Book Review: Hold That Thought

 

Hold That Thought

Sorting Through the Voices in Our Heads

by Gem Fadling

Pub Date 20 Sep 2022 

 InterVarsity Press,  IVP

 Christian  |  Nonfiction (Adult)  |  Religion & Spirituality 

I am reviewing a copy of Hold That Thought through InterVarsity Press and Netgalley:

If you’re looking for a comprehensive book on theology this certainly is not that, but if you want a Christian book that reminds you of the importance of self-care and positive self-talk, this one book you are going to want to read.

One important reminder that really sticks out in Hold That Thought is that We Don’t Have to Earn who We Are but we get to express who we are.  My take on this we are the unique individuals God created us to be, so be yourself.

The book also reminds us that you can only reach for something deeper when you loose grasp on what you already know, I believe this has to do with positive thinking, we can’t get to know ourselves in a more positive light, until we start exploring the positive attributes of ourselves, the good things about ourselves.

But in order to understand the positive gifts we have been given we need to remember that there is suffering in this world, after all Jesus himself suffered unimaginable pain and connecting with the suffering of Christ helps us to deepen, to grow and to become more whole.

Another important reminder is not to overwork ourselves, humans aren’t mean to be machines that can endlessly crank out products, we are more comparable to fruit tress than we are factories.  Another words be careful not to burn yourself out.

Don’t let your inner critic control you, think more along the lines of progress not perfection.  We can’t do everything perfectly but we can do well.  

There were many other valuable points brought up in this book, but I’ll let you discover those for yourself.

I give  Hold That Thought five out of five stars!

Happy Reading!

Book Review: The Apostle’s Sister

 

The Apostle's Sister

by Angela Hunt

Pub Date 07 Jun 2022 

 Bethany House,  Bethany House Publishers

 Christian  |  Historical Fiction

I am reviewing a copy of The Apostle’s Sister through Bethany House and Netgalley:

Ava, daughter of Zebulun of Tarsus, has always longed for more.  What if the path she has chosen requires more than she's willing to give?

After years of being overshadowed by her brilliant brother Sha'ul, Aya  wants a chance to use her own gifts beyond being a wife and mother. When her father insists that she marry a Torah student, she reluctantly agrees.

Shaul or Paul return is a dedicated scholar who returns to Tarsus to follow the instructions of the Law and wed the woman his father has chosen to raise his profile and help him earn a seat on the Great Sanhedrin--the highest religious court in the land. But when the Nazarene, Yeshua, and his followers bring trouble to the Holy City, Sha'ul will stop at nothing to silence them.

After she and her husband move to Jerusalem, she expects to be bored in her role as wife to a Torah student. Instead, she finds herself fascinated by his studies. Then her brother makes a life-altering decision, and she must face a troubling question: Can she remain true to her beliefs and still love her blasphemous brother?

I give the Apostle’s Sister five out of five stars !

Happy Reading!

Book Review: Where David Threw Stones

 

Where David Threw Stones

Pub Date 27 Sep 2022 

 The Book Whisperer 

 General Fiction (Adult)  |  Historical Fiction  |  Teens & YA

I am reviewing a copy of Where David Threw Stones through The Book Whisperer and Netgalley:

This book will transport you back to West Germany in 1968.

After ten year old David Saidel's parents are murdered by Neo-Nazis, he is sent to live with his grandfather in the anti-Semitic village of Brennenbach. David, miserable and lonely, finds solace in his kindly Grandpa Ernst, who has one strict rule: never go out after midnight.

When David breaks curfew to search for his missing dog, he discovers why Ernst is so serious about his curfew: Brennenbach is cursed. When midnight strikes, the town is thrown back to 1943, the height of Hitler's reign.

During the Cursed Hours the Nazi ghosts that infest Brennenbach are just as dangerous as they were in life. They're hunting for David because they think David is the last remaining member of the Kogan family. Whatever happened to the Kogans caused the Curse, and David and his grandfather won't be safe until he finds a way to end it.

Through the help of a little girl named Maria Rahm, the daughter of a vicious Nazi Lieutenant, he sets out to uncover the truth behind the Kogans.

Can he end the Curse that plagues the town of Brennenbach before it claims another victim?

If you are looking for a unique fantasy novel then I highly recommend Where David Threw Stones€!

