When Donkeys Talk by Tyler Blanski

I chose this book for a couple of reasons. I thought it would be interesting and it was available in print. I have a more difficult time reading books in e-format. Even in print format, I did not find this an easy read.

Tyler sets out to rediscover the saints, stars, and beauty of Christianity (back cover). He has discussions with his neighbor, Stephen the Philistine about his crazy-ass theory. His neighbor knows about Christianity but doesn’t believe. He talks about Atomland and Christendom and I’m completely lost. It reminds me of reading a science book. Some of it is interesting but then I have to reread the sentence to see what it means.

The book is broken down into seven sections: A Crazy-Ass Theory, Atomland, The Coherency of Creation, In Thrall to the Heavens, The Sanctification of Time, You Are What You Eat, and Final Participation.

If you like reading about the Middle Ages, you may love the book. I would recommend the book to someone who likes heavy reading and who knows the bible forward and backward. I would suggest reading the other reviews and decide whether or not the book is for you. I think there is a specific audience for this book, but it’s not for a new Christian.

I was given this book free through Thomas Nelson BookSneeze program. 

Firsthand: Ditching Secondhand Religion for a Faith of Your Own by Ryan and Josh Shook

Do you ever feel like you are just mimicking the religion that you grew up with? This book appears to be primarily geared toward the twenty-something group. What I’ve found is the parents can be over-protective and sometimes (hate to say this) but shove religion down their kids throat. Later on, some of these kids rebel. They go to parties and live the life they finally have been waiting for all these years.

This book hits the nail on the head. They (the authors) grew up in a Christian home and were even leaders in a youth group. You’d think they were the perfect Christian brothers. But, they strayed and lived the life. Parties, video games, and even pornography invaded their lives. They gave up on the Christian faith. Or, they felt that their faith wasn’t really theirs but their parents. And that’s the heart of this book – making your faith your own. It’s not just their story. At the end of each chapter, they make it real by making it real by including other voices (people who have shared similar experiences).

Eight main topics are tackled. They include: Why Firsthand Matters, Soul Thirst, Sick of Secrets, Real Faith-Real Change, Trashing the Checklist, Question Everything, Divine Disturbance and Firsthand Community.

I recommend this book to the early twenty-something crowd as well as youth pastors. I was given a copy of this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review.

Wishing on Willows by Katie Ganshert

Even though this is the second book in a series, it can be read as a stand-alone. The first book was about Bethany Quinn and this book moves forward with her story. However, this story is about Robin Price.

Robin Price is the owner of Willow Tree Café in Peaks, Iowa. The town loves her! A handsome developer, Ian comes to town determined to buy her café so that condos can be built in its place. He’s strong-minded and he desires to make his father proud of the family business. He didn’t expect Robin to hold on so tightly and refuse to sell.

Ian is handsome and he only has one business owner left to agree to sell and that’s Robin, a widow and single mom. He learns that the Willow Tree Café is not an ordinary coffee shop with baked goods and espresso. It was built on a dream. Will either back down?

Robin’s story is really about moving on. How does one move on when tragic strikes? There is a time to grieve but then over time and as one heals, a new beginning can emerge. It doesn’t mean that you forget the past. You learn to embrace the memories but move on so that new ones can be formed.

Ganshert is a wonderful author. If you want to hear about a story of hope and moving forward in your life, read Robin’s story. You’d be surprised how similar her life (emotions) may reflect your own.

I was given this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review.

Raccoon Tales by Joy DeKok (Illustrated by Leslie Helen Colwin)

What a delightful book! I read a kindle edition. The stories and artwork were perfect! Joy gives us some facts about Raccoons but then tells wonderful stories (four in total) incorporating some of the facts. You come to care for the characters Shadow (shy), Meeko (sweet), RC (smart), Lucy (silly), and Chatter (likes to talk!). The story is told in rhyme. I actually read it with my teenager. What I loved the most about the stories is that Joy provides an applicable verse at the end of each story. It feeds God’s word directly into a child’s heart!

Read more about Joy Dekok here:

http://www.joydekok.com/

Everything by Mary DeMuth

What I enjoy the most about Mary’s books is that she is transparent. I feel a kindred spirit to her because she speaks out loud what her innermost feelings might be. I have felt those same raw emotions and have dealt with what life has handed me growing up in an unchristian home and I’ve seen, heard, and felt things no-one should ever bear. Mary has too. When she writes certain passages it resonates me to the core. My core (at times) represents shame, fear, worry, and then guilty for feeling all of those things knowing that I should be more faithful. She has some powerful paragraphs and sentences that stop you in your tracks.

Everything is divided into three parts:

*Head – What We Think

*Heart – Who We Are

*Hands – How We Live

Part of section one includes the topic of worry. This is what Mary says about worry and it shook me to the core. Worry is a weighty monster with poisoned tentacles. It clutches at us, grabs our mind, steals our breath, our will. It lurks. It pounces. It colors how we perceive the world. But God whispers peace in the midst. At the heart of the matter, we know with our heads that worry will leads to no sleep and stress. It doesn’t change what’s going to happen. We need to be able to hand our worries over to God. I like the image of a box. Write all your worries on a piece of paper and place them in the box. Then picture Jesus and him coming up to you and reaching his hand out to you and requesting that you give him the worry box. And then he wraps you in his embrace and tells you it’s all mine now. I already know the future and it’s good. It’s Jeremiah 29:11 – you’ve read it. You’ve memorized it. Now, live it. You have the future at your hands and I’m right beside you.

