My Holy Bible for Girls

My Holy Bible for girls is a new Bible in the New International Version which features a journal edition. This Bible  has a unique cover that appeals to the younger set. It is designed to reflect on God's Word and you can add your own thoughts, art and color to your favorite verses. What a fun way to make this Bible your own and personalize it while reading and studying God's Word. This Bible  also have thicker paper for writing with pens or pencils.  There is a How to Use this Bible page and details how to get started which is a great feature.
This Bible was a Christmas gift to my 11 year old granddaughter along with colored pencils and she was really impressed with how "girly" it looked.  She especially liked the journaling part where she could draw or write on the lines.  The best book you can put in a child's hand is a Bible and this was especially cool for girls.

Home on the Range

Home on the Range is the second book in the Double S Ranch series. This series is by Ruth Logan Herne and it has really caught my attention.  I read and reviewed her first book not knowing the author but so enjoyed her writing and eagerly awaited the second book..now I have to wait for the third book!! If covers sell books then this cover wins an award for superb cuteness.

The Stafford family owns a huge ranch in Central Washington. Each story is about a different brother and the second  book highlights Nick Stafford. The other brothers have left the ranch and Nick is left to carry on along with being a single dad. There is a problem between Nick and his dad dealing with his childhood where his dad failed at marriage and parenthood. Nick would show him by being a better parent and husband but he failed and his wife walked out and left him to parent two girls by himself. Enter Elsa Andreas, who previously had a family therapy practice, who begins to work with Nick's girls and spends the summer on the Double S ranch.  Can the brother left behind and a woman without hope work together for the good of two precious children.

The second  book was as good as the first with plenty of twists and turns and how a family can reconcile with God in the middle. The characters are real with  hurts, needs  and most of all there is hope for the lost and healing for the broken.
Thanks to Blogging for Books for my free copy just for my honest opinion.

Ruth Logan Herne has more than a million books in print, including eighteen Love Inspired contemporary novels and Back in the Saddle, Book 1 in the Double S Ranch series. Ruth is a founding member of Seekerville, a popular writing-collective blog. A country girl who loves the big city, Ruth and her husband live on a farm in upstate New York.

Earth Psalms

Wow, what a book!. Francine Rivers writes wonderful fiction books, so when this book became available, I quickly decided this will be my next book.  I knew it would be good, but excellent is more the description I would give it.
 It is a 52 week devotional that blends scripture, glorious pictures, a reflection, prayers, an application and a connection with God for each week.  I will confess that I went through the whole book and not a week at a time. I will start in January and do a weekly devotional, but this book kept me so engrossed that I just kept reading. Francine Rivers shares observations that she has gathered exploring both in her backyard and abroad. She reflects how this might apply to your daily life. One of my favorites was on week 42 and the Power of Two. Telling how horses stand parallel to each other with tails swishing to keep the flies from each others eyes. Then in Luke 10, Jesus sends 72 of His followers in groups of two as to offer encouragement to each other. We need to partner with other believers so we can do the work the Lord has set before us. There is always a interesting tidbit with the pictures.  This one told that a horses' eyes are on the sides of their heads, they have an almost 360-degree range of wisdom.
This is just a beautiful, well written, interesting and a wonderful way to start each week with the Creator and discover His power, His attention to detail, His love for you and it is all around us, if we just open our eyes to it.  I do hope you will pick this book up, you will not be disappointed.
Thanks to Tyndale Publishers for my free copy just for my honest opinion.
http://mediacenter.tyndale.com/downloads/press_kits/EarthPsalmsInterviewQuestions.pdf
https://files.tyndale.com/thpdata/firstChapters/978-1-4964-1485-4.pdf
http://files.tyndale.com/thpdata/authorphotos/amazon/539/pic_full_Rivers_Francine.jpg

The Occupied

The Occupied by Craig Parshal is his first in the Trevor Black series. "I keep monsters in my peripheral vision. When you've been attacked by the horribles, you never forget".
I knew this was a supernatural story line with the struggle of world, flesh and the devil. Trevor Black was a criminal defense lawyer in New York City and had it all. He enjoyed a trophy wife, a six figure Aston Martin and was a winning lawyer.  Here comes the but: he had an encounter with the supernatural in his youth that comes back to haunt him. How quickly everything crumbles, his marriage, his law practice is destroyed. Losing everything changes him and he is left with a gift or curse that enables him to detect the demonic underworld. Not only does he see them, they are gunning for him. How will Trevor handle the trail of occult murders that are crossing his path.  Can he find the killer and can he face his personal and supernatural demons? He also comes to a crossroad and his defenses break down and he finally admits he needs Christ to take over and how his life changes.

