A Bird, a Girl, and a Rescue by J. A. Myhre (Book Review!)

A Bird, a Girl, and a Rescue (Book 2, The Rwendigo Tales)

By J. A. Myhre

(I received this book for review purposes.)

Genre- Juvenile Fiction / Religious / Christian / Action & Adventure 
Published by- New Growth Press
Copyrighted- 2016
Number of pages- 134
Age Group- Juvenile
Description of Book- paperback, ISBN 978-1-942572-69-5, $15.99

Kiisa lives in Rwendigo, Africa and has been sent to boarding school.  She’s not sure why she has been sent there.  When her father dropped her off, he told her that there was some special in there.  She found a pile of black and white feathers, those of a wagtail.  They turned into a little bird, whose name was Njili.  She is one of the Messengers and had been sent to help Kiisa with the Rescue.

What is this rescue?  How can Kiisa be brave enough?  Will she be safe from the rebels?

About the Author- J.A. Myhre, MD currently serves in East Africa as a doctor with Serge.  She is married and has four children.  The first book in the The Rwendigo Tales series is A Chameleon, a Boy, and a Quest.

My thoughts- This was an interesting and well written book.  I thought it was neat Myhre had written this series for her children.  It must have been very special for them to receive a book like this.

A Bird, a Girl, and a Rescue was filled with action and adventure.  This will be a perfect book for any child who likes learning about new cultures, action, adventure and yet, lives similar to their’s.

I enjoyed reading the glossary. (I wish it had been in the front, for easier access.)  I also enjoy the acknowledgements, because I learned more about her children, the original audience, and the rebel killing in 1998 at Kichwamba Technical College.

I highly recommend this book for all juvenile readers.  It would make an excellent present.  Half of the royalties from the sales of this book help enable children receive an education. 

As a parent though, I would recommend reading it first to make sure it is something you want your children to read.

Disclosure of Material Connection- I received A Bird, a Girl, and a Resuce, by J. A. Myhre, for free through Cross Focused Reviews.  I was not required to write a positive review.  The opinions I have expressed are my own.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.  All links were current when posted.

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Marry Wisely, Marry Well by Ernie Baker (Book Review!)

Marry Wisely, Marry Well: A Blueprint for Personal Preparation

By Ernie Baker

(I received this book for review purposes.)

Genre- Religion / Christian Life / Personal Growth / Marriage
Published by- Shepherd Press
Copyrighted- 2016
Number of pages-192
Age Group- Adult and Young Adult
Description of Book- paperback, ISBN 978-1-63342-118-9, $14.95
Are you planning on being married at some point during your life?  Does marriage even matter?  It matters to God.  Can you have a stable marriage?  Yes, you can with God's help.

This book will help you begin to think about marriage, even if you aren't thinking about it seriously.  There is a blueprint that the author, Ernie Baker, would like you to follow.  You will need to have a good foundation (God), build a strong structure (your life), and add a good roof (the marriage).  If you know how to make the right choices by following God, you will have have a relationship that will be built on him.

About the Author- Ernie Baker (M.Div., D.Min) is married and has six children and seven grandchildren.  He is a Professor of Biblical Counseling at The Master's College and Seminary in Southern California.

My thoughts-
I have been married for almost sixteen years, but I would have welcomed a book like this before I was married.

Marry Well, Marry Wisely was full of solid biblical principles on how to approach a marriage based on the Bible, build your own faith dealing with marriage, and your resulting faith based marriage.  I enjoyed all of the different Bible verses that were used with the support of Ernie Baker's text.  I liked how he built a marriage as he would a house, with a blueprint, strong foundation, etc.

I liked the heading and subheadings in each of the chapters.  The questions at the end of each chapter were very helpful (you know I like questions at the ends of chapters).  They will help you grow and develop a stronger foundation of marriage through God.  There is a very good appendix, "Marriage Preparation Project."  It will help you gather all your thoughts together.

I think this book should be on the shelf of anybody who is planning on getting married, thinking about it, or who teaches about it.  This book will help you have a solid blueprint for your marriage.
 
Disclosure of Material Connection- I received Marry Well, Marry Wisely, by Ernie Baker, for free through Cross Focused Reviews.  I was not required to write a positive review.  The opinions I have expressed are my own.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.  All links were current when posted.

Good and Angry by David Powlison (Book Review!)

