The Director's Cut

Again, Janice Thompson is an author that I've read plenty of books from and have really enjoyed her writing style, so I was pretty excited to see a book by her up for review! The Director's cut was exactly the type of book I was expecting from her, with quirky characters (and plenty of familiar ones too!! Love it when there's characters from previous books in new books, it gives it a sense of home coming!) and such an outrageous sense of humor and writing style. It was impossible to not love this book! Par for the course, Thompson's leads (of the female kind) in this book were strong women with strong opinions and distinct personalities. The storyline ranged from outright hilariousness to thought-provoking moments. That's one thing I've found typical of Janice Thompson's novels, that you can't really pin down what will come next in the story, there's such imagination and flow to her stories that they keeping you going till the very last page. I really liked this book, and am looking forward to finding some more of this series!

"Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.
Available at your favourite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group".

Waiting for Sunrise

When I first started this book, it had a feeling of the familiar and something that I felt I could almost recall, So I looked up the author and found that she'd written a few other books that I've reviewed, and most specifically a book called "this fine life" that I've read probably a half dozen times. Her writing style is so unique and has an easy laid back feeling to it, while at the same time presents an intelligent well thought out story. So I was pretty stoked once I realized who wrote the book, I loved her previous ones and this one wasn't an exception!!
There are time that I don't overly enjoy a novel that deals with the harsher realities, I find them a little too depressing and generally read a book to get lost in a good story rather than read about the "real life" type problems. However with the way Everson wrote this book, and the way the story was shown, although it dealt with some strong emotions and some heavy topics it was an absolutely amazing book. I'm sure this'll be another one of those books that will be read and reread throughout the years!

"Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.
Available at your favourite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group".

Touching the Sky

One of my absolute favorite things is receiving review books that are part of a series, I love the continuation of these stories and recognizing different characters or situations/areas! I'm a huge fan of historical fiction, I love reading about history, and love to get lost in a good historical story! I also love reading about the rich history and strong conflicts of the civil war era, at a time that has so much turmoil and passion, its hard not to be intrigued with it!
Again, (and this seems to be a theme with all the review books lately!) the author here (Tracie Peterson, who I love reading books from, I've been a long time fan of hers!!) portrayed the female lead as a strong intelligent woman (and although there were some rather flaky characters, they did fit into the times that the book was written about. In an era where women were not supposed to have a thought outside of their home, and family) So I really did enjoy reading this!
There was plenty of suspense throughout the book and and was written so well that at time I'd find myself getting angry at the "bad guys" type characters in it!
I highly recommend this book! Excellent book and an excellent series too!

"Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.
Available at your favourite bookseller from Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group".  

Love in Disguise

This was an adorable book! The lead female character Ellie Moore was quirky and funny, but still was portrayed as a strong and intelligent woman (something I love about the more recent history/romance novels lately!) The idea behind the book was very unique to have a woman joining in (especially in that era) with an Private detecting/investigative company and something that I'd not read about before! The entire story had so many twists and turns that I had a little bit of difficulty keeping up with all of them, (if I had to complain, that'd be my only one!) however it also kept my attention throughout the book and kept me guessing straight till the end of the book! (and I totally did not suspect the actual suspects!)
I would of course highly recommend this book, very well written and easy to read!

"Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.
Available at your favourite bookseller from Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group".  

Short-Straw Bride

You know, when I first started reading this book I had thought it was going to be one of those "Man comes along to rescue the helpless female from herself"... type of books, and was not prepared to enjoy it! Surprisingly though, this book turned out to be completely opposite, the lead female was a strong, opinionated and determined woman who didn't depend upon the lead male character "save her". I love books that allow women to be shown as more than a simpering silly girl! So I absolutely adored this book, it was well written, the characters were nicely developed and had such great personalities that you couldn't help but like them! While the book was obviously a Christian book, it wasn't overtly preachy but still held a strong Christian message which I really appreciated. These are the type of books I'll recommend to my unsaved friends, something that can get them into The Word a bit, but without them feeling forced fed it!
I very much recommend this book!

"Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.
Available at your favourite bookseller from Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group".  

The Way: New Living Translation

One of my favorite things is to receive a Bible for review, I love reading the different versions out there and reading the different study guides/devotionals in them. I find that I'm able to get a deeper understanding of God's Word when I can look up what it says in all the different versions.

One of the things I very much like about this Bible is the modern/youthful look to the Bible, and that the devotionals seem to be geared towards a younger generation. I think with both the look to the Bible and the devotionals in it, it'll attract more of a younger reader (I would think a Youth/Young adult would be drawn to something like this)

Also I appreciate the language of both the Scripture and the devotionals. It's straight forward and to the point. The book intros are simple introductions to the books without any build up or religious jargon. It simply presents the info about the book in a not forceful/intimidating way. The same goes for the devotionals, they focus on today's kind of problems and situations and have a more "authentic" feel to them. They writers of the devotions aren't trying to impress you with flowery words or religious speak, but are simply trying to help the readers develop a deeper relationship with Christ.

I highly recommend this book (in fact, I like it so much I'm recommending it to our church as a type of Bible we could give away to visitors that are without one)

"Advanced Reader's Copy of the Bible has been provided courtesy of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.
Available at your favourite bookseller from Tyndale House Publishers, Inc".

Love does

"You don’t need another Christian message or a self-help book. You need to have your paradigms about the world shifted into truth" I love the description of this book, it so nicely and fully explains in one sentence what this book is about!

I think the thing I loved the most about "Love does" was how Bob Goff would pair of these real life stories with the lessons he's learned. So we were able to catch a glimpse of how the lesson's he gives are applicable to our lives and our walk. I find it so much easier to understand and remember a lesson when I can see a way to apply it to my life when reading it. 

Also I really appreciate that the author was willing to go where many authors are not, and to just come right out and tell his readers to  "leave all of the comparisons and all of the trappings and all of the pretending of religion".... "for me, it's Jesus plus nothing"

Out of everything that Goff said, that is what has stuck with me the most, that we need to leave behind the pretending, and just have Jesus. Its such a simple concept but one that is sorely lacking in many Christians today!

In all, I do highly recommend this book, its quite challenging, but its got enough "entertainment" (For lack of a better word) that you won't find yourself loosing attention. 

"Book has been provided courtesy of Thomas Nelson and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.
Available at your favourite bookseller from Thomas Nelson".  

Brush of Angel's wings

I love Amish books, so this one was a no brainer for me, of course I was going to sign up to review it! This book was actually quite different from the other types of Amish books I've read, while it had the same "Plain" life style portrayed it also showed a much strong view of the Spiritual world. I really quite enjoyed this book, it was very simply written which made it very easy to follow and get "lost" in! The story revolves mostly around Rachel, who stepped in to fill her dead brother's shoes and started taking on the more "manly" chores associated with the Amish lifestyle. When a stranger comes and starts stepping into her self-appointed place Rachel starts feeling pushed out and lost. Throughout the book there are tons of plot twists and turns that keep the reader going till the last page. I very much enjoyed this book!!

I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.