New and Upcoming Releases I Can't Wait to Get My Hands On

Here are some books I am looking forward to with great anticipation.

Return to Me by Lynn Austin ~ Ms. Austin is my favorite author. I love her historical fiction, so when I saw she was writing a new Biblical series, I became giddy with anticipation. The Restoration Chronicles are set during the time of the rebuilding of the Temple. I saw Return to Me in Books a Million a few days before it was set to release, and I snatched it up. I'm planning on reading it later this month.

Pilgrimage by Lynn Austin ~ This is a memoir about Ms. Austin's visit to the Holy Land, and the impact it had on her life. This releases next month. I may have to put this one on my Christmas list.

Draw of Kings by Patrick W. Carr ~ I loved book 1 in the Staff and the Sword series, I have book 2 waiting for me on my Kindle, and I am already excited to see how this series ends. If you like the fantasy genre, give these books a try. Book 3 comes out in January.

The Wall Around Your Heart by Mary DeMuth ~  A book about the healing only Jesus can give. I love Mary's straight forward, caring style. She speaks from personal experience. Another great book by her is her memoir Thin Places. The Wall Around Your Heart comes out later this month.

Fifteen Minutes by Karen Kingsbury ~ I thought this book about a singing show contestant looked like a fun, quick read. It comes out at the end of this month, and my library already has it on order.

Healer of Carthage by Lynne Gentry (March 4, 2014) ~ I saw an early review of this book on Goodreads, and thought it looked fascinating. A modern day doctor goes back to ancient Carthage and becomes the slave of a handsome lawyer. What's not to love?

The Amish Groom by Mindy Starns Clark and Susan Meissner (April 2014) ~ I'm not an Amish fiction fan, but I am a Susan Meissner fan. I'll definitely be checking out this new series, The Men of Lancaster County.

Bridge to Haven by Francine Rivers (April 22, 2014) ~ Francine Rivers has a new book coming out!!! It's about Hollywood in the 1950's, and the cover is gorgeous!

Shadowed by Grace by Carla Putman (January 1,2014) ~ I thought this book looked lovely. A woman travels to Italy during WW2 to take pictures and look for the father she never knew.

Love Comes Calling by Siri Mitchell (February 25,2014) ~ This book looks like so much fun. Another up and coming actress story. I have enjoyed the other books I have read by Ms. Mitchell. She has great story lines and great characters.

The Fatal Tree by Stephen Lawhead (Fall 2014) ~ I just finished book 4 in the Bright Empires series, and I am a little peeved that I am going to have to wait so long for the 5th and final installment. And such a cliff hanger there was. Argh! Seriously, though, this is a great time travel series, but you definitly want to read them in order.

So much good reading to do next year. I can hardly wait! What do you want to read in the future?

*A disclaimer. All of my links go to Amazon. They don't pay me any money. I just like them.*

What I read in September

It's finally fall. I know this because the days are getting shorter, and there is a lot of football on the television. Notice I did not say the weather was cooler. It is. A little. But not really enough to mention. Ah, Florida. I love you, I really do, but your summers are endless.

Anyway, I got a lot of reading done this month, so let me commence with my list. My library got some books for me through interlibrary loan. They make me feel so special.

Pearl in the Sand by Tessa Afshar ~ I was a little disappointed in this Biblical fiction story about Rahab. She started out as a strong, self reliant character. As the story progressed, I felt like she became a little wimpy. I also felt the story was a little too "New Testament", but the setting was Old Testament. It was just OK for me.

Forbidden by Tosca Lee and Ted Dekkar ~  This is book one in the Book of Mortals series. My son read these when they first came out, and loved them. I enjoyed this one as well, but it is a little gory. I would classify this as dystopian  with a vampire kind of vibe to it. I will be reading the next book. I gotta find out what happens.

What Happens When Women Say Yes to God  by Lysa TerKeurst ~ Very good Bible study on obedience. I did a couple of blog hops for it here and here and here.

