Beyond All Measure, Postbellum Historical Fiction

"Beyond All Measure" was fine historical fiction that brought me back to my favorite place: Tennessee.  If you know me very well or read my devotional page, you must know that I'm madly in love with Gatlinburg, Knoxville, and anything Tennessee.  I think it's the most beautiful state in the country! 

"Beyond All Measure" takes place during an exciting time in our nation's history: the postbellum (after the Civil War) South.  In the middle of a love story, we begin to understand what it means to surrender our will to God (whose plan is always so much better than anything we could've come up with on our own!) and we also learn a bit about how our country recovered from perhaps the most devastating war our country has ever faced. 

This wonderful 1865 quote from Miss Carolina Berg sums up the lesson of the story perfectly:

He whose heart is kind beyond all measure

Gives unto each day what He deems best--

Lovingly, its part of pain or pleasure,

Mingling toil with peace and rest.

I must note, I like likeable characters (duh, who doesn't?) and I must also note that Ada, our heroine, is a very cantankerous woman who really isn't very likeable until the last half of the book.  Her character is rounded and changes through her circumstances into someone I would like and would want to call friend.  It's obvious that Wyatt, the hero of the book, who is very charming from the start, only likes Ada at first because she's pretty.  Or perhaps, much like God sees something in us of value when others may not, Wyatt sees something in Ada that no one else can.

"Beyond All Measure" is nice reading.  It may teach you a little history, it may teach you about faith, and it may touch your heart. Now y'all head over yonder to here and read the first 3 chapters of the book!  Decide for yourself whether it's something you'd take a fancy to.


This book was provided to my by the wonderful people at Thomas Nelson in exchange for a thoughtful and honest review.

When God Created My Toes!

When I asked my just-turned-7-year-old daughter what this book was about she said quite simply, "About how God created our bodies!"  True true.

This is a cute little story that my daughters, son, and I enjoyed.  It's written in the words of a cute (though mischievous, often trouble-making) little girl who wonders all about when God made her toes, her hips, her knees, and so on.  There's this underlying message, I'd say, that God loves us all the time: even when we're making messes with finger paints on the living room walls (Mom was NOT happy!), getting muddy in the garden, skinning our knees, and tying bonnets on our cats (who don't seem to like that, not one bit).

This is a cute story with nice illustrations and great messages.  It's also a quick read which holds both childrens and parents interest.  The words all rhyme which makes it that much funner to read.  My Olivia's favorite page goes:

When God created my hip, 

Did I hear him say, 

"Hip, hip, hooray!"?  

Did we do a double flip 

when God created my hip?

Lulu likes that part because she's a doing-flips kinda girl.  There's something I think every little one can relate to in this book, and I highly recommend it!

This book was provided to me by Waterbrook Multnomah in exchange for a thoughtful and honest review.

Blood Covenant, an Intriguing Zondervan Read

Thousands of years ago, the words of Zechariah the prophet rang out,  

"As for you also, because of the blood of your covenant, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit."  

Miss Lisa Harris based her most recent work of fiction on that scripture and on the reality of conditions for many African refugees who have lived through civil war and trials worse than anything most of us could imagine from homelessness to uncontrollable infectious disease outbreaks to famine to war and worse.  Dealing with even more than those problems with severe water shortages thrown in the mix, the refugees in the book Blood Covenant are surely in a "waterless pit."

While Miss Harris's story deals with a humanitarian crisis that spins seemingly out of control, it is laced with hope and reveals God's faithfulness to His people and our great need for Him.  I've been interested in Africa since I became a Christian 12 years ago because God has given me a heart for people who seem to have such a great need (we take clean water and education for granted so often, don't we?) and who it I can, in various ways and with God's provision, help.  I work with a non-profit organization called Into-Africa.org as many of my blog readers know.  That was why I was so eager to read this book.  It took me longer to read than most fiction books do because there's just so much information in it! It's an amazing story, the characters seem real, and the plot-line is marvelous, though disturbing when the reader realizes that, while this is fiction, the experiences of these African refugees isn't. 