Five out of five stars!

Happy Reading!

Book Review: Stephen King: A Complete Exploration of His Work, Life, and Influences

 

Stephen King

A Complete Exploration of His Work, Life, and Influences

by Bev Vincent

Pub Date 13 Sep 2022

 Quarto Publishing Group – becker & mayer!,  becker&mayer! 

 Biographies & Memoirs  |  Entertainment  |  Nonfiction (Adult) 

I am reviewing a copy of Stephen King A Complete Exploration of His Work, Life, and Influences through Quarto Publishings and Netgalley:

This book will allow you to explore the evolution and influences of Stephen King’s body of work over his nearly 50-year career, and discover how the themes of his writing reflect the changing times and events within his life.

Timed for Stephen Kings Seventy fifth birthday on September. 21.2022, Stephen King features archival photos as well as documents from Stephen Kings personal collection, these photos enhance the story behind how his novels, novellas, short stories, and adaptations came to be.

It likely sounds like a tall tale, but it isn’t, once Stephen King the celebrated author helped his young daughter bury her cat in a nearby “pets sematary” after it was killed on a busy roadway.   The magic of King comes from his ability to draw on personal experience and mundane life events and then twist them into something horrific. With critically acclaimed titles that have also been turned into blockbuster sensations like The Shining, It, and Carrie, King's work has stood the test of time across decades. This history of the writer's struggles, triumphs, bestsellers, lesser-known stories, collaborations, and more makes the perfect addition to any Stephen King fan’s collection.

I give Stephen King: A Complete Exploration of His Work, Life, and Influences five out of five stars!

Happy Reading!

Book Review: Learning Our Names

 

Learning Our Names

Asian American Christians on Identity, Relationships, and Vocation

by Sabrina S. Chan; Linson Daniel; E. David de Leon; La Thao

Pub Date 30 Aug 2022

 InterVarsity Press,  IVP

 Christian  |  Nonfiction (Adult)  |  Religion & Spirituality

I am reviewing a copy of Learning Our Names through InterVarsity Press and Netgalley:

What’s your name?  It seems like an easy question but Asian Americans are used to being called names that deny our humanity.  They may toggle back and forth between different names as a survival strategy. But it's a challenge to discern what names reflect true identities as Asian Americans and as Christians. In an era when Asians face ongoing discrimination and marginalization, it can be hard to live up to God’s Calling for their lives.  Asian American Christians need to hear and own our diverse stories beyond the cultural expectations of the model minority or perpetual foreigner. A team from East Asian, Southeast Asian, and South Asian backgrounds explores what it means to learn our names and be seen by God.   

This book encourages ages American to know their history, telling diverse stories of the Asian diaspora in America who have been shaped and misshaped by migration, culture, and faith.  

I give Learning Our Names five out of five stars!

Happy Reading!

Book Review: Beautiful as You

 

Beautiful as YOU

Overcome Negative Self Talk - God's Way - Devotional and Prayer Journal - For Christian Women

by Jenny L Kessel

Pub Date 13 Sep 2022 

 BooksGoSocial 

 Christian  |  Religion & Spirituality 

I am reviewing a copy of Beautiful as You through BooksGoSocial and Netgalley :

Beautiful as You is a wonderful Devotional and Prayer Journal that reminds us to change the narrative when it comes to negative self talk,  we are reminded to stop allowing our inner critics to control our life, which allows Satan to get a foothold by believing the lies he spews.

Jenny L Kessel reminds us too that the Lord never intends us to live our lives feeling defeated, worthless, and hopeless.  So this devotional/ prayer journal helps us to take the first steps towards change and allow yourself these 21 days to awaken transformation by switching lies to the truth.

In this focused prayer journal, the author shares her personal struggles with self-image and negative self-talk. Learning the truth from God's Word was the key to beginning to heal from years of ingrained lies. Coming to know Christ as an adult offers a perspective that speaks to the wounded women in the pew. Jenny's message of hope to those struggling to forgive sins of the past and to overcome the inner critic is imperative.

I give Beautiful as You five out of five stars!

Happy Reading!

