Monday, August 20, 2012

How to help your friendships

How to Be a Best Friend Forever
Dr. John Townsend




Book Summary: Our world has diluted the meaning of friendship, but the reality is, there’s nothing like the sustaining strength of true-blue, forever friends. Still, many people are convinced that they’ll never find such lifelong connections—or that they don’t need them. In this encouraging book, best-selling author and psychologist John Townsend delivers hope and help for making these relationships a reality—and for making them even better if you’ve already got a “bestie.” His eight principles for building the very best kind of friendship, along with his shared experiences within his own friendships (including mistakes he’s made), will move every reader to aspire to deeper connections and to stay the course when challenges arise. Townsend’s simple but profound concepts are sure to transform readers’ relationships and keep them from missing out on one of life’s greatest and most essential joys: the joy of having a best friend.


Review: I found this book to be a good help for how to be a better friend and how to nurture a friendship. I really liked the aspect of the book referring to the how we need a variety of friends. It was a tremendous help with understanding the varied aspects of friendship. The book draws on the author's own experiences. It was very detailed with the varied aspects of friendship and how to grow a friendship even deeper through shared experiences and suffering. It also help with explaining how friendships may suffer from experiences that can stall a growing friendship.

I would like to thank Net Galley and Worthy Publishing for allowing me to read and review this book in return for a free copy and I was never asked to write a favorable review by anyone.

Sunday, August 19, 2012

A Great New Booklet

Temptation
Jay E Adams




Book Summary: Christians are commanded to grow. Once we are saved, spiritual fruit should be a natural byproduct. If the fruit isn't there, the growth we are supposed to display is not happening. Yet many Christians find it difficult to bear fruit because their branches are weak -- the old patterns of sin and bad habits creep back in and choke off the growth that should be taking place. So what do you do when your spiritual fruit isn't what it should be? You do what you would with the fruit of any type of tree: free it from what inhibits its growth by finding weak branches and cutting them off. Here, Jay Adams unpacks the teaching of Jesus in Matthew 5 and shows us how to use the principle of radical amputation to develop spiritual fruit, putting on holy patterns of living by putting off our sinful ones. The Resources for Biblical Living booklet series addresses a wide range of practical life issues in a straightforward, down-to-earth, and most of all, biblical manner.


Review: I found this to be a booklet that was easy to read, well written and informative. In this world of the church in the US struggling with historic Christianity it was refreshing to read how to deal with the temptations of this world. I found the examples and the ideas to be plain and blunt with little room for confusion. I enjoyed the variety of examples and how it was nonjudgmental in its approach. The idea that we will never cease to be sinners but can move toward the Light of the World a most helpful idea to hold onto.

I would like to thank Net Galley and P & R Publishing for allowing me to read and review this book in return for a free copy and I was never asked to write a favorable review by anyone.

Another installment in this series

Right in Their Own Eyes
George M Schwab




Book Summary: Right in Their Own Eyes explains Judges from three Old Testament and three New Testament perspectives. First, it shows how the Spirit enabled wayward people to fulfill the mission God gave them, promotes David as king of Israel, and illustrates God's covenant with his people. Schwab also shows how God sovereignly works among his wayward people to forge a community of faith under the New Covenant, which points to Christ, calls modern Christians to faith and obedience, and looks forward to the return of Christ and the final judgment. Gospel According to the Old Testament series


Review: I really like this series and this installment is no exception. The beginning was so thought provoking that I am still pondering the ideas that the author stimulated. It like the way the 12 judges relate to the 12 tribes and the idea that many of these judges overlapped. I found this to be well written and really made me want to dig into the book of Judges more while reading the book and after finishing it. The details and research this author provided were helpful to my own study and provided a growth in my view of this book. This book will be a great reference for years to come.

I would like to thank Net Galley and P & R Publishing for allowing me to read and review this book in return for a free copy and I was never asked to write a favorable review by anyone.

