The One-Year Devotions for Active Boys by Jesse Florea and Karen Whiting

The One Year Devotions for Active Boys is a daily devotional book that is written for boys. The format is that there is a topic with a story (from the Bible or just a fictional story) which is then followed by some "weird facts" or an experiment, puzzle, or jokes. The next segment is a prayer starter and then a Bible verse that relates.

The narrative is written in an easy to read style, I think it would be easy for a boy to read himself or else a parent to read with their son. The topics are wide-ranging, from science to God's power to leaders to arguing to wisdom, and etc. The book is intended for 7-12 year old boys.

So how do I like this book? Fine, for a devotional. I think that it is engaging and that boys will like to read it. I think you would need to plan carefully when devotion time is (for instance, right before bed would not be the best time to begin an experiment or get out equipment to make something cool). I DO wish that there was a little more application focus in some of the days. Some days it is easy to understand how the verses and themes apply to your life, other times it's a bit more difficult. I guess it comes down to a couple of things. This is a good age to begin a habit of daily Bible reading and prayer, and I think that this book is a book that will encourage a boy to begin and stick with that habit. I have a preteen boy and we have seen several different devotionals for boys this age -- some I like better than this one, some not so much. I guess I'd give this a 4 out of 5 rating and hope that it helps to instill a good habit of spending time each day with the Lord.

I received this book from the publisher for free in exchange for writing a review. I was not required to write a positive review.

"A Beautiful Mess" Happy Handmade Home by Elsie Larson and Emma Chapman

Fun fun fun!!

"A Beautiful Mess -- Happy Handmade Home" by Elsie Larson and Emma Chapman is such a fun decorating book! :) It is totally my kind of decorating! :) Really! I loved so much of it!

The book is filled with ideas for decorating different areas of the home: Living Rooms, Kitchens, Dining Rooms, Bedrooms, Studio Spaces, Outdoor Spaces, Playrooms, Small Spaces. The style of decorating is kind of quirky, bright, and fun. Totally my idea of great decorating! The book is filled with photos to inspire you with ideas of how to do your own spaces. There are unique wall coverings, bright artwork, interesting furniture and combinations, and lots of do-it-yourself projects!

Some of the projects have instructions, some are more like inspiration. None are very deep, and they allow wiggle room for your own touches.

Looking at the reviews on Amazon for this book, there are a lot of people who were disappointed with this book because they follow the authors' blog and didn't see much new in this book. Well, I had never seen that blog (!!) so these ideas were new to me! :) It's basically just a fun book that you can look through and envision new looks for your spaces in your home. The style is not for everyone, there is so much variation in people's tastes, but it certainly is for me!

There were a few typos which can be a little annoying, but you can get past them, and some projects that I thought were a bit too tacky for me (using electrical tape on a fridge or coffee table??) but hey! You shouldn't expect to love every single idea, right?!

I would recommend this book to someone who has similar tastes to mine in decorating (kind of free, bright, quirky, and colorful. Other people (such as my sister, who has much more "dignified" decorating tastes than mine) probably would not enjoy it quite so much, therefore I would not recommend it to them! But as for me--I like it!

I received a copy of this book from the publisher for the purpose of this review. I was not obligated to write a positive review.

Tried & True by Mary Connealy

Tried & True by Mary Connealy is a book about three sisters and their father who have moved out west following the Civil War to homestead land and gain property. The twist is that the three grown girls are pretending to be men, they are ex-soldiers (fought in the Civil War disguised as men) and are using an exemption for fighting in the war to cut down their required years of living on the land in order to claim it as their own. It's a little bit of a romance, a little bit of a western story, and a little bit. . .boring.

It was a fine book, kind of a weird premise, especially that three women could have lived as soldiers for a few years without their identities as females being discovered (one was in the hospital for awhile even. . .???. . .must've been some unobservant doctor!!) and also kind of weird that as grown women they were happy to pretend to be men just to obey their father's wishes. I didn't think there were any inappropriate parts, just that it was kind of boring and disjointed. There's a teeny bit of Christian-ness in it, but not too much -- mostly nearer to the end.

I don't know, it just didn't grab my attention. I'm sure it'll be of interest to some, but for me--I could take it or leave it. Would I recommend it? Probably not. There are lots more interesting books :)

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review.

Miracle in a Dry Season by Sarah Loudin Thomas

Miracle in a Dry Season by Sarah Loudin Thomas was an interesting quick read, with many developed characters who draw you into their stories. It is a book about a town in the '50's who are under the reign of a harsh preacher who seems to want the parishoners to worship and follow him rather than God and the Bible.

I do not want to give too many details, so I will not go into the story line much, other than to say that it is a story of love, as well as reconciliation, as well as difficulty and want, and more!

Unmarried Casewell is a woodworker who had a difficult relationship with his father, and everyone in the town seems to have a warm spot in their hearts for him. Perla is an unmarried woman with a sweet child who moves into the town and attracts all kinds of attention, mostly negative. The town enters a period of excessive drought and as the stresses increase, so do emotions and reactions. Okay, that's all I'll say!

