The cover is cool, the synopsis is intriguing, and we were approaching the Christmas season, so I thought Why Not?
WHAT I THOUGHTWHY I CHOOSE THIS BOOK
The cover is cool, the synopsis is intriguing, and we were approaching the Christmas season, so I thought Why Not?
WHAT I THOUGHT ABOUT THIS BOOK
Sadly, I found why not; it's because Biblical fiction is a big hit or miss for me, and so, therefore, I shouldn't have ventured into the land of a new Biblical fiction author while getting a book for review.
First off, let me clarify, it's not as if there's anything wrong with this book. It didn't appear to disregard the truth of the Bible at all, nor was the plot silly. The details were well written, and it's clear the author excels at his craft.
Just, this book wasn't for me.
If I hadn't gotten it for review, I wouldn't have continued reading, simply because it's not the style I like. It's more about the adventure and less about the plot or character development. We follow the main character as he escapes danger and joins a trade caravan, then most of the book takes place traveling across the desert.
Plenty of action happens along the way - although not with an excessive amount of gory details, so that's a plus. There were a few places where the characters were fleshed out, but by the end of the book, I still didn't feel like I knew any of them very well - although I could tell you how to become an expert archer while riding a galloping horse.
There were a few slight things I had issues with, but mostly that's because they took all the things I always imagined about the magi, and totally flipped them around and totally changed them. But, the keyword here is that they did that with the things I imagined, not the things that were clearly spelled out in the Bible, so that's not actually a problem.
One thing that I didn't like is mentioned down below but is a spoiler, so read at your own risk.
(SPOILER: The way the magi got the gifts they gave to Jesus was by stealing gold from the royal treasuries. Now nowhere are we told in the Bible that this didn't happen, but it doesn't seem likely to me, and seemed to make the gift less special.)
CONCLUSION
This seems like it would be a great book for a teenage boy looking for an adventure story. Obviously, girls can read it too, but it seems like it's aimed more at guys, especially since there are only three female characters in the whole story (I think), and one of them is a bloodthirsty queen.
I don't plan on reading more by this author, but I'm sure a lot of people would really enjoy his writing style.
RATING
I’m giving The End of the Magi 2 out of 5 stars, although Amazon and Goodreads I'll be rating it 3 Stars, because there really isn't anything wrong with it. I’m thankful to Bethany House Publishers for sending me a copy so I could review it for y’all....more
Did I read the back cover blurb before requesting this book for review? No, of course not. All I did was read the first book in WHY I CHOOSE THIS BOOK
Did I read the back cover blurb before requesting this book for review? No, of course not. All I did was read the first book in the series - The Number of Love. That pretty much sums up why I jumped on the chance to get this book for review when I found out the release date.
And good news for you! This book can totally be a stand-a-lone. It will only give minor spoilers to the first book in the series if you read them out of order which is a huge plus. The books contain a lot of the same characters (as well as guest appearances from other series) which will make your heart do a happy dance if you've read those other books.
WHAT I THOUGHT ABOUT THIS BOOK
December was one of my most busy months to date with long work hours and a lot of life happening, therefore I didn't get to talk about this book as much as I wish I could have with y'all. It also meant I had to separate my reading time to over the course of a week, rather than downing it all in one gulp. And yo, folks, that was hard to do because I didn't want to put it down.
With her delightful writing style, thoroughly developed characters, intriguing plot, and phenomenal world-building skills, Miss Roseanna blows the reading world away once again with a fantastic book.
Crack the book open and you'll instantly be whisked away to the world of World War One, viewing life from both the civilian and military side of things. I highly recommend you give yourself several hours of reading time before you sit down with this book, because you won't want to put it down.
This book was a tale of loyalty, selfless caring, and showing God's love to others. Arabelle is a nurse who is wholly devoted to helping others - be that a hard-to-love father, a faithless-human-who-I-won't-name-cause-of-spoilers, her patients, random strangers, and everyone in-between. I've always considered myself a loyal person, but am exceedingly thankful that I haven't had my loyalty tested to the max like Arabelle. Her emotions were so easy to understand and relate to, and I rooted for her the entire book.
Camden - the main male character - wasn't my favorite character, but I don't think he was supposed to be. He's thoroughly written, has highly redeeming qualities (among his black-hearted ones), and has a family who I really liked.
Most of the time when I read a book that changes perspectives I have one perspective I like the best, but in this book, everything flowed seamlessly and I enjoyed getting to see the world no matter who's eyes I was looking through.
The spying element was different from the last book, and I'm still not sure how I felt about how one of the plot-trains ended, but it was still well-done. CONCLUSION With Slight Spoilers
SPOILER: From the back cover blurb y'all can assume that Arabelle and Camden are romantic interests in the story, so no spoiler there. My issue with their relationship is that Arabelle is a Christian throughout the book, and Camden isn't. The Bible talks about how we shouldn't be yoked together unequally, etc... and so it always bothers me in Christian fiction when this type of relationship is a common element. END of SPOILER
As for the rest of the book, I thoroughly enjoyed it and recommend this series (and Miss Roseanna's previous series) to anyone who enjoys Historical Fiction or wants to give it a try.
I can't wait until the next book by this author comes out!
