A Real Pleasant Surprise

Through My Eyes
Tim Tebow Book

Summary: Meet Tim Tebow: He grew up playing every sport imaginable, but football was his true passion. Even from an early age, Tim has always had the drive to be the best player and person that he could be. Through his hard work and determination, he established himself as one of the greatest quarterbacks in the history of college football and as a top prospect in the NFL. Now, in Through My Eyes: A Quarterback's Journey, he shares the behind-the-scenes details of his life, on and off the football field. Tim writes about his life as he chooses to live it, revealing how his Christian faith, his family values, and his relentless will to succeed have molded him into the person and the athlete he is today.


Review: This was a great book. Well written and yet sounded as if you were having a conversation with Tim Tebow about how he came to be who he is today. His faith shines through and his work ethic is amazing! I really cannot get over how much I laughed, cried and cheered him and his family on. His family was in every detail of his book. It is amazing how his parents have influenced his life and with the good stuff like faith, family and living for the glory of God. I would proudly recommend this book to anyone. While I am not a sports fan I enjoyed his excitement he has for football and the games he has played in.

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.

A Pleasant Surprise

Eating Free
Manuel Villacorta M.S. RD

Author’s Summary: In 2004, I founded MV Nutrition, my private practice, in San Francisco, and since then I am proud to say that we've helped over 2,000 Bay Area residents with their health goals and received four awards 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2012 as "Best Nutritionist" in San Francisco. After four years of reading the research literature, applying it in my private practice, seeing thousands of people and witnessing great success, I had a vision. It became clear to me that I have something to share with the rest of the nation. This is when the Eating Free philosophy and weight management program was born. I created Eating Free because of my love for food! And through my years of experience, I have witnessed suffering, deprivation and the demonization of food in order to lose weight. I hope to put an end to that with Eating Free by spreading the word nationwide. I want readers to love and celebrate real food while reaching their health goals. I have a personal passion for eating as a way to strengthen bonds and enhance the quality of life (a custom I adopted from my native Peru), I offer something more than another diet, fad, or trend. As I attest, Eating Free is a lifestyle--a nourishing and satisfying, as well as sensible and effective, way of eating, every day.


Review: I was uncertain at the start if this was going to be a waste of time or more informational. I came to be persuaded by his knowledge and information. After a time I realized that more of what he was stating and relaying informational was more accurate than anything I had ever thought of. I read it every day for an hour a day and in 4 days I was sold. It was the most logical and helpful book on weight loss I have read in a long time. Having been on the treadmill of diets and other weight loss programs this one makes the most sense. I can control my eating and lose weight but much of weight loss is about permanent change. This being the case I really became excited that I could eat healthy and loose weight. For me I love to exercise but I want to be healthy and weigh the proper weight. He also talked about as we age how to meet that to keep the weight off. I am very glad that I read this book and how helpful it is to a life change and not just a life sentence of what I cannot eat.

I would like to thank Net Galley and HCI 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 Thrilling Ride Through a Great Book

Downfall
Terri Blackstock

Book Summary: Book 3 of the Intervention Series. Emily Covington has turned her life around after a drug addiction, but her family still has trouble trusting her. Though Emily has committed herself to a year-long treatment program and has been sober for almost a year beyond that, even her mother walks on eggshells around her, fearing she'll relapse. After her behavior during her drug years, Emily realizes she has a lot to prove. When police discover a homemade bomb under Emily's car, and she then learns the wife of one of her friends was murdered that same morning, she knows things are deadly serious. But who wants Emily dead? And why? A conversation she had with two men, an Alfred Hitchcock movie, and a plan for a double murder all conspire for one explosive ride ... and Emily is the only one who can identify the killer and save the life of the next potential victim. As she frantically works to solve this ever more complicated puzzle, Emily finds herself playing right into the killer's hands.


Review: I read the first book in this series own the second one but have not read it yet. I did finish the third and loved it. It was a roller coaster ride with brief periods where you can catch your breath. I was able to make a correct attempt to figure out ‘who did it’ and yet nothing spoiled this story. This was easily a standalone and a series! It was great to read of people I had visited in the first book and yet they were fresh and exciting to hear how they have grown. The only question that came to mind on believability was if Emily did it ‘Where was the GUN!!! that she used????’ However that was hardly a sticking point for me. I can’t wait for Terri Blackstock’s next mystery! I want another ride on the mystery roller coaster.

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.

Great New Characters

The Accidental Bride
Denise Hunter

Book Summary: When a wedding reenactment turns real, this cowgirl suddenly finds she’s an accidental bride. Shay Brandenberger is raising her daughter in Moose Creek, Montana on her childhood ranch, nestled against the Yellowstone River. Despite her hard work, she can’t seem to keep her head above water—and now the bank is threatening to foreclose. She prays for a miracle, but the answer she receives is anything but. Having agreed to play the bride in the Founders Day wedding reenactment, Shay is mortified to be greeted at the end of the aisle by none other than Travis McCoy, her high school sweetheart—the man who left her high and dry for fame and fortune on the Texas rodeo circuit. Then the unthinkable happens. Thanks to a well-meaning busy body and an absent minded preacher, the wedding reenactment results in a legal marriage. But before Shay can say annulment, Travis comes up with a crazy proposal. If she refuses his offer, she’ll lose her home. But if she accepts, she may lose her heart. Shay isn’t sure if the recent events are God’s will or just a preacher’s blunder. Will trusting her heart to the man who once shattered it be the worst mistake of her life? Or could their marriage be the best accident that ever happened?


Review: I liked the 2 main characters and thought they had good chemistry. I did think there were almost too many secondary characters at the start of the book and this made it a little more confusing at times to recall who was who. It did get easier to follow as the book continued. I enjoyed the main characters. Shay was tough and did a lot of manual labor and yet was still feminine. Travis was very masculine and yet very sensitive to Shay. It was believable and yet very enjoyable to see how things were going to be resolved. The marriage license that was old and yet still valid seemed unlikely, although it was easy to suspend belief when the story flowed so nicely and the main characters were enjoyable. It was worth the read and the fact that it was a in a series was not a deterrent it was a good stand alone story.

I would like to thank Net Galley and Thomas Nelson 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.

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.

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.