Good and Angry: Redeeming Anger, Irritation, Complaining, and Bitterness

By David Powlison

(I received this book for review purposes.)

Genre- Religion / Christian Life / Personal Growth
Published by- New Growth Press
Copyrighted- 2016
Number of pages- 246
Age Group- Adult
Description of Book- paperback, ISBN 978-0-942572-97-8, $17.99
Do you easily get angry, but don’t know how to respond?  Many of us do.  This book, by David Powlison, shows us how to deal with our anger by exploring how anger begins, our judgment, how we can change, and what to do when it gets hard.  Each chapter ends with questions designed to help you understand more about yourself and how to deal with your anger.
About the Author- David Powlison, MDiv, PhD, has been a counselor over thirty years.  He has written The Biblical Counseling Movement, and many others. 
My thoughts-
I thought this book was excellent.  There are many people around the world who have a problem with anger and need to deal with it in a way that shows God.  This is the book that can begin to help them.
This book has given me a lot of information about how I should behave when I get frustrated, irritated,  and even angry.  There were many things I liked about each section and chapter.  Powlison has written sections about our experience, what is anger, how to change, and how to tackle the hard cases.  Each chapter was written with a lot of detail and about our anger, God’s anger, and how to improve ourselves.  One of the most important parts of the chapter is “Making It Your Own.”  It is where you take the chapter and answer questions dealing with it, so you know where you can take action in you life.  I appreciated these questions, because I learned more about myself.  I do wish there was a workbook or more area to work on the questions because I want to be able to learn more.  I hope too in the future that there could be a version for children.  I know that they could learn a great deal from this knowledge.  It would help them learn how to be righteously angry when they are younger.
Everyone needs to learn the best way to deal with anger.  I highly recommend this book.    
Disclosure of Material Connection- I received Good and Angry, by David Powlison, for free through Cross Focused Reviews.  I was not required to write a positive review.  The opinions I have expressed are my own.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.  All links were current when posted.

The Shock of Night by Patrick W. Carr (Book Review!)

The Shock of Night (The Darkwater Saga, Book 1)

by Patrick W. Carr

(I received this book for review purposes.)

 

Genre- Fiction / Fantasy / General

Publisher- Bethany House

Copyrighted- 2015

Number of Pages- 462

Age Group- Adult

Description of Book- paperback, $15.99, ISBN: 978-0-7642-1346-5

One man is murdered and another mortally wounded.

Willet Dura, reeve to the king of Bunard, must investigate.  When he arrives, the mortally wounded man, a priest, touches him, screams in a foreign language, then dies.  Willet must investigate?  More people die and Willet has no idea what is happening in his town.  After the priest’s death, Willet finds that when he touches people he can see into their thoughts.  This is a gift he’s not supposed to have.  It puts him in danger more than ever before.

Will he find the murderer?  Who are the people who are trying to take him for their own?

About the Author- Patrick W. Carr currently lives with his wife and children in Nashville.  He has been a high school math teacher, draftsman, and more.  He was born during the height of the Cold War tensions on an Air Force Base in West Germany.

My Thoughts- I thought this was a long, but good book.  It dragged sometimes, but I stuck with it and I was really glad. 

I thought this was a good book for men.  I am glad that there are good books out there for men.  So many times it seems as if there are not very many good books for men.

Willet Dura was a good man.  He has done a lot of things he shouldn’t have.  He’s been to the Darkwater Forest and has been given a gift, that many would like to have, but he can’t give back.  All of those experiences make him a complex character.

My favorite character was Bolt, because he was loyal to Dura, but also loyal to the Vigil (the group of people who want the gift).  Gareth was another character I liked, because he too, was loyal to Dura.

This book ended on a cliff hanger, Dura needs to find a way to break his engagement.  Now, I can’t wait to read the next book in the series. 

I recommend this book!

Informational and Purchasing Links-

The Shock Of Night - http://www.amazon.com/Shock-Night-Darkwater-Saga/dp/0764213466/

Author Website - http://www.patrickwcarr.com/

Participants’ links:

Thomas Clayton Booher Keanan Brand Beckie Burnham Carol Bruce Collett Carol Gehringer Victor Gentile Rebekah Gyger Bruce Hennigan Janeen Ippolito Carol Keen Rebekah Loper Jennette Mbewe Shannon McDermott Meagan @ Blooming with Books Rebecca LuElla Miller Joan Nienhuis Nissa Audrey Sauble Chawna Schroeder Jessica Thomas Robert Treskillard Shane Werlinger Phyllis Wheeler Nicole White

Disclosure of Material Connection- I received a free copy of The Shock of Night, by Patrick W. Carr, to review.  I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.  The opinions I have expressed are my own.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations.  I am part of CSFF Blog Tour.  All links were current when posted.