Blood Covenant takes place in a fictional place in West-Central Africa called Dhambizao which, if it were real, would be next to Gabon on the map.  I was interested to find out what Dhambizao means.  It means the sins are their own.  I'm sure that's significant but can't figure out if it refers to the rebel soldiers, the main characters in the story, or the refugees. Perhaps it refers to all of them.  Of course, the rebel soldiers were men who did unmentionable things.  And, of course, we're all sinners in need of a wonderful and loving savior no matter how "good" we may be.  While most of the main characters in the story already believe that, they realize anew how much we need to rely on Him. We can't "save the world" as many of the people in this book would like to believe, but we can hope in One who can.

I highly recommend Blood Covenant!  It's a very inspirational read and one that you'll find it hard to put down.  You can even read the first chapter of it on-line at Amazon.com but don't buy it from them--buy it from Christianbook.com, they sell it for less (about $9 instead of Amazon's $10 or your local bookstore's $14-ouch!). This book is actually the 2nd in the Mission of Hope series, but it stands alone.  I didn't read the first book in the series and I thoroughly enjoyed this one.

I was provided a copy of this book by the wonderful people at Zondervan in exchange for a thoughtful and honest review.

Max on Life: Answers & Insights to Your Most Important Questions

We've loved Max Lucado's works since our little ones fell in love with Hermie the Caterpillar 6 years ago.  Mr. Lucado doesn't just speak to children's hearts, though, he has a special gift of being like Paul the Apostle "all things to all men."  He speaks to your heart through his many works that it seems God has put it upon his heart to write, and God has certainly given him some wisdom when it comes to answering the wide variety of questions he answers in his latest book from Thomas Nelson "Max on Life: Answers and Insights to Your Most Important Questions."

This book deals with questions that fall under the categories of Hope, Hurt, Help, Him/Her, Home, Haves/Have-Nots, and Hereafter.  It deals with topics like grace, calamities, sex, money, heaven and hell.  On the cover, it looks like Mr. Lucado is just sitting back ready to answer your questions and give you advice in such a friendly, nonchalant way.  And it's the perfect cover, because his voice in this book is just that: friendly and nonchalant, conversational and not at all long-winded.

You can just sit down and read "Max on Life" from cover to cover, you can open to a random page and skim the contents, or you can use it as a resource when your friends or family members come to you with those hard questions and you need a little bit of quick insight.  I definitely recommend this book and, honestly, any book by Max Lucado.  He "speaks the truth in love" as God's word (Ephesians 4:15) tells us we should do.  If you head over to Amazon, you can read excerpts of the book through their "Look Inside" feature.

I received this book from the wonderful people at Thomas Nelson to facilitate an honest and thoughtful review.

The Final Summit: A Quest to Find the One Principle That Will Save Humanity

I was interested in this book because it is historical fiction and is supposed to be a motivational, life-changing read.  Perhaps I expected too much from it because of all the hype I had read over this and Andy Andrews other books.  Perhaps from a secular perspective, it's extraordinary.  From a Christian perspective (and this book is supposed to be a Christian book... I think) it falls short.

For example, there's so much humanism here: "the one principle that will save humanity"?!  I believe God's word... there's one thing that can save humanity and it's not anything we can do in and of ourselves and I don't think it falls in to the category of a "principle."  I do believe we can and should do amazing things with the time on earth that God has given us but this book just seemed off.  It's hard to put my finger on exactly why, but even if I hadn't had that nagging feeling as I read through it, the highly anticipated answer to that question would still have been thoroughly disappointing!  What answer does the author tell us is the one principle that will save humanity?  (Spoiler Alert!) "Do something."  Yes, that's right.  "Do something."  All kinds of people with good intentions have "done something" throughout history who have not benefited humanity.  Let you imagination run wild with that truth for a minute.  People may read this book, take that "do something" to heart, and do something absolutely wrong, as good as their intentions may be.