A Corpse at St. Andrews Chapel by Mel Starr ~ This is the 2nd book in the Hugh de Singleton series and I liked it even more than the 1st (The Unquiet Bones). Hugh is a gentleman and a surgeon in medieval England. He works for a wealthy land owner, healing the sick and solving the occasional murder. I love this series so far. It has so much detail, and Hugh is a wonderful hero. Can't wait to get my hands on the next one.  

The Governess of Highland Hall by Carrie Turansky ~ A very enjoyable upstairs/downstairs romance I reviewed here.

Misery Loves Company by Rene Gutteridge ~ I saw this book reviewed somewhere and thought it sounded interesting. A few days later, it came up as a Kindle freebie! The story is about a book blogger who is kidnapped by an author. At first she thinks it's because she has given him bad reviews for his most recent books, but she learns that there is more to it than that. It is not an easy read. this woman endures quite a lot to solve the mystery, but, if you like suspense, you'll like this one.

What did you read this month? Any suggestions for me? Let me know in the comments.

Book Review: The Governess of Highland Hall

The Governess of Highland Hall by Carrie Turansky is an enjoyable upstairs/downstairs love story set in the early 20th century. William Ramsey recently inherited the huge estate, and he hires Julia foster, the daughter of missionaries, to be the governess of his young children. Sir William is a bit of a snob and tries to deny his feelings for middle class Julia. It doesn't take long for Julia to make an impression on William, and they spend a good portion of the book trying to figure out how to handle their growing attraction for each other.

I'm not a big fan of romances, so I get a little nervous when I have to read one for review. However, I liked this one a lot. The story was interesting, and the characters were well developed. The love story was sweet without being sappy. I would recommend this book to fans of Downton Abbey and also to fans of Julie Klassen. I will definitely read more books by this author in the future.

I received this book for free for the purpose of review. The opinions are my own.

Summer Reading 2013

Even though it's still technically summer, and even though Florida will still have hot weather for several more weeks, I thought I would update everyone on what I read this summer. I got through a few books, some of which had been languishing on my book shelf and in my Kindle cloud for a long time. Here they are along with some of my thoughts about them.

1. Cranford ~ Elizabeth Gaskell
I really loved this Victorian era book set in the quaint town of Cranford. It centered around several aging ladies who ,for various reasons, had never married. The BBC series is also excellent.

2.What Happens When young Women Say Yes to God ~ Lysa TerKeurst
I read this with my girls over the summer. I was looking for a Bible study for young women that didn't focus on dating and purity. This book fit the bill. Elin, Anna, and I had great discussions about how extraordinary your life will be when you obey God.

3. The Secret Keeper: A Novel of Kateryn Parr ~ Sandra Byrd
I'm not a huge fan of  Tudor era fiction, but I am enjoying this series. This book was about Henry XVIII's last wife, told through the eyes of her lady in waiting. Lots of details about the period, and the cover is gorgeous.

4. Gideon ~ Pricilla Shirer
I did this Bible study with the Living Proof blog community. A really good look at one of the Bible characters we think we know a lot about. I learned a lot, and highly recommend this one. I did it without the videos, and still got a lot out of it.

5. Jane Austen Ruined My Life ~ Beth Patillo
Enjoyable chicklit about a scorned woman who goes to England to dig up dirt on Jane Austen. She believes all of her problems stemmed from the fact that she was always looking for Mr. Darcy when, in reality, he doesn't exist. (Um, no dear, he doesn't exist. He's a fictional character.) She ends up discovering a secret society that is preserving the undiscovered letters of Jane Austen. As I said earlier, this was a fun book. I'm not a big fan of chicklit, but this one was pretty good.

6. Death Comes to Pemberly ~ P.D. James
I chose this book because of the title. I love it. The story was alright, too. It's a Pride and Prejudice sequel with a murder mystery. If you like murder mysteries, I would recommend it.

7. All of a Kind Family ~ Sydney Taylor
I read this book aloud to Anna. It's very sweet story about five Jewish sisters living in New York. They have adventures, and there are a couple of twists to the plot. If you have little girls that can sit and listen for a while, read them this book.

8. False Pretenses ~ Kathy Herman
This is the start of a Christian Mystery series, Secrets of Rioux River Bayou. One of the main characters has a secret that finally catches up to her. I thought this was a fun book, but I probably won't read the rest of the series.

