I Can Choose

I Can Choose

Ann Elizabeth Higgins

I chose this book by Dorrance Publishing Company so I could read it to my son who is turning five in a few weeks.

When we finished I asked him what he thought and he said he liked it. 

I, on the other hand, thought it was very simplistic and boring. It covered the same thing over and over again with a slightly different scenario. It certainly isn't a book I would have purchased.

My son looked at it once more by himself and then asked me if he could color the book because he thought the pictures were boring. He hasn't wanted me to read it to him since.

My overall opinion is that the book needs more life and character. Children are easily distracted and won't enjoy the book, like my son, after the first time. Since parents re-read books all the time it needs color or a better story presentation for it to appeal to children.

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

A Place Called Blessing

A Place Called Blessing

by John Trent with Annette Smith

This book is written in first person about a small boy in the foster care system. He's never know love even when he had parents and now he's done something that no one can forgive him for. He spends the rest of his childhood in a group home before he ages out.

God leads this young man to a friend's home where he's shown unconditional love and he begins to heal.

In the end he calls his home "A Place Called Blessing".

The story flows well and is easy to read. If you are just reading it for the story, it's a good book.

But if you are reading it to learn more about God's guidance and blessings, it's a great book.

The child abuse and neglect were hard to take, especially since I have small children.

But the story of love and acceptance was wonderful.

It reads like "A Boy Called It" without the horrifying details and more of the blessings.

At the end of the book is a note from the author. He talks about blessing others and mentions five specific ways to reach out to others.

Meaningful touch

A spoken message

Attaching high value

Picturing a special future

An active commitment

These things will work if you are a parent, teacher, care giver or just a friend.

So read this book if you want to learn how to be a blessing, but also if you want a blessing.

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

A Fireman's Dream

A Fireman's Dream

by Everett A. Zarzychi

I chose this book from Dorrance Publishing because the story plot sounded good. I'm a fan of romance and always enjoy a well written love story.

The story is of a fireman who buys a raffle ticket for charity and ends up winning the date with a super model.

They fall in love and this book is their love story.

I hate to write bad reviews. There is always some good in a book to pull from. But I don't think I've ever read a book that was written so poorly. It is full of grammar and spelling errors which bothers me. But the main reason for my dislike was that the story lacked feeling. It was stilted and boring. The writer details every second of their lives. He mentions what the main characters do and eat every morning even though it appears to be the same routine every day. Each day is spelled out for you. The story leaves nothing for the reader to imagine. Here is a sample -

Soon after, Laura got the phone book from the drawer and turned to the page with Wendy's phone number. She picked up the phone and dialed. The phone rang. Mike answered the phone. Laura said    "Hello."

Mike said   "Hello."

Laura told him that it was his Aunt Laura, and she wanted to speak to him and his mommy. Mike told her to hold on and went to get his mother. He yelled to his mother that his Aunt Laura was on the phone. Wendy picked up the phone and greeted Laura. Then she asked her what was up. Laura asked Wendy how she was. . .

I do not need to know every detail and action that occurs. Couldn't the author have mentioned that Laura called Wendy and asked her to be her bridesmaid and left it at that? Do we really need to know every single drink a group of four orders at a restaurant? Is it necessary to tell us that the waitress put each plate of food in front of the person who ordered it? It was truly painful to read.

I had to laugh several times throughout the book because the characters didn't seem true to real life. Do men "scream" in excitement over love, gossip about their love life like women do, or lay in bed thinking of their feelings of love and hopes of marriage after the first date? 

It just didn't seem like the characters had "character".

The story line is a good one. But the author needs to put feeling and depth into his characters, add some drama to the story and put in relevant details. Once the story has some substance to it - send it to an editor before it ever sees a publisher.

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

Too Rich For A Bride

Too Rich For A Bride
 The Sinclair Sisters of Cripple Creek Book 2

by Mona Hodgson

(Spoiler Alert!)

The book is about a Ida, a girl who is more interested in business than in landing a husband. But she's living in the wrong century. It's 1896 and no man wants a woman involved in a "man's world". She runs into obstacles and trials as she tries to negotiate her way through the stresses of a new job and the stock market.

