Category: Mostly About Reading

Book Review: The Shelter of God’s Promises – by Sheila Walsh

 Book: The Shelter of God’s Promises
Author: Sheila Walsh
Genre: Christian life/religion
Pages: 224, paperback
Price: $15.99 USD
Released: February 1, 2011
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
My rating: An excellent book of encouragement and comfort for those who need to know or be reminded about where God’s  promises fit in their lives.
 

I received this book from Book Sneeze in exchange for a review.

The Shelter of God’s Promises is both for personal use and for group study. I read it alone and really enjoyed it.

This is a book written by a woman with an open heart taught by God. Sheila Walsh speaks out of experience, and from a voice of love, teaching and inspiring the reader.

Her ten chapter topics are:
Promises, Promises/I Need Something to Hold On To;
Provision/I Don’t Have Enough;
Peace/I’m Afraid and Feel Alone;
Confidence/I Can’t See God’s Plan in This Pain;
Love/I Don’t Believe That Anyone Could Really Love Me;
Grace/I Have Failed;
Hope/I’m Broken;
Strength/I Feel Things Are Crashing Around Me;
More/I Know There’s Something Better;
Home/I Have a Future.

Each topic is skillfully and tenderly addressed as she shares in a one on one manner, sometimes in humour – sometimes from pain and vulnerability – what God has revealed to her.

For someone who is seeking some answers, this may be the book to read. For someone seeking comfort in a hard place, for someone needing further insight – at the back of the book is a study guide with questions to consider after each chapter. It’s divided into four brief sections: Discover; Believe; Live; Memorize (with a scripture verse to memorize that week.) Taken seriously, the questions will help to motivate a deeper walk with Christ.

Even if the reader chooses to not use this book as a study it will still be an inspirational read of comfort and encouragement.

You can find The Shelter of God’s Promises listed on my BUY THE BOOK! page.

Have you read this book yet?

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings!  🙂

Has the English language lost its eloquence?

It’s been a busy month. Our daughter prolonged her stay by one week so that we were blessed to have her home for a month this time. It had been almost two years since her last trip home. It was sad having her leave on Tuesday, especially since we don’t know when she will be visiting again.

I am back and forth between my dad’s and my own home, as I talked about in my April 2’11 post. Since my computer was not behaving well – which set me back a bit – a stint at the shop was in order. Unfortunately,  the expected few days turned into a week – part of which I was home and suffering withdrawal with no computer. 😉 (Can anyone relate?) I’m still trying to sort and find things after it was ‘made like new’, but I feel assured it is operating better now.

Since I’m without a computer at Dad’s, I read instead. He has been a fan of Zane Grey for many years, and last week – when I finished the book I had taken with me – I picked up one of the many titles Dad has there. Soon after I began reading it, I realized that my choice for a first Zane Grey book to read may not have been the best. I wasn’t very happy with the rawness, but Grey was a very good writer regardless of the cruel reality in that novel. I was determined to finish the book – which I did – but it is unlikely that I will be reading more of his. Now I can say I read him, though. 🙂

What really fascinated me was the language, the beauty of the words used in 1925 when that book was written – and how some words have changed in usage.  It seems to me that over time our language has degraded – almost to grunts and phrases! What are we? – cave people now?  Do you feel that way at all? If I were to use some of the wording I would like to use in my writing would people think it too strange, antiquated? The English language used to be so refined and eloquent, but now it is getting to be less and less. Why do we have to ‘talk down’ to people? … ‘Don’t put that big word in your story, children won’t understand it’ – well let them ask about it! Don’t they like to learn anymore? *sigh* Or don’t we like to teach them to reach beyond themselves?

Okay, I have to end this post. You can see that I do get stirred up over such things. In fact, I KNOW I’m not the only one because a few weeks ago one of my blogging writer friends wrote a post about what is happening to our language. When I read her post I nodded in agreement, but after reading Zane Grey I realize even more how far and fast we have been falling .. and failing. Our language is broken. Why is it progression seems to always have the side effect of regression in some way?

So, my questions are scattered throughout this rant, but added to those are these:

Do you like to read books with vocabulary that challenges you a little?

Do you like to write stories like that, or do you withhold because of the chance that you’ll be told that you can’t pull it off these days, it won’t sell?

