Category Archives: book reviews
When a Woman You Love Was Abused
by Dawn Scott Jones
Paperback: 208 pages
Publisher: Kregel Publications
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0825429757
ISBN-13: 978-0825429750
Price: $12.99
Purchase: Amazon | BN | CBD
Description
Your wife hurts because someone sexually molested her; you hurt because you love her and sense her heartache. How can you help?
In When a Woman You Love Was Abused, author, pastor, and survivor Dawn Scott Jones candidly shares from her own abuse experience to help you understand the thoughts and fears that hold your wife captive, the stages of her healing process, and what you can do to play an active role in helping your wife thrive despite her past abuse.
The journey is difficult. It’s maddening. It’s exhausting. And it’s arduous. But you’ll find reward and fulfillment as you experience the beautiful transformation together.
Review
When a Woman You Love Was Abused was a tough book for me to read.
However, I am glad Dawn Scott Jones wrote this book. There aren’t many books written on the subject of helping the spouses of abuse survivors.
The only other book I have read on this subject was The Haunted Marriage by Clark E. Barshinger, Ph.D., Lojan E. LaRowe, Ph.D. and Andres T. Tapia.
I found When A Woman You Love Was Abused to be a more comprehensive guide to understand and help spouses as they undergo the healing process/recovery.
I must write a disclaimer, however, to warn women or men who are survivors. Depending on where you are at in your recovery, I would use discretion and exercise caution in reading this book. There is graphic details which could trigger and/or upset you.
Dawn Scott Jones is a survivor and does a great job in breaking down the sequence of healing throughout the various chapters in this book.
There are three parts:
Part 1. Understanding the Survivor
Part 2. Understanding the Healing Process
Part 3. How You (the Spouse) Can Help
I found each part and chapter to be extremely helpful and full of good information to help inform and guide spouses of abuse survivors.
I highly recommend this book to husband’s who are married to survivors. This book will help husband’s understand what their wives are going through and offer helpful suggestions.
In conclusion, I want to thank Litfuse Publicity for sending me a complimentary copy of this book to review.
Dawn Scott Jones is a survivor who has been sharing her testimony for more than twenty years. She is an ordained minister with the Assembles of God, is the creator of numerous audio teaching products, and has served in a variety of leadership and ministry roles.
Find out more about Dawn Scott Jones at http://www.dawnjones.org/
Book Review: The Vanishing Act by Mette Jakobsen
Hardcover: 224 pages
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (September 17, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10:0393062929
ISBN-13:978-0393062922
Price: $23.95
Purchase: Amazon | B&N
Description
On a small snow-covered island—so tiny that it can’t be found on any map—lives twelve-year-old Minou, her philosopher Papa (a descendent of Descartes), Boxman the magician, and a clever dog called No-Name. A year earlier Minou’s mother left the house wearing her best shoes and carrying a large black umbrella. She never returned.
One morning Minou finds a dead boy washed up on the beach. Her father decides to lay him in the room that once belonged to her mother. Can her mother’s disappearance be explained by the boy? Will Boxman be able to help find her? Minou, unwilling to accept her mother’s death, attempts to find the truth through Descartes’ philosophy. Over the course of her investigation Minou will discover the truth about loss and love, a truth that The Vanishing Act conveys in a voice that is uniquely enchanting.
Review
The Vanishing Act is a well written and captivating story with mixture of fantasy and philosophy. This story is like a beautiful painting whose brush strokes are poetic and descriptive.
The central theme is about a twelve year old girl named Minou and the disappearance of her mother. One day her mother puts on her best shoes, takes her big black umbrella and walks out the house never to be seen again.
Everyone thinks she is dead, except for Minou. She does not believe her mother is dead, but will return one day. She keeps a journal, building a case with the reasons why she believes her mother is still alive.
While Minou was walking on the beach, she comes across the body of a dead boy. She runs to tell her father. Her father comes and carries the dead boy to their home. He decides to put the dead boy on the bed in Minou’s mother’s blue room until the ship arrives in three days. In the interim, he opens the window to make sure the boy’s body remains frozen.
