What I have read lately

Since I lost my job the end of September, I thought I would read, read and read more. I have done some reviews from Thomas Nelson which is cool since they are free for reading and blogging.
These are some of the other titles I have read that were really good:
Noticer by Andy Andrews
Fantastic story-I really want to meet Jones. Once I started reading this book, I could not put it down till I finished-2 1/2 hours later. Quick, easy read and extremely heartwarming yet profound story. I liked his writing so much, went to the library to check out his other books.
Promise Kept by Cara Putman
My favorite local author which is an amazing writer. She writes both historical and suspense. This is the first of her Promise books and has a personal and heartwarming story that captivates you from the very first page. I am not a huge historical reader but love her books. This is a story about a newlywed couple that move from a small town to a bigger city. They take in a young cousin from London to take her away from the bombings and how their story unfolds.
Be prepared to enjoy this book and Cara's writing. She puts her heart and soul in each book and shows how God will always be there not matter what we go through.
Lightkeeper's Daughter by Colleen Coble
I was able to win this from Colleen on her website. She is one of my very, very favorite authors. I know I will be enthralled by her story-always has suspense and romance in every book. This is a new venue for Colleen which is historical with suspense and romance-interesting mix. This did not disappoint me. The storyline is about Addie Sullivan who grows up as a lightkeeper's daughter at the turn of the century. A long lost wealthy relative finds her and enlists her help as a governess. She hopes to discover the truth of her heritage but nothing is as it seems. She tries to unravel a decades old mystery. As usual, Colleen keeps me guessing who is the culprit and this surprised me at the end. I highly recommend reading this and all her other books.

Jesus Lives

I received Jesus Lives by Sarah Young through Thomas Nelson as part of the blogging reviews. This is actually my third book by Sarah-I think she is a superb writer with amazing insight as an author. I use her first two books as daily devotionals and will use this daily also.
She writes in the first person with Jesus talking directly to you-that is so interesting and you feel like you are "walking with the Savior" through various circumstances of your day. She listens to God, writes what she hears and always with dependence of the Holy Spirit.
The interesting aspect of this book was in the introduction. In writing the book, she had health problems and very weak, which made this writing an act of faith. As she focused on Jesus, His compassionate Presence encouraged her.
Each page is dedicated to a devotion-
Worship-Grace-Resting in Him-Intimacy in Him-Attitude-Heaven and many more. As you read each devotion you will feel the Fathers love for you and how He loves you since He is talking to you. On the opposite page are bible verses that shows how God's word is alive and full of power.
In reading this devotional you will experience a deeper, richer intimacy and communion with Jesus each day.
Start the new year with this superb devotional and look into her other two books-you will not be disappointed.

NKJV Greatest Stories of the Bible

I want to tell you about a new, really cool bible that Thomas Nelson put together. I received this from the publisher and it is so good and so different. What impressed me the most was the unique way it is put together. They picked 250 of the Bible's best know stories which also can be used as a daily devotional which I intend to do. I also think this would be a great bible for a new
Christian-sometimes a bible tends to intimidate them and this bible would highlight the "best of the best" stories and keep them interested and informed as they start their jouney.
I think this would be great for parents and kids to read together since it appears in storybook form. Both old and new testaments are included.
I really like the NKJV for readability too.
This is a hardback book but it is beautiful in both cover and inside pages.
Take a look and you will be just as impressed as I am.
Remember, you can't have too many bibles!!!

Story of Christmas

I just received Story of Christmas from Nelson this afternoon and was sooooooo excited to sit down and read it. It was really cute and perfect for my 4 year old granddaughter. I loved the artwork, loved the short story on each page. My favorite was the questions on the bottom of each page and the unique "Can you retell the story" feature at the end.
A dvd was also included which makes this the "perfect" gift for her. Can't wait to sit, snuggle and read with her. Perfect story for a perfect season.
This book is a must buy for kids or grandkids. You can't have too many Christmas story books and this is one of the best yet.

An Eye For An Eye by Irene Hannon

Just finished reading An Eye For An Eye by Irene Hannon and was really impressed. I read her first Heroes of Quantico -Against All Odds and loved it and couldn't wait for the second one to come out. I was not disappointed as this one was just as good or better than the first. She is a superb suspense writer with a lot of twists, turns and surprises. She put in a little romance which was fun for the book also.
A chance encounter brings Mark and Emily together after 20 years but someone is trying to kill either Mark or Emily. As they try to find out which is the target and what is the motive and can they rekindle a romance at the same time.
Very fast paced-page turner and extremely good.
This was actually the first book she wrote even if it is number 2. It has characters from the first book which I really like and if you read this you will too.

