Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Review: Travelers Rest by Ann Tatlock


Book Summary:
A YOUNG WOMAN determined to honor her commitment...

AN INJURED SOLDIER convinced life is no longer worth living...

A RETIRED DOCTOR certain it's too late to be forgiven... 


Jane Morrow has a dilemma, and love alone may not solve it. Her faith has never been strong, yet somehow she hopes God will answer her prayers and tell her what to do. The answer she finds may not be at all what she expected...
About the Author:
Ann Tatlock is the author of the Christy Award-winning novel All the Way Home. She has also won the Midwest Independent Publishers Association "Book of the Year" in fiction for both All the Way Home and I'll Watch the Moon. Her novel Things We Once Held Dear received a starred review fromLibrary Journal and Publishers Weekly calls her "one of Christian fiction's better wordsmiths, and her lovely prose reminds readers why it is a joy to savor her stories." Ann lives with her husband and daughter in Asheville, North Carolina. 


My Review:
This book was somewhat enjoyable. I think I liked some of the supporting characters better than the main ones which was a little strange to me. The really strange part was when Seth had past away and Jane hadn't quite got the news about his death yet. And there was a vision or dream if you will where he came to her bedside. I don't want to give it away. But I didn't quite get it. I think I enjoyed Truman and Bess the most. Truman is a very ornery old man and Bess is a sassy old lady. The back and forth between the two really kind of woke me up. It was a nice ending to a semi good book. I did love that in the end God seen to it that Jane had a happy ending. The author did an excellent job of portraying the love felt between Jane and Jon Paul.


This book was given to me for free for my honest review through Bethany House Publishers.









Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Review:The Harvest of Grace by Cindy Woodsmall


A Summary:
 Although Sylvia Fisher recognizes that most Old Order Amish women her age spend their hours managing a household and raising babies, she has just one focus-tending and nurturing the herd on her family's dairy farm. But when a dangerous connection with an old beau forces her to move far from home, she must concentrate on a new start and pour her energy into reviving a debt-ridden farm.
 After months in rehab, Aaron Blank returns home to sell his Daed's failing farm and move his parents into an easier lifestyle. Two things stand in his way: the father that stubbornly refuses to recognize that Aaron has changed and the determined new farmhand his parents love like a daughter. Her influence on Aaron's parents could ruin his plans to escape the burdens of farming and build a new life.
 Can Aaron and Sylvia find common ground? Or will their unflinching efforts toward opposite goals blur the bigger picture- one revealing the path to forgiveness, glimpses of grace, and the promise of love?


About the Author:
 Cindy Woodsmall is a New York Times best-selling author whose connection with the Amish community has been featured on ABC Nightline, in The Wall Street Journal and in other media. She is the author of the Sisters of the Quilt series, the Ada's House novels, The Sound of Sleigh Bells and Plain Wisdom. Cindy lives in Georgia with her family.

My Review:
I have been a fan of Cindy Woodsmall for as long as I can remember. She is a great author. She has very well developed characters in all of her books. So when I seen the chance to review the newest one in the Ada's House series I jumped at it. This one centers around Sylvia and how she has a keen ship with animals. She takes care of them as if they were her babies. Elam Smoker is a young Amish man interested in Sylvia and when he asked her to marry him she decided she needed time to think about it. And then Elam did something unspeakable among sisters. And Sylvia felt betrayed. Then in walks Aaron Blank and things begin to change for Sylvia. I won't give away the ending but lets just say it gets better and better and by the time you become enthralled in the novel you won't want to put it down. Don't take my word for it go to this link and read the first chapter from the book.

This book was provided to me for free through the Blogging for Books Program for my honest review. If you are interested in reviewing for them go to this link: http://waterbrookmultnomah.com/bloggingforbooks/sign-up

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Review: Faith and Other Flat Tires (a memoir) by Andrea Palpant Dilley


Book Summary:
 At age twenty-one,Andrea Palpant Dilley stripped the Christian fish decal off her car bumper in a symbolic act of departure from her religious childhood. At age twenty-three, she left the church and went searching for refuge in the company of men who left her lonely and friends who pushed the boundaries of what she once held sacred.
 In this deeply personal memoir, Andrea navigates the doubts that plague believers and skeptics alike: Why does God allow suffering? Why is God so silent, distant, and uninvolved? And why does the church seem so dysfunctional?
 Yet amid her skepticism, she begins to ask new questions: Could doubting be a form of faith? Might our doubts be a longing for God that leads to a faith we can ultimately live with?