Minou’s father is a philosopher from the descendant of Descartes searching for the absolute truth. Both Minou and her father struggle to find answers and figure out what happened.
Her father believes the key to finding the absolute truth is somehow connected to the dead boy’s body. He thinks he will get the answer (as does Minou) by sitting with him for three days until the ship arrives.
Minou and her father live on a small, remote island surrounded by the ocean. I get the impression the island is in the middle of nowhere. The only people living on this isolated island is Minou, her papa, a Priest, Boxman the magician and his dog, No Name.
You never quite know where any of them come from (except for Minou) and/or how they wound up on the island.
However, there is mystery surrounding Minou’s mother’s arrival to the island as well as her departure.
Minou’s mother disappears the following day after performing in Boxman’s magic show, called “The Vanishing Act“.
The only item found was one of the shoes she wore the day she left.
There is an underlying melancholy theme throughout the book. Between Minou’s complex and troubled father, who was traumatized by a war. The disappearance of her free spirited, artistic mother with a troubled past. The pretzel making Priest and his inability to sleep in the dark. The mysterious Boxman the magician and his lost love named Cosmina.
The Vanishing Act keeps you guessing and coming back for more.
I enjoyed reading The Vanishing Act and recommend this thoughtful novel to everyone.
In conclusion, I want to personally thank Erin Sinesky Lovett from W.W. Norton & Company for sending me a complimentary copy of this book to read and review.
Mette Jakobsen was born in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1964 but now lives in Newtown, Sydney. She has a PhD in Creative Writing and a BA in philosophy. In 2004 she graduated from NIDA’s Playwrights Studio and several of her plays have been broadcast on ABC national radio. The Vanishing Act is her first novel.
Book Review: When a Woman Overcomes Life’s Hurts by Cindi McMenamin
Paperback: 224 pages
Publisher: Harvest House Publishers (August 1, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0736948589
ISBN-13: 978-0736948586
Price: $12.99
Purchase: Amazon | BN | CBD
Description
Only God can take the bitter things and turn them into blessings in your own life and the lives of others. But healing cannot take place until you uproot the faulty thinking that often accompanies life’s wounds and replace it with the truth about how God views you.
As Cindi McMenamin shares powerful examples of the ways God has changed broken lives, she offers encouraging counsel that will…
· take you from feeling insignificant to realizing how much the Lord loves you
· take you from feeling undesirable to seeing your true beauty
· take you from feeling you’re not good enough to recognizing how special you are
You’ll find this book filled with grace, redemption, and transformation. It will lead you toward a renewed focus on God, a resurgence of inner joy, and better relationships with others.
Review
Cindi McMenamin shares her heart on each page of this book. Her desire is for women to be set free from the bondage of their pasts and to know their identity in Christ.
Each chapter begins with a woman’s tragic story and their redemption.
At the end of each chapter, there is a section entitled, “Let the Healing Continue” where there are practical exercises help to incorporate healing. There are also scriptures to reflect upon and a prayer for healing.
When a Woman Overcomes Life’s Hurts is broken down in three sections:
Part I: Uncovering the Wounds
Part II: Unraveling the Lies
Part III: Unveiling a New Heart
As much as I found this book encouraging, I did have a difficult time reading some of the women’s stories.
However, I appreciated the fact that there is hope and redemption as well. Who doesn’t like a happy ending?
One thing I am realizing in my own journey toward healing and wholeness is that it isn’t always pleasant or fun, but grueling. Healing doesn’t always feel good and at times, it can be messy.
However, When a Woman Overcomes Life’s Hurt is very helpful as it gives you ten steps toward healing and wholeness.
Cindi McMenamin teaches throughout this book, that there is healing, hope and redemption through the pain and hurt. Sometimes we may not understand why certain things happen, however, this book clearly shows how God wastes nothing.
God desires to heal us. He desires our freedom from the lies we believe. Ultimately, He wants us to know how much He loves us.
In order to heal, we must face some ugly and painful things. But, we don’t have to stay there.