Book Review: The New Yorkers

 

The New Yorkers

31 Remarkable People, 400 Years, and the Untold Biography of the World's Greatest City

by Sam Roberts

Pub Date 25 Oct 2022 | Archive Date 30 Sep 2022

 Bloomsbury USA,  Bloomsbury Publishing

 Biographies & Memoirs  |  History  |  Nonfiction (Adult)

I am reviewing a copy of The New Yorkers through Bloomsbury USA, and Netgalley:

The New Yorkers is Sam Roberts's pulsating history of the world's most exceptional metropolis, greet the city anew through thirty-one unique New Yorkers you've probably never heard of-just in time for the city's 400th birthday.

In The New Yorkers Sam Robert’s introduces the first woman to appear nude in a motion picture, becoming the face of Civic Fame as Miss Manhattan; the couple whose soirée ended the Gilded Age with an embarrassing bang; and the husband and wife who invented the modern celebrity talk show. The book also reveals New York’s first recorded murder in the seventeenth century as well as the high school drop out who slashed New York’s crime rates in the twentieth century.  The notorious mobster who was imperiously banished from the city and the woman who successfully sued a bus company for racial discrimination a century before Rosa Parks.

Some deserved monuments, but their grandeur was overlooked or forgotten. Others shepherded the city through its perpetual evolution, but discreetly. Virtually all have vanished into New York's uncombed history. The New Yorkers is a living biography of the world's greatest city, and no one knows New York better than Sam Roberts-or is better at bringing its history to life.

I give The New Yorkers five out of five stars!

Happy Reading!

Book Review: God Inspired Life

 

God Inspired Life

Living differently through the six challenges of life

by Godfrey Kesari

Pub Date 30 Sep 2022 

 John Hunt Publishing Ltd,  Circle Books

 Christian  |  Multicultural Interest  |  Religion & Spirituality 

I am reviewing a copy of God Inspired Life through John Hunt Publishing Ltd, and Netgalley:

Godfrey Kesari reminds us that A God Inspired Life is to love everything we have.  It also reminds us to put our trust in God and give God our heart. We need to love him with all our mind, and how do we do that?  We do that by allowing God to be part of all we think.  We are to love him with our soul, as well with all your strength.

Living a God Inspired Life is about building a relationship with God.  We need to remember too that we belong to God for now and eternity.  We are reminded too that living a God Inspired Life also reminds us that neither cast systems or race matters, what matters is our relationship with Christ.

We are reminded too that prayer is at the heart of discernment, that prayer is simply talking to God and listening to him.  Praying to God allows us to be focused.  Equally important in living a God inspired life is reading the Bible, and discerning the word.

Many live a self-inspired life. Many others live an others-inspired life. If we live a self-inspired or others-inspired life, we could underdo things. It is equally possible that we overdo things and get burnt out. A God-inspired life is not only the best way to live, but it is also the only way to live as God intends us to live.

Life is a struggle. We can get confused about our purpose, passion and perception. There is so much distraction in this world. We can get muddled up. Life can become messy. Well, nothing can revitalise our life than a renewed vision  a vision to live for God in Christ.

If you feel you are not living the life you are meant to live, this book is for you.

I give God Inspired Life five out of five stars!

Happy Reading!

Book Review: The Silence Before Dawn

 

The Silence Before Dawn (WW2 Resistance Series Book 1)

by Amanda Lees

Narrated by Sofia Zervudachi

Pub Date 13 Sep 2022 

 Bookouture Audio 

 Historical Fiction 

I am reviewing a copy of The Silence Before Dawn through Bookoture Audio and Netgalley;

The year is 1944, Nazi-Occupied France, : I tear open the envelope, extracting a sheet of folded paper. I read it, my heart cracking with every word. There is no mistaking the name of the man who betrayed us. Jack. My beloved fiancé – and now, a traitor.

Marianne’s resistance network has carried out courageous missions from a remote farmhouse in southern Provence, aiding the Nazis’ downfall for months. Unfortunately one fateful night, they are viciously ambushed as German soldiers storm in, scattering, capturing or killing every last person there.

Mourning the loss of her friends, Marianne will need every ounce of courage to survive. Not only has her life as a secret agent been critically compromised, but her heart has been shattered. Because Jack, her darling fiancé and fellow spy, fled in the chaos – and is accused of being the traitor who betrayed them.