I will admit that I am not a supernatural book lover. This said, I read half then skipped to the end (not something I normally do) just to find out the end. Not a series that I will look forward to number 2.
Love suspense but this one was very hard for me to follow. I saw by the other reviews that I am outnumbered by those who loved the book, but to each his own.

I received this copy free from Tyndale Publishers just for my honest opinion.
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eY84Eyyt_FU
 https://files.tyndale.com/thpdata/firstChapters/978-1-4964-1918-7.pdf

Eden Hill

Welcome to Eden Hill, Kentucky and spend some time in the early 60's when times were simpler and family values were the norm. For me, this was a trip down memory lane. I graduated from high school in 1966, so many of the things written were very familiar to me.  Being a baby boomer was the best of times and relationships were valuable and neighbors were neighborly. Even if you were not born in that era, this book has qualities that are enjoyable to read about. Especially: fried spam, Lux dish soap, Tang for breakfast, Kelvinator refrigerator, and the highlight of a woman's week-the beauty parlor and gossip!.

Virgil has the only service station in town and he has been happy doing just that, until, a new Zipco gas station intends to move across from Virgil's station. How will Virgil face this new obstacle not only in his business, his marriage but his self worth. The story has all that is wonderful about small towns in the 60's. No one is a stranger, everyone helps everyone, and all the quirky characters that make up a small town. There is an interesting Reverend Eugene Caudill who sees changes sweeping the town and how much to meddle in those changes. Every good story needs a old church member that complains about anything and everything!
This is a book full of interesting people and the plot is simple: how do you love your neighbor when everything you hold dear is threatened.

I will be honest about this book, I had a hard time getting into the plot and characters, but loved the time period and found myself reliving the past as I kept reading. With that said, time to go make a "tuna casserole".

Thanks to Tyndale Publishers for this free copy just for my honest opinion.
 http://files.tyndale.com/thpdata/FirstChapters/978-1-4964-1083-2.pdf

God Bless America..A Patriotic Coloring Book

It's not often that I get to review a coloring book, yes, an actual adult coloring book!!
I could not pass this up just to see how different this coloring book would be and I was very pleasantly surprised. It is not just a coloring book but a step back into history and  God's sovereignty over our nation.
One side of the page you can color but the other side shows quotes from our Founding Fathers, historic documents, presidents, Scripture, patriotic songs, and inspirational quotes from American heroes.
Remembering how coloring as a child would just quiet your soul and your creative juices would flow as you filled in the pictures.  This coloring book reminds us just how blessed we are to live in the USA and  how amazing our country is.
My favorite page is where General Norman Schwarzkopf's words were "It take a hero to be one of those who goes into battle". Having a daughter in the Army, this one was my favorite to tackle.
Slow down, quiet the noise, and express creativity as you color you way through history.

This copy was free from Blogging for Books just for my honest opinion

The Promise of Jesse Woods

There are authors that tell stories and there are authors that are storytellers. Chris Fabry is a storyteller that weaves a story into the deep crevices of your heart.  I have read each book he has written and that one is my favorite till the next book comes out and I have a new favorite book.
He has such a knack of involving the reader in the plot and you feel what the characters feel and you become engrossed in what is to come as the book evolves.

A lot Chris Fabry's books take place in a magical town of Dogwood, West Virginia where the times are simpler and life is slower. The setting is 1972, with the Vietnam War overseas and the World Series in the background, young Matt Plumley moves to Dogwood when his father moves there to pastor a small church .  Matt makes friends with Dickie Darrel Lee Hancock, a mixed race boy and Jesse Woods, a tough young Appalachian girl along with her sister Daisy Grace. What transpires when these three embark on finding their  way through many interesting trials, escapades, growing pains, first love, friendships, innocence lost, and just trying to make it through each day when  circumstances are tough.  Fast forward to 1984 and Matt is living in Chicago and suddenly needs to return to Dogwood and to Jesse to find out what the truth behind the promise she broke and why. You must read the book to know what the promise is. The plot goes between 1972 and 1984 which was a fascinating way to tell the story from past to present.

 Since I lived through that time period, it was fun to relive some of the things that the author threw into the story. This was another superbly crafted plot with believable characters set in a location where things were very different in 1972. You could laugh at their antics and cry at the heartbreaking things that happen in life especially when you are young. As Jesse Woods says "Maybe God lets us choose.  Maybe he lets the good and bad happen so we can work it all out ourselves" Please, do yourself a favor, and read this book, you will be amazed at how this story sticks with you long after the last page is turned.

Thanks to Tyndale Publishers for this free copy just for my honest opinion.