When a Woman Overcomes Life’s Hurt gives you the tools to overcome your past hurts and be set free.
I highly recommend When a Woman Overcomes Life’s Hurt for women. This book could used alone or as a guide in a woman’s group.
In conclusion, I want to personally thank Aaron Dillon of Harvest House Publishers for a complimentary copy of this book.
Cindi McMenamin, an award-winning writer and national speaker, is the author of When Women Walk Alone (more than 100,000 copies sold) and Women on the Edge. As a pastor’s wife, director of women’s ministries, and Bible teacher, her passion is to bring women into deeper intimacy with God. Cindi lives in Southern California with her husband, Hugh, and daughter, Dana. www.strengthforthesoul.com
Book Review: The Breakthrough by Jerry Jenkins
Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. (August 17, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1414335849
ISBN-13: 978-1414335841
Price: $14.99
Purchase: Amazon | BN | CBD
Description
After years of turmoil, Boone Drake seems to be back on track. He is the youngest bureau chief in Chicago Police Department history, he heads up the city’s Major Case Squad, he has a new family, and his relationship with God has never been better. Still, Boone can’t fight the feeling that something is about to go terribly wrong . . . again.
When disaster strikes, it seems Boone is destined to repeat the past, as tragedy threatens those closest to him. And when his own family’s safety is at stake, Boone is forced to make a difficult choice–stay with his wife, Haeley, who desperately needs him, or pursue a human trafficking ring from the narrow streets, alleys and hovels of the famed hutong district in Beijing, China, to the ancient city of Tianjin. The stakes have never been higher for Boone as the all-too-personal case grows increasingly dangerous . . . and time is running out.
Review
I believe the last book I read by Jerry Jenkins was Left Behind, which I enjoyed immensely. This was a different kind of story, but had the same element of having you at the edge of your seat.
Jerry Jenkins is a great writer and develops stories which are suspenseful and entertaining. He hooks you into the story from page one.
The development of characters were believable. He writes so well, I was able to see and feel everything.
Personally, I had difficulty with the main theme of the story, the harsh reality of human trafficking. I had to put the book down a few times because it was causing me anxiety.
The Breakthrough also touches on faith in a real way.
The main character Boone Drake is a Christian. Everything seems to be going well in his life. Until he gets a text out of the blue from his pastor which says, “Yet man is born to trouble, as the sparks fly upward.” Job 5:7
Suddenly, everything starts to turn upside down in his life in a major way; from his wife Haeley to her abducted son. Boone is faced with some very difficult situations and decisions to make.
Thankfully, this book has a happy ending.
If you love suspense, I highly recommend this book. The Breakthrough does not disappoint.
In conclusion, I want to thank Tyndale Publishers for an advanced complimentary copy of this book.
Jerry B. Jenkins is the author of more than 175 books. His books can be found regularly on the New York Times Best Sellers List. He and his wife, Dianna, live in Colorado Springs.
Book Review: Let’s Write A Short Story! by Joe Bunting
Purchase at Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Description
Let’s Write a Short Story! is an eBook about the process of writing and publishing short stories. The book will guide you through the process of researching publications, writing your story, editing, and submitting your work to literary magazines.It’s also a primer in how to make a career in fiction writing. If you’ve ever wanted to be a writer, this book will help get you started.
- Why all the great writers started with short stories, and why you should, too.
- How to build a fiction platform with short stories rather than just another blog.
- How short stories are structured differently than novels.
- What theme to write about to give you a greater shot at being published.
- How to break through your writer’s block when you get stuck.
- How to submit your short stories to literary magazines (and which ones you should submit to).
Let’s Write a Short Story! won’t just give you the information you need. It will challenge you to take the next step in becoming a writer and help you get your writing published.
Review
I have had the pleasure of following Joe Bunting’s work on his amazing website called Write Practice. I have really grown to appreciate him and his talent. He is also kind, generous, helpful and very intelligent.
If you are serious about learning how to become a better writer, I highly recommend Write Practice.
Have you ever wanted to write a short story, but thought you couldn’t do it? I admit, I didn’t think I could write a short story until I read Let’s Write a Short Story!
