Book Review: God's Love Letters to You

God's Love Letters to You: A Forty Day Devotional Experience is not your typical devotional book. I'm not the type of person who normally reads devotional books, so I was pleasantly surprised. I normally spend my time reading only the bible for my morning & evening devotions. I have tried devotionals before but never found anything I liked. This book however is different! Larry Crabb, the author, doesn't sugar coat the gospel at all. As a matter of fact his book really tries to get you to dig deeper and see things from God's point of view. He really exposes the holes in the prosperity doctrine. Since I received this book to review, I read it without answering the questions in depth and read it faster than the 40 days.  I will definitely go back and take my time with this book in addition to my daily bible reading. Book Sneeze provided this book in exchange for an honest review.

Book Description

Experience a unique conversation with God through a daily devotional reading based on twenty Old Testament and twenty New Testament books of the Bible. Written to help the reader listen to what God is saying in His Word, God’s Love Letters to You offers a life-changing encounter with God through the story He is telling. Author Larry Crabb brings the big picture of God’s story into clearer focus, helping readers catch an enticing glimpse of how each of these forty books of the Bible advances the story. The goal? To lose our story in His.

Each day’s devotional includes:

-a selected Scripture reading

-a short devotional message

-reflection questions

-a closing prayer

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Book Review: Beyond All Measure

Beyond All Measure by Dorthy Love was not a quick read for me. Even though it was hard for me to get into the story, I did enjoy reading all the historical background information. The racial prejudice as well as North vs. South prejudice depicted in the book helped me see what a long way we have come since the Civil War. Also, I'm glad the characters in the book were able to believe and trust in God again. Book Sneeze provided this book in exchange for an honest review.

Book Description

Unless she can trust God's love to cast out her fears, Ada may lose the heart of a good man.

Ada Wentworth, a young Bostonian, journeys to Hickory Ridge, Tennessee, in the years following the Civil War. Alone and nearly penniless following a broken engagement, Ada accepts a position as a lady’s companion to the elderly Lillian Willis, a pillar of the community and aunt to the local lumber mill owner, Wyatt Caldwell. Ada intends to use her millinery skills to establish a hat shop and secure her future.

Haunted by unanswered questions from her life in Boston, Ada is most drawn to two townsfolks: Wyatt, a Texan with big plans of his own, and Sophie, a mulatto girl who resides at the Hickory Ridge orphanage. Ada's friendship with Sophia attracts the attention of a group of locals seeking to displace the residents of Two Creeks, a "colored" settlement on the edge of town. As tensions rise, Ada is threatened but refuses to abandon her plan to help the girl.

When Lillian dies, Ada is left without employment or a place to call home. And since Wyatt’s primary purpose for staying in Hickory Ridge was to watch over his aunt, he can now pursue his dream of owning Longhorns in his home state of Texas.

With their feelings for each other growing, Ada must decide whether she can trust God with her future and Wyatt with her heart.

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Book Review: A Vision of Lucy

I enjoyed reading A Vision of Lucy. Even though it was book three in a series, I was able to follow along and not feel lost at any point in the story without having read any of the prior books. A Vision of Lucy contained a lot of the story elements I am looking for when I read a book - salvation, a moral, and humor. Book Sneeze provided this book in exchange for an honest review.

Book Description

Trouble may follow Lucy wherever she goes, but with the help of God and the rugged, reclusive David Wolf, she'll never face adversity alone.
Lucy Fairbanks dreams of working as a photographer at the Rocky Creek newspaper. If she can earn money making photographs, then maybe her father will see that what she does is worthy, more than just a distraction. And her deepest hope is that he’ll see her as an artist, the way he thought of her deceased mother, a painter. But trouble follows Lucy on every photo shoot: a mess of petticoats and ribbons, an accidental shooting, even a fire.

When Lucy meets David Wolf, a quiet, rustic man who lives on the outskirts of town, she thinks she can catch the attention of the town with his photograph. She doesn't count on her feelings stirring whenever she's near him.

