers me also.  This book was so not for me.  Before you write me off as though I have never done something for the women in my neighborhood I did at one time lead a women's Bible study at the home of one of my neighbors.  So yes I have done some of the things she does recommend for us women to do even though I am a major introvert.  I will say for some people this book may be helpful but it was not for me.

I was given this book from Bethany House Publishers for my honest review.

From Good To Grace by Christine Hoover

"From Good To Grace, Letting Go of the Goodness Gospel" by Christine Hoover is about letting go of the idea that we have to be good after we are saved to stay saved.  No, its not a book about embracing the idea that we can sin as much as we want.  Its about letting go of the belief of if I study God's word more, volunteer more, do more and more that God will love me more.  Its not like that these things are wrong but are we doing them for man's praise or thinking that God will love us more or because we love God.  Its a heart issue.   I still enjoyed the book.  It was really a reminder for me to look at my heart am I doing stuff cause I love God or cause I think I have to do it.  I especially love this part " Believers can be cliquish according to their personal convictions and choices, unfriendly to outsiders, and critical of those who look or act differently than their chosen uniform cause.  The characteristics are ungodly, a blatant sign of people who have never come to understand God's grace and love for them personally.  They may know it intellectually but refuse it intimately and, therefore, cannot extend it to others."  That bit really it hit me as I have been at the receiving end of being excluded from believers cliques.  I really did love how she pointed out that God's grace isn't selective and it is unity not uniformity.   I also really enjoyed how she brought up the fact that some decisions don't affect the gospel at all for example public school or home school. The first and last part of this book for me were the best portion the middle seemed slow and scattered.  But I will still recommend this book as it was very helpful for me specially lately.

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