Archive for Books

Book Review of Courting Morrow Little – A Revell Blog Tour

I received the following product in exchange for writing a review. While I consider it a privilege to receive free products to review, my review is my honest opinion and thoughts of the product.

Courting Morrow Little

Courting Morrow Little was an intriguing novel based in the frontier time. I really liked the story line, as tragic as that time period was with the unrest between the Native American Indians and the settlers. The main character, Morrow Little, was no stranger to tragedy either.

The story touched on many issues prevalent in that time period. However, the issue that stood out to me most was Morrow’s struggle to deal with the past and move on from her own personal tragedy to embrace her future.

I really enjoyed Morrow’s love story and how the author intertwined it with her personal conflict. It was interesting how Morrow learned who her real friends were, but yet it corresponded with how we all realize at some point or another who our true friends are and who are not. Life lessons often come with some hurtful knocks along the way. True friends need to be treasured because they are hard to come by and need to be nurtured to some degree to keep the bonds close. Other friendships will come and go.

This was another riveting story that I stayed up late to read.

“Available July 2010 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.”


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Touching the Clouds Blog Tour

I received the following product in exchange for writing a review. While I consider it a privilege to receive free products to review, my review is my honest opinion and thoughts of the product.

Touching the Clouds

Touching the Clouds was written by Bonnie Leon. It is story based in Alaska. The main character is Kate, who is a female pilot. She has an independent spirit, yet I detected that she was “escaping” more than she was searching for adventure as a bush pilot. One of her co-characters, Paul, seems to have the same escape mechanism.

I think many of us can relate to that because how often do we just wish to run away from our problems or circumstances when things aren’t going the way we want or think they should? I know I can. The thing is God doesn’t want us to just “escape”, He desires us to know who He is amidst our difficulty. He wants us to know that His thoughts of us have not changed just because our feelings and circumstances have.

Through events and circumstances, Paul and Kate learn not only how to trust themselves again, but also the Lord. It was a good read.

“Available July 2010 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.”


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Book Review of The Food Allergy Mama’s Baking Book

I received the following book in exchange for writing a review. While I consider it a privilege to receive free products to review, my review is my honest opinion and thoughts of the book.

fambb

When I read this book I was rather surprised that this was not yet another cook- book filled with un-healthy recipes but rather that even though this is a baking cook-book it  had some relativity healthy recipes that looked delicious!

I thought that I would share some of the Food Allergy Mama’s story:


I am a mother of four young children in suburban Chicago. My second child, John, was diagnosed at age one with severe dairy, egg, peanut, tree nut and legume allergy. He also is asthmatic, so the likelihood of a life threatening reaction from food is increased. I spent a few years learning the ins and outs of food labels, ingredient and product information, and most importantly, how to cook and bake for not only my son, but for the rest of my family as well. t has become my life’s purpose to raise awareness and increase funding for food allergy research. I am passionate about not only keeping my son safe, but alive. A food allergy diagnosis is scary; it is the fear of the unknown that keeps us moms of food allergic children awake at night.

The Food Allergy Mama’s Baking Book is a wonderful guide for any mom with children that have food allergy’s this cook-book has recipes for severe dairy, egg, peanut, tree nut and legume allergys. It has recipes from muffins, to cakes, to goodies, and more!

To order The Food Allergy Mama’s Baking Book you may order it here for $19.95 plus S+H.


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Book Review: Feeding Penny the Pig

I received the following product in exchange for writing a review. While I consider it a privilege to receive free products to review, my review is my honest opinion and thoughts of the product.

Feeding Penny Pig

Money management is an important aspect in life. It takes time to develop the discipline of being good with money. Rare is the individual who is a natural when it comes to money, especially in this over-commercialized world in which we live. As parents, it is a part of our responsibility to teach our children to manage money. How many of you learned money management in school? I know I didn’t, at least until I got to my third year in Bible school/college. They had a course based on Ron Blue’s book, Master Your Money. Well, here is a child’s book to get you started in teaching young children about money and how to be responsible with it and their chores – Feeding Penny the Pig

Feeding Penny the Pig is a whimsical children’s story. Our younger ones enjoyed it, as it is geared towards 4-8 year olds. We all thought it was a cute story to help teach small children about money, as well as chores and work. There definitely aren’t many books on the market that teach children about money management.

