Stolen Soul

Stolen Soul

In the Beginning. . .

by S.R. McDaniel

This book is sort of a modern day adaptation of the life of Saul turned Paul from the Bible. It tells the story of a serial killer who has a road to Damascus experience right before he's caught after killing over 50 people. The story also includes his history and why he became a person that could murder innocent people.

The author uses telepathy, Christianity, witchcraft and psychology and mixes them all together to make a fascinating and yet very confusing story.

I felt that the author was trying to point out that God can save you no matter where you are in life. But the point was somehow lost at times in the many turns of the story.

The story jumps around so much that it's very hard to follow. The descriptions are lengthy and often completely unnecessary to the storyline. Once I got into the 5th or 6th chapter I enjoyed the story, but was still left confused several times by the changes in events or the descriptions.

The author wrapped everything up very neatly for those that don't like lose ends to their stories. But I felt that the story would have flowed better if most of the descriptions and some of the back stories had been left out.

I received this book free of charge in exchange for my honest review.

Give-Away

My first give-away comes about quite by accident.

One of the books that I am reviewing was sent to me twice today. The publisher sent an email yesterday alerting me to the possibility and told me to give the book away or donate it.

So here is your chance to get one of the books that I'll be reviewing this next week.

The name of the book is

untamed

by Lisa Harper

Since I haven't reviewed the book I'll tell you what the book says.

How the wild side of Jesus frees us to live and love with abandon. Too many people settle for relating to Jesus merely as a comfortable friend and companion, when what we need is an untamed Savoir, a fearless champion touch enough to conquer our shame and compelling enough for us to follow Him without hesitation.

So here is how you can get this book.

Post a comment on this blog and on June 5th I will randomly choose one of the comments and email you for contact information.

Update:
I have since read the book and LOVE it. Check out my review.

Spring for Susannah

Spring for Susannah

by Catherine Richmond

This book begins with a young girl, Susannah, heading to the Dakotas to meet her new husband. She's been married by proxy and doesn't know very much about him.

No one has ever loved her or been her friend except for her pastor's wife. She's scared to death to meet her new husband, but due to circumstances beyond her control knows there is no other choice.

He is pleased with his new wife, but also confused over her reserve and timidness.

The book tells the story of her growing love for her husband and the hardships of living on the prairie.

After the grasshoppers eat everything Jesse (the husband) leaves to find work and  Susannah learns how to stand up for herself and trust in God again.

I liked the story idea and was really looking forward to reading this book.

This story is your typical Christian romance. There were several things that I liked about the book. It was had a strong Christian message and had quite a few Bible verses and their application to life woven into the story.

But I soon became frustrated. It didn't seem real. There were parts of the book that didn't seem right for the time period and most of the book seemed to drag for me. I felt that most of the story dealt with Jesse being gone and Susannah dealing with life on her own. It also seemed to end rather abruptly. It needed an epilogue.

Also as a note to parents - if you don't want your young girls reading about sex after marriage then don't let them read this book. If you want them to know what goes on between a married couple than this book will be fine. I was rather surprised about the descriptiveness of this area of marriage. Most Christian fiction tends to lean on the prudish side. This book does not.

All in all a good book, just not great.

I received this book free of charge from Book Sneeze in exchange for my honest review. 

Just a Nice Guy

Just a Nice Guy

By Phil Torcivia

This book is about an almost-50-year-old divorced man who doubts he will ever remarry, but keeps dating, even if it’s just for a sleeping partner. It reads like a blog throughout the year of 2010 and covers many topics. But the main theme throughout the book is the author’s view of the dating world and his opinions on the subject.
The author will be the first to tell you that it’s crude and, at times, sexist. So do not read this book if you do not like bad language or are easily offended. The author is honest about his views and doesn’t mind using cuss words. He even made a list of his favorites.
The book is a humorous take on how a man views the world and can be used as a glimpse into the male mind. I think it will also be enjoyed by men who will be able to commiserate on the many pitfalls of dating and growing older.

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.