I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to have come across this gem of a book, because I learned so much. This is the kind of book you’ll want to keep referring to throughout your writing career.
Joe Bunting is a brilliant and prolific writer who takes difficult concepts and makes them easy to understand. He is generous and offers a variety of pointers too.
In Let’s Write a Short Story!, Joe Bunting goes step by step explaining how to build a well-written short story from scratch. Not only that, he gives you resources and tips on how to submit your stories to literary journals, etc.
I have read many books on writing and found some of them to be boring. But not this book, I didn’t want to put it down. I found it informative as well as inspiring.
Let’s Write A Short Story! is valuable resource to any writer, whether novice or seasoned. This book contains everything you ever wanted to know about writing short stories and more.
I highly recommend this book. I guarantee you will not be disappointed.
My name is Joe and I write novels, articles, and, of course, short stories. I want to help you write stories, too. I wrote Let’s Write a Short Story! to create a community of writers who want to help each other write short stories and get better at the craft of writing.
Book Review: When You Need a Miracle by Linda Evan Shepherd
Publisher: Revell (July 1, 2012)
Language: English
Pages: 205
ISBN-10: 080072108X
ISBN-13: 978-0800721084
Price: $12.99
Purchase: Amazon | CBD | BN
“God makes the impossible possible every day.” ~ Don Piper
Description
When we are hurt, we want a God who is big enough to rescue us from heartache and circumstances beyond our imagination. But even if we believe that such a God exists, we don’t always know how to approach him, much less how to ask him for impossible.
Linda Evans Shepherd knows what it’s like to be in a desperate need of a miracle. And she knows what it’s like to receive God’s answers to her prayers. In this powerful book, she shows you how to reach out to God and simply ask. She shows how God’s answers may not come packaged in the ways we would expect, but they do come in ways that will transform our lives. Through solid biblical teaching and dramatic real-life stories, Shepherd walks you on a journey of renewed hope and the assurance that God still works miracles.
Review
When You Need a Miracle is predominantly a book about prayer. Linda Evans Shepherd takes you step by step in learning how to pray and also what hinders prayers from being answered.
She shares from a deep, personal place reflecting on some of her own life experiences. She discusses two incidents when she especially needed a miracle. One had to do with her brother and the other had to do with her daughter.
When You Need a Miracle really touched me in many ways. My heart ached in certain parts of the book. Especially when she discussed what happened to her daughter.
But, my heart also rejoiced when the Lord answered her prayer and did a miracle.
The chapter which spoke the most to me was Chapter Five, entitled The Forgiveness Factor. There was much truth dispelled on each page.
In this chapter, Linda Evan Shepherd discusses a tragic situation which occurred in someone’s life. I had difficulty reading this chapter because I identified strongly with what had occurred in this person’s life.
When tragedy happens to people at the hand of another person, it’s not so easy to forgive. This chapter delves into the importance of forgiveness.
My favorite chapter was Chapter 7 entitled, Fighting the Enemy. I learned some very powerful prayers in this chapter which I will continue to implement in my own life.
Overall, there is much to glean and learn from When You Need a Miracle. I recommend this book to anyone struggling in their life and desire a miracle through answered prayer.
In conclusion, I want to thank Revell for sending me a complimentary copy of this book to read and review.
Linda Evans Shepherd is an award-winning author, a successful speaker, and a media personality. The president of Right to the Heart Ministries, she is the author of When You Don’t Know What to Pray and When You Can’t Find God. She lives in Colorado. Visit www.NeedMiracleBook.com for more information.
Book Review: Fully Alive by Ken Davis
Hardcover: 240 pages
Publisher: Thomas Nelson (July 10, 2012
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0849948428
ISBN-13: 978-0849948428
List Price: $19.99
Purchase: Amazon | BN | CBD
Description
Food labels, advertisements, politicians, self-help books–they all promise the same thing: a better life . . . or–as Jesus might put it–life to the fullest.