The author of Feeding Penny the Pig is Jeannine Fox, who is a Certified Public Accountant and a grandmother who is concerned with the future of her grandkids. She says, “Our country is paying the price now for overspending, credit abuse and other irresponsible money management. If we teach kids at a young age to save money, we can prevent these problems from happening again.”

This book is available at major bookstores and costs around $14.95. For more information about Mrs. Fox, please visit www.mimisfunhouse.com


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Out of the Spin Cycle Blog Tour

I received the following book in exchange for writing a review. While I consider it a privilege to receive free products to review, my review is my honest opinion and thoughts of the book.

Out Of The Spin Cycle

Out of the Spin Cycle is a MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) tested and MOPS-approved book. Author, Jen Hatmaker is also a speaker. This little book she has written is filled with “mom moments” with God – 40 of them to be exact. By that I mean that they are short little chapters that enable a busy mom to spend snippets of time with the Lord.

Jen Hatmaker is very down-to-earth and gets to the heart of mothering in each little snippet she shares. She has been there and done it as a mother. She also shares with great humor her own experiences and for those of us who may be more serious, it definitely helps see the humor in one of the darker moments of our mothering.

I enjoy devotionals like this because it is really easy to grab a couple minutes and read a three page chapter – it only takes three pages or less to get interrupted by one of our children, doesn’t it?

I’ll leave you with a couple of chapter titles to see if they intrigue you enough to want to read the book yourself:

Chapter 1 – I’m Perfect and My Kids Never Fight
Chapter 21 – Egg Salad Sandwich Disorder and Road Rage
Chapter 22 – My Missing Inner Saint
Chapter 24 – SAHM (Sleepy Anxious Hysterical Mama)

There are a few more that I could have added, but I think that is enough of a teaser for now. ;-)

“Available June 2010 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.”


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The Homecoming Blog Tour

I received the following book in exchange for writing a review. While I consider it a privilege to receive free products to review, my review is my honest opinion and thoughts of the book.
The Homecoming Book

This is another book set in the World War II era. It was very good. I think it’s safe to say that it was pretty predictable, but I enjoyed this new (to me anyways) author’s writing style. I even told my husband that he’d like it too. It was a tear jerker, but I must admit to being sappy anyways and it doesn’t take much to get me to cry, especially at this stage of my pregnancy!

I loved how the main character, Shawn Collins, maintained his integrity while touring with a Hollywood crew of starlets as a speaker for a war bond tour. Men and women alike will be able to empathize with Shawn’s division about his duty/responsibility to his job and to the care of his family. Too many of us have to deal with double duty nowadays with having to work but wanting to be there full-time for our families. A modern day curse if you ask me (wry smile).

This was one of those books that I felt comfortable allowing my teenaged daughter read. There really wasn’t anything questionable in it at all. My daughter says that she liked it a lot saying that, “I laughed and I cried through it and I want him to write a sequel to it.”

So there you have it, the Gould Ladies review.

Post the review from June 13-19, 2010

“Available June 2010 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.”


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Book Review of How Lil’ Eddie Learns to Read

I received the following product in exchange for writing a review. While I consider it a privilege to receive free products to review, my review is my honest opinion and thoughts of the product.

If you have been reading this blog for any length of time you will already know that I do tend to do a lot of book reviews. We love reading and we love books, so it is really hard to pass over a book review, unless it is a topic we truly are not interested in. I believe reading is the key to all learning. After doing a little online research, I found that even though we live in a fully developed nation, our literacy rate leaves much to be desired. Some websites said 99%, 97% and one article even suggested that 14% of adults could be classified as illiterate because of their reading ability and comprehension levels. That should disturb us, really.

Most loving parents are involved in the education of their children. The author of How Lil’ Eddie Learns to Read, Rima H. Corral, is one of the first authors that I have come across that includes plenty of suggestions and ideas for how parents can actively participate in teaching our children how to read. I’ve taught three of mine to read already and have three more who are beginning to read, so what she told me really wasn’t new. I have attended many homeschooling conventions and have already researched how to best teach my children. However, Ms. Corral has provided an easy to use children’s book to help parents on their way to interact as a teacher/parent. All parents are teachers whether you consider yourself one or not. We are the first people to influence our children’s lives. They learn to eat, talk and walk from our involvement and daily interactions with them when they are little.