RATING
I’m giving On Wings of Devotion 4 out of 5 stars. I'm so grateful for the generosity of the author and publisher for sending me a copy of this book so I could review it and share it with y'all. ...more
I was on a road trip and was looking for something fast, easy, and amusing to read. Also, I’d kinda given up on this author’s boWHY I CHOOSE THIS BOOK
I was on a road trip and was looking for something fast, easy, and amusing to read. Also, I’d kinda given up on this author’s books, deeming them not my style, but then earlier this year I read a book of hers that I actually enjoyed, so I thought I’d give this one a go. WHAT I THOUGHT ABOUT THIS BOOK
“Oops, I probably shouldn’t have requested this book for review” was what I thought about the book.
My disclaimer is this: I’m not the target audience for this author, and therefore I’ll refrain from requesting more of her books for review in the future because I don’t feel like my reviews give a fair picture of her writing.
Miss Jen writes over-the-top, crazy instances that wouldn’t actually happen in real life, especially during the time periods that her books take place. Her characters are also generally fairly unrealistic. I understand that this is on purpose to create amusement in the reader and that’s great. I know it’s a talent to be able to write like Miss Jen does and she’s good at her job. It’s just not a style I enjoy.
The first half of this book was going to get a solid two stars from me, but then the second half of the story snagged my interest and I upped my rating to three stars. Once again though, this is completely subjective and has a lot more to do with me rather than the writing or plot.
CONCLUSION
My conclusion is that this review is going to be wholly unhelpful for y’all because I’m pretty much just saying the book wasn’t my style and so, therefore, it drove me slightly crazy to read it. But, that it’s not a reflection of the book itself. So helpful, right?
Really though, I’d be delighted to hear from you as to if you like this style of book?
I do sometimes enjoy reading something along the lines of this story – mainly if I’ve had an incredibly busy and mind-numbing week, and I need to just relax. This book was very comparable to Hallmark movies.
RATING
I’m giving Diamond in the Rough 3 out of 5 stars. I’m thankful to Bethany House Publishers for giving me an e-copy so I could review it for y’all....more
In July of 2017, I received the first book in The Silent Years series for review. It’s titled Egypt’s Sister and totally intriguWHY I CHOOSE THIS BOOK
In July of 2017, I received the first book in The Silent Years series for review. It’s titled Egypt’s Sister and totally intrigued me. I’d never read a book that took place during the Silent Years before, and I right away set about researching that time period.
Over the last couple of years, I bought books 2 (Judah’s Wife which I gave three stars) and 3 (Jerusalem’s Queen which also got three stars from me) when they were released. The crazy thing I was didn’t even really like the storyline of either of those books, but the writing, world-building, and research were so well done that I kept going with the series. When this book was released I jumped at the chance to review it.
WHAT I THOUGHT ABOUT THIS BOOK
My admiration for the author is strong. I can’t even imagine the number of historical documents she had to shift through to write this book, nor how much notetaking she had to commit to in order to keep everything straight. Considering the sheer amounts of Herod’s, Alexandra/Alexander’s, and Mariamne’s that were mentioned in this book I’m amazed by how smoothly the storyline flowed and how well I was able to understand what was going on. Seriously though, why did everyone use the same names? (Actually, not seriously, I understand why.)
As far as storylines go, I thought the author made a bold (and wise) move by having the story be from the perspective of the “bad guy” – although you never feel like that when you’re reading. Most of the story is told by Salome, the sister of Herod, a person who was very loyal to him. Therefore, as we read about the atrocities that Herod committed, it’s through the eyes of someone who’s only seeing his best and always justifying his actions. If you were reading the book just paying attention to tone instead of content, then it would seem that everything that is going on is perfectly normal and acceptable. It’s only when you stop and consider what is actually happening that you realize how terrible it really is.
This perspective was well done and made the story flow in a way that I’m not used to. Instead of focusing on emotions that you’d normally feel while reading about someone in history doing horrible things, those violent acts were just stated as facts and then you move on. For instance, when King Herod had someone he’d loved very much be executed, he then went crazy for a while. Since we’re reading from the perspective of Salome, we focus on her sadness that her brother is having a hard time, and the way she tries to help him, vs. the fact that the man is a brutal, savage madman.
Because of this lack of emotion and the way Salome merely recites facts (“And then he had 300 Jews killed in a mad fit, but hey – the guy has to protect his throne.”) it made the book a lot more bearable to read than if it had gone into how horrible everything was. If this story was merely fiction I wouldn’t have liked the approach at all, but since it’s based on true facts I appreciated being able to read and learn this way.
The other perspective is from Zara (a made-up character) who is Salome’s Jewish handmaid. Her chapters weren’t very often, but she did provide an interesting balance to Salome’s cut-throat and scheming ways. Since her perspective isn’t really prevalent in the story I felt like we didn’t get to know her well as a character, but I have nothing bad to say about her.
The book covers about a 30ish year period of time, which isn’t something I generally like, but for the sake of this story, I think it was well-done.
I’ve learned so much through this series, and I find myself being satisfied with King’s Shadow as the final book.
CONCLUSION
There’s a lot of horrible stuff that goes on in the book. So much plotting, killing, torture (not in detail) scheming, lying, and un-holy relationships.
But, nothing was written in detail (probably about as much as if you were reading the Bible), and I think the author did a really good job of making the time period come alive without saying too much. I think I would recommend this book to people fifteen and older.
RATING
I’m giving King’s Shadow 4 out of 5 stars. I’m thankful to Bethany House Publishers for giving me a copy so I could review it for y’all. ...more
I regularly read books that I hope will challenge me and help me grow more into the person who God has created me to be. This boWHY I CHOOSE THIS BOOK
I regularly read books that I hope will challenge me and help me grow more into the person who God has created me to be. This book seemed like it would be perfect for the job.