This is a Christian romance, and there was one part that I was a little iffy with and that is the "gift from God" that Perla has of making a lot of food from not much in the way of ingredients -- not just creative cooking, but actually multiplying the foodstuffs. Other than that, the story could have been very realistic, but that "miracle" part just seemed unrealistic to me, and made me a little uncomfortable.

The end of the story is predictable (which I do like!) and also a happy ending (which I like as well).

I guess I have mixed feelings on this book. Would I recommend it? Maybe with reservations/explanations about the weirdness of Perla's "gift". I did like it most of the way, and it is an easy-to-read book, which is nice.

I received this book from the publisher for the purpose of this review. I was not required to write a positive review.

The Story Keeper by Lisa Wingate

First off -- THIS IS THE BEST BOOK I HAVE READ IN A LOOOOOOOONNNNNGGGG TIME!!!!!

Phew, got that out of my system! Honestly, The Story Keeper, by Lisa Wingate is an exceptionally wonderful book. It enfolds the stories of actually a few people, addressing things in lives that are emancipating in the end.

This is the story of a mountain girl with a tough past leaving her past, starting a "new" life, only to find it intersecting with her "old" life. The story of a lost manuscript which tells an amazing story from the past. The story of children and adults with no hope. The story of some with hope. I really do not want to give too much information about this book, because it is so wonderful to discover it for yourself in the pages of this book. I will tell you that it is about a book editor named Jen/Jennia and a journey she takes and a story she discovers.

This book is one that you are going to want to read and keep reading. It touches you emotionally and draws you right in to the multi-dramas. It brings up mental struggles in the reader as well, right vs just vs pragmatic, . . .and on.

I think this review is pretty cryptic, huh? :) I will say I really recommend this book. It is a fictional story, but definitely not fluffy :) It's also not hard to read -- you will want to fly right through it! Give it a try! Read it! I highly recommend it!

I received a copy of this book for the purpose of this review. I was not required to write a positive review.

Simplify by Bill Hybels

"Simplify" is a term we hear tossed around frequently. As in, "I am going to simplify my life by. . ." or "I am going to aim for living simply." I wasn't sure what exactly this book would be like.

The author of Simplify, Bill Hybels, has written a series of chapters which give you ideas to simplify your life by simplifying your mind and emotions and schedule. Not simplifying your mind as in becoming less-intelligent, but rather uncluttering it from anxieties that take precedence over everything and wear you down mentally and physically.

The chapters include such topics as forgiveness and the power that bitterness holds over us, financial stuff, scheduling and emptying out your schedule a bit, prioritizing, and focus (among others). These may not be what you expected for simplifying, but it really addresses the stuff that "hangs over you" as I would say :)

I enjoyed reading this book for the most part. Some sections more than others :) I really felt that this book was written more to someone in a career outside of the home, not for the demographic of stay-at-home/homeschooling mom such as myself. I really did enjoy parts of chapter 3, "From Overwhelmed to In Control: Mastering your finances."

Would I recommend this book? I would definitely recommend it for people in careers outside of the home. For someone who is choosing to raise your children in a God-honoring way at home, staying at home, homeschooling--I think there are better books to read for you. ones that resonate more with me.

I received this book in exchange for this honest review. I was not required to write a positive review.

The StickyFaith Guide for Your Family by Dr. Kara E. Powell

The Sticky Faith Guide for Your Family by Dr. Kara E Powell is written for parents and grandparents of children. It is a follow-up to research that has been done and publicized in recent years about how few children that are raised in a Christian home/church will continue in that tradition as they become college-aged and older.

I am a mom of 3 children and we have taken many steps thus far to ensure that our children are building a faith of their own, not just going along for the ride with my husband and me, but I am definitely always interested to hear/read new ideas for further firming this in their lives.

The "sticky faith" terminology is apparently a movement or series of books/etc that I was not familiar with. Not knowing about these beforehand wasn't detrimental to understanding this book, however. I WAS annoyed a bit at first with the terminology "sticky faith" (it seemed to be used so much throughout the book) -- bothered me at first, but by the time I hit the middle it was fine, I guess I got used to it :)

The set-up is that each chapter has a theme, such as mistakes, relationships, connecting, community, grandparents, service, and more. Each chapter is filled with narrative about the given topic, followed by many examples of the practice in action. Each chapter also ends with a ranking of how you are doing on each topic and discussion questions. As far as my personal preference, I don't usually like writing in books, especially ones I might share. So I didn't use those sections, but just read through them (and thought about some of them).

I really enjoyed all the stories about how different families do things that were discussed in the book. It was great pictures of putting into practice these ideas, done by a variety of different families at different life-stages. I felt like there were many examples for many different stages of family growth. Not every idea was new or earth-shattering, but different families do things differently and I bet that most people can find some great ideas and encouragement in the chapters of this book. Reading about life-stages above where we are right now also gave me some things to think about and plan for in the future. The book was also very readable. Nicely written and easy to go right through. I would certainly recommend this book

I received a copy of this book for the purpose of this review. I was not required to write a positive review.