Book Review: Kaydie by Penny A. Zeller

It didn’t work out for me to post another book review in April, but I am one of several bloggers offered the opportunity of taking part in a blog tour. We each have interviewed the author of the book I am reviewing today. My day of the tour is Monday, May 9, so do come back to meet author Penny Zeller in my interview with her. I was privileged to receive the ARC of this book so that I could write a review before posting the interview with Penny. Now here is my review of her newly published book.

Book: Kaydie
Author: Penny A. Zeller
Genre: Christian historical romance; fiction
Pages: 144, paperback
Price: $9.99
Released: April 5, 2011
Publisher: Whitaker House
My rating: A novel to recommend to anyone who enjoys a good romance story without erotica.

I have to be honest here. Romance novels are not the ones I typically go for anymore, but this book has not just the undercurrent of attraction going on, it also is a good story set in the rugged Montana Territory of the old West. Kaydie is book two of Penny Zeller’s Montana Skies series.

This story centers around the main character, Kaydie Worthington Kraemer, but several other interesting characters are introduced early on. Kaydie is a young woman who suffered terrible abuse at the hands of her former husband, Darius, who played a clever game to get her family wealth. After his death, she was rescued and taken in by her sister and brother-in-law to live with them on their ranch. Pregnant and facing recurring nightmares and haunting memories, Kaydie wonders if she can ever trust enough to love again. When a gentle, caring man with his own difficult past walks into her life, and then a childhood friend is sent by her illustrious parents to court her, she has a hard decision to make. Does she surrender to what she thinks she knows and return to a life of wealth, or does she trust her heart?

During the progression of the story the reader discovers Kaydie’s will to survive and her determination to heal in order to secure a normal and safe life for herself and her baby. Penny Zeller wrote in a way that follows closely to how a woman, struggling with memories and fears, thinks things through, over and over, on her way to emotional healing.

Penny included enough suspense to keep the pages turning, humour to lighten the mood when certain characters were faced with difficulties, and historical details revealing life in the early years of settlement. Admittedly, at one point while reading I spoke out loud, “No way!” To say I got pulled into the story would be an accurate statement.

Although Kaydie is a Christian-based novel, the reader will not feel overwhelmed by religious thought being pushed down her throat. (I say ‘her’ because most readers of this series will probably be women.) It is not preachy but puts forward the encouragement found in a relationship with God. Penny Zeller has taken a gentle but unwavering approach in presenting to the reader a valid option of how to deal with life’s problems.

If you enjoy romance novels, or if you have never read one but are curious, I encourage you to get this one.

You can find Kaydie listed on my BUY THE BOOK! page.

Watch for my interview with Penny Zeller, scheduled for May 9.

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂

What are your reading and book buying habits?

How’s your reading coming along?

I have been slowly making my way through the large and varied collection of books I have accumulated over the years. I got into the habit of obtaining a book and not taking the time to read it yet, so now I have a great amount of catching up to do. To make matters ‘worse’ – or rather, more complicated – I keep gaining books. I am either buying them or winning them, but either way my bookcase is getting stuffed with new books. And I love it! (You can see most of my books listed on Library Thing – link in right sidebar, if you want to take a peek.)

Want to know what my newest classic addition is?

War and Peace.

Yes, you read that right. I bought a copy of the newly revised War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. You may ask, why did you do that, Lynn? Wellll .. I’m not really sure except that it is on the BBC’s 2009 list of 100 books that people should read – and I hadn’t read it yet. War and Peace is number 24 on that list, as you will see in my January 13’10 post: https://lynnadavidson.wordpress.com/2010/01/13/have-you-read-these-100-books/ Also, I had heard people talk about this book that is long to read, but not much about it otherwise. Curiosity got the best of me, I want to be able to say I read it, so now I have eliminated one excuse. 🙂

Have you read War and Peace? 

If you check the above link you will find that number 18 is Catcher in the Rye by J D Salinger. Such a little book which I bought last year and have yet to read. I’ve heard mixed reviews of that one so I’m interested in finding out if it makes any sense to me.

So much to devour, so little time free to do it! But I am trying to read, read, read, while not totally forgetting the writing. Not that I’ve been doing any writing, what with all the changes happening in our lives right now, but I haven’t forgotten about it. 😉

So, what are your reading habits? And what are your book buying habits? 

