Reading, Writing & Pondering

  It has been quite a while since I have read a Nancy Mehl book. Her newest book, Cold Pursuit , is a book that would be enjoyed by fans of Lynette Eason if you haven't read one for a while, either. Cold Pursuit had more of a thriller aspect than the last book that I read by her. In Cold Pursuit , Former FBI agents River Ryland and Tony St. Clair recently opened a new private detective agency after leaving the FBI. River struggles with PTSD after a serial killer case that went wrong. Tony has some health issues, so he decided to leave the agency with her. Their first case is a cold case about a missing teenage boy. River is also staying with her mom, who is in the early stages of dementia, and they struggle to have a good family relationship after River's parent's divorce. There are several threads going on at once in Cold Pursuit . There are mysteries to solve, and at least one psychological killer is on the loose. As the book begins, we also follow one of t...

  A Very Dinosaur Birthday by Adam Wallace is intended to be a funny way to talk about dinosaurs. It is aimed at children ages four to ten. I think that is too big of an age range for this book, personally. It has some good rhyming going on and the dinosaur aspect could be fun for children who enjoy dinosaurs. At the same time, I am not a real fan of farting and large bum talk in children's books. Honestly, my son never enjoyed books that talked about farting either, but every family is different. I understand it is meant to be humorous but for families that don't use these words, it may not be the best book. Outside of that, there is some good rhyming going on. There is some great information on ideas for dinosaur birthday parties on the back cover insert pages. The pictures are bright and vibrant and great illustrations for a children's book. Also, A Very Dinosaur Birthday is just for fun there are no real lessons in this book. I received a copy of this book from the pu...

  I'm pretty sure all of us need an extra dash of hope and encouragement now and again in this world today. Joel Osteen offers hope to Believers in his new book, Believe: Hope Has Your Name on It .  Believe is a compact book with a lot of hope and encouraging words packed inside it. In just a few short chapters, Osteen encourages readers to step out in faith and believe for whatever they need to believe for. He shares from several Bible stories: Queen Esther, Peter in the boat with Jesus, Elisha helping his people not to starve and several more stories that show God's power and how He helps us when we need Him to. He also shares from his life and the lives of other Christians, like his mom and his brother, as well as a young person healed of cancer. These hopeful stories show that God truly is working in the world today just as He did during Bible times. As someone going through some challenges right now, I truly did appreciate this hopeful book. I know these stories, as a se...

  Do you know a child who has lost a loved one and is hurting? Moonlight Memories by Amanda Davis is a beautiful story of grief, loss and healing from a child's perspective.  Piper is grieving and hurting as her mother passed away. Her father gives her a telescope since she has trouble sleeping. She uses the telescope--and she uses her heart and imagination each night as she looks at the stars. Along with the stars, she sees the memories she made with her mother. Grief takes time and doesn't looks the same for everyone, something that the author points out in the page before and after the story. I thought this was a beautiful story of comfort and hope for a young child. I also liked the beautiful illustrations on each page from Michelle Jing Chan. Moonlight Memories would make a great gift for a hurting child who lost a loved one. While they may not want to grieve the same way, I think they would find comfort in knowing that other children grieve too. Also, this book is not ...

Ned is the third book in the Minnesota Marshalls series by Susan May Warren. Let me tell you, with her many years of writing experience, this author knows how to write books that keep your heart pounding and your fingers turning pages quickly. Ned has been through four years of training to be a Navy SEAL. He has the woman of his dreams, Shae Johnson is waiting for him in Switzerland. Unfortunately, when he finally gets to see her after being on a mission, the two have a disagreement. That is bad enough, as both Shae and Ned almost instantly regret their words, but right afterwords Shae goes missing. Shae has been kidnapped by Russian thugs and is in Siberia. What will it take to get her back? Ned has some hoops to go through to get to Shae. I love all the action in this book. I like the close-knit Marshall family and how they all work to help each other out in difficult times. I also like Shae and my reader heart goes out to her in her difficult predicament that I can not imagine in ...