WHAT I THOUGHT ABOUT THIS BOOK
To keep things simple, we’re going to go with a list of things I did and didn’t like for this review.
What I Did Like:
-The author did a good job of speaking the truth with passion and not shying away from calling this generation of Christians out on what we’re doing wrong. I agreed with a lot of what he said about how we need to go back to being passionate about obeying and serving God. He mentioned that America is pretty much a Third World country when it comes to how spiritual (or non-spiritual) we are, and that seems like a really appropriate description. -The books is full of enlightening, practical ways to serve God better and more fully. It doesn’t just tell us what’s wrong in the Church today, it then helps us go to the Bible to find solutions. -It was an easy to understand book – meaning it spoke in layman terms and although it challenged my thinking, it didn’t challenge my brain to try and figure out what the author was trying to say.
What I Didn’t Like:
-I didn’t agree with a lot of what the author had to say. Yes, there were nuggets in the book that challenged me and helped me in my walk with God, but there were also things that I really don’t agree with, and therefore I won’t be recommending the book or reading more by the same author.
For Instance: *At one point the author is talking about dreams God has given us, and he says “When God gives us a dream, we are usually nowhere near the full manifestation of that dream. But through the pits of life, God’s dream will never leave us. As a matter of fact, it is what sustains us through every trial. Your dream will make a way.“ (Emphasis mine.) Um, excuse me? I do agree with the basic concept of what I think the author is saying – when we’re focusing on what God has called us to do that helps us push through the hard times, etc…. But it’s God’s grace, God’s mercy, and God’s love (etc…) that sustains us and makes a way, not a dream He’s given me. *The author has a section about how God will do this and that, etc… where he names multiple things that God will do in your life after you have the right attitude and belief about giving and receiving. And, while I believe that many people are not receiving God’s full blessings because of a wrong attitude or belief about God and His nature, I also didn’t agree with the dogmatic approach the author took while talking about this subject. (Yes, the promises in the Bible are true, but there are some promises who were made to certain people, and not to all generations of Christians.)
-There were a lot of other small instances throughout the book that left me shaking my head, disagreeing either with the tone, the conclusion, or the example given in the book.
CONCLUSION
I got some good things out of the book. It challenged me to seek God with more passion and reminded me that God has got to be first place in my life, no matter what. This book also helped remind me to study what I read and match it against God’s Word to see how it lines up. Because of the discrepancies I found, despite the fact that there were some really good parts of this book, I won’t be recommending it.
RATING
I’m giving Fire! 3 out of 5 stars. I’m thankful for the publisher for giving me a copy so I could review it here....more
I dislike it when people refer to Biblical accounts as stories (which in todays lingo brWHY I CHOOSE THIS BOOK
Plain and simple: Because I was curious.
I dislike it when people refer to Biblical accounts as stories (which in todays lingo brings to mind fiction, which the Bible obviously isn't), so I nearly didn't request the book. But then my desire to see what "stories" (aka, accounts) from the Bible were included in the book made me request it after all.
WHAT I THOUGHT ABOUT THIS BOOK
The book was a pleasant surprise to me. I think the title is a misnomer and not entirely true anyway, but other than that I only had a few minor disagreements with the book.
I think a better way of marketing the book would be to tout it as an overview of how the Bible works as a cohesive whole - and that's kind of what is talked about on the back cover blurb.
The book is short, and the chapters only a couple pages long. Therefore, it was easy to sit down and take a few minutes to breeze through the book. I read it over the course of a couple of days and greatly enjoyed how one chapter flowed into the next - complete with a timeline, a paragraph about how the two accounts connected to each other, and a thought to ponder at the end of each segment. (Some of which I agreed with, some I didn't...)
It was a bit confusing to me trying to figure out who the book was designed for - a Christian who understood the Bible? A new Christian trying to figure out what the Bible was all about? An unbeliever? There were times when I felt like the wording was a bit confusing for someone unfamiliar with the Bible, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing because hopefully that would make them find an actual Bible to dig around in and get answers.
As someone who grew up reading the Bible, I really enjoyed the new perspective of how things fit together, as well as the way the authors told the accounts. They weren't trying to quote the Bible word for word, so it was more the way that you would imagine someone sitting down and regaling you with an account in their own words. Because of that, I got to see the Bible through someone else's perspective which was interesting.
CONCLUSION
There were a few places I disagreed with how they interpreted something from the Bible, but that's not uncommon in books (or life). I probably won't be re-reading the book, but I did enjoy the chance to get new perspectives on how everything flows together.
Also, obviously the title, but we already went over that.
RATING
I’m giving The Most Important Stories of the Bible 4 out of 5 stars. I’m thankful for the publisher for giving me a copy so I could review it here....more
What can I say? Parenting books are incredibly intriguing to me. I've read dozens of them and still find them to be some of the WHY I CHOOSE THIS BOOK
What can I say? Parenting books are incredibly intriguing to me. I've read dozens of them and still find them to be some of the most interesting books I pick up. I find it very enlightening to see the concepts behind the why and how parents are raising their kids.
(Disclaimer: I'm not married, I'm not a mom, and I'm very aware of the fact that I don't have the whole parenting thing figured out. I'm not one of those annoying single people who think I know how to raise kids. I just like reading about how others raise their kids and figure that my reviews of these books give an interesting perspective since I'm not the intended audience.)