Two things happen next that forever change the course of her life: Lucy meets someone who sees her as no one else has—as the compassionate, creative young woman that God made in His image. And Lucy helps David uncover a secret that forces him to change his perspective on an event that left him deeply-scarred.
God’s arms are around this unlikely couple as they discover the truth about long-held assumptions and the importance of forgiveness.

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Book Review: Money Secrets of the Amish

Saving money, garage sales, thrift stores - some of my favorite topics. No wonder I enjoyed reading Money Secrets of the Amish. Since author Lorilee Cracker has a wonderful sense of humor, her book was a quick and easy read. Even though I already know and practice most of the Amash suggestions, the book was not a disappointment.

Book Sneeze provided this book in exchange for an honest review.

Book Description

Discover the money-saving and wealth-building secrets of America’s thriftiest people, the Amish.

Author, journalist, and descendant of the Amish, Lorilee Craker, was just like the rest of us, feeling the pinch from the financial fallout of 2008. As a freelancer, her income was going the way of the dodo—family dollars seemed like an extinct myth, the bank account some archeological evidence of past prosperity.

Then, inspired by a news segment covering her people, the Amish, and how they emerged from the economic crisis unscathed, she realized it was time to get back to her roots and learn a thing or two about their time-tested approach to personal finances. While the middle-class was wringing its hands over the family budget and the wealthy were weeping over their slashed portfolios, the Amish were content as always, spared from the cares of the world and worldliness. They not only had financial health to support their lives, they exuded a wholeness that eludes so many when the financial bottom drops out.

In Money Secrets of the Amish, readers go on an “Amish money makeover,” learning the choices, secrets, and disciplines that safeguarded the contentment and the coffers of America’s favorite plain folk by spending less, saving more, and getting happier doing it.

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Book Review: Spring For Susannah

I wouldn't let my daughter read Spring For Susannah until she got married, (might awaken or stir thoughts of sex) and then I'm not so sure I'd recommend it because of the bias. As I read Spring For Susannah, I kept thinking this is a feminist book disguised as a Christian romance. Not only does Susannah's husband, Jesse, say women are smarter than men, but Jesse is missing for one third of the book while Susannah conquers all.

The author, Catherine Richmond, has a gift for adding humor to a story. This book had so much promise; I really wanted to like it, but it dragged after Jesse disappeared. I wouldn't recommend this book for young impressionable unmarried ladies.

Book Sneeze provided this book in exchange for an honest review.

Official Book description
When Susannah goes to Dakota territory as a mail-order bride she finds something she never dreamed she would—true love.

With no prospects for marriage and her parents recently deceased, Susannah Underhill agrees to go west to the Dakota territory to marry her minister's homesteading brother, Jesse. But Susannah is painfully shy, doesn't see herself as worthy of love from either a husband or from God, and lives in constant fear that Jesse is going to ship her back to Detroit.

In spite of her petite size and the fact that Susannah doesn't look like she could survive on the prairie, Jesse quickly discovers that his new wife is a greater blessing than he even hoped for. The years she spent as her father's veterinary assistant allow her to save Jesse's ox and twin calves and to help neighboring farmers with their animals.

But Susannah's feelings of unworthiness are deeply rooted, and she can't believe that Jesse's praise—or the tenderness and love he shows—could possibly last. The thawing of her heart seems almost as distant as Spring in the midst of the winter blanketing the Dakota prairie.

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Book Review: The Book That Made Your World

The Book That Made Your World written by Vishal Mangalwadi is a must read for homeschoolers. I thoroughly enjoyed reading and reflecting on Vishal's views about western civilization, Christianity, and eastern philosophies. I think Sonlight should review this book and consider adding it to their curriculum. History, science, philosophy, technology, heroism, languages, literature, and more all covered from a biblical world view.

 Chapter 19 is my favorite chapter. I wish more people understood that education isn't our savior. Jesus Christ is our savior and only hope! A biblical education is what we need.

Book Sneeze provided this book in exchange for an honest review. 