About the Author:
Andrea Palpant Dilley grew up in Kenya as the daughter of Quaker missionaries and spent the rest of her childhood in the Pacific Northwest. She studied English Literature and writing at Whitworth University. Her work as a writer has appeared in Rock and Sling, Geez, and Utne Reader, as well as the anthology Jesus Girls: True Tales of Growing up Female and Evangelical. Her work as a documentary producer has aired nationally on American Public Television. She lives with her husband and daughter in Austin,Texas.

My Review:
To be completely and totally honest this book scared me a little. Because the whole time I'm reading it I'm wondering is my fourteen year old daughter going to think the same way. We all as some point in our lives thought our parents know absolutely nothing and they are quite embarrassing. But to go to the extent that the author did. Wow! And the way she remembers things in her childhood. Some of the things that the authors parents did and said and how they raised their children are almost identical to the way my husband and I raise our children. I read my daughter the part of the authors brother having to give up his pants to a hitchhiker and we both agreed we probably wouldn't of went to the extent that her parents did. But I can totally see where they were coming from. Trying to raise your children in a sinful world is not the easiest thing to achieve. I feel like they were doing the best they could. And even though Andrea seen alot of hard things at her age I really wish my children could of had some of the same experiences. I really enjoyed the book so much so that I would like to have a giveaway. So if you are interested leave a quick note in the comments below along with your email address. And I will pick a winner on July 4th.

*Disclaimer* I was provided with this book for free in exchange for my honest review from Handlebar Marketing.

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Review: Confronting Jezebel by Steve Sampson


Back Cover:
 In this eye-opening classic, newly revised and updated, Steve Sampson shows how the Jezebel spirit-a demonic spirit of control- sows discord, confusion, rebellion and even passivity.
 You can protect yourself and break free from cycles of control and manipulation. With clarity and authority, Sampson exposes the signs of a Jezebel spirit, its strategies of destruction and how you can bring it under the control of the Holy Spirit.
 This biblical and balanced guide is the definitive resource for anyone needing to confront and battle this insidious demonic entity.

About the Author:
Steve Sampson has written eight books about the Christian walk. He travels extensively, offering encouragement, faith and healing to the Body of Christ. He has three adult children and lives in Birmingham,Alabama.

My Review:
This book is extensively informative on the Jezebel spirit. I never thought of it as a demonic spirit, so this book really opened my eyes to it. The author goes back to the beginning explaining in great detail how this Jezebel spirit came about and where it originated from. Jezebel from the Bible that was married to Ahab was a mean, vindictive person with no regard to anyone's thoughts or feelings. Seeing how this spirit is alive and well today. It is said really how prevalent this book is to everyday life. But I'm thankful for it because Steve Sampson tells us exactly how to attack and conquer the hold a Jezebel spirit would have on us. At the end of each chapter he gives you questions to ponder on and prayers to help you whether you are fighting this spirit or you are the one with this spirit living inside of you. A very helpful book in a great time of need.

This book was provided to me for free for my honest review from Bethany House publishers.


Thursday, June 14, 2012

Review:Alexander Mini Lapbook Ebook


I'm sure if you are not living under a rock you have heard of this book. The grand creators at Knowledge Box Central have a great mini lapbook to go along with the book Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst. My boys love the book so when we seen a chance to review the Lapbook for it we jumped at the chance. It is a great way to enhance the book which will make your 
children's imagination go wild and open up the country of Australia to them. My children learned a lot about 
the country that they didn't know. Not only is Australia famous for the kangaroo and the lovable koala bear 
Australia is also known for its use as a prison colony. In 1788 Britain used Australia as a place to house their prisoners. Australia's government is headed by a Prime Minister not a president. Outdoor sports are very popular there especially camel racing. My children would love a chance to watch that. I have to admit I would like to see it for myself. So in your search about learning more about the interesting country of Australia you can read the book Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst and get this great lap book to go along with it. Here is the link to the product we reviewed.  I don't know if you know it or not but Knowledge Box Central is the home of the $5 Lapbook. And best of all when you sign up for their newsletter you get a free $5 coupon to put towards your first Lapbook. How great is that? When you home school your children sometimes you are in need of that little something to enhance your lessons. Well I have your answer Knowledge Box Central. Here is the link for the newsletter. So don't waste any time get on over there and get your school year started right. You will be glad you did.

I received this product for free for my honest review from Knowledge Box Central.


