When I worked at a Christian Book store many customers would tell me how great an author Charles Martin was. I actually bought two of his books that are in my bookcase still waiting to be read. I picked this from Booksneeze to review and knew it was a repackaging but it sounded so good.
My, oh my, oh my-it was not just good, it was superb. This has to be one of the most heartwarming books I have ever read. As you read this story you laugh at some pages, you are enraged at some pages, and there are tears at some pages. He covers so much emotion and his writing style is so unique that I found myself so engrossed in reading and loving and rooting for the characters in a way I have never done before.
The main character Tucker Mason (Rain) has had a childhood straight from the pits of Hell with and evil father who doesn't care a lick for him or his brother Mutt. All the father cares about is making money and lots of it along with alcohol binges. Tuck and Mutt were raised by Miss Ella Rain who loves these two boys like her own. She is the only stable person in their lives and she is a Christian who instills the scriptures in their lives along with prayers to cover the evil they all endure. I was so amazed that one person could be so evil to everyone around them. Tucker is forced to return home and face his own tragic past along with Mutt who has escaped from a mental hospital with lots of problems of his own. Also enter a former girlfriend with a five year old son running from an estranged husband. Put these all together and you have one amazing story. At the end of the book and really all the way through, I wished I could have had a Miss Ella in my childhood. I loved how Tucker could still hear her voice and her prayers even after she had died and how he would talk back to her.
This book really shows how forgiveness and redemption can change lives along with peace and grace only found through our amazing Lord and Savior.
I would give this book 10 stars if I could. I am heading to my bookcase to read the other books I have by Charles Martin and I bet they will be as good as this one.
Thank you Thomas Nelson for sending me this copy free to review for my honest opinion,
-- Grace Elizabeth --
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Friday, August 19, 2011
Money Secrets of the Amish
I love to save money in all different ways so this book is right up my alley. Being retired and on a fixed income involves a totally new way to look at frugal ways to save money. In this book we learn from the best at making things last and the art of recycling.
The author found during 2008 during the economic collapse that her work was drying up also. She started investigating the Amish culture to be serene, simple and rooted in centuries past that held financial wisdom to me. During her period of "extreme thrift" she researched the Amish way of wealth. She learned tips on saving, spending and investing and how to live a lifestyle extravagant in peach, sharing, family and community closeness. One of her funny quotes "Could a clotheshorse, spendthrift, clueless about-cash girl like me actually spend less, save more, and make shoofly pie?'.
We Americans are a blessed society with enormous wealth to spend our money any way we want to. To think that God actually only wants 10% of HIS money and lets us spend 90% how we want to is mind boggeling. This book helps you retrain your brain to be more frugal with practical and simple money saving ideas.
My favorite chapter was Shopping Secondhand. She shops at a secondhand store and saves a ton of money then heads to Goodwill and buys 9 items that would have cost $237.48 and she spent $25.50 for a savings of @211.98. Now that is "fun shopping" As the Amish say "You don't have to buy something new to buy something good".
She has chapters on: Pay on time-rethinking gifts-saving-de-spoil the kids-to bulk or not to bulk-bartering-and the best things in life are free.
Great book, fun read, lots of tips to help my frugal life more and a good book to give to a newly married couple or kids going off to college.
I received this book free for my honest opinion of it and so appreciated this great read.
The author found during 2008 during the economic collapse that her work was drying up also. She started investigating the Amish culture to be serene, simple and rooted in centuries past that held financial wisdom to me. During her period of "extreme thrift" she researched the Amish way of wealth. She learned tips on saving, spending and investing and how to live a lifestyle extravagant in peach, sharing, family and community closeness. One of her funny quotes "Could a clotheshorse, spendthrift, clueless about-cash girl like me actually spend less, save more, and make shoofly pie?'.
We Americans are a blessed society with enormous wealth to spend our money any way we want to. To think that God actually only wants 10% of HIS money and lets us spend 90% how we want to is mind boggeling. This book helps you retrain your brain to be more frugal with practical and simple money saving ideas.
My favorite chapter was Shopping Secondhand. She shops at a secondhand store and saves a ton of money then heads to Goodwill and buys 9 items that would have cost $237.48 and she spent $25.50 for a savings of @211.98. Now that is "fun shopping" As the Amish say "You don't have to buy something new to buy something good".
She has chapters on: Pay on time-rethinking gifts-saving-de-spoil the kids-to bulk or not to bulk-bartering-and the best things in life are free.
Great book, fun read, lots of tips to help my frugal life more and a good book to give to a newly married couple or kids going off to college.
I received this book free for my honest opinion of it and so appreciated this great read.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Thunder Dog
What a blessing the Booksneeze program is. This book is one of the examples of getting to read a wonderful book for free. It does not get any better than that!!. This was a book when I saw it up for review I knew I had to read it. I was not disappointed at all. This is one of those "heartwarming" books that make you feel better after you have read them.
This book is a true story of Michael Hinson who is blind and his guide dog Roselle who actually made it out of the Trade Center Tower #1 before it collapsed. That, in itself, makes for an interesting storyline. Michael takes you back 10 years to that "day that changed America" to relive what happened. He goes to work as usual getting ready for a seminar when his life and many others are changed forever. He works on the 78th floor of the north tower when the building is hit and the tower leans to the south. His co worker David and he immediately head for the stairs and begin the long trek down stairwell B with his dog by his side. He smells the jet fuel but knows he needs to stay calm to keep Roselle calm. Neither panic and start working their way down-ten stairs, turn, nine stairs. When they get to the 34th floor they see the firefighters are coming up with water but they don't have any information to pass along so everyone is still guessing what has happened to the building. In just over an hour since they left the office they are outside when a police officer screams, "Get out of here! It's coming down!" Now Michael and Roselle are literally running for their lives when the dust from the buildings completely cover them. We have to get out of the dust or we are going to die. But even in the dust cloud, with my guide dog now blind, too, I feel God's presence. He is with me. I am not alone. I am running with Roselle.
Michael Hinson is one special person who never let his blindness stop him from doing anything. He has ridden a bike and even driven a car. He was determined to achieve parity in a sighted world and it was a true pleasure to read his story.
Thank you Thomas Nelson for this free copy to review for my honest opinion.
This book is a true story of Michael Hinson who is blind and his guide dog Roselle who actually made it out of the Trade Center Tower #1 before it collapsed. That, in itself, makes for an interesting storyline. Michael takes you back 10 years to that "day that changed America" to relive what happened. He goes to work as usual getting ready for a seminar when his life and many others are changed forever. He works on the 78th floor of the north tower when the building is hit and the tower leans to the south. His co worker David and he immediately head for the stairs and begin the long trek down stairwell B with his dog by his side. He smells the jet fuel but knows he needs to stay calm to keep Roselle calm. Neither panic and start working their way down-ten stairs, turn, nine stairs. When they get to the 34th floor they see the firefighters are coming up with water but they don't have any information to pass along so everyone is still guessing what has happened to the building. In just over an hour since they left the office they are outside when a police officer screams, "Get out of here! It's coming down!" Now Michael and Roselle are literally running for their lives when the dust from the buildings completely cover them. We have to get out of the dust or we are going to die. But even in the dust cloud, with my guide dog now blind, too, I feel God's presence. He is with me. I am not alone. I am running with Roselle.
Michael Hinson is one special person who never let his blindness stop him from doing anything. He has ridden a bike and even driven a car. He was determined to achieve parity in a sighted world and it was a true pleasure to read his story.
Thank you Thomas Nelson for this free copy to review for my honest opinion.