  The Best Summer of Our Lives by Rachel Hauck is one of my favorite books that I have read this year so far. This book is a dual time story set in 1977 and 1997 and tells the story of four good friends as they move into adulthood---and then as they move on and reflect back on that summer after graduation twenty years later.  The four friends in The Best Summer of Our Lives are Summer, Spring, Autumn and Winter. They call themselves the four season and have been friends since grade school. At the end of their senior year, they are part of a big prank that gets them community service. For their part, the judge agrees to let them be camp counselors for the summer with Summer's Mom supervising them. A lot happens that summer and there are some things the girls haven't really dealt with that happened in the past that also leave them raw and vulnerable.The book does flip back and forth some as readers also read some of what has been happening in their lives 20 years later in 1997...

  Night Night, Ocean by Amy Parker is fun board book for little ones that features several ocean animals. This book would be a delight to children who enjoy animals or live near an ocean. The illustrations are bright and cheerful. This is a board book with the thick cardboard pages for little hands to turn on their own. It is a 20 pages book that is roughly 7 3/4 inches square in size so fairly large for little ones. The publisher says this book is for ages birth to 4 years but I would think maybe six years for those learning to read on their own. There are some larger words like seahorses and jellyfish so this isn't a book that children will likely learn to read with early on.  Night Night, Ocean helps children look to God. It does feature some great ocean animals--sea horses, sea turtle, sun fish, manatees and more. I think it is great for children to learn about the ocean and God together. I just think it is a book that care givers are likely to start out reading to littl...

  It doesn't matter our age, there are times we are all tempted to worry. When Worry Whispers by Joyce Meyer is aimed at children ages four to seven. This 32-page book is a good-sized jacketed hardcover book measuring about 9 1/2 inches almost square--a great size for reading aloud or reading alone. I think When Worry Whispers is on target for what kids may worry about and how they feel when they worry. This book is a Christian-based book with talk about God and a Bible verse at the beginning of the book. The illustrations by Marcin Piwowarski is colorful and eye-catching. I like that they include children of all colors in the pictures. This is a good book for both those struggling with worry and to remind kids that aren't worrying yet that they don't need to because God cares for them. I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions within this review are my own.

  Good Catastrophe by Benjamin Windle is based on the book of Job. Good Catastrophe is indeed a unique take on Job. There are twelve chapters in this book that is about 200 pages in length. Windle weaves his thoughts back and forth from stories from today, from history and from the Bible and relates to the story of Job. He does also pull from J. R. R. Tolkein and his concept of :Eucatastrophe," which I did find interesting. Initially, I found the book encouraging and hope-giving. Then as I went along, honestly, I struggled to relate to some of his illustrations as being hopeful. I realize the ultimate hope in life is our hope in eternal life in Jesus, so that I get. At the same time, as someone who is in a difficult situation in this life, I don't honestly want to read illustrations that don't eat well and he had a few of those. I understood the point he was making most of the time. Other times, I didn't follow his thinking that well. This may just be me. Certainly, Go...

  Stuff I'd Only Tell God: A Guided Journal of Courageous Honesty, Obsessive Truth-Telling, and Beautifully Ruthless Self-Discovery by Jennifer Dukes Lee is a journal that I would say definitely belongs between you and God if you are going to use it and be honest in it. I have some things in common with Jennifer Dukes Lee. I am from Iowa. She is from Iowa. I am a trained journalist who has worked as a reporter with newspapers and so has she. She likes to ask questions and learn about other people and things in the world. So do I. I have followed her on social media and read others books she has written. With all of those things in common and already liking her work, I had to get this guided journal. Oh, and I do like to journal so that also makes this book up my alley. Maybe Stuff I'd Only Tell God is up your alley too? Stuff I'd Only Tell God is a paper back guided journal with an introduction by the author and well-organized sections with titles like, Me and My People,...