How Lil’ Eddie Learns to Read is a fun story of how a little boy turned three and from that point on his mother and family started to prepare him for school, especially in the area of reading, numbers and colors. Every parent of a preschooler can benefit from this book, especially those not sure how to go about teaching their child or preparing him for school. I’d highly recommend it as a resource and teaching tool.

My children and I have really enjoyed reading How Lil’ Eddie Learns to Read. To purchase this book, please visit any major book retailer’s website. Our hardcover copy retails for $18.95.


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Book Review – The Pineapple Story

Pineapple Story

I have been wanting to tell you about The Pineapple Story for a while now and am just getting around to it. This is a book, but also a CD set, written by a missionary about his experience on the mission field. It shares how God uses the missionary’s pineapple story to conquer the missionary’s anger. It really reveals how we can all struggle with learning and applying the principle of giving up our rights for someone else.

We really enjoy this book. I think the illustrations are done very well. We also enjoy the CD set of several of the missionary’s talks about his life on the mission field. He tells the story in a very humorous way. The children really seem to enjoy him, at least the older girls. I know the younger children enjoy the book, but I cannot seem to remember their reaction to the audio set. Sorry!


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What Happened to My Life? Revell Book Tour

I received the following book in exchange for writing a review. While I consider it a privilege to receive free products to review, my review is my honest opinion and thoughts of the book.

What Happened to My Life

What Happened to My Life? was written by Danna Demetre. It is a book about finding new passion, purpose and joy. Mrs. Demetre’s introduction includes these questions:

~ If you are discontent with your life today…this book is for you.
~ If you are bored, angry, or frustrated…this book is for you.
~ If you are stressed-out and running like a hamster in a wheel…this book is for you.
~ If you are unhappy, but don’t know hwy…this book is for you.
~ If you are discouraged beause life isn’t fair…this book is for you.
~ If you have had more heartbreak than one woman can handle…this book is for you.
~ If you have created more heartbreat than one woman should…this book is for you.
~ If you are living in mediocre complacency…this book is for you.
~ If you cannot find joy and purposse most days despite your circumstances…this book is for you.

In the first half of the book, Mrs. Demetre shares some of her personal story, as well as stories of about six of her friends. Their stories made my life seem like a piece of cake compared to what they have gone through. Yet parts of their stories I could definitely relate to and I am sure most women could.

The second half of the book is a 40 Day Journey or plan to reclaim your life. It is forty short devotionals that do require some effort on the part of the reader, but is meant to help us slow down, make wise choices, assess our lives, have more realistic expectations, recoginze the lies we are believing and start pursuing God’s promises with renewed vigor.

I cannot say that I have arrived, however, the book certainly made me think and I am convinced that the way I think is the biggest influencer in my life right now. Mrs. Demetre talks quite a bit about how God has changed her thinking patterns over the years and I believe it may be a life long process for me.

This is definitely a book to be read by those struggling with contentment or for any of the reasons stated in the opening paragraph from the introduction to What Happened to My Life?

“Available May 2010 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.”


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A Child’s Treasury of Prayers, Poems and Verses

I received the following product in exchange for writing a review. While I consider it a privilege to receive free products to review, my review is my honest opinion and thoughts of the featured product.

A Child's Treasury Cover

The photos in this book are beautiful. We happen to love the old-fashioned look though. One of our daughters said she thought this handwriting book was cute and she really liked the poem about the baby titled, “God is Giving Our Family a Baby” (Page 70) written by Joy Marie Dunlap, owner of LightHome Publications. It is very appropriate for our family since we are expecting our eighth child this August. Very precious, uplifting verses, prayers and poems to fill our hearts and minds with.

Most of the verses, poems and prayers in A Child’s Treasury of Prayers, Poems and Verses are God, family and character centered, as it is a Christian penmanship book. It is geared for the K-3 grade level. If you click on the red link it will take you to a product page where there is a product preview to allow you to look at a portion of the ebook before you buy it.


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