Winners of Book Giveaway!

Sorry I am a little late in posting this...here are the winners of my recent Hachette Book Group giveaway:

#20 - Jessica C.

#27 - Carissa
#11 - Lynette
#22 - Angela Hobson
#25 - Jody

*The winners were picked with Random.org.

Congratulations! Please contact me by e-mail with your address so I can have Hachette Book Group send you your book!

Book Review for Thomas Nelson

This is a review of a book that I got for free through the "Thomas Nelson Book Review Bloggers." It is a great program if you have a blog. Basically, you apply, and if you are accepted, you have the choice of several products.

Once they send it to you, you have to watch/read it/listen to it, write a 200-word review and post it on Amazon.com and your blog. Then, the product is yours to keep! Go here for more information.

Kabul 24 is the true story of eight Western missionaries, and their sixteen Afghan coworkers, who were kidnapped and held hostage in Afghanistan for 105 days in 2001. I remembered hearing about this story on the news, and so I was excited to hear the "whole story" - the parts that the secular media probably left out.
I can not describe how hypnotized I became with this book. The amazing faithfulness and strength of these Christians so gripped me that their story has remained in my mind every day since I finished this book.
The unbelievable conditions that these Western missionaries were placed under, and their testimony for the Lord despite the unfair treatment that they endured really made me rethink the relative "easy" Christian life I live. I was struck with the reality of what believers around the world are faced with for the cause of Christ.
It was also very intriguing to be "educated" on the lifestyle of the Afghan people. I was really very ignorant on the culture of Afghanistan, and I feel I have a better understanding of the people of this country.
Probably my favorite part of the book is the "Epilogue" which lists many of the specific prayers that God answered for His faithful servants.
I would highly recommend this book - you will be challenged in many ways!

Book Review and Giveaway!!!

I have recently hooked up with Hachette Book Group to do reviews and giveaways of some of their newly released books! I just completed the book Miracles by Karen Kingsbury:

Miracles, by Karen Kingsbury, is a book filled with true miraculous stories of God's healing and protection. It is meant to be read as a devotional, with one story per week, and a passage of Scripture that can be read along with it.
From the beginning, I was both excited and skeptical about this book. Excited, because I have always loved Karen Kingsbury's writing style in her amazing Christian fiction novels, but skeptical, as I have never read a non-fiction work by Kingsbury.
I should not have been skeptical...the same eloquent, expressive style that made me love Karen Kingsbury's fiction novels, also drew me to the stories in this book. However, more than her writing style, the reminders of the awesome works of God in these true stories gripped me as I read these stories. Chapter after chapter of God working miracles in believers' lives did a work in my heart...reminding me that the God we serve is constantly working His perfect will in our lives!
My only "complaint" about this book is that it was sold as a "devotional." My personal opinion would be that this does not have the "feel" of a devotional. It certainly was a faith-building book for me, and I think any believer would enjoy reading this to be reminded of what an amazing God we serve who is still at work accomplishing miracles in our lives!

I am so excited that Hachette Book Group has offered to give away a copy of this book to five of my readers!

To win a copy of this book, simply leave a comment below letting us know what your favorite "Thanksgiving Day food" is. I will pick five winners at random at the end of this giveaway (Saturday, 11/21 at 10:00pm). Good luck!!

Want to win an extra entry? Simply post about this giveaway on Facebook, Twitter or your blog and let me know about it in a separate comment below...

NavPress Book Review

This is a review of a book that I got for free through the "NavPress Blogger Review Program." It is another great program if you have a blog. Like the Thomas Nelson program, you apply, and if you are accepted, you have the choice of several products. Once they send it to you, you have to watch/read it/listen to it, write a 200-word review and post it on Amazon.com and your blog. Then, the product is yours to keep! Go here for more information.

The Grad's Guide to Time With God by NavPress was a disappointing devotional book for me. I was hoping to find a book that would be written in a young and interesting way to students, but in such a way that would challenge them to think. What I found instead, was a book that seemed too casual, and even seemed a little "dumbed down" and apologetic in some of the devotionals.

Maybe one of the problems is that many of the devotionals in this book are written by a college-age student. Perhaps that is why the book doesn't seem to "go deeper." The back of the book says, "Spending time with God has never been easier. Change your life in seven minutes a day." I think the reason it only takes seven minutes a day is the shallowness of many of the entries.

This 10-week devotional did have some positives. It does have some interesting suggestions on ways to carry out the various Biblical truths that it covers. It encourages reflection on the passages, prayer, a "fasting" from the sin that you were convicted about, and a journaling section.

Overall, I would probably not recommend this book to anyone. I think if you can get past the lack of structure/casualness of this book, you will find some gems that were unpacked in the Scriptures they covered, however, you may have to really dig!

Thomas Nelson Book Review

This is a review of a book that I got for free through the "Thomas Nelson Book Review Bloggers." It is a great program if you have a blog. Basically, you apply, and if you are accepted, you have the choice of several products. Once they send it to you, you have to watch/read it/listen to it, write a 200-word review and post it on Amazon.com and your blog. Then, the product is yours to keep! Go here for more information.

Nelson's Illustrated Guide to Religions by James A. Beverley is a great resource for any Christian family to have on their bookshelves. It is written by an Evangelical Christian scholar who has put together a comprehensive summary of each major religion, as well as a couple of newer religious movements.
While I knew that reviewing this book would not be an easy thing (this book is 738 pages), I was hoping to find in this book a resource that would help me explain the various world religions to my children. I was not disappointed. This book not only gives the basic information, but an added bonus is that it is written from a Christian perspective.

Some of the extra features that I love about this book are the timelines, lists of website resources on each religion, and the glossary of terms. One of the features that make this book not just informational, but enjoyable, are the grey boxes that are scattered throughout the book. They are filled with interesting facts such as presidential quotes and "famous" people in each specific religion.

I am excited to have this book for our family. It is written in an easy, readable way that I think will really be beneficial as our children grow older and have more questions about our beliefs and the beliefs of those around us.