For millions this pursuit of happiness has captivated , ensnared, and, most disappointingly, it has alluded. Which begs the question, what is the missing link? Fully Alive explores the idea that God is glorified when man is “fully and eternally alive,” illustrated by best-selling author and motivational speaker Ken Davis’s most honest and intimate stories.
Ken invites us to walk with him on a journey, along a road of heartache and adventure to a place he calls “the land of the living,” and discover what may be missing in our lives.
A poignant and entertaining storyteller, Davis points out the practical steps necessary to live this way–everything from lightening up to taking a quality of life assessment, to overcoming trials–while also revealing the power of Christ’s resurrection available for each of us.
Get a taste of the beautiful urgency of today and begin moving toward a change in your life that draws from the joy and power that can be found only in Christ.
Review
I admit, I didn’t know who Ken Davis was before reading Fully Alive. So, it was especially sweet getting to know him by reading his story.
Ken Davis shares his struggles and triumphs in his life’s journey. He doesn’t hide anything. He is candid and open in relaying details of his life.
Have you felt depressed or unmotivated lately? Have you been thinking about getting back in shape, but think it’s impossible? Do you feel old and listless? Are you just going through the motions in life? Have you thought, is this all there is?
If you answered ‘yes’ to any of the above questions, I strongly urge you to get this book. Fully Alive will challenge, convict, inspire and invigorate you to make positive changes your life.
After reading this book, I realize I seriously have no excuse. Ken Davis shows you how its done. You get the sense that if he can do it, you can do it.
Ken Davis touches on various subjects, such as exercise, diet and faith. He writes from a holistic standpoint and leaves nothing out.
This is my favorite quote:
“The glory of God is man fully alive: Striving in the midst of all odds. Never satisfied with the status quo. Seeking excellence in every area of life. Because Jesus can raise the dead and because He Himself was raised from the dead, then no matter what my situation, I can know the power of His resurrection to live my life fully alive.” (Page 209)
I don’t know about you, but I definitely want to live fully alive.
Fully Alive will inspire, encourage and enrich your life. I highly recommend this motivating book to everyone.
In conclusion, I want to thank Daniel Decker and Thomas Nelson for allowing me the opportunity to read and review a complimentary copy of this wonderful book.
Ken Davis is one of the most sought-after speakers in North America. He has appeared on television and stage around the world, addressing groups as diverse as the Gaither Praise Gathering, The Kellogg Corporation, Focus on the Family, and Pentax Corporation. Ken provides a unique mixture of side-splitting humor and inspiration that never fails to delight and enrich a wide variety of audiences. Each presentation is carefully designed to fit the diverse needs of his clients. Davis’ daily radio program, LIGHTEN UP!, is broadcast on over 1,800 stations worldwide and spotlights his gift as a storyteller and comedian. http://www.kendavis.com/
Guest Post: Praise of Motherhood by Phil Jourdan
The Story behind this Real-Life Story
by Phil Jourdan
Back in late 2009, when I began working on Praise of Motherhood, I had envisioned a book very different from what I ended up submitting to my publisher. I’d just lost the woman who’d raised me, and when I wasn’t sitting around numb and brooding, I was frantically trying to contain the universe of loss and suffering in a single Word document on my laptop.
I wanted to write a book that expressed the impossibility of letting go. We’re often told, when someone close to us dies, that we have to move on, that things will get better. I couldn’t accept this back then: I didn’t think it was possible to let go of my mother, who had been so patient and kind during my weird teenage years.
The first two versions were entirely different from each other in form and tone, but they did have a certain delight in chaos in common. I was mourning the only way I knew how: by adopting a hundred different voices, each trying to say something about my mother that the others couldn’t say. One chapter was pure dialogue; another was a series of letters; for a while I wrote in breathless page-long paragraphs because it was the only way I could feel “honest” about what I felt. I’d swing from rage to self-pity to sadness to bliss to sheer bafflement.
It was only when I decided to turn this book into something that others could actually read without going insane that I figured out how to structure a book like this. I cut a great number chapters because they were “honest” but unhelpful. I tried to make myself a sort of antagonist, so my mother’s qualities as a human being could be emphasized. I left things relatively ambiguous instead of offering anything like words of wisdom to my readers. I tried to leave the book as open as the wound that stayed after my mother died.