Marianne is desperate to believe Jack’s innocence and that their love was true, to her horror Marianne discovers he has been seized by the Butcher of Lyon, a Nazi more brutal and ruthless than any other. Now it is more imperative than ever that Marianne finds Jack – before he reveals the names of every undercover agent in France, or before he is murdered for remaining loyal.

Now Marianne sets out for the most dangerous and most personal  mission of her life.  With a tight knit group of other women agents by her side Marianne risks everything to rescue Jack. Can she save her fiancé before it’s too late – and change the fate of the war in the process? Or is she blind to the heart-breaking truth, and simply sacrificing her own life?

I give The Silence Before Dawn five out of five stars!

Happy Reading!

 

Book Review: Radically Whole

 

Radically Whole

Gospel Healing for the Divided Heart

by David Gibson

Pub Date 11 Oct 2022 |

 Crossway 

 Christian  |  Religion & Spirituality 

I am reviewing a copy of Radically Whole through Crossway and Netgalley:

We all long for wholeness and honesty in their lives. In reality, people are often double-minded, pulled between good and evil in their speech, actions, and character. These rifts can be spiritually and relationally devastating. So how does God heal a fractured heart?

Radically Whole is an exploration into the New Testament book of James helps readers identify double-mindedness in their own lives and understand God’s grace as he “pulls apart the divided heart to make it whole.

David Gibson helps readers embrace the painful yet profound process of redemption, defeat double-mindedness, and experience wholeness in every area of their lives.

I give Radically Whole five out of five stars!

Happy Reading!

Book Review: The Watchmakers

 

The Watchmakers

A Powerful WW2 Story of Brotherhood, Survival, and Hope Amid the Holocaust

by Henry Lenga; Scott Lenga

Pub Date 28 Jun 2022 

 Kensington Books,  Citadel

 Biographies & Memoirs  |  History 

I am reviewing a copy of The Watchmakers through Kensington Books, Citadel and Netgalley:

Harry Lenga was born to a family of Chassidic Jews in Kozhnitz, Poland.   He and his two brothers were proud sons of watchmakers.  Mailekh and Moishe, studied their father’s trade at a young age. Upon the German invasion of Poland, when the Lenga family was upended, Harry and his brothers never anticipated that the tools acquired from their father would be the key to their survival.

Forced to live in the most devastating conditions imaginable, where death was always imminent, fixing watches for the Germans in the ghettos and brutal slave labor camps of occupied Poland and Austria bought their lives over and over again. From Wolanow and Starachowice to Auschwitz and Ebensee, Harry, Mailekh, and Moishe endured, bartered, worked, prayed, and lived to see liberation.

The Watchmakers is a compilation of a decades worth of interviews with Harry Lenga, conducted by his own son Scott and others, The Watchmakers is Harry’s heartening and unflinchingly honest first-person account of his childhood, the lessons learned from his own father, his harrowing tribulations, and his inspiring life before, during, and after the war. It is a singular and vital story, told from one generation to the next—and a profoundly moving tribute to brotherhood, fatherhood, family, and faith.

I give The Watchmakers five out of five stars!

Happy Reading!

Book Review: Five Floors Up

 

Five Floors Up

The Heroic Family Story of Four Generations in the FDNY

by Brian McDonald

Pub Date 06 Sep 2022 

 Grand Central Publishing 

 Biographies & Memoirs

I am reviewing a copy of Five Floors Up through Grand Central Publishing and Netgalley:

If you are a fan of Rescue Me or Blue Bloods, I think you will enjoy this riveting history of the New York City Fire Department as told by from the perspective of the Feehan family, who served in the FDNY for four generations and counting.

Five Floors Ups comes from the eyes of four generations of a firefighter family, Five Floors Up the story of the modern New York City Fire Department. From the days just after the horse-drawn firetruck, to the devastation of the 1970s when the Bronx was Burning, to the unspeakable tragedy of 9/11, to the culture-busting department of today, a Feehan has worn the shoulder patch of the FDNY.  

This book shines the spotlight on on the career of William M. Feehan. “Chief” Feehan is the only person to have held every rank in the FDNY including New York City’s 28th Fire Commissioner.  William Fehan died in the twin towers on 9’11 but Five Floors Up is at root an intimate look at a firefighter clan, the selflessness and bravery of not only those who face the flames, but the family members who stand by their sides.  This book is both humorous and harrowing.

I give Five Floors Up five out of five stars!

Happy Reading!