At the end of the book, there is a short "personal declaration" which is what the main character and the other "travelers" (historical figures throughout time) conclude to be, I guess, the model to live by.  I found it very superficial and empty, something to read and sign off on to give your self-esteem a boost, perhaps.  We do need answers about how to live and we do need principles to live by, but don't go to some empty book about how you can be a "successful" person and "save" humanity... serve God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind to discover how to really live to serve humanity.  Go to God's word, and truly wise men like C.S. Lewis and Albert Mohler, to get much better advice than to just do "something."


Thomas Nelson provided me with this book to facilitate a thoughtful and honest review.

This Little Prayer of Mine

Tonight we read a sweet little picture book: "This Little Prayer of Mine."  I asked my 5 and 6 year old daughters what they thought about it after we read the last page.

Beth said, "I like it but I do like other books better."

Olivia said, "I like it because there is a kitty in it!"


Milena said, "I like the kitty, too!"

As you can see, my daughters like animals.  Animals get their attention better than cute little kiddos like themselves.  (In case you're wondering, the "kitty" in the book is a gift to an old man who needs cheering up).  My kiddos do admittedly like other books more than this one.  Still, that didn't keep them from asking me to read it to them again and again!

From a mommy perspective, I like this book because it doesn't teach just rote prayers like some children's praying books do.  This book is an example of a brother and sister's prayer and they pray about everything, "without ceasing" as the bible tells us we should do.  It shows what a real childlike relationship with God can look like and it shows that we can call on God not just when we need something, but when we're sad, alone, scared, left out, and even selfish.  It's a great book and I definitely recommend it!

The wonderful people at Waterbrook Multnomah provided me this book in order to facilitate a thoughtful and honest review. 

The Girl in the Gatehouse... just like Jane Austen!

I fell in love with Miss Julie Klassen's writing voice upon finishing the first sentence of "The Girl in the Gatehouse."  So reminiscent of Jane Austen, this book could've been written by her... if it had been written 100 years ago and if Miss Austen would have had more mystery in her books.  I've tried other wannabe-Austen writers, but this is the only book that held my interest for more than a paragraph.

I love literary classics and, as you can tell by now, Jane Austen is one of my favorite classic writers along with Louisa May Alcott.  There are also hints of Alcott's influence in this book, too.  If you read it, you'll find the conclusion very reminiscent of an event in "Little Women."  Julie Klassen goes a step above Jane Austen, who didn't write faith into her books (with the exception of, perhaps, walks to church on Sundays).  "The Girl in the Gatehouse" is a story of God's love for us, redemption, and grace.  It's a timeless tale, and one we all need reminding of.

The heroine, Mariah Aubrey, is incredibly likable, witty, and sometimes feisty.  She's actually based on a minor Austen character of the same name.  The reader likes her almost instantly even though she has obvious, unlikeable flaws.  We see Mariah's character change and we see how God is working even her mistakes out for her own good and, as the pages turn, we see Him drawing her to Himself.  Oh, and the mystery!  This book is so wonderfully full of it and the way it all comes together in the end is both enchanting and exciting!

When it comes to fiction, I'm hesitant to review something by an author I haven't read before.  I have a high standard when it comes to books, especially fiction books. If a book doesn't speak to my heart on numerous levels, I feel it's a waste of time in a world that speeds by too quickly to be wasting that precious commodity!  Julie Klassen's "The Girl in the Gatehouse" is not only written exceedingly well, but it's a gem of a book.  My only reservation is that it's so hard to put down!  I've got a new favorite author and that hasn't happened since I discovered George MacDonald 2 years ago (his books are also the perfect combination of mystery, Jesus, romance, and history).

Now, if you head over to Amazon, you can read the first few pages of "The Girl in the Gatehouse" by using their "Look Inside" feature.

This book was provided to me by the wonderful people at Bethany House in exchange for a thoughtful and honest review!

A Collection of Wednesdays, A Passionate Read!

Each of us waits, like the sleeping Juliet, to be awakened by our Lover's compassionate kiss, to be awakened by a Lover who has already died and lives now to love us.  I am a believer in this Lover.  I too wait for Him to come and awaken me.  I believe in Him with passion... I decided... that I would be a person who lives with passion, and that I would allow God Himself to be the fuel of that passion.