But God has other plans for her and quite a few things to show her about her character.

The character is believable and willing to change when her "flaws" are pointed out.

I enjoyed the book, but was a bit bothered by the ending. Did she HAVE to give up business? The author ended the story in such a way that I felt like Ida's only option was to be a preacher's wife and stay at home raising her children. That the world of business was almost a sin and she couldn't be who she was supposed to be when in that environment.

I understand that perhaps her character flaws didn't allow her to be a better person if she chose that career path. Much like a gambler shouldn't try to find a job in Vegas, she should stay completely clear of the stock market.

And as a stay-at-home mom, I'm all for giving up a career to make your family the number one priority in life. But it seemed like the author put emphasis on the fact that "business" was bad for a woman to be in and she couldn't succeed unless she was dishonest or sneaky about it. That the only "right" path for a woman to chose was beside her husband making a home for him.

The book was enjoyable and if you don't "think" about where it appears the author is going with Ida's career choices than this is a good, clean book.

I received this book for free in exchange from WaterBrook for my honest opinion.

The 10/60 Diet

The book is amazing. I hate to diet and dislike reading about it even more. But since I need to lose some weight I figured I'd give one more diet book a chance to make sense. This author took the hundreds of pages that other authors write and condensed it into about 20 pages of simple, easy to follow instructions. They sound doable and easy. I finished the book inspired to lose weight. A bonus is that the author actually followed this diet himself with great results. Included in the back of the book are testimonials from the author and others who've tried the diet and are answering questions about how the diet worked for them.
This book is worth the money.

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

Forty Years of Love

Forty Years of Love

by Victor W. Brown

and Linda A. Dumphey

This book is a reflection of the past forty years in a vet assistant's life. He starts each chapter with a current event (someone walking by, the cat jumping into his lap, etc.) that reminds him of something that happened in the veterinary practice. Interesting book, but much thinner than I was expecting. It's only 26 pages long. While I enjoyed the stories it seemed a bit distracting to follow. It was like reading someone's thoughts as they drifted from current to past. But animal lovers will find this book published by Dorrance Publishing to be a quick, fun read.

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

Winner

And the lucky winner is. . .

Sharon

Thank you everyone for participating. It is nice to be able to give a book away.

I'll be having more of these I'm sure.

Btw, this was a bit painful for me. I don't have a computer thingy that randomly picks someone so I had to write the names on paper and have Jon pick one out of the pile. I felt terrible for everyone else who didn't get one. Maybe next time.

untamed

untamed

by Lisa Harper

This book is amazing. It makes the assumption that the reader has picked this book up because their spiritual life is in a boring rut. Jesus is a nice friend and someone that we dutifully pray to. 

Jesus is so much more than that! The author takes the reader on a journey into how wildly, crazy and amazing our Savior is. He is the ultimate friend, the strongest rescuer, the most devoted big brother.

The book is divided up into chapters with each one talking about a different aspect of how amazing our Savior is. It will take you out of your hum drum life and set you mind in a different direction. Each chapter ends with questions that will allow you to search deeper and probe your heart even more.

I loved this book! I will definitely be reading this again. It is the perfect book to give to someone else and I'm so glad that the publishing company made a mistake and sent me two. What a blessing to someone else.

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

The Dumpster

The Dumpster: One Woman's Search for Love

Becky Due

This book would probably fall under the category of chick lit. It's a light-hearted story of a woman who can't seem to find the "one". She wants to fall in love and settle down and yet every man that she finds is a jerk, boring, selfish or mean. The book is also about friendships, family and finding out who you are as a person. You can read this story as a light read or you can pay attention to what is going on beneath the surface. The focus seemed to be on not being who other people want you to be, but being who you really are regardless of what others think. I enjoyed this part of the story.

I enjoyed reading the book once I got past the first few chapters. It's a bit more descriptive than I like. But if you're read any of my other reviews you know this is an issue of mine.
So details aside the book is a fun, fast read.

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