Trial by Fire

I just finished reading Trial by Fire by my favorite "local" author Cara Putman.

This is her second Love Inspired Suspense book and I was so excited to get a copy from her to read. I absolutely loved her first suspense book Deadly Exposure and I knew this would be just as good or better. It did not let me down.

It was a suspense page turner with a hint of romance which I love. Cara added two characters from her first book within this story which was a fun element. Tricia is a prosecutor with a past full of secrets who loses all material possessions and grapples with bitterness and anger and how God is pursuing her to let go and trust Him. Enter a fireman with a chronic injury and not being able to forgive Tricia for not protecting him during a trial the year before. They both are continually thrown together and discover how to trust by taking risks.

Very easy book to read and extremely good. Cara writes wonderful historical books and her suspense is also wonderful. Grab coffee, a blanket and this book and enjoy on a cold night. After reading this one you will pick up her other 4 books.

What Difference Do It Make

I was super excited to be able to read this book as part of the blogger's reviews.
Their first book Same Kind of Different As Me was one of my top ten favorite books ever read. I was so glad to see they wrote another book that takes off after their other finished. It was just as good as the first one. What made this one different was the untold stories and the tales of lives that have been changed by reading the first book.
It was so much fun to read, quick small book with guidance for how you can make a difference to anyone especially those in need. One of my favorite quotes was "what would happen to me if I stopped to help someone in the street but to ask myself what will happen to them if I don't". We should all remember this in our daily life.
The stories of those who wrote in were heartwarming especially the one about entertaining angels.
"you never know whose eyes God is watchin you through. It might not be your teacher, your preacher, or your Sunday school teacher. More likely it's gon be that bum on the street. That was Denver talking and he is sooooooooo right.
I pray this book will change our thinking, our priorities and just our love for the fellow man.
YOU WILL LOVE THIS BOOK!!!!!!

I'll Make You An Offer You Can't Refuse

I absolutely loved Michael Franzese's first book-Blood Covenant. So I was excited to see he had another book out. This book deals with business tips which is not what I expected but I was pleasantly surprised with this book.
It is a quick read with only 150 pages with some very interesting ideas-he compares mob business with present day business practices. Each chapter starts with some mob stories (which I found fascinating) and ends with a summary of the chapter highlights. Even if the book deals with mostly business practices I found a lot of just plain tips for business and life.
My favorite chapter is "Use Solomon's solution. Each successful business works within a framework, and Solomon offers a solid structure and brilliant principles to help build a company's success. He used scripture throughout the chapter to highlight these principles. The bible is clearly the best book for any practices especially business and it was interesting to see how he mixed the two.

Fearless Book review

Well everyone this is my first ever blog so bear with me.

It is fitting that my first blog should be a book by my favorite author-Max Lucado. I have everyone of his books and always look forward to a new one. This one did not let me down either. His topic of this new book deals with fear--we all have fears of some sort and he speaks about many of them. Just some of the chapters are Fear of Disappointing God, Fear of Violence, Fear of Life's Final Moments, Fear of Global Calamity to name a few.

Max writes with such clarity and always brings new ideas from scripture alive with his words. He makes me want to stay curled up and read all day till finished. I found saying "just one more chapter" and then one more until I had to make myself stop for work. I always have a highlighter handy because there is always lots to highlight in his books for future reference.

Now to some of my favorite parts of this book. The chapter of Fear of Running Out helps the reader with eight worry stoppers. He goes thru each of the eight steps---Pray first, Easy now, Act on it, Compile a worry list, Evaluate your worry categories, Focus on today, Unleash a worry army, Let God be enough--P-E-A-C-E-F-U-L. Is this not great way to keep remembering how to give God all your worries. This is one I will always use and tell others about.

Also loved the chapter-God's Ticked Off At Me. He told and interesting story about Eve and how fear mismanaged, leads to sin and sin leads to hiding. Loves how he brings scripture stories and how they speak to everyday issues even today. The sinners life is me-focused, not God-focused.
Fear corrodes our confidence in God's goodness which is so true and so human!!

This book helps reinforce that God is still in control of EVERYTHING and why should we fear. I walked away after reading this book with a better understanding of why I fear things and why God is really enough in my life to keep fear away.

I always tell my customers that Max doesn't write a bad book and again this is true. Read for yourself and you will be saying that too.