The Book Thief

The Book Thief

by Markus Zusak

This book is amazing! Those words seem so inadequete to describe how I feel. It reached in and grabbed my heart and didn't let go the entire time. It made me laugh, it made me cry and it drew me into a different side of a much told story. It was a side I hadn't experienced and I loved it.

I took this book everywhere with me, just in case I might have a spare moment to read. 

At first I thought I was drawn to the story because, like the character, I had difficulty learning to read properly. And now I'm a huge book lover. But I don't think that was the reason. The author has the unique ability to draw someone in and before they realize what has happened they are hooked.

The story begins with the narrator telling the reader how he knows the main character. I don't recall him mentioning his name, but I'll tell you. His name is death. And he tells about the first time he met Liesel when she was just a little girl. Death comes to claim the souls of the people as they die and that is where he meets her for the first time. It's also when she steals her first book.

The time is set at the beginning of Hitler and takes you to the end of the war and through the journey of Liesel, the book thief. 

This book isn't just about a war or books. It's about the complexity of humanity. 

We can be so evil and so cruel. But we can also be so warm and beautiful.

I think the words of Death at end sum up so much -

I wanted to tell the book thief many things, about beauty and brutality. But what could I tell her about those things that she didn't already know? I wanted to explain that I am constantly overestimating and underestimating the human race-that rarely do I ever simply estimate it. I wanted to ask her how the same thing could be so ugly and so glorious, and it's words and stories so damning and brilliant.

None of those things, however, came out of my mouth.

All I was able to do was turn to Liesel Meminger and tell her the only truth I truly know. I said it to the book thief and I say it now to you.

I am haunted by humans.

I don't typically like war books and I hate to cry. But this was both for me and I loved it. So please don't let those things stop you from reading this book. You won't be sorry.

Indelible

Indelible

by Kristen Heitzmann

I've heard some really great things about this author so I wanted to read one of her books. Let me start out by saying I couldn't put this book down. It was gripping and entertaining. I'm not one for posting spoilers so I won't go into too many details, but the book starts off with an injured Olympic medal skier and a girl with a unique gift. They connect because he saves her nephew's life and their lives become more and more connected. During this time someone targets the male character and weird things begin happening.

The only reason I would give this book less than a 5 star is because through the first half of the book I remained confused about some of the characters. I felt like I'd jumped into the middle of their story and was playing catch up. I realize that some things can't be reveled until just the right moment in the story, but some of these things didn't seem to go with the story at all. They were additional characters that might have had their story told in a previous book and were just here because they lived in the same town as the main characters. Very confusing. 

This in no way made me put the book down, but it did leave me wondering why there was no mention of a prequel on the book anywhere so I could have read it first.

The book deals with loss, grief, love and eidetic memory. Not your typical book.

But with each (good) book that I read I become involved in the characters lives and feel their joy, pain, etc.

There were two main things that I learned from this book -

1. Every moment counts. Don't be sorry later because your child (or loved one) is no longer with you and you were too busy to pay attention and spend time with them.

2. Someone may appear strange, weird or different, but that doesn't mean that they can't add something to my life. There is always something to learn from someone else. Try to see past the exterior to the wonderful inside that God created.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

The Promise of an Angel

The Promise of an Angel

by Ruth Reid

I don't normally read Amish books. It bothers me that everyone seems to be so fascinated by a people who have hardly any contact with the outside world. It seems intrusive. Also just how much do the authors really know about the Amish way of life? Usually not much.

But this book didn't touch so much on their way of life as it touched on faith.

The main character Judith has her life planned just the way she thinks it will/should go. She has plans to marry Levi, have children and grow old in the community where she was raised.

But then her brother is paralyzed and her whole world is turned upside down.

She sees an angel and has several dreams involving the healing of her brother and no one believes her. At first they think she's just stressed about her family and then they begin to ridicule her.

The book can be summed up in just a few paragraphs and yet never once in the book did I feel bogged down in details or skipping ahead to pass the boring pages.

The book deals with standing firm in the face of adversity and never letting go of your faith.