So ends the first chapter of Miss Amy Gaither Hayes' new book, A Collection of Wednesdays: Creating a Whole from the Parts.  This book stirred my heart from the beginning.  Not only do its pages contain thought-provoking, heartfelt anecdotes but beautiful literary poems also grace those pages.

While working towards my Associates degree in Creative Writing, I took two poetry classes.  I'm not at all a poet, but my brother was and I sincerely appreciate great poetry.  If you aren't familiar with literary poetry you may have a hard time reading Miss Hayes'.  It doesn't rhyme, though it does have rhythm.  It's more like trains of thought.  I love her poetry; it spoke to my heart many times and flowed so well with the stories in her book.  The devotionals and memoirs in the book were also very eloquently written at times and often seemed a bit like poetry themselves.  The author writes about ordinary things but shows us how precious those everyday things really are.

As I've mentioned before, I'm not easily impressed by modern books.  I've read too many eloquent authors whose works have fed my soul and changed my life to be able to enjoy "just anything."  But within the first few pages of A Collection of Wednesdays, my eyes misted as my heart was touched by the words and by God.  Miss Hayes is a woman after my own heart and I hope to see more from her.  If you like to read memoirs, poetry, love Jesus (or want to), and long to be a more passionate woman in every aspect of your life, you won't be disappointed in this Collection.

I was blessed with this book by the wonderful people at Zondervan to facilitate a thoughtful and honest review.

How to Be God's Little Princess: Royal Tips of Manners and Etiquette for Girls

Let's face it. Being a princess is not as easy as some might think... I have some wonderful news. That's where grace comes in! What is grace? Grace is God's free gift of unconditional love poured out on all His princesses. That means you are as loved on your good days as your bad days. It means that there is nothing in the entire world that can keep you from God's love or keep His love from you. The best news of all is that when you are God's princess you don't have to get it right all the time. Being God's princess is not about being perfect, it's about being perfectly loved... And now... let's take a look at all the things a princess might need to know.

So begins Miss Walsh's book How to Be God's Little Princess: Royal Tips of Manners and Etiquette for Girls. It's for any little girl because, after all, every little girl is a princess because her Father is the King. And, honestly, that intro touched my own heart. Even we grown-up princesses sometimes need to remember what grace really is and that we are daughters of a wonderful King, too.

I homeschool my daughters and we're using this as the textbook for a fun class on, you guessed it, "Royal Manners and Etiquette for Girls." The idea that every girl is a princess is one that I think of often (I'm actually writing a YA novel about that very thing) so as soon as I saw this book, I wanted it for my little girls. They already believe they are princesses inside because Jesus is the King but, as 5 and 6 year olds, their manners and etiquette need a little work. This book is a fun way to teach them those things.  It teaches everyday things like how to be respectful and use good table manners and dress modestly, spiritual things like how to love Jesus and how to live in grace, fun things like how to make tiaras and party invitations and how to bake pink cookies, and silly things like how to bathe a royal dog.

I think this book is spectacular and believe it would benefit any little girl from 5 to 12. It helps girls to understand what it mean to be a real princess, a Jesus-is-my-Savior kind of princess, and it does it in a fun, easy going way. I've seen some reviewers saying that the biblical message isn't present in every section and so they gave it 3 stars, but I don't find that to be true--God relates to every part of our lives and is very evident in this book.  Even though the author doesn't point Him out in every little section, He's there through and through!

I give How to Be God's Little Princess 5 stars but don't just take my word for it. Head on over to Amazon or Christianbook.com and read it for yourself here!  By the way, this book is a nice hardcover & it's only $7.99 at Christianbook.com (a better price than Amazon's $9.99).

This book was provided by Thomas Nelson to facilitate an honest and thoughtful review.

Galileo, the Christian Encounters Series

Galileo is the first I've read in the Christian Encounters series.  I love Christian biographies--they encourage me to be more for God and they show me that amazing people weren't perfect and often fell short.  They had their own problems but God still used them to do glorious, amazing things.

