Reading, Writing & Pondering

  Are you looking for some new magical fairy tale stories? My Gift by Raluca Sirbu is a beautifully illustrated book (Alisa Barannik, illustrator) that will delight children (and adults!) with 3 tales of hope and courage. My Gift is aimed at children ages 5 to 10 years old. The hardback book is illustrated in bright, vivid colors. The book measures roughly 8 by 10 inches in size and is 36 pages long. The author is from Romania and these Romanian stories are inspired by true events in the Romanian past.  The stories in My Gift show people being freed from oppression. They show courage. They show how to stand strong in the face of evil. They are wonderful stories for children in today's world. The brightly colored pictures illustrate the stories quite well.    I received a copy of this book from the author. All opinions within this review are my own. 

  As Brighter Than Before by Courtney Walsh starts out, Claire Karadec feels like a failure. Her marriage is washed up after publicly finding out her spouse had an affair with a younger woman. To try to make sense of her hurt and sadness, Claire goes to therapy. The therapist encourages her to make a list of her dreams in her journal in response to being asked, What do I really want? As a result, Claire decides if she wants a new start in life, she needs to act on her list to start a new story. At first, I wasn't sure about Brighter Than Before. It started off quite a bit different than this author's other books. But as I went along, it grew on me, and by the middle of it, I was cheering Claire on with the rest of her new friends. Then there is Miles who lives in Claire's apartment complex. I genuinely liked Miles from the start. . .I wanted him to let go of his fears too so was also cheering him on. I always love that Courtney Walsh gives me a HEA ending too...

  At some point in our lives most of us deal with some type of heartbreak or disappointment. That is just part of being human. The Wholehearted Way by Dr. Peace Amadi is a book offering a way to deal with the pain and find healing in your life.  A Five-Part Framework to Healing and Inner Peace · Understand your patterns of pain · Navigate heartbreak, disappointment, and rejection · From a credentialed PsyD professor of psychology, speaker, and coach Heartbreak, disappointment, and rejection are part of being human in a broken world. But when we experience them again and again, it can start to feel personal. Our identity and worth are shaken, and we may find that staying hurt feels easier than pursuing healing. Yet, in Christ, we are meant to be made  whole . The Wholehearted Way  expresses an approach to life that requires us to tell ourselves a bigger, better, broader story about our pain, allowing us to love ourselves fully and live abundantly. Combining b...

Claire Holloway Is Winging It by Angela Ruth Strong is a Christian contemporary romance novel. I wasn't sure what to think of this one when I heard that it was a love triangle story. However, having read it, I felt that trope was well-done. Claire Holloway was a ballerina who lost her dream of performing when she developed some foot issues. Her boyfriend, Wyatt, continued to support her and she valued that support and saw him as her main support. Then she decided to become a flight attendant and he isn't too happy to support her in that dream. He struggles with her being gone so much as he works in a regular office. First officer pilot in training Nathan Stuart recently faced a break-up with his fiance. He had been feeling down about that until he meets the frazzled Claire on her first day on the job. From the first day they met, Nathan and Claire share some humor and have a friendly bond. Does it stretch the boundaries of friendship? Claire continues to try to keep her relati...

  Are you looking for a new book to gift a baby or a toddler? Or maybe a toddler's Easter basket right now? The Beginning of You by Laine Lawson Craft is such a cute illustrated book with rhyming lyrical prose throughout the book. This cute board book measures 7 inches square and has the thick cardboard pages that make it easy to little ones to turn the pages on their own. The Beginning of You is 17 pages long and is aimed at children ages two and under. The illustrations are inclusive and show children of all skin colors, which I like. The words of this book are written with a wonderful rhythm. I like how she writes about how we are all made by God in our own special way. The words also remind little ones that they are loved by the Creator who made them.     I received a copy of this book from the author/publisher. All opinions within this review are my own. 