This has irritated some people. They ask why I don’t provide a real sense of what my mother was like on a day-to-day basis, or why I focused so much on how she affected my life instead of just writing about her, as a person in her own right. Fair questions — but I never set out to just “write about my mom”. I wanted to write about the struggle of losing her, and what made losing her so painful. That’s why I ask questions in the book that I never really answer: because I was never able to answer them myself. They are questions that will remain.
Praise of Motherhood isn’t a book praising all mothers across all ages. It’s not meant to praise the idea of “motherhood” itself as some glorious ideal. I wrote this book because I wanted to transmit something of my mother to those who didn’t know her; those who, perhaps, need to hear that it’s okay to say you love your mommy and you wish she could still be here when you feel like crying.
As part of this special promotional extravaganza sponsored by Novel Publicity, the price of the Praise of Motherhood eBook edition is just 99 cents this week. What’s more, by purchasing this fantastic book at an incredibly low price, you can enter to win many awesome prizes. The prizes include $500 in Amazon gift cards and 5 autographed copies of the book.
All the info you need to win one of these amazing prizes is RIGHT HERE. Remember, winning is as easy as clicking a button or leaving a blog comment–easy to enter; easy to win!
To win the prizes:
Purchase your copy of Praise of Motherhood for just 99 cents
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About the book: Praise of Motherhood is a son’s tribute to the woman who not only gave him life, but helped him live: through various psychotic breakdowns, tumultuous teenage years, and years of feeling out of place in the world.
Get it on Amazon or Barnes & Noble.
About the author: Phil Jourdan fronts the lit-rock band Paris and the Hiltons, runs the fiction press Perfect Edge Books, and occasionally works on a PhD. Visit Phil on his blog, music site, Twitter, Facebook, or GoodReads.
Book Review: Wrecked by Jeff Goins
Paperback: 176 pages
Publisher: Moody Publishers (August 1, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0802404928
ISBN-13: 978-0802404923
Price: $11.99
Purchase: Amazon | BN | CBD
Description
Wrecked is about the life we are afraid to live. It’s about radical sacrifice and selfless service–how we find purpose in the midst of pain. It’s a look at how we discover fulfillment in the least likely of places. It’s about living like we mean it. It’s a guide to growing up and giving your life away, helping you live in the tension between the next adventure and the daily mundane.
This book is for us–a generation intent on pursuing our life’s work in a way that leaves us without regrets.
Author Jeff Goins shares his own experience of struggling as a missionary and 20-something who understands the call to live radically while dealing with the everyday responsibilities of life. Wrecked is a manifesto for a generation dissatisfied with the status quo and wanting to make a difference.
Review
“Life is not about you.” ~ Jeff Goins
I have been following Jeff Goins’ blog for some time now. I read everything he writes. He is one of those remarkable people you meet in life. Everything this man writes is gold. He is wise beyond his years. He continually blesses me with his blog posts and now he completely Wrecked me.
I don’t even know where to start. How do I put into words my experience reading this book? Every single page of this book is phenomenal, truly.
Wrecked will make you see the world differently. Wrecked will convict you. Wrecked will not make you feel comfortable. Wrecked will challenge your complacency. Wrecked will propel you into action.
When we think of the word “missionary”, we envision countries like Africa, India or Guatemala. However, these countries aren’t the only places that need our help.
Wrecked discusses serving and making a difference where you live. We do not need to travel thousands of miles away to serve others in need. We can choose to serve right in our own communities.
I admit, I was one of those people who thought I needed to go to some far off land to make a difference. There was a lot of romanticism connected in being a missionary overseas. Yet, the Lord wasn’t asking me to go anywhere.
I had it in my head that this is what He wanted me to do. I figured if I sacrificed going to another country like Africa and serve as a missionary, I would finally arrive in becoming this great Christian. Nothing could be further from the truth.
There was a part in the book which especially spoke to my situation. I had this “dream” of becoming a missionary in Africa. The whole idea became bigger than life to me.