Galileo was a man like that.  He wouldn't bow down to "the Church" of his day or the scientific community when their beliefs and ideas were wrong.  No one wanted to believe the earth was round, whether that was true or not.  They didn't want anyone questioning their long held traditions because of the control those traditions and thoughts held over the people.  Thinking of this book makes me think of the scripture, "Let God be true and every man a liar."

Perhaps you didn't realize Galileo was a Christian.  After all, he was excommunicated by the church as a heretic.  Well, so were Martin Luther and William Tyndale, who defied the Catholic church around the same time.  They brought about the Protestant Reformation and brought the Word of God to the common people.  

This book opened up my eyes about this amazing man.  He not only made amazing strides in Science and Mathematics, but was also a man whose "love of words would change the style of Italian literature."  A man after my own heart! In more ways than one... I didn't realize before that Galileo was a Christian but that doesn't surprise me--the way the public education system has completely rewritten history and removed any mention of true Christianity is despicable.  Judge a man not by what the religious "leaders" of his day did or believed in, but judge him by his own words and actions.  After he was condemned as a heretic by the church, he wrote:

This afflicts me less than people may think possible, for I have two sources of perpetual comfort--first, that in my writings there cannot be found the faintest shadow of irreverence toward the Holy Church; and second, the testimony of my own conscience, which only I and God in Heaven thoroughly know.  And He knows that in this cause for which I suffer, though many might have spoken with more learning, none, not even the ancient Fathers, have spoken with more piety or greater zeal for the Church than I.

I found the various Christian quotes to be just as interesting as the amazing discoveries of Galileo.  He obviously had strong convictions as a Christian and as a Scientist. He was not arguing for secular Science over the Bible--he believed his Scientific ideas and his Christian ideas were both true.  I like books like this that reveal that God and Science aren't incompatible--after all, any Scientific truth will never contradict the Truth of God's Word because He is the Creator of both.

I received this book for free from Booksneeze to facilitate an honest and thoughtful review.

God Gave Us You

Lisa Tawn Bergren's picture book God Gave Us You is a sweet story that helps children understand that they're a blessing, a gift from God to their parents.  It helps explain in the most childlike way where babies come from.

This book is very well written and reading it to your child/ren will be sure to bond you even closer together.  The illustrations are beautiful.  The story itself is something special along the lines of Margaret Wise Brown's The Runaway Bunny (which is a classic in children's literature you should definitely read if you haven't already!)  I have to admit, I like this story even better than the famous Miss Brown's because of the inspirational message within its pages.

I highly recommend this book and am so glad I had the opportunity to review it!  I also recommend the sequel to God Gave Us You--God Gave Us Two. I'm sure you can imagine what that one's about! 

The wonderful people at Waterbrook Multnomah provided me with a complimentary copy of this book for the purposes of this review.  All views presented are my own.

Time With God for Mothers

Time with God for Mothers is a lovely hardcover devotional book that's sure to encourage any mother whether she's 25 or 52.  The devotionals are short and sweet, and make it easy for a busy mom to pick up and spend some time with God when she has some spare minutes throughout the day.  The pages are decorated with beautiful jewels, accenting the truth that we are God's jewels (Malachi 3:17).

Time with God for Mothers includes 90 pages of devotionals which are one page each; a page of "Mothers' Prayers in the Bible"... prayers of women like Hagar, Hannah, Leah, and Mary; pages of scripture references on "The Responsibilities of Motherhood," "The Promises of Motherhood;" and pages for notes.  I have to admit, I want more than just mushy encouragement out of a book, as anyone whose been reading this blog long knows.  The devotionals themselves are encouraging but lack the challenge I long for in a good book.  I'm sure that was the author's intention, and he balances it out with the scripture sections at the end of the book.  I'm eager to sit down and do some good studies on "The Responsibilities" and "The Promises of Motherhood."

This book makes a nice devotional, a great coffee table book, and would be a wonderful Mother's Day gift for your mom.  I'll be giving one to my own mom for her birthday which is coming up soon!


The wonderful people at Thomas Nelson provided me with a complimentary copy of this book for the purposes of this review. All views presented are my own.