WHAT I THOUGHT ABOUT THIS BOOK
This book isn't a book about how to raise kids.
This book is about how to be a good mom.
There's a big difference between the two and I was impressed as I read this book. My dad (who's done a fantastic job raising nine kids) has told me before that he never really liked reading parenting books written by people who's kids were still little, because how do they know that what they are teaching really works? And that makes sense. This author's kids are still young, but her approach isn't about what to do with the kids, it's about how to respond as a mom.
I really liked this book. It was encouraging, uplifting, honest, and so practical. The author talks about how she, as a mom, is working on learning to change her mindset, control herself, and become more Christ-like. Although this book was about how to be a better mom, it's applicable for pretty much anyone.
It's so easy for people to blame their reactions on other people, but this book highlighted the fact that we are responsible for how we respond to situations. The author does a fantastic job of helping the reader think through why they respond the way they do to certain things, then offers solid, Biblically-based answers for how they can change.
When I read this book I was inspired by how I can change things in my life to become more Christ-like. It also made me excited about being a mom one day if I ever have kids. From my very non-experienced viewpoint, I felt like the author did the perfect job of being inspiring, encouraging, honest, funny, and hard-hitting. She doesn't hold back from the truth, but she delivers it in a way that's easy(ish) to accept.
CONCLUSION
There were only a very few things in this book that I had an issue with which isn't common. As usual, I don't recommend or un-recommend parenting books, but I did really like this one.
RATING
I’m giving The Cranky Mom Fix 4 out of 5 stars. I'm thankful for the publisher for giving me a copy so I could review it here. ...more
Overall I’d say I’m good at telling people no. But, that only applies to people who I feel ‘equal’ to – my peers, etc… When it cWHY I CHOOSE THIS BOOK
Overall I’d say I’m good at telling people no. But, that only applies to people who I feel ‘equal’ to – my peers, etc… When it comes to my bosses, managers, or pretty much anyone in a position of authority, I have an overwhelming desire to do any and everything I can to please them.
Thankfully I work with a great team who actually cares about me and looks out for my best interests, but I figured I should probably start curbing my management-pleasing-side now. After all, it’s Jesus I want to please most of all, not just my boss. (Although I’m convinced that if I’m pleasing Jesus, then the right boss will be pretty happy with me, too.)
WHAT I THOUGHT ABOUT THIS BOOK
I read this book over about a three week period of time, which considering how short it is means I crawled through it. But, it felt like one of those books that’s supposed to be nibbled at instead of gulping down. That way, I was able to process what I was reading, let it sink in, and figure out what I needed to apply to my life.
The two authors switch back and forth, each writing one chapter at a time. The varying personalities and points of view helped make the book well-balanced and made me feel like it could apply to a lot more people than if it would have had a single author. They also did a fantastic job of bouncing off of each other and building on what the other had written, versus being redundant and/or contradictory. It was clear that they planned the book well and the flow was surprisingly smooth for having more than one author.
As with all books, there were several things I didn’t agree with, and there were a few times that I thought I’d give the book a lower rating, but as I continued reading I was really impressed with the things I learned.
It’s hard for me to read a book that talks about loving ourselves because I feel like that terminology is way over-used and generally not glorifying to God. In this book though, I felt like they had a balanced view of the matter. They talk about how God made each one of us for a specific purpose, and we need to be content with who God has created us to be, instead of trying to become someone else in order to please people. That is a concept I can totally stand behind.
I could relate fairly well to one of the authors and had a few lightbulb moments while reading her chapters. For instance, she talked about how she consistently (starting in school) would subconsciously look for the “most important person in the room” and then try to please them. This meant she was always trying to please teachers, bosses, etc… When I read that it made me laugh – not because I could relate to it, but because it was the first time I realized that not everyone felt that way. Because, as I mentioned earlier, pleasing people in mangament – aka the “most important person in the room” – is my default setting. Realizing that a mindset or behavior isn’t necessarily normal helps me to then stop and think through it and figure out why I do it and pray about if it’s something I need to stop doing.
This book is great for moments like that. Like it says on the back cover blurb, the book was written to help ladies realize who they are in God, and learn what things in life they need to lose in order to live their one life well.
CONCLUSION
There were a few things in this book – mostly wording, etc… – that I didn’t really like, but when I took it as a whole, considering the overall message I’ve come to the conclusion that I really do agree with most of what the book is saying, just not exactly the way in which it says some of the things.
Also, the tips on how to breathe deeply in this book are seriously good.
RATING
I’m giving Exhale 4 out of 5 stars. This book is a great way to stop, check where you’re heading, what you’re subconsciously believing, and get your life back on track for what God created you for. ...more
Connilyn Cossette is my only 100% auto-buy author – except I’ve never had to auto-buy her books because I’ve gotten to be on theWHY I CHOOSE THIS BOOK
Connilyn Cossette is my only 100% auto-buy author – except I’ve never had to auto-buy her books because I’ve gotten to be on the review team for each and every one of her books. Y’all, I can’t tell you how honored I am to be able to say that! Seriously, every time I’ve been chosen to review one of her books I do an internal, external, and internet happy dance. (Just check out my reviews below to see my gushing.)
Miss Connilyn is my very favorite Biblical Fiction author – and I don’t say that lightly.
As I always do with this author’s books, I went into the story completely blind – meaning, the first time I’ve read the back cover blurb was just now, as I’m writing this review. This can be a bit sketchy with a new-to-me author, but I trust Miss Connilyn’s writing so much that not knowing what I’m getting myself into is exceedingly interesting.