9.The Fine Art of Insincerity ~ Angela Hunt
I'm a big Angela Hunt fan, so I really liked this book. The story is about three sisters who come together one weekend to clean out their grandmother's beach house. They all have issues and secrets, and they are more than a little self centered. Eventually, they see the value in their relationship to each other. This was an easy read, but it had a lot to say.

10. A Cast of Stones ~ Patrick Carr
This is the first book in the Staff and the Sword series. I really enjoyed it. I would highly recommend it of you like the fantasy genre.

11. Fly Away ~ Lynn Austin
I am a huge Lynn Austin fan. She's easily my favorite author. That being said, this was not a favorite of mine. I think it was one of the first books she wrote. It kind of read like a very long gospel tract. It got better as the story progressed, but still, I would recommend any of her other books over this one. In fact she has a new book coming out in a few weeks that I'm very excited about.

12. Iscariot ~ Tosca Lee
I'm still thinking about this one. On the one hand, it was a very well written story that held my attention the whole way through. On the other hand, I didn't agree with her portrayal of Judas, or of Jesus. I don't know if I would really recommend this book even thought it was interesting.

13. The Remedy for Regret ~ Susan Meissner
I loved this book. The main character is searching for forgiveness and love from her father. She finally realizes that what she really needs she can find in God. This was probably my favorite summer read, and one of my favorites this year.

Well, there's my summer reading in a nutshell. Some were good, some were okay. I'd love to hear what you read this summer. Let me know in the comments.

The Word as a Weapon

I have been doing some verse mapping with my current Bible study .It has been eye opening to dig a little more into some common verses that I have known since childhood, and see a deeper meaning than I have seen before.

This week I was looking at John 15:4 ~ Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

My NLT Study Bible (which is awesome!) says about remaining in Christ, "A disciple's life is fully formed by Jesus' words". It also says remaining "means a commitment on the part of God and the disciple".

I am #amazed that God is committed to me. He isn't asking anything of me that he isn't already doing for me.

My #Saywhat Moment

Her name was Susan. She was a captive audience in my living room. She had come to my home to sell me a very expensive vacuum cleaner. She did her demo, and I listened politely. In exchange for this I got a clean living room carpet and a small, rather useless camera. She got stuck at my house with no sale and no ride for an hour.

To say this was awkward is an understatement. I'm extremely introverted and I struggle with small talk. Thankfully, she was somewhat chatty. We talked about life for a few minutes. She asked me what my husband did . I said he was studying to be a minister. This brought on a rather long diatribe about why she didn't like ministers because they were so rich and took money from little old ladies.

At some point during all of this I got the strong impression that I was supposed to share my faith with with Susan. After hearing her talk about all that was wrong with churches, and Christians, and pastors, I was a little hesitant.  But I was obedient. I asked her a few questions, and found out that when she was young she went to a hell-fire-and-brimstone church. All she had ever heard about God was how judgmental he was, and that he couldn't wait to send people to Hell. Pastors scared her, Christians scared her, and God scared her. I was able to share God's love with her, and tell her that I'm not a Christian because I'm afraid of God. I'm a Christian because of the love He showed when He sent Christ to die for me.

I never saw Susan again after the hour we spent together. I still pray for her whenever I think about her. I'm so thankful I was obedient that day. I hope today she is serving the God that I know. The one that loves her more than anything.

With All My Heart

I have been meditating on Deuteronomy 6:5 this week:

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength."

I've known this verse since I was a little girl. I never really thought about it being anything spectacular. Of course I love God. I am a Christian. That's what Christians do.

Last night I dug a little deeper. My study Bible commentary says the heart, soul, and strength are our intellect, will, emotions, and our physical being. Everything I am needs to love God. Everything that makes me who I am needs to love God. Not just my mind if I'm tired, and not just my body if I'm thinking about something else. I need to love Him with all my being. This takes concentration and discipline. It takes time. It also takes reading the next verse:

"And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you."

Wholehearted commitment. That's what it looks like.