God had other plans for me though. I met my husband, got married and had two boys. I remember when I had my first son, he was diagnosed with all sorts of health issues. I realized then my dream of becoming a great missionary in Africa was over.
I really was struggling in my new role as wife and mother. I had a difficult time understanding why my son was born with all sorts of health problems. I didn’t understand what the Lord was doing and questioned Him a lot. I wasn’t a happy camper.
This is why these excerpts spoke to me:
“When I felt the call to be a missionary, I thought I would end up traveling the world for the rest of my life. You know, pack my coffin, move to Africa, and have the natives bury me–that sort of thing. But that’s not what happened. In fact, that may never happen. After a lot of struggle, I’m okay with that. I’m finally embracing this is not my life; it doesn’t belong to me. I’m not the master of my own destiny. I’ve started to find what I was made to do, and it has little to do with going or staying and a lot more to do with obedience.”
“When you are thirty-five, doing the uncomfortable thing may mean cleaning the house or paying the bills. It may look like making sure the kids aren’t late for school or that you don’t miss a soccer game. It’s less glamorous, but the less is the same: your life is not about you.”
Well, that pretty much sums it up. I came to realize this after the Lord broke me of my idol. Funny thing is, I was exactly where God wanted me to be all along.
I highly recommend Wrecked to everyone. This book will change your life.
If you order the book through August 4th, Jeff Goins will send you six exclusive gifts valued at over $158. Please check out what you will get here.
In conclusion, I want to personally thank Jeff Goins and Moody Publishers for allowing me the opportunity to read and review an advanced copy of this book. I am sincerely grateful.
Photo by Ashley Goins
Jeff Goins is a blogger, speaker and author. He works for Adventures in Missions, a nonprofit, where he serves as the Communications Director. In his free time, he writes books and shares ideas worth spreading.
Originally from the suburbs of Chicago, Jeff graduated from Illinois College with a double major in Spanish and Religion. There, he spent a semester in Spain, an experience that opened his eyes to the needs of the world.
After he graduated, he spent the next nine months on tour with a band and the following three months training other musicians. Then, after a year of traveling around North America, he moved to Tennessee to “see about a girl.” In 2008, he married her.
Since 2006, Jeff has worked out of his home, overseeing marketing, communications, and innovation teams from afar. He is passionate about not only telling great stories, but living them, as well.
His blog, GoinsWriter.com, is one of the fastest-growing blogs on the web and is a well-respected resource for writers and difference-makers. In 2011, it won the Top 10 Blogs for Writers award on WritetoDone.com. Each month, he receives over 80,000 visitors to his website.
Jeff’s work has been published online and offline in a variety of publications, including RELEVANT Magazine (with a circulation of more than 150,000 readers) and ZenHabits.net (one of Time Magazine’s Top 50 Websites for threes years in a row).
Jeff and his wife, Ashley, live just outside of Nashville, TN with their son and dog.
Book Review: Remember Me by Penelope Wilcock
Paperback: 224 pages
Publisher: Crossway (July 6, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10:1433526638
ISBN-13: 978-1433526633
Price: $12.99
Purchase: Amazon
Description
Remember Me is the third of a trilogy of books focusing on the character of William de Bulmer, his conversion of life and heart, and the flowering of his ability to love. After the brothers of St. Alcuin take William into the abbey (in the Hardest Thing to Do), he falls in love with Abbot John’s sister (in The Hour Before Dawn), and now has accidentally lost all of the abbey’s money.
Seasoned author Penelope Wilcock unlocks the story of one man’s struggles, mistakes, and heart’s longings, and traces the possibility of what it means to get things wrong and begin again. As with each novel in series, the reader is encouraged to explore a universal aspect of the Christian faith–in this case, the cost of allowing God to do what is necessary to make one whole.
If you would like to read a chapter excerpt of Remember Me, go HERE.
Review
I must admit, I don’t usually read books like Remember Me, but I was delightfully surprised. What a gem of a book!