WHAT I THOUGHT ABOUT THIS BOOK
Let’s get real: When I first opened the pages of this book and started reading I felt a bit of a sinking feeling. I was concerned that it was going to be one of those trite, overly romanticized, mail-order brides type of books. (Remember, I hadn’t read the blurb.) But never fear! We’re talking about Miss Connilyn here – she writes amazing Biblical fiction, not cheesy Hallmark flicks. *cue sigh of relief*
As the story progressed there were twists and turns I did not expect, keeping me reading far into the night even though I was in the midst of a busy work week. I kept waiting for a slow chapter to arrive so I could convince myself to set the book down and sleep but finally had to compromise and put it away when there was a scene/point of view shift.
I’ve only read a few books with an unreliable narrator, and those books are fairly mindblowing to me. Rivkah, the main female character in this story, isn’t exactly an unreliable narrator, but she is to the point where I had vastly different opinions of her depending on who was narrating. It takes advanced skills as an author to pull that character voice off so well.
Malakhi, the main male character, had far more depth than I first expected him to have. I wasn’t anticipating liking him – especially not after the first part of the book, but as his story went on I found myself cheering for him. He was thoroughly written and felt extremely real. He wasn’t perfect by any means, which of course is the mark of a good character. His character development was intense at times and was well-paced.
There were a host of side characters who captured my attention and at times my heart. Seeing their story, watching the way they weren’t simply put there to progress the main character’s stories, but having an arc of their own reminded me of what a skilled author Miss Connilyn is.
The plot itself wasn’t what I was expecting at all. I think I figured it would follow some of the same guidelines as the first two books in the series, but instead, this one had a few new elements.
One thing that generally bothers me in books, but in this case ended up working out well, was a time jump. There’s about a five-year gap between the first part and second part of the book. I’m not a fan of this plot device, yet in Until the Mountains Fall Miss Connilyn pulls it off exceedingly well. The characters are the same but have changed as much as you’d expect during such a time period. The world is different, yet I didn’t feel jarred or like I’d missed out on life due to the missing years. The jump did exactly what it was supposed to – it made us totally skip a boring, listless middle-of-the-book-filler section – and kept the plot moving.
CONCLUSION (WITH VAGUE SPOILERS)
There is some content in this book that isn’t suitable for young teens – war, violence, mention of some of the evil practices of pagan worship, mentions of inappropriate behavior, characters who are taken advantage of, etc… Everything was written in a vague way and is probably less graphic than if you’re reading some sections of the Old Testament, but still, I’d recommend parental guidance for probably anyone under 15.
I came away from this book with the feeling that Miss Connilyn did it again – wrote another winner and once again made the time period of the Bible leap into life for me. I can’t hardly wait to read her next book!
This summer I moved out of state and wasn’t able to bring most of my books with me. That means I’ve never seen all three books together, but I can’t wait until I have them all with me. The covers are amazing together, right?
*Note: This is the third book in a series. They can be easily read in any order, but you’ll get to know the supporting characters and surroundings a lot better, and avoid spoilers if you read them in order.
RATING
I’m giving Until the Mountains Fall 4 out of 5 stars. I’ve already loaned the book out to a friend, and am planning on requesting it for my library. Y’all should do the same. ...more
Y’all. This is the book that I nearly cried about when I found out I’d been chosen to be on the early review team. Yeah, I was that excited and that hY’all. This is the book that I nearly cried about when I found out I’d been chosen to be on the early review team. Yeah, I was that excited and that honored about it. Of course, back then I didn’t realize that I would be in the midst of moving and overwhelmed with a new job and life-ish happenings in the weeks leading up to the book’s release. But here we are! The book released yesterday and although I moved before the physical copy of the book arrived at my old address, I did download an e-copy of the book and landsakes, people!
I settled down with this book and some popcorn on Sunday afternoon and prepared to be delighted as I read. Why was I so excited? Because this book features Margot De Wilde as the main character. Readers were first introduced to this character in the middle book of the Shadows Over London trilogy, as the younger sister of one of the main characters. In that book, she intrigued me like crazy – as in I would say she’s probably in the top five of most intriguing characters I’ve ever read about. And, considering the thousands of characters that have been part of my reading experience, that says a lot.
This book was gold. The writing, the characters, the plot, and the time period came together in a perfect, seamless, beautiful story that tugged my heart and made me want to keep reading for ages. In fact, although I read this book in two sittings if I hadn’t been hurrying to finish it for review I would have made it last even longer so I could savor the characters.
When I read this book the rest of the world faded away and I was so immersed in the story that it really felt like I was there…that the characters were my friends, that I’d time-traveled back to the early 1900s and England was right outside my door.
I can’t even begin to imagine how much work and research went into writing this book. The concepts were so far beyond me, yet without being confusing. That takes so much talent and time to pull off. Margot, the main character, is a codebreaker who works in Room 40 during WW1. I knew about codebreakers during WW2, but until I read this book I had no clue they existed during the Great War. (Which is why I mistakenly assumed that this book took place during WW2 when I first heard about it.)
Margot is a mathematical genius and thinks in numbers. She’s logical, scorns emotions, and is unlike any other character I’ve ever read. I seriously couldn’t get enough of her character and wish we had a whole trilogy solely from her perspective. The way she reacted to grief was my favorite scene in the whole book, simply because I can’t even fathom doing what she did, and it totally shocked me, but was so true to who she was as a person. Plus, it made me tear up, and books that make me cry are the best.