Mary DeMuth touches on much more such as choosing forgiveness and healing. Sometimes it’s easier to wallow in our woes rather than face our challenge head on. Forgiving the other person (easier said than done – I know!) is actually releasing you not them. It’s releasing you to move on with your life and live it abundantly. And I learned a long time ago that forgiveness doesn’t mean that you forget what happened or that you have to be their friend. It just means letting go. After all, God has forgiven us. Why is it so hard to forgive others?

Finally, Mary gives you 10 disciplines that if you apply them you will find great growth. One such is the discipline of gratitude and she refers to Ann Voskamp’s book called, “One Thousand Gifts.” Focus on what you do have in life. If you live in America, you have much more than you realize that we so easily take for granted such as running water. We rarely go without it. Or electricity. Oh, how we moan if either is out for even a few hours. It’s all over Facebook that our power is out. Poor Me! We happily post it from our IPhones and get the attention that we all so deserve!

I recommend this book for others who want to tackle that weighty monster of our lives such as worry, letting go of the giants, choosing to heal, and tackling the disciplines.

I was given this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review.

10 Secrets to Life’s Biggest Challenges by Peter Lord with Kent Crockett

The older we get, the more stress seems to come with it. When you first start out, everything is exciting. Most young people cannot wait to get out of the house. But, then comes reality when bills come pouring in. They get married and have kids. Both life-changing and wonderful events! The trick is being able to balance the act of maintaining jobs, the house, and kids. But, that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Peter Lord touches on the other challenges that come into our lives. The topics include making decisions, temptations, relationships, conflicts, hurts, attitudes, money, trials, authorities, and finally death. When we start our adult life, we do not realize all of the trials that we will face. Peter Lord gives us secrets to each of these challenges and uses biblical examples of how to apply it to our everyday lives. The real secret is being able to deal with each of these trials that we all will face in a healthy manner. We all have challenges and how we deal with them will determine our future.

Money speaks. It says bye-bye (unknown). This is taken from the managing money chapter. In my own personal experience, it seems like the more money I have, the more money I spend. Believe it or not, we do have the power to tell our money what to do. In this chapter, Peter Lord discusses the two purposes of money, how to get out to debt, how to save, and much more! He emphasizes that the more you owe, the more you are owned! I believe this to be true. If you want to be truly free, become debt-free. Do not buy on impulse. If you don’t have the money for that new electronic toy, do not buy it. Easier said that done. But the more you do it, the easier it becomes.

Ever had someone hurt you? If not, you probably haven’t lived on this earth for very long! In his chapter, ‘Healing Your Hurts’ Peter Lord tackles the subject. Some people can let things roll off their back. However, the closer you are to the person who created the hurt, the more deeply the wound they can inflict.

I recommend this to book to everyone including teenagers embarking into adulthood. I wish I had read a book like this many years ago. I’m sure I would have handled many situations differently. But, like many of you, I did the best with the information that I had at the time.

I was given this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review.

When to Speak Up & When to Shut Up by Dr. Michael D. Sedler

Have you ever been in a position that you are being accused of something that simply isn’t true? The typical response is defend yourself and resort to saying things that may make the situation even worse. I think we’ve all been there at one time or another. How hard it is to keep one’s mouth shut. But, if we do, the truth will ultimately come out. To be able to hold your tongue and state the fact that you did or did not do something, takes great skill. Or, if you are completely silent that can create problems too. When you know someone is saying untrue statements about you and then you stay silent, there’s a tendency to build up stress/tension. Then one day, you simply cannot take it any longer and a fight ensues.

Dr. Michael D. Sedler is transparent in his book and gives examples in his own life where he should have kept silent but didn’t. Or, how he should of handled a situation just a little bit differently. I respect him that he was honest with his own mishaps. It all comes down to pride. We don’t want to be wrong. We want others to see it our way. In addition, he gives specific biblical examples and how it can be applied to our lives.

In today’s workplace, there seems to be more stress than ever before. I cannot tell you how many people that I know that say that they are unhappy with their jobs in one form or another. The most common reason is never money. It usually has to do with someone that they work with and usually that person is an authoritative figure. The Supervisor may not be professional. He/She may even be a bully. How do you handle that? The bully will keep pestering until finally the employee blows. In fact, that’s what they are waiting for. You would think that they would be professional. After all, the person was placed in a management type position. Unfortunately, many people placed in those positions abuse their authority. They may yell or make demands rather than taking the time to sit down with the employee and discuss the issue at hand.

This is a great book for absolutely everyone. No one is perfect! We all speak our minds when we shouldn’t and vise versa. This applies to all facets of life whether it’s the workplace, church, or even family. This is book to be read over and over until it’s sunk into your brain and into your heart.

I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to give a positive review.