Book Review: The Perfect Love

Recently I was given the opportunity to review The Perfect Love by Ruth Myers. I have read several devotionals by this author and was looking forward to seeing what she had to say about God's love. I think Ms. Myers did a good job of explaining God's love and giving examples of His love by using scripture, hymns and stories from her own life. I did find the book hard to read, and the length of the chapters rather daunting. I would have enjoyed this book more if it was set up in more of a devotional style.

I received this book for free from Waterbrook Multnomah for the purpose of review.

Fall Into Reading Wrap-up

Well, it's Christmas day and I am finally getting around to my Fall into Reading Challenge wrap-up post. I am happy to say I at least started every book on my list. I used this challenge to shrink my to-be-read pile down to a slightly more manageable size. So...here is my list and how I rated each book.

84 Charing Cross Road by Helen Hanff  ~ 4/5

Jillian Dare by Melanie M Jeschke ~ DNF

The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom ~ 5/5

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith ~ DNF

Invitation to Solitude and Silence by Ruth Haley Barton ~ DNF

Courting Morrow Little by Laura Frantz ~ DNF

Demon: A Memoir by Tosca Lee ~ 5/5

A Sound Among the Trees by Susan Meissner ~ 4/5

A Distant Music B J Hoff ~ DNF

Bad Ground by Dale Cramer ~ 4/5

In the Arms of Immortals by Ginger Garrett ~ DNF

The Inheritance of Beauty by Nicole Seitz ~ 4/5

 

I really enjoyed Demon: A Memoir. It was very different, and gave me a lot to think about. In the non-fiction department, I enjoyed The Hiding Place. I had never read it before. It was a very uplifting story. Some of it was sad, but it gives so much hope in the middle of very bleak circumstances. I highly recommend it.

 

Well that's it for fall. I can't believe the year is almost over. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas, and have a happy New Year.



Book Review: Lonestar Angel

I was recently given a copy of Lonestar Angel by Colleen Coble to review on my blog. This is the forth novel in the Lonestar series. Overall, I enjoyed this story. It isn't my usual genre, but it had an interesting plot, and characters with good chemistry.

In the beginning of the book, Eden is reunited with her estranged husband Clay. He has received information that their daughter, who was abducted as an infant, is living on a ranch for foster children. Clay and Eden take the position of dorm parents for a house full of five and six year old girls. They only know that one of the girls is theirs, but they don't know which one. The rest of the book deals with their relationship and trying to solve the mystery of their missing daughter. One issue I did have with the story was the lack of police involvement. Eden and Clay found themselves in some very dangerous situations, and law enforcement was barely mentioned.

As I said earlier, this is book four in a series. I haven't read the three previous books. I thought this book worked fine as a stand alone, but I could tell I had missed a lot of back story on some of the secondary characters. Overall, I liked this book. I would recommend it to someone who enjoys romantic suspense.

I received this book free from Book Sneeze for the purpose of review.

Lasagna in the Slow Cooker

Today, for dinner, I'm making Slow Cooker Lasagna. Whenever I say that I make lasagna in the slow cooker, I get funny looks. Yes! You can make lasagna in a slow cooker. Yes! It tastes good. My family actually prefers it made this way instead of the traditional on the stove then into the oven method. I personally have never met a lasagna I didn't like, so I'm flexible on the preparation method. This way is very easy, though, and you get it going early in the day. The house smells great all afternoon, and you just set the plates out at dinner time.

Slow Cooker Lasagna

8 lasagna noodles

1 jar spaghetti sauce

1/3 cup water

1 lb cooked hamburger or sausage

1 15 oz container ricotta cheese

2 cups mozzarella or Italian blend cheese

Spray slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray. Break 4 of the noodles into pieces and put in the bottom of the pot. Combine the water sauce and meat. Put half of it on the noodles. Drop half the ricotta cheese by spoonfuls on top of the sauce mixture. Top with mozzarella cheese. Repeat all the steps with the remaining ingredients. Cook on low for 5 hours. Very good and very easy.

Book Review:Jesus Calling Devotional Bible

Recently, I was given an opportunity to read and review the Jesus Calling Devotional Bible edited by Sarah Young. This Bible includes 260 prayers with devotional answers from Sarah Young's books, scriptures highlighted throughout the text, and an index to the devotions. The copy I received is a hard cover, NKJ version.

I have found the set up of this Bible  to be fairly easy to follow. The devotions are organized into subjects and indexed in the front. Some of the subjects are abiding, brokenness, hope, joy, peace, and worship. You simply choose the subject you want to read and go to the indicated page. The devotions are on a two page spread with a prayer on the left side and the devotion on the right. Sarah Young's devotions are unique, because they are told in the first person from God's point of view. I really enjoy this writing style. It's very personal, and has given me a new perspective on God and his word. The only problem I had with this Bible came when I was looking up particular passages. The devotion pages are not numbered, and the prayer pages are numbered halfway down the page. This cause a little confusion, but overall I liked the set up.

This is a beautiful devotional Bible that I think most Christians would enjoy. I think the writing style would be preferred by women, but men might enjoy it, too. It would make a lovely gift, and, because the devotions are not dated, it can be given at anytime of the year.

I received this book for free from Book Sneeze for the purpose of review.

Book Review: A Sound Among the Trees by Susan Meissner

I recently read A Sound Among the Trees by Susan Meissner. This is the Third book by her that I have read, and I have enjoyed them all She is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. The story is about ghosts, a creepy house, second chances, and letting go of the past. It is set in two time periods, the present day and the Civil War. The author uses both of these setting to tell a interesting story that spans generations. One of the most important characters in the story is Holly Oak, an antebellum mansion that has been in the same family for generations. It seems to have a mind and personality of its own. I really enjoyed this book. It was part mystery, part love story. I would recommend it to readers who like historical fiction.

This book was given to me free by Waterbrook Multnomah for the purpose of review.

Fall Into Reading 2011

Well, today is the first day of fall. That means cooler weather should be coming our way...eventually. I'm planning on lots of Starbucks this fall and lots of reading. Callapidder Days is hosting the Fall Into Reading challenge again and I have my list ready. I picked most of these books randomly, so there really isn't much rhyme or reason to my list.

84 Charing Cross Road by Helen Hanff

Jillian Dare by Melanie M Jeschke

The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith

Invitation to Solitude and Silence by Ruth Haley Barton

Courting Morrow Little by Laura Frantz

Demon: A Memoir by Tosca Lee

A Sound Among the Trees by Susan Meissner

A Distant Music B J Hoff

Bad Ground by  Dale Cramer

In the Arms of Immortals by Ginger Garrett

 The Inheritance of Beauty by Nicole Seitz

I've had some of these books a ridiculously long time, so I am looking forward to getting them read. Or at least deciding not to read them. We'll see how it goes. I'll give an update and some book reviews in December when the challenge is over. Wow! By then it will be almost Christmas! Oh well, happy fall and happy reading.