Drake was the second main character, and although I generally don’t like it when the main female and main male character both have chapters from their perspectives, Miss Roseanna pulled it off perfectly. I think this is because although there was romance in the book, that wasn’t the main plot and when we saw life from Drake’s perspective we were actually seeing espionage work, not just fluff. Seriously, his work was so cool and when I read in the endnote how much of it was taken from historical facts, I was pretty amazed. Also, Drake is just a wonderful character all around and he’s got a fantastic name, so what’s not to like?
And then we have the bad guy. Seriously, y’all don’t even know how much I dislike it when books have sections from the villain’s point of view. And yet, somehow Miss Roseanna makes it work. She gave us just enough time inside the villain’s head so that he became real and intriguing, yet without giving too much away or making me feel creeped out. I’m very impressed.
When it comes to books, this is one of my favorites. As in, it’s so close to being five stars that I’m really not sure if I should rate it four or five stars? (And y’all know how rare five-star fiction books are for me.) My one issue is that I really didn’t agree with a lot of Margot’s ideals. I understand how she was changing and growing, and yet the book felt a little more feministic than what I like.
Other than that though, this book was simply fantastic. I hope y’all read it and enjoy it as much as I did. If you’ve read the Shadow Over London series, or if you plan on reading this book you should totally let me know so we can gush about the stories together. 😉
Way to go, Miss Roseanna, on writing another winner! Please keep writing and thank you so much for the honor of having me be part of your review team!...more
Despite the fact that I've read a lot of parenting books, I've never read any homeschooling books. That seemed like a fact I shoWHY I CHOOSE THIS BOOK
Despite the fact that I've read a lot of parenting books, I've never read any homeschooling books. That seemed like a fact I should remedy, and this book caught my eye, partly because of the title, partly because the cover is black.
Disclaimer: I'm not a parent, I don't think I have the answers to parenting, homeschooling, or raising kids. I simply enjoy studying the subject and seeing how I can (very, very loosely) apply the principles I learn to myself, kids in my life, and maybe in the far distant future my own kids. Plus, it's pretty fun to learn when there's no pressure. But, as always this review will, therefore, be quite subjective, but will hopefully provide a unique point-of-view compared to the reviews written by parents who actually know what they're doing.
WHAT I THOUGHT ABOUT THIS BOOK
I found it surprisingly interesting. The author is a blogger and a lot of times a blogger-turned-book-author is a hit or miss for me when it comes to style - there's no middle ground. This one was, thankfully, a total hit. Her writing style was engaging, her tone honest, encouraging, and at times funny, and her stories were ones I could relate to from the perspective of an adult who grew up being homeschooled.
The author used to be an elementary school teacher, which felt like it gave her added credentials while talking about homeschooling vs. public schooling.
There were some things in the book I didn't fully agree with (more related to her views on various things, rather than what she actually did), but those things were minor enough that they didn't take away from the book for me.
For me, the most interesting part of the book was when she gave different suggestions of things to do with kids. It's so intriguing to hear about things little kids can do for fun that are actually educational as well.
CONCLUSION
If y'all are interested in this book, you should check out her website (The Unlikely Homeschool) or look her up on Instagram. I watched some of her Instagram stories as I was reading the book and that really helped her to feel more relatable and alive to me.
I generally don't recommend parenting books as a non-parent on my blog (because that's weird), and the same goes for homeschooling books. But, I did enjoy reading this book.
RATING
I’m giving Homeschool Bravely four out of five stars – Moody Publishers was very kind to send me a copy of this book so I could review it....more
The first half of this book had me quite confused. I wasn't entirely sure what it was talking about, or if I agreed withWHAT I THOUGHT ABOUT THIS BOOK
The first half of this book had me quite confused. I wasn't entirely sure what it was talking about, or if I agreed with the author or not. I read each chapter with my skepticism rising, but also trying to keep an open mind so I could write a fair review for the book.
It wasn't until the second half of the book that what the author was saying began to make sense to me, and I could nod in agreement and see where he was going. Because of that, I feel like my whole perspective of the book is a bit skewed. I wish the book had been set up a little bit differently without so much "introduction" type writing at the beginning. I do see why the author did that though - I think he was trying to avoid Christian's jumping to conclusions about why he wrote what he did, and write him off as not having Biblical principles.
Essentially the book is teaching how to take time to slow down, be more in touch with the world around us, and therefore better able to focus on what God is doing.
That is something I can get totally on board with, and why I read the book in the first place. The way the author suggests to do that - his BREATHe method (and yes, the last e is lowercase) still has me slightly confused, but goes something like this:
B: Ponder and Yield Your Body R: Review and Renew your Relationships E: Notice and Engage your Environment A: Label and Release Your Afflictive Emotions (Affect) T: Be Conscious of Current Thoughts H: Pay Attention to your Spiritual Life (Heart) and the Spirit's whispers e: engage the world like Christ
See why I was confused? But when I read through the second half of the book where we spend a chapter focusing on each of the letters, it's really not that weird. Instead, the author talks about how to spend time praying about each specific thing.
For instance, when you're on B - your body - what you do is spend three to five minutes each day thanking God for how your body works, His great design, and the various blessings He's given you in your physical body. As you pray, you also stop to notice if you're feeling stress, pain, etc... and if you do, then you pray about that as well.