Review:Cook'n Recipe Organizer Software




The Cook'n Recipe Organizer is a great way to keep track of those recipes your family loves the most. It is very versatile. You can find new recipes from the internet and add them to your file or print out a cookbook full of all your family favorites. This product also provides the nutritional information which is always helpful. It will do all the work for you even compile a shopping list from the recipes you decided to compile for the week. You can go to their website here to learn more about their products. Also if you like their Facebook page you can find out more about their weekly giveaways and free recipe exchanges each month. Here is their Facebook page.
I have always wanted to make my own cookbook. Not to get published or anything just for my own personal use. So this product is going to help me do just that. And I can do it just in time for the holidays. Here is the link to the product I reviewed.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Monday, June 11, 2012

Review: The Fiddler by Beverly Lewis


The first book in the newest series by Beverly Lewis, Home to Hickory Hollow."The Fiddler" introduces us to Amelia Devries,an Englisher and Michael Hostetler,a young Amish man to the old order Amish community. Amelia secret love is playing the fiddle which is something her father would not agree with. She actual  plays classical music concerts but country music is her passion. She meets Michael an Amish boy trying so hard to choose between the Amish church and being an Englisher falls almost instantly in love. Thinking she will never see him again she happens to recognize this very handsome gentleman after one of her concerts and realizes it is Michael. She hardly recognizes him because he is looking more English these days. They actually began dating after that and plan to marry.
This book is a little long but I liked it. The story was a good,simple one. And had a happy ending.Amelia and Michael are a good mix of characters that have a sweet, romantic side.

This book was provided to me for free for my honest review from Bethany House Publishers.

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Review: Lorrie Flem's What's For Dinner, Mom?



                                     Who doesn't need help in the kitchen??  Don't everybody raise your hand at once, now."What's for Dinner, Mom?" is kitchen organization, cooking tips and some yummy recipes all rolled into one nice, big printed book.
 One of the fun things about the book and probably my most favorite is the encouragement you will receive with the turn of every page. Lorrie is a great woman of God and the perfect example of how we should take care of our closest treasures- our families. If you are too excited to wait you can go here to purchase What's For Dinner,Mom?

So after looking through the book I decided me and the kiddos would make one of the recipes out of the book. Ashley my oldest was in the mood for brownies so we made Brownie Dessert. I did vary off of the recipe just a bit and used a different icing. My children couldn't think of using any other flavor icing except chocolate "gasp". They aren't spoiled a bit, are they? So drum roll please....

They loved the Brownie Dessert. It was sweet and moist. The perfect ending to any meal.
Well instead of just sitting there with your mouth watering over the picture to the right. You have a chance to win your very own copy of this delightful book. Just leave a comment below along with your email address for contact purposes and a winner will be drawn by June 23rd. Good Luck!

You can go here to the Eternal Encouragement website to find out more about all the other products they have.

*Disclaimer* I received this product for free for my honest review from the Gabby Moms Program.







Tuesday, June 5, 2012

The Versatile Blogger Award


I have been nominated for the Versatile Blogger Award. While I am beyond thrilled for this nomination. I am quite surprised that someone out in the blog world thought enough to include me. Barbara Hartzler thank you so much for including me. It really means alot!  Barbara Hartzler everyone is an up and coming Young Adult novelist.Here is a link to her blog http://barbarahartzler.com/  She is awesome! Here is Barbara's post on the award http://barbarahartzler.com/2012/06/01/the-versatile-blogger-award/
I didn't know this award even existed so I looked it up and if you are curious here is the link http://versatilebloggeraward.wordpress.com/vba-rules/

When you are nominated, you have been awarded the Versatile Blogger Award so as a result there are some rules you must follow:

The Rules:
 Thank the person who gave you this award. That’s common courtesy.


 Include a link to their blog. That’s also common courtesy — if you can figure out how to do it.


 Next, select 15 blogs/bloggers that you’ve recently discovered or follow regularly. ( I would add, pick blogs or bloggers that are excellent!)


 Nominate those 15 bloggers for the Versatile Blogger Award — you might include a link to this site.


 Finally, tell the person who nominated you 7 things about yourself.