The Daughter's Walk... Based on a True Story

Miss Jane Kirkpatrick's newest book "The Daughter's Walk" is historical fiction based on the true story of Helga Estby and her nineteen year old daughter Clara.  One day in 1896, Clara's life took an unexpected turn when her mother informed her they'd be walking 7,000 miles across the country to earn money to save their family farm.  I was eager to read this book because I just can't get enough History and I'd never heard of Helga or Clara Estby.

Because of my husband's job, my family and I have journeyed across the country numerous times--adventure though it may be, it's not without its challenges with a mini-van and nice hotels along the way!  I couldn't imagine walking 7,000 miles alone with one of my daughters.  God truly protected these women who got into some harrowing scrapes!  Their adventure was by no means all fun and games.  These women experienced much tragedy and many trials.

Much of this book is about after the long walk they took.  The choices the daughter, Clara, made and the ways she dealt with her lot are both heart-rending and challenging to the reader herself.  The storyline is wonderful and the writing is excellent.  I was hooked from the first page.

"The Daughter's Walk" is a captivating and inspiring story.  It won't be available to the general public until April 5th but you can pre-order it on Amazon for just $9. And you can get a sneak peak here:
http://waterbrookmultnomah.com/2010/01/12/sneak-peek-the-daughters-walk-by-jane-kirkpatrick/

Or check out the incredibly interesting book trailer video.



Enjoy and be blessed!

The wonderful people at Waterbrook Multnomah blessed me with an Advanced Readers Copy of this book to facilitate a thoughtful and honest review.

Mouse and Mole, Fine Feathered Friends

Mouse and Mole: Fine Feathered Friends is a fun book filled with colorful pictures, action words, and teachable moments.  The birds are drawn to look like real birds (including a Cardinal, Blue Jay, Chickadee, and Goldfinch).  No cartoonish stuff here!

As they read, children learn real sounds the birds make and can easily imitate them: per-chick-o-ree says the Goldfinch, queedle-queedle says the Blue Jay, chick-a-dee-dee-dee says the... you guessed it... Chickadee!  If you're a homeschooler, this is the perfect book to add to a unit study on "Birds" er... "Fine Feathered Friends."

Throughout the story, Mouse and Mole have an adventure as they set out to go bird watching and create a Bird Book.  After their adventure, Mole turns out to be "quite an artist," Mouse turns out to be "quite a poet," and the two of them end up with a wonderful idea... but in case you decide to purchase this book yourself, I won't give it away!

Disclosure: This book was provided to me by the wonderful people at LittleOneBooks.com for the purpose of a fair and honest review.

The Dragon and the Turtle Go on Safari!

My 5 year old Lulu summed up The Dragon and the Turtle perfectly: "That night they were so excited but they kept imagining and imagining and getting scareder and scareder!"  That is exactly what happened. As they camped in their backyard (or Mount Sillymanborrow, as they called it), the dragon's and the turtle's imaginations ran wild as kids imaginations do.  They imagined a kitten as a leopard, an owl as a howler monkey, and a coyote as some strange breed of Saharan Rhino and they scared themselves silly. 

I haven't seen my kids get this excited about a book since I can remember, and they love books.  In my mind, it was a cute story but nothing exceptional.  It wasn't written for grown-ups, though; it was written for kids.  My kids give it 5 stars.  They argue over who gets to read it when, who gets to hold it on the way to church, who gets to hold it at church, who gets to... well, you get the picture!

So, yes, I like this book.  It not only has an engaging story but interesting, colorful pictures.  The Dragon and the Turtle is a cute little book with a good lesson--you don't need to be afraid of the dark (or anything else) because God is always with you.

The book ends with a bible verse from Deuteronomy 31:6 that pulls it all together, "Be strong and courageous.  Do not be afraid... God goes with you; he will never leave you."  My kids are already asking me when we can "get the other books" in the series and when they can go camping in our backyard.     

The wonderful people at Waterbrook Multnomah provided me with a complimentary copy of this book for the purposes of this review.  All views presented are my own.