Dinosaurs: Marvels of God’s Design by Dr. Tim Clarey (Book Review)

Dinosaurs: Marvels of God’s Design

By Dr. Tim Clarey

(I received this book for review purposes.)

Genre- Religion / Religion & Science / Science / Paleontology

Published by- Master Books

Copyrighted- 2015

Number of pages- 192

Age Group- All Ages (Primarily those who can read well)

Description of Book- hardback, ISBN 978-0-89051-904-2, $29.99

Beginning with a detailed table of contents, this book is filled with useful information about dinosaurs from a biblical point-of-view. 

Many people are interested in dinosaurs and for good reasons, they are mentioned in movies, television shows, and books.  This book shows the reader:

• biblical based science.
• many illustrations, photos, and diagrams.
• how a Christian can explain the dinosaurs from a biblical point-of-view.

About the Author- Dr. Timothy Clarey has a Ph.D. in geology.  He has worked for a major oil company and as a full professor and geosciences chair at a public college.  He currently works at the Institute for Creation Research.

My thoughts-

Dinosaurs are often a favorite of children.  My children are no exception, so I was excited when I saw the opportunity to review this book.

When the book came in the mail, my son and I were excited to take a look at it.  I was pleased when we looked inside.  There were many interesting charts, photos, and illustrations.  The table of contents was very detailed as was the end notes and index.

I started reading the book right away and was very impressed.  I liked how Dr. Clarey talked about the evolutionists point-of-view and that of the creationists.  I thought it was well balanced.

There were several things I did not like, the price and how each page was half black and half white.  I thought $29.99 was much to expensive.  It is going to be hard to get this book into people’s hands if the price is so high.  I got confused with the different page colors.  I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to read all of the text in the white section first or if the text went all together.

This was an excellent book.  I would recommend it for any one who would like to learn about dinosaurs from a different point-of-view.  We are going to use it for school.

Disclosure of Material Connection- I received Dinosaurs: Marvels of God’s Design, by Dr. Tim Clarey, for free through Cross Focused Reviews.  I was not required to write a positive review.  The opinions I have expressed are my own.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.  All links were current when posted.

Rediscovering Discipleship by Robby Gallaty (Book Review!)

Rediscovering Discipleship: Making Jesus’ Final Words Our First Work

By Robby Gallaty

(I received this book for review purposes.)

Genre- Religion / Christian Ministry / Discipleship

Published by- Zondervan

Copyrighted- 2015

Number of pages- 240

Age Group- Adult

Description of Book- paperback, ISBN 978-0-310-52128-0, $15.99

Jesus asked all of his followers to go and make disciples, but many of us do not know how to do it. 

In this book, Robby Gallaty point us in the right direction with specific steps.  One of the first things we need to do is to understand Jesus and the time period in which he lived, and what his lessons mean to us.  We then need to learn how to properly build our discipleship groups and how to make them work.

There are lot of helpful endnotes and appendix. 

About the Author- Robby Gallaty is married with two boys.  He is the founder of Replicate Ministries and the Senior Pastor of Brainerd Baptist Church.  He wrote Growing Up: How to Be a Disciple who Makes Disciples and Firmly Planted.

My thoughts-

I thought this book was excellent.  It was filled with useful and practical information to help people learn what it means to be a disciple and how to do it. 

My favorite part of this book was the section where it talk about how we need to know about Jesus’s methods, before we start it ourselves.  I learned how important it is when reading the Bible to think about what life was like for the Jews at that time, so I can better relate to the stories being told.  This would especially apply to the parables.

The appendix with the answers to frequently asked questions was high on my favorites too, because it discussed in greater detail what to do with your small group of disciples.

It is important to make and equip disciples, so they can go and do the same.  We need disciples in the world to spread the word of God.

I recommend it to every adult.

Disclosure of Material Connection- I received Rediscovering Discipleship, by Robby Gallaty, for free through Cross Focused Reviews.  I was not required to write a positive review.  The opinions I have expressed are my own.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.  All links were current when posted.