  Age Like a Girl by Dr. Mindy Pelz is the book I wish I had had when I first needed it. I like how Dr. Pelz shares her own story of changing hormones amidst her information to help with your changes. This is a book that could help you prepare for what is coming if you aren't there yet and it is a book to help make sense of what is happening if you are in the middle and it can still be helpful if you are post menopausal.  Age Like a Girl is divided into three parts:  The philosophy behind Aging like a girl The Art of Aging Like a Girl The Path to becoming a New You Age Like A Girl covers the brain changes, the physical changes and the way you are becoming a "new you." This book puts a positive spin on the aging that I think is helpful.  Along with the meat of this book, there are also some sides at the end of the book that are helpful too: A  Man's Guide to Supporting the Women you love through menopause A note to healthcare practitioners A note to employers-...

  Do you journal or art journal in your Bible? This new Filament NLT Wide Margin Journaling Bible from Tyndale House Publishers has so many great features for both journaling and reading the Bible. With this Bible, after you make your purchase, you also have access to the Filament Electronic Bible App.  What is a Filament-enabled Bible? Filament-enabled Bibles offer a seamless fusion of traditional reading and cutting-edge technology. The Filament Bible app is your gateway to a deeper, more enriching Bible-study experience. This Bible mixes paper reading with computer technology for those who want that experience. Seamlessly connect every page of your Bible to a treasure trove of resources, including : o     25,000+ study notes for understanding o     350+ videos for insight o     40+ maps and infographics for context o     400+ profiles and articles for enrichment o     1,500+ devotions for daily inspi...

  The Wild Card by Emma St. Clair is part of the Love Stories in Sheet Cake series. It could read as a stand-alone but characters from the other books are in this one so I would encourage you to read the whole series. I loved all of the books in the series that I have read. Collin Graham often feels over-looked in his family of brothers and a sister. However, he is surprised when out of the blue, Molly, grabs him at a festival and asks him to be her fake boyfriend. He knows Molly is his brother-in-law's sister but she doesn't recognize him in a beard--so he once again feels over-looked even though she only met him twice before. He agrees to go along with her plan and the fun begins.  Molly is auditioning for an actress role in a new production company based in Sheet Cake and really wants the part when she grabs Collin. She is trying to make her own way after her father tries to control her. Collin is reeling after a bad break-up with someone who since drug his name through th...

    All Booked Up by Melody Carlson drew me in with the bookish cover. While there is some talk about books, the story is mainly about a widowed woman who takes in boarders for financial reasons. It is a character driven novel about relationships. Riva Owen lives in a large Victorian house that has been in her family for generations. Her lawyer husband passed away several months earlier and her finances were now a challenge. Riva doesn't want to move and leave her house--and her library of cherished books.  After some consideration, instead of moving, Riva takes in boarders. With a few women living under the same roof, they have to learn to navigate different personalities and challenges as housemates. There are some men included in the story but there isn't a lot of romance in All Booked Up . This book focuses on friendships. I enjoyed getting to know Riva and the other ladies in her house to start with. Then, when they were living together, there was some gossip and ch...

    Do you know the Nicene Creed? When I was in Sunday School, this was one of the things I memorized. There is a new devotional out from Josh Nadeau called Heaven Meets Earth based on the Nicene Creed. This 40-day devotional breaks the creed down into short phrases to meditate on along with a devotional relating to that phrase. The full Nicene Creed is in the front of the book. This book is gorgeous to look at, along with the beautiful daily readings. It would make a nice gift book and has an inscription page in the front. From the publisher: Discover deeper faith as you explore the richness of Christian belief and tradition with a visually inspired journey through the Nicene Creed. “We believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth….” And so the Nicene Creed begins with these powerful words of declaration and belief, words handed down through history for Christians across the centuries to affirm and to hold, to repeat and to remind. The Creed has bo...

I have Irish ancestry and was SO excited to receive a copy of May The Road Rise To Meet You by Jennifer Deibel. As the sub-title states, this book is "A 31-Day Devotional Inspired by Irish Blessings. Today, this book is available for purchase. A purchase link is included at the bottom of the devotional. This author spent several years living in Ireland and is the author of fiction books set in Ireland too. Each devotional in May the Road Rise to Meet You features an Irish blessing, Scripture references, a short devotional written by the author that relates to the verses and the blessing. Then the reading for the day concludes with an application section with a question or something to think about. I like to journal, so I think this is a great aspect of this book. There is space to write in the book. However, for me, this book is too pretty to write in so I just use my journal alongside this book. Writing helps me process what I am learning so I like the space to do that. If you ...