Nominees:


An amazing young person on fire for God. Shelby Merriam http://www.shelbymerriam.blogspot.com/


Amazing wife and mother that I can only aspire to imitate Laurie Bostwick
http://ourabundantblessings.com

A great to go for some down home recipes Cryssie http://cryssie-bou.blogspot.com/

I really like this mom's ideas http://www.livingandlearningathome.com/

Homeschooling mom of 11,how does she do it? http://raisingolives.com/

Another large family that homeschools http://ladyofvirtue.blogspot.com/

I read this one often http://www.raisingarrows.net/

Hands on Learning http://creeksidelearning.com/

Large family homestead living http://www.ourfullhouse.com/

Homeschooling boys http://bloggingboutboys.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2012-01-01T00:00:00-06:00&updated-max=2013-01-01T00:00:00-06:00&max-results=47

Homeschooling mom of 4 http://mamato3blessings.blogspot.com/search/label/homeschool

Join Jamerrill. We have alot in common. Love her blog! http://www.holyspiritledhomeschooling.net/

Large Family Living, I love alot of her ideas. And I love her pictures http://bakersdozenandapolloxiv.com/

I like this mom for being real http://www.servingjoyfully.com/2012/06/01/search-my-heart-a-broken-wife/

Inspirational Blog http://www.titus2atthewell.com/

7 Things About Myself

1.  I LOVE Amish Fiction.

2. I am a better baker and dessert maker than a cook.

3. I am very detailed oriented and have to complete whatever task I start. No procrastination here.

4. I love kittens.

5. I love disco music. Especially the Bee Gees.

6. My favorite season is Autumn.

7. I have never visited a beach, been to the circus or the zoo. Man, I'm boring!










Saturday, June 2, 2012

Review: Alabama History Lapbook




My family and I live in Alabama. Home of the Crimson Tide.The Heart of Dixie. But these two facts I already knew probably because I have lived here in Alabama my entire life. Just this week my children and I had the opportunity to study this great state of ours a little more in depth. Knowledge Box Central have just recently been releasing state history lapbooks. And we had the chance to review one for Alabama. And honestly I thought I knew all there was to know about it. But I was quite surprised to find out that even though the Camellia is our state flower now it was only named so after the ladies of Butler county felt it unsuitable that our then state flower the Goldenrod, a common weed represented our state. They felt that the Camellia was a more fitting tribute.
My children were thrilled to find out that Alabama has an over abundance of lizards. And we all agreed that this was true. You can ALWAYS catch them playing with lizards. EWWW!!
Knowledge Box Central  has done a great job on their state history lapbooks. There is a lot of information so that will be something you can look forward to. All the work has been done for you. All you have to do is color,cut, paste & learn. And they are working on getting all states covered. So you should be able to find your state or at the very least one you would like to know more about. This would be a great addition to your state history.
This is the link to the one we did Knowledge Box Central Alabama State History Lapbook  But they have others California, Georgia, & Florida just to name a few.Also some of their prices have been reduced you may need to check this out. Because I know a lot of us are planning for next year and you may need to add a little something-something to one of those subjects that tend to drag on and on. So go here and check it out!!!


This lapbook was provided to me for free for my honest review by Knowledge Box Central



Friday, June 1, 2012

Review: Pen Pal Kids Club & Giveaway

If any of you are interested in a safe place that your kids can go online to exchange correspondence with other children while having some fun. I have got the perfect place. Introducing The Pen Pal Kids Club.............

My boys and got the chance to review this website. They really liked!Here are just some of the highlights from the website.

 Pen Pal Kids Club is a safe, engaging virtual community for kids, the safe social network for kids around the world™ This is not your average pretend, avatar-based virtual world. It’s one in which real kids inspire, learn and challenge each other.
As soon as your child is an approved member, you will receive a Pen Pal Kids Club Passport – an online dashboard that helps you organize your child's account. This Passport will provide instructions on how to SAFELY travel our virtual world and tracks the progress and activities of your child. Additionally, as a parent or guardian, you can control the amount of information your child shares on Pen Pal Kids Club, by reviewing their videos and selecting their mode of communication. You also have access to the same games and educational content as your children, so you will be able to ExplorePlay and Share right along with them!

The boys liked the idea of exchanging virtual postcards with other children from across the world. You can also post pictures from the website onto the post cards when you send them. The pictures our boys would normally pick to post would be animals but there are tons of different ones you can choose from. And I really liked the games that I saw them playing. Of course they liked the games the best. But everyday I would hear at least one of them speak up to say that they were an accepted friend of someone from Mexico or Peru. It was very exciting to them to have all these friends from so far away from our small Alabama town. This website will be a definite hit among your children.
Here is their website https://www.penpalkidsclub.com
Here is their Facebook page  http://www.facebook.com/PenPalKidsClub
Here is their twitter page https://twitter.com/#!/PenPalKidsClub
There is a fee for membership $2.99/ month or $29.99/year. 
But today I'm going to be giving away a free 90 day trial to a lucky reader. The giveaway will start June 1st and end on June 30 th.
 All you have to do is leave a comment below along with your email address and I will pick a winner on the last day of June and send it to my sponsor.

I received this item for free for my honest review from Propeller & fly by promotions.