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Book Review: A Relectant Queen

The Reluctant Queen is a fictionalized version of the book of Esther. Immediately, upon reading the book I noticed the departures from the biblical account, however since I already knew it was a fictional book I enjoyed the story. Author Joan Wolf has a wonderful ability to transport the reader into another time and place. I enjoyed reading and thinking about the reasons an Israelite would marry a pagan and the reasons Haman acted as he did. It was a little amusing to see how the author gave Esther and Ahasuerus such modern time sentiments and attributes. But hey, it's a love story so what do you expect. On the other hand, it was disturbing how the author portrayed Esther as someone who so quickly was willing to leave the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

From the publisher: “See the story of Esther in an entirely new way—with all the political intrigue and tension you remember, but told as a passionate and tender love story between a young man and woman. Misunderstood by many, King [Ahasuerus] was a powerful but lonely man. Esther’s beauty caught the eye of the young king, but it was her spirit that captured his heart.”

Book Sneeze provided this book in exchange for an honest review. 

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Book Review: No Place Like Holmes

No Place Like Holmes is a great book for young children. Truthfully even as an adult, I enjoyed reading it and look forward to the next book. The main character, Griffin, is a wonderful example of a christian. I hope his uncle gets saved in the next book.  No Place Like Holmes is a mystery with a redemptive message of forgiveness. It will help your child look beyond peoples bad attitudes and have a redemptive heart.

Book Description
The new resident in 221A Baker Street is about to give Sherlock Holmes a run for his magnifying glass!

When Griffin is sent to stay with his detective uncle at 221A Baker Street for the summer, he is certain that his uncle must be the great Sherlock Holmes! But Griffin is disappointed to discover that Holmes lives at 221B Baker Street and his uncle lives unit 221A. His uncle is a detective, just not a very good one. But when Griffin meets a woman with a case that Holmes has turned away for being too ridiculous, he and his uncle team up to help her. Along the way, Griffin shows his uncle just what it means to have true faith in God, even when the case challenges that. The woman claims that her husband was eaten by the Loch Ness Monster, but monsters aren’t real—or are they?

Book Sneeze provided this book in exchange for an honest review.

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Book Review: The Promise of an Angel

Reading The Promise of an Angel by Ruth Reid was an enjoyable experience. The Promise of an Angel is about an Amish girl, Judith, and how her faith is strengthened. Ruth Reid, a great writer, weaves a story full of conflict and emotion. The story does start off a little confusing because I was left to guess exactly how her younger brother got hurt until near the end of the book.

This book is definitely faith based and speaks about salvation. I liked how the idea of an angel speaking to her was balanced by Andrew. It was made clear how Satan also masquerades as an angel of light, so we must be careful who or what we give heed to.

Also, it doesn't really make sense why she saw the angel to begin with. I know Tobias, the angel, tells her someone is praying for her, but it leaves one to infer it was Andrew praying for her because we find him staying up all night praying for her on several occasions. However, when the story starts Judith and Andrew don't have any kind of friendly relationship, and it's not until after she sees the angel that they get to really know each other. Personally, I would have enjoyed the book more without any reference to an angel as there was plenty of other conflict with her sister and Levi that could have still lead to her learning forgiveness and the strengthening of her faith.

Book Sneeze provided this book in exchange for an honest review.

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Book Review: Johann Sebastian Bach Christian Encounters Series

Enjoyable book. Well this book definitely lives up to it's name, Christian Encounter Series. This is the first biography I have read in this series, and I must say I enjoyed it. The author did a great job explaining the culture Bach grew up in, his dedication to God, his love for music, and his Lutheran background.

I will have my daughter use this book as part of her homeschool curriculum. It can be used as a part of history, composer study (CM), religion, and writing. (I'll require an essay or written narration) Also, it will lead to great discussions especially in the last chapter as there are some blasphemous sentiments expressed. Daniel J. Mount has already written a review about this on Amazon, so I won't go into detail.

Book Sneeze provided this book in exchange for an honest review.

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