A Page Turner

Cherry Blosson
Capers Cara Putman, Gina Conroy, Frances Devine, and Lynette Sowell




Book Summary: Four women encounter love, danger, and mystery beyond their neighborhood near Washington, DC. Tara Whitley, assistant chef at the White House, helps FBI agent Jack Courtland unmask a state-dinner saboteur. Attorney Ciara Turner and her nemesis Daniel Evans investigate a judge’s murder. Archeologist intern Samantha Steele almost loses her nerve and children when she and security guard Nick Porter investigate a forgery at Mount Vernon. Coffee-shop owner Susan Holland and builder Vince Martini encounter danger in her late uncle’s mansion. Can these couples trust God with their lives and love as they track down killers and culprits?


Review: These were page turners. I enjoyed the characters and how they intertwined with one another. I enjoyed the mysteries along with the relationships between the characters. It was like stepping into the world of these women and how easy it was to feel like a part of the stories while everything is happening so quickly in the start of the stories. I really like the first story the best and that really helped to make the others enjoyable.

I would like to thank Net Galley and Barbour Publishing for allowing me to read and review this book in return for a free copy and I was never asked to write a favorable review by anyone.

A Great New Series

A Plain Death
Amanda Flower




Book Summary: Welcome to Appleseed Creek, the heart of Ohio’s Amish Country, where life is not as serene as it seems. While her Cleveland friends relocated to Southern California and Italy, 24-year-old computer whiz Chloe Humphrey moves with some uncertainty to Appleseed Creek to direct technology services at a nearby college. Her first acquaintance is Becky, an ex-Amish teenager looking for a new home. While driving Chloe’s car, Becky collides with a buggy, killing an Amish elder. But what looks like an accident is soon labeled murder when police discover the car’s cut brake line. Now, Chloe must take on the role of amateur sleuth to discover who the real intended victim was before the murderer makes a second attempt. Becky’s handsome Amish-turned-Mennonite brother, Timothy, a local carpenter, comes in handy along the way. With God’s help, they’ll solve the mystery that’s rocking this small community.

Review: I enjoyed this book very much. It was a great debut series by this author. It was a good introduction to the characters and gave enough information to keep me going throughout the book about the main character. I found the story to be well developed and it had a little surprise at the end the story which was welcomed. I think the extra characters were diverse. They were made more real by their flaws and that is not always visible in characters. I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

I would like to thank Net Galley and B & H Publishing Group for allowing me to read and review this book in return for a free copy and I was never asked to write a favorable review by anyone.

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Best Book I Have Read in a While!

A Perfect Square
Vannetta Chapman




Book Summary: There's more to the quaint northern Indiana town of Shipshewana than handcrafted quilts, Amish-made furniture, immaculate farms, and close-knit families. When a dead girl is found floating in a local pond, murder is also afoot. And Reuben Fisher is in jail as the suspect! Reuben refuses to divulge any information, even to clear himself of a crime Deborah is certain he didn't commit. So, with her English friend Callie-fellow sleuth and owner of Daisy's Quilt Shop-Deborah sets out to uncover the truth. But the mystery deepens when an elderly man seeks Callie's help in finding his long-lost daughter, missing since the days of the 1965 Palm Sunday Tornadoes. An old man who has lost his past. A young man who may lose his future. Once again Deborah and Callie find themselves trying to piece together a crazy quilt of lives and events-one that can bring unexpected touches of God's grace and resolve to the tragedy that has shaken this quiet Amish community.


Review: This was a great book. I enjoyed this story tremendously and thought that the characters were great every last one and the story line was engrossing all the way around. I never wanted it to end. I have not read the first story and was thankful that there were no spoilers as to who did it. I am looking forward to the next book. I found the story to be seamless and the characters to be so well written that I felt like this was the 5th or 6th story in this series. They words flowed and pages flew by. I can honestly say that it has been a while since I read a book this good. I enjoyed the 2 main characters and found that they were friends and yet still getting to know each other. The one character is new to the area and this made learning this town and the people fun like through the eyes of the other newcomer. The peripheral characters were enjoyable. I had a tear in my eye at the end, I was sad for the outcome and yet the ending was so realistic.

I would like to thank Net Galley and Zondervan Publishing for allowing me to read and review this book in return for a free copy and I was never asked to write a favorable review by anyone.