The author mentioned how he often feels stress in his shoulders, so he breathes deeply and prays about whatever is causing the stress. This made sense to me in both physically and spiritually, because I know that I often clench my jaw without even realizing it, which can actually knock my body out of shape. The chiropractor pointed it out to me a while ago and ever since then I've made sure to relax my jaw whenever I realize I'm clenching it, and it actually has helped me be less stressed.
This book talks a lot about the science behind certain things - like breathing deeply, paying attention to what we focus on, and what various thought patterns (like anxiety) can do to your body, etc.... Then the author brings it all back to the Bible and shows how these principles are healthy not only from the physical and science standpoint but also spiritually.
As far as putting his steps into practice? Well, I'm still not sure what I think about that. I'll probably try it someday and that may change my rating of the book, but who knows. ;) As it is, I will be working at paying more attention to what I dwell on, staying focused in the moment, breathing deeply, and resting in God's goodness.
CONCLUSION
This is one of the hardest-for-me to write book reviews, mostly because I feel like I really didn't fully grasp what the author was saying. If any of y'all have read the book (or do read it) you should totally share your opinions with me.
RATING
I’m giving Holy Noticing three and four out of five stars - reserving my final star count until I've put the principles into practice and re-evaluate what I think of the book. Moody Publishers was very kind to send me a copy of this book so I could review it....more
Mostly the cover. And the title. The title sounds so intriguing. I also read the back cover blurb, but that wasn't the tipping pWHY I CHOOSE THIS BOOK
Mostly the cover. And the title. The title sounds so intriguing. I also read the back cover blurb, but that wasn't the tipping point for me.
WHAT I THOUGHT ABOUT THIS BOOK
Oh guys. This isn't a review I'm looking forward to writing because I always feel so bad writing a negative review when I've received a book for free. Yet, honest reviews are my specialty, so here I am.
Let me start off by saying that there isn't really anything wrong with the book. The content is clean, the editing is good, and the writing is lovely.
But.
It just wasn't the book for me. And that's sad, because after reading the first several chapters I was super excited. As in, it's been a long time since I've started a book by a new author and felt so much promise. I was intrigued by the characters, delighted by the quirks, and drawn in by the lyrical tone of the writing.
But then the time hops started, and the writing style changed, and I fell into bookerly woes and didn't even want to finish the story. The good news about all those things I just mentioned is they're purely subjective. That means that there's a good chance you will like the story.
For me, when a book begins going back and forth with time periods, it's a total hit or miss for me. Meaning, I either really, really like it, or else I really don't like it. And this book was one that I really didn't like. I'm not even sure why it was. I liked each of the time periods, but when the switching began I lost interest in all of them.
One thing that I think is super cool in theory but didn't actually like in reality, was that the tenses changed with the different time periods. One of the storylines was told in present tense, and the other was told in past tense. (Both third-person.) This is a brillant way to tell a story, but sadly, for me, present tense just messes with my brain and it's hard and takes a super long time for me to get into a story. So, to be pulled back and forth meant I never really had time to immerse myself in present tense, which is probably the biggest reason as to why I didn't like the book.
Also, when I re-read the back cover copy just now I was amazed by how long it takes in the book to find out what the rocks are for. I read the back cover copy before I requested the book, but then forgot what the book was about before I started reading. I'm not sure if the knowledge of what was going on would have made the book better for me, or been spoiler-y?
As for the plot itself... It felt kinda jumbled together. Not everything made sense to me and I was a bit confused by why the relationships were so messed up. I mean, it you find out in the book, but it just felt off.
I read this as an e-book because I was on vacation, but in retrospect, if I would have realized sooner that it was a time hopping book I would have waited to read my physical copy of the book and probably would have enjoyed it more.
To end on a positive note, there were some things I really liked in the book: The small town feel, the way Ann communicated with her uncle (SO COOL and one of my favorite things I've read about in a loooonnnngggg time), Rob and Roy's relationship with each other (sweetest thing ever), and a certain chapter near the end of the book involving watching the sunrise over the ocean.
CONCLUSION
Y'all will probably like the book. I certainly don't not recommend it. It was clean and interesting. I do encourage y'all to get a physical copy instead of an e-copy if possible because this is one of those books that is better read while physically.
RATING
I’m giving Whose Waves These Are two out of five stars and am thankful for NetGalley giving me an e-copy so I could review it for y'all....more
I don't think I even read the back cover copy to this book. I've just heard about it in the on-line bookish community and it souWHY I CHOOSE THIS BOOK
I don't think I even read the back cover copy to this book. I've just heard about it in the on-line bookish community and it sounded interesting and clean, so I thought I'd give it a go.
WHAT I THOUGHT ABOUT THIS BOOK
*Slight Spoilers in the Cons Section*
Three Pros: -The aviation aspect of the book was truly fascinating. It felt very well researched and I learned a lot without feeling like I was being pounded over the head with information. It's amazing to think of how recently air-travel was something people only dreamed of. How in the world did we get from trying to fly across the English Channel to landing on the moon in such a short amount of time? -Even though we didn't get quite as much detail about the newspaper side in the book, that was still interesting to me. The glimpses we saw in the newspaper office, as well as watching Isabella's emerging journalistic dreams was pretty cool. -The pace of the book and writing style were both well-done and kept my interest most of the time.