Do you buy and read one book at a time? Or do you buy the book when it comes out and then file it away to read at a later date? Or do you have another method? I’m very interested in hearing from you on this.

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings!  🙂

This post has been scheduled, so I look forward to early next week, if not before, when I can enjoy your comments and reply to them.

Book Review: Black Dog Dream Dog by Michelle Superle

This is a book I received from Library Thing in exchange for a review.

Book: Black Dog Dream Dog
Author: Michelle Superle, illustrated by Millie Ballance
Genre: children’s fiction
Pages: 32 (Paperback)
Price: $12.95 CDN
Released: December 14, 2010
Publisher: Tradewind Books
My rating: Even though this book was written for children, it is a wonderful heart-warming story that put a lump in my throat a couple of times. Easy to read and its characters come across as very real.
 

Eleven-year-old Samantha wants a dog. Well, a bigger dog. She has a little West Highland terrier, but she wants a BIG dog. Do dreams really come true? In her backyard one afternoon there appears a very big, very friendly, black dog that Sam thinks is magic because he makes her feel peaceful inside. The problem is that Sam knows her mother does not like large dogs and will not let her keep it. What is she going to do? She can’t hide him forever.

In the meantime there is Stella, an elderly lady who wakes one morning in a nursing home. She is missing her much loved dog but cannot speak to tell anyone. Also, living in the nursing home means not taking pets along.

Samantha and her mother visit the nursing home with their small pet where they find the residents love dogs. Maybe this is where the big one will belong, Samantha thinks. Her best friend helps her scheme and plan about what to do with the loveable stray before her mother finds out, but things start going all wrong. Through it all there is a surprise waiting for Sam.

This is a ‘can’t-put-it-down-until-having-read-the-whole-thing’ book. A very wonderful, captivating read written for young readers but anyone could enjoy it. I did!

Have you read this book yet? Would you like to read it or not, and why?

You can find Black Dog Dream Dog on my BUY THE BOOK! page.

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings!  🙂

Book Review: Flourish – by Catherine Hart Weber, PhD

This is a book I received from Library Thing in exchange for a review.

Book:  Flourish: Discover the Daily Joy of Abundant, Vibrant Living
Author: Catherine Hart Weber, PhD
Genre: Christian living, “self-help”
Pages: 299 (paperback)
Price: $14.99 US; $16.99 CDN
Released:  October 1, 2010
Publisher: Bethany House
My rating: Not an easy book to read; clinical, has some good points when you can finally get to them, but not a book I would recommend for anyone truly wanting to live in God’s steps.

I obtained this book as an advance reading copy from Library Thing. I thought it would be a good read to encourage someone who may sometimes grow weary and lack enthusiasm in life, but I found it very hard to get interested in this book. Catherine Weber came across in a clinical manner much of the time, which made parts of the book rather boring and hard to get through. Also, I was disappointed in how much she stressed the finding of joy to be so much work. Missing was the ingredient of the fact that a Christian should be walking in the spirit and less in the soul – meaning letting God lead rather than focusing on what “I” can do. Even though she does mention living in the Spirit, she then makes it dependent upon human effort. Although she made good points, she kept moving away from our Source of joy, and I was not impressed with the frequent name dropping and her repetitive use of the word languish. Even though it was not all disappointing, I would not urge anyone to purchase this book as I’m sure there are more Christian focused volumes out there than this one, and ones that are easier to read.

Have you read this book yet? If not, why do you want or not want to read it? If so, what do you think of it?

You can find Flourish: Discover the Daily Joy of Abundant, Vibrant Living on my BUY THE BOOK! page.

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings!  🙂

We have a winner! (Snow Day)

Tonight one of you became a winner of  a copy of Snow Day by Billy Coffey.  You were entered into the contest if you left a comment on this post: https://lynnadavidson.wordpress.com/2011/03/25/interview-with-billy-coffey-book-giveaway/

Shortly after 9:00 this evening, that’s 8:00 EST, my dear husband drew a name out of the basket and I have sent the winner an email requesting her mailing address.   When she has replied then I will post her name so that everyone knows who won and the book will be mailed to her.
So, check your emails, everyone!  Is it you?

Thanks for participating, and … Creative Musings!  :)