will read Unstoppable again and again!

You've probably heard of Nick Vujicic. You may have even read his book, "Life Without Limits" or heard one of his inspirational speeches. I had heard of him only in passing, but his story intrigued me. This book touched a deep part of my soul and awakened a spirit of hope within me.

From the first words in the book, I felt as if Nick was speaking to me, as though he was sitting in my living room carrying on a conversation with me. I thoroughly enjoyed the voice of the book and felt immediately at ease with the heavy topic at hand. "Unstoppable" is about "faith in action" ~ how to work your own faith and make it become an active part of your every day life.

I felt deeply moved in reading Nick's recollections of his early struggles, how he candidly spoke of his suicidal thoughts, and general sadness, and of how he overcame the pain in his mind with the faith in his heart. I felt honored to have this insight into his personal strife and inspired by the strength of his faith to overcome that in amazing ways. Nick has a gift for sharing the hope in God's word, and he succeeds in doing just that in this book. I recommend this book for anyone in need of inspiration and an uplifting of the soul.

I received this book free in exchange for my honest review ~ from Blogging For Books. If you would like to get your free books, too, please click the Blogging For Books link to the left.

wishes she was Amish (sometimes!)

Simply Delicious Amish Cooking ~ by Sherry Gore

It's no secret....I am a HUGE fan of all things Amish! My family on my mother's side is from Amish Country, Lancaster, PA, and I grew up loving the simplicity of the Amish lifestyle, and the FOOD!! Oh.....the food!!! There is nothing better than a shoofly pie, some birch beer, apple butter...oh! Drool!! Imagine my delight when this book showed up as a choice from booksneeze.com. Even better, it's written by Amish from my native state of Florida. Win-win!

This is a fabulous collection of Amish recipes from many Amish families, most of which reside in the Sarasota, Florida area. Delicious food, with a sprinkling of delightful stories and fascinating Amish history, I felt like I was peeking into my grandmother's prized recipe collection and her journal all rolled into one. There are so many recipes in this cookbook, from breads to casseroles, to seafood feasts and deserts. There is something for every taste and culinary desire. The first recipes I tried were the Pizza doughs, both white and whole wheat, and they were fantastic! I honestly want to try out each and every recipe in this book. Luckily for my family, I probably will! This is a great cookbook for anyone that loves delicious home cooked meals, and appreciates or wants to learn more about the simple lifestyle of the Amish community. Kumm Esse! (Come Eat!) I only wish I had been able to get the spiral bound version instead of the e-book. I love to have my cookbook open on my table in front of me!


As a condition to my participation in BookSneeze®, and for the privilege to receive selected download electronic digital versions of Zondervan published literary works, I hereby agree that Zondervan grants me a limited, non-exclusive, revocable license to access and to make only personal, non-commercial use of such digital content. I may not transfer to, or lend the digital content to, another person. Zondervan reserves the right to suspend or terminate my receipt of digital content at any time, for any reason, without prior notice.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com http://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 http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

If you are interested in the BookSneeze program (it's free!!) please click the link to the left and join! The only requirements they have are that you have a blog (doesn't matter how many followers) and that you write a review for each book they send to you. 

and the Quest of the Final Summit

The Final Summit ~ by Andy Andrews

I did not read "The Traveler's Gift", but once getting started with this novel, I do want to. It took me some time to get into the book, as I felt somewhat lost not having any of the back story.  Unlike many sequel novels I have read of late, this one seemed to me to be deeply rooted in it's first episode. As I read a bit further, some details of the first book came through, but I still felt a bit lost when trying to sort out the complete picture.

David Ponder is a "Traveler" and apparently he is the chosen one. In this novel, we follow David to the "final summit" with all of the other "travelers" of the past, from Winston Churchill to Joan of Arc, whom have all been gathered by the archangel Gabriel to meet and find the "one principle that will save humanity." That's a pretty lofty ambition, right? and with Ponder at the helm; Ponder, who appears to be an average guy; is he ready to figure out what will save humanity?

The narrative of this novel is quite good, and once I focused more on the story at hand as opposed to the previous story, I found myself quite immersed in the tale, and felt as though I was at the summit right along with all of it's famous (and not so famous) travelers. There is a lot of wisdom and inspiration in the words of Andrews. I enjoyed the story, and won't give away the ending....just suffice it to say, you won't be disappointed.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com http://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 http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”


If you are interested in the BookSneeze program (it's free!!) please click the link to the right and join!

is not a Max Lucado fan.

Max on Life ~ by Max Lucado

Okay, I have to confess. I don't care much for Max Lucado's preachy kids shows...see http://ditlothislittlemommy.blogspot.com/2011/04/max-lucados-hermie-and-friends-bug.html . But I do like {some} of what he does, so I wanted to give him another try. Perhaps I shouldn't have chosen this particular book to do that with. I don't want to judge Max, but I couldn't get past the feeling that in this book, he was judging me.

In this book, he gives "answers and insights to your most important questions" and I appreciated the bulk of what he had to say. He had good insights into marriage questions, and to those where a question of faith was involved, but I kept coming back to one question in particular, that of whether or not one should support a gay friend at a gay wedding. I know, I know, I shouldn't focus on ONE question, but it bothered me so much that I couldn't get past it. I'm not going to tell you the answer in this review, but I would reveal it if anyone wants to know within the comments.

Overall, the book was okay. I didn't care much for the way the book was organized, and there was just too much of Max's own personal bias to many of the answers (I know, it's called "MAX on Life", not "Max on God on Life"). It may be better suited to someone that enjoys and reveres Max, but it's just not a good fit for me.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com http://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 http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”


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is excited to read "No Place Like Holmes" with her kiddos!

No Place Like Holmes ~ by Jason Lethcoe

I'll admit. I got this book eons ago, and it sat on my shelf for far too long. It caught my eye while I was cleaning up and I pulled it off the shelf, and began to read it. I was instantly hooked. What a great read!

It begins with Griffin on his way to stay with his uncle in London for the summer. On his journey, he discovers that his uncle lives at the same address as the famous Sherlock Holmes, could they be one and the same?! I found myself as excited as Griffin to meet his uncle....even if it happened that his uncle was Holmes' neighbor, not Holmes himself. But that doesn't deter Griffin. His uncle turns out to be a detective as well, albeit, a much lesser known one. When Griffin gets him a case, they begin to unravel the mystery side-by-side. Did the Loch Ness Monster really eat a hapless man?

This is a fabulous book, aimed at young, independent readers between 9 and 12. I thoroughly enjoyed the character development, the storyline, the twists and turns and of course, with every good mystery, the cliffhanger at the end! I look forward to stormy nights when I can read this with my own kiddos, who, at 5 and 8, are just about ready for the length of the tale.

As this is a Christian book, there is talk of faith, prayer, and God, but not in a preachy way, and it flows so effortlessly into the story that you may not even notice it. If nothing else, it serves as a bouncing off point to discuss such matters with your children in a comfortable way. I highly recommend this novel for reading aloud, and for the newly independent chapter book reader. It would also be great for boys that are difficult to find interesting reads for.


Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com http://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 http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”


If you are interested in the BookSneeze program (it's free!!) please click the link to the right and join!