But it also had a fascinating story woven into the lesson on faith. I never felt like I was being "preached to" and yet I finished this book praying for more faith and thankful for my family.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Nick of Time

Nick of Time  

A Bug Man Novel

by Tim Downs

The main character of this book reminded me so much of Gil Grissom in CSI.

It was party because they were both forensic entomologists and partly because they both seemed better at dealing with bugs than humans.

I enjoyed the book. I will be reading the other Bug Man books when I get the chance.

But I will be giving this book a four for several reasons.

I didn't care for the story line very much. I felt it could have been presented a little better.

Also there was no indication which book this was in the series, but several times I felt like I was "missing something" to the story.

And then the story didn't really conclude. It was obviously left open for the next book in the series.

The premise of the story is two "different" people who have fallen in love and are to be married next week. One week before the wedding the groom Nick heads off on a trip because of a letter he received from a friend. The friend is found dead and it sends Nick off on a search for clues. He completely forgets to call his fiancee and she becomes worried - so worried that she is soon following him around the state trying to find him. It doesn't really end so I'm assuming this book is in the middle of the series. I liked the book, but didn't love it. But as the author probably hoped, I'm curious enough that I'll be reading the other books to find out what happened and also in hopes that the other books are better written.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Fairer Than Morning

Fairer Than Morning

by Rosslyn Elliott

I really enjoyed reading this book. It was Christian fiction which is my favorite so I was pretty excited to get it. Once I started reading I couldn't put it down. The outcome is predictable as is all romantic fiction, but the author put enough twists into the story to make it very enjoyable and at times unpredictable reading.

The story starts with a girl who can't decide if she wants to marry her suitor and an indentured servant boy who is being abused. The story is how they each came to know each other and their Savior.

It was a bit hard to read about the abuse - both to the indentured slave and to the other slaves in the book. The book was set before the Civil War when slavery was an accepted way of life for most people. And abuse to them was considered normal and acceptable.

The author took a true story in history and by "bending" a few details was able to make a story both believable and entertaining to the reader. I look forward to reading the rest of the books in this series.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Daddy Dates

daddy dates by Greg Wright

This book is about a regular guy who had four daughters and didn't have a clue what to do. He married young and had four girls very quickly. He felt in over his head and came up with a solution - daddy dates.

This book outlines how he went about setting up dates with his daughters and how he felt this enriched his relationships with them.

I have to say, I was very impressed with his insights into how to "deal" with women. He chose to take his daughters on dates to get to know them better. He opened his mind to the fact that they were growing up and he needed to be there for them in every aspect of their lives. He got around the "I need to fix it" way of thinking and actually listened to them. He made their conversations a safe place so they always felt welcome to talk to him. He built trust.

The book is written by a regular guy with regular girls. This made it a very easy and enjoyable read.
I'm a mom, but I really enjoyed the book and am giving it to my husband to read. Wives benefit from their husbands reading this book and I think some of the things he talked about can be applied to our son as well.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has married a woman or has children. It's that good.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

We Be Big

“We Be Big The mostly true story of how two kids from Calhoun County, Alabama became Rick & Bubba” by Rick Burgess and Bill “Bubba” Bussey with Don Keith

We Be Big is the story of two fat (used to be athletic) guys from the south who fell in love with radio and after some difficulties started a talk show. They are southern, hard working, Christian, good ol’ boys who love to their families, love the Lord and love to eat. And not necessarily in that order.

I had no idea who these people were before I started reading the book. I think this puts a different slant on it. The typical person purchasing the book will likely know these men and a bit of their story. But here is my humble opinion - The book was a very easy read. Even though some of the radio jargon was unfamiliar to me the book was still very easy to follow.
The Christian perspective was unexpected considering they are secular radio hosts. But I appreciated how they put their personal lives out for the world to see in their show and this was another part of who they were. This was obviously what made them the hosts that they are today.
I think the only thing that bothered me about the book was the title. The “mostly true” part had me wondering the entire book if what I was reading was true or not.
It was funny and taught me some things about radio that I didn’t know before. I will be definitely be keeping this book.



Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”