Three Cons (With Slight Spoilers, so read at your own risk): -It wasn't really insta-love, but it was far too close to that for my enjoyment. Isabella has a secret she can't tell anyone, and she feels guilty and like she's betraying James not to tell him. She doesn't owe James anything at this point, so even though feeling slightly bad makes sense, the amount of guilt she felt over it made me feel like she'd formed an emotional attachment to him way too fast. -That said secret was cajoled out of her by someone else far too easily, and then she didn't respond the way I hoped she would have. -James' family secret, and how it all ended kinda annoyed me, but that's probably not the case for most people...
CONCLUSION
There were aspects of this book that I actually enjoyed far more than I had thought I would. The relationship was kinda meh in my opinion, but it was clean, so that's a plus.
After reading this book I'd be open to reading more of Carrie Turansky's books in the future.
RATING
I’m giving Across the Blue three out of five stars and am thankful for NetGalley giving me an e-copy so I could review it for y'all. ...more
I really don't remember what made me choose to request this book for review, but I'm glad I did.
Disclaimer: I'm not a mom, thereWHY I CHOOSE THIS BOOK
I really don't remember what made me choose to request this book for review, but I'm glad I did.
Disclaimer: I'm not a mom, therefore I'm not the target audience, so my thoughts are more subjective than the average reviewer.
WHAT I THOUGHT ABOUT THIS BOOK
I started this book on a Wednesday night, just after having a conversation with one of my tween friends at church. The conversation included her showing me her Instagram and breaking into a happy dance because her crush had voted on her story. It saddened me to see a girl - who should still be enjoying the simplicity of childhood - being wrapped up in the drama of social media.
Then I came home and began reading this book and cheered for it on nearly every single page. Y'all. This book is full of gold.
The book itself is bright, cheery, reminiscent of childhood, colorful, and interactive. It was late at night when I opened the pages, but it was so interesting I kept reading, and reading, and reading, even though I had only planned to read the first few pages. Two days later and I've finished the book.
This book is supposed to be read at the same time your daughter is reading Lies Girls Believe. In fact, this book includes a lot of the pages from the Lies Girls Believe, while giving the mom ideas of how to have good conversations with their daughters, as well as helping the mom see how she can model the various truths taught.
In addition to being full of truth, this book was also very interesting and kept me engaged as I read. It quoted the Bible a lot (in a different color and font which was pretty cool), added statistics, case study stories, and facts. If I had a tween daughter this is most definitely a book I'd want to go through with her.
There are twenty lies in the book, along with twenty truths to combat them. These lies/truths include a wide range of topics, from how to see God correctly, to body image, to bullying, to social media, to what it's like to be a girl (exploring topics like periods, etc...). The book covers tons of territory in just over two hundred pages and I was very impressed.
CONCLUSION
Y'all. This book was truly fantastic. Tweens these days are bombarded by so many lies, and the best time to teach them truths is right now. I highly applaud the authors of this book, as well as the publishers to work at getting this important message out into the world.
RATING
I’m giving A Mom's Guide to Lies Girls Believe five out of five stars – Moody Publishers was very kind to send me a copy of this book so I could review it. ...more
In fact, I just now (as I'm writing this review) read the back cover for the first time. And goodneWHY I CHOOSE THIS BOOK
Solely because of the author.
In fact, I just now (as I'm writing this review) read the back cover for the first time. And goodness, may I say it gives way too many spoilers? Seriously, it's giving away plot twists that don't happen until probably three-fourths of the way through the book. I'm so glad I didn't read the back cover before I read the book.
But back to the author. I read Many Sparrows several years ago and really liked it, although because of some content issues I only gave it three stars. Since then, I've been on the lookout for more of Miss Lori's books because of her writing and the time period and settings she tackles.
WHAT I THOUGHT ABOUT THIS BOOK
This book had me up and down and all over the place. Instead of going with pros and cons, we're going to go with the beginning, middle, and ending.
Beginning - Two Stars
Y'all. This part drove me nuts. It kept flashing back to a year before and showing how the main character got to where he was when the book started. It was hard for me to keep picking the book up to read more because I wished the author would have just given us one telling paragraph of backstory and moved on.
Middle - Four Stars
When the time hopping stopped the book went from being meh to making me not want to put it down. There were several characters that drew me in and really made the book for me. Jemma, a young slave girl, was my favorite for sure and I liked the portions with her storyline the best. She's such a feisty little dear and I wanted to gather her up in a huge hug. The way Alex (the main male character) responded to her was my favorite thing about Alex for sure.
The middle of the book also contained several plot twists (that is, if you didn't read the back cover) that propelled the book into a direction I hadn't imagined. At one point in time I thought the author might do something totally risky with her characters and make it go in a direction no one would suspect, but alas, she didn't.
Ending - Two/three Stars
At about the 85% mark, we reached the point where I could predict the rest of the book and I was right, so that was a bit disappointing to me. There was also more violence/disturbing things in the last few chapters of the book. The author did a great job of making everything appear dark and bleak, and although I see why she did it, it wasn't something I liked. Because of that, the book lost the four-star rating I had been planning on in the middle of the story, and I decided to go with three stars.
CONCLUSION
The book does contain violence and alludes (strongly) to some bad things that the "villain" does, but it never goes into detail. There's a lot of revenge that takes place, ill-treatment of slaves, and other things that I won't mention for the sake of spoilers.
On the bright side, the book gives a nod to a certain book of the Bible, and it was cool seeing the comparisons. ;)
It was also cool learning about the history behind the title of the book. Y'all should look it up.
RATING
I’m giving A King's Mercy three out of five stars – NetGalley graciously provided an e-copy of this book for me so I could review it. ...more
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