Penelope Wilcock is a wordsmith. She writes beautifully and descriptively. I was able to envision the various characters and feel everything they felt.
My favorite character was William de Bulmer. I felt compassion and sympathized with him a great deal. I was able to put myself in his shoes and identify with his dilemma.
He was vexed in spirit and seemed to have come from an abusive past which haunted him. He was also in love which just added to his inner struggle, turmoil and guilt.
I was experienced a gamut of emotions while reading this book. Remember Me made me think deeply and reflect on my own life. How many times have I failed and been judged ruthlessly by others?
This excerpt especially touched me:
“It is as we are faithful, as we are gentle, as we are humble and kind, that we remember the human and open the way for the kingdom of Jesus. So I–or you–can be the good thief in our fragile and faltering humanity, begging him: ‘I am lost, I am broken, I am done for. Please put me back together again. Please heal me. Forgive me. Please remember me.’ And in so doing we also open the way for the kingdom to begin.” (Page 143)
Remember Me is about love, loss, regret, forgiveness and redemption.
I highly recommend this book to young adults and adults alike.
In conclusion, I would like to thank Bonnie S. Calhoun and Crossway for the opportunity to read and review an advanced copy of this wonderful book.
PENELOPE WILCOCK is a full-time author living in Hastings, Sussex, on the southeast coast of England. Her blog, Kindred of the Quiet Way, is about a simple and spiritual Christian lifestyle. Her other books in The Hawk and the Dove series are The Hawk and the Dove, The Wounds of God, and The Long Fall.
When He Plans The Next Step…
I’d like to introduce Heidi Kreider. She is a dear friend and my first guest to post on my new blog. I am so grateful to God to have crossed paths with her on the Michael Hyatt Platform Team and become friends. She is a gifted writer and godly woman. She authored a wonderful book called The Secret of Counting Gifts which she will be talking more about below.
Abruptly my life course changed direction. Though it wasn’t an earth shattering change, I felt like I had lost my purpose. For a decade I homeschooled. I thought I would graduate all three of my children. Instead, our home school whittled down to one. I wasn’t sure what to do with myself. My life didn’t look like the picture I carried around in my head.
A wise one once said, “the years reveal what the days cannot see.” In my insecurity, God was already at work. He had the next step of my life planned. He brought to fruition a life long dream of mine, to be an author. There was never enough time in a day to pursue any serious writing… until my life course changed direction. My God works that way, often in ways that I only recognize in hindsight.
I am now an author. More importantly, I am a Jesus lover, wife of 18 years, and mom to 3. I’ve spent the past fifteen years at home. My days are full taxing my children to their various events, adventuring on field trips, and laughing uproariously with my friends. I count gifts daily and seek grace and forgiveness hourly. I have been blessed with deep friendships and have prayed many friends through the horrific battle of breast cancer.
While homeschooling just one, I wrote my first novel, The Secret of Counting Gifts and the accompanying journal The Secret of Counting Gifts Gratitude Journal. Both are now available in eBook and paperback through Amazon.com.
The Secret of Counting Gifts is a story about life, friendship, hardship, and gratitude. It is the story of Kris McClintock and Liz Bower and their friendship that spans twenty-eight years.
Through marriage, babies, and infidelity they stand by each other and hold one another up… until breast cancer delivers the final blow. As she sits by Liz, Kris recounts the trials and blessings that made them who they are. She tells their story and recalls the many “gifts” they have been blessed with throughout the years. She shares of how Liz taught her to notice the gifts in each day and to live with a grateful heart. It is through the telling of their story that the secret of counting gifts is discovered….
I look forward to seeing how God will use this next step in my life. Throughout this month, I am on a virtual book tour. You can see the stops along the way at www.heidikreider.com.
Come on over and say “Hey!” and register for my giveaway… autographed copies of The Secret of Counting Gifts and The Secret of Counting Gifts Gratitude Journal in a hand-made basket.
I’d love to chat. How has your life direction changed? What is your next step?
**Heidi Kreider is a wife, mother, author, and friend. She blogs about life, grace, and gratitude at www.heidikreider.com.
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