ACRBA Tour - Signs in Life by Deanna Nowadnick

7 - 11 September

Australian Christian Readers Blog Alliance

is introducing

Signs in Life Finding Direction in Our Travels with God
Rhododendron Books (May 8, 2015)

By

Deanna Nowadnick

About the Book:

Signs in Life begins with a late night encounter with local law enforcement. In the harsh glare of a flashlight, Deanna Nowadnick learns the consequences of speeding through a stop sign. Other incidents follow. All are linked to the divine signs she’s encountered in that bigger journey through life.

Deanna shares humorous anecdotes and inspirational lessons from her travels with God. Readers will see the signs in life. She might be speeding through a stop sign–yet again!–while you’re carefully navigating a busy street, but we’re all part of a bigger journey, a greater purpose. We’re all part of God’s great story.

As she used to tell her  young sons, “Buckle up. We’re going for a ride.”

About the Author

Deanna Nowadnick is a native of the Pacific Northwest. When not writing, she serves at the Client Service Coordinator for The Planner's Edge, an investment advisory firm in Washington State.

Deanna is active in her church, playing the violin and editing the newsletter. She loves to knit, adores chocolate, and most important, enjoys a blessed marriage to Kurt. She's also the proud mother of two adult sons. Her first book, Fruit of My Spirit, began as a short story for Kyle and Kevin about how she met their father. It quickly became a much larger story about God's love and faithfulness.

Deanna has just finished her second book: Signs in Life: Finding Direction in Our Travels with God.

Reading Challenge Update 5

I am racing through this challenge! I'm doing so well that there are just 2 books left on my list, and one of them I am in the process of reading right now.

Since the last update, the books I have read are:

• Let's Talk by Bill Crowder
• Moving Beyond Failure by Bill Crowder
• God's Mountains, Meadows and More by Robin Jones Gunn
• The Circus Collection by Enid Blyton

16 out of 18 is great, and there are still 5 months left of the year!

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As you can see from my Bingo card, I'm getting those boxes filled! 2 columns done!

The 3 boxes that I filled since my last update are:

• Remind you of someone you love: Sisterchicks in Gondolas by Robin Jones Gunn
• You loved as a child: The Circus Collection by Enid Blyton
• Your best friend recommends: Knowing God by David Egner

As a child, who didn't want to run away to the circus?! I'm not sure that I did exactly, but going to see a circus was on my wish list (I have seen one since then). In The Circus Collection, Jimmy does just that! Joins the circus, along with his family.

As for the rest of the squares, you'll just have to wait and see!

Reading Challenge Updates 4

I'm doing really well with this challenge. It's now the middle of the year and I have only 6 books left to finish and 1 of those I am currently in the middle of reading.

The latest ones that I read are:

• Snow on the Tulips by Liz Tolsma
• 12 Questions to Ask Before You Marry by Clayton and Charie King
• From God's Word to a Woman's Heart by Janice Hanna

So 12 out of 18 puts me at 2/3 finished the challenge.

Snow on the Tulips is set in Holland at the end of World War 2, and focuses on the work of the Resistance just before liberation. The story is actually based on the experiences of members of the author's family.

I had started 12 Questions to Ask Before You Marry several years ago as I was reviewing it for a blog tour (you can find my post here). It was good to finish it, and I plan to read it again when I am in a relationship heading for marriage.

I enjoyed From God's Word to a Woman's Heart. It is a devotional which I have been reading a section of each day for the past few months. I recommend this one for anyone contemplating marriage, and even if you don't ever marry, there are many things in it that can apply to life in general.

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Just one more bingo square marked of for this challenge, but I am in the middle of reading 2 others.

One of those will mean I finish a line; and one I won't actually finish until the end of the year, so that will be revealed in my final challenge post!!

Begins a Series: Buried Secrets by Irene Hannon

This is the first book in her new Men of Valor series.

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In other reading news, I am in the process of checking out some books that I have purchased for the kids at work. Some are from authors I have read and these books are junior fiction, while others sounded good so I'm giving them a go. There were also some that I read and loved as a kid that have been reprinted, so there was no need to re-read them.

It's a bit of a switch for me. Back when I was a kid, my Mum used to preview books for me - that is until I read so fast that she couldn't keep up. Every single book that she and Dad gave me as a gift or I got as a Sunday School prize, Mum would read to make sure it was suitable. I like it that my parents cared for me in that way - to make sure that what my mind would be dwelling on lined up with Philippians 4:8 "Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things." (NKJV)

ACRBA Tour - Mirage by Jeanette Grant-Thomson

8 - 12 June 2015

Australian Christian Readers Blog Alliance

is introducing

Mirage
(Ark House Press)

By

Jeanette Grant-Thomson

About the Book:
Miraim is desperate. Her mind is a fog of drug-induced forgetfulness. She has forgotten her past, her family, even who she is. But who is the disturbingly familiar girl in the shopping centre?

Enmeshed in Soleternity, a cult in the Queensland outback, Miriam is pregnant. She believes her future - and that of her baby - lies with the cult.

Bronwyn is determined to rescue Miriam. She has not bargained on falling in love with the journalist helping her.

Away from Soleternity, Miriam faces conflicts. Sol . . .Soleternity . . .and now Anna and Christianity. How can she know the truth? Who is to be trusted?

About the Author

Jeanette Grant-Thomson has been writing since she was a child, having short pieces published. Her first book was Jodie's Story (Anzea 1991 and two later editions), followed by two more biographies and two novels. She is a teacher and a writer, living in Redlands.

My Thoughts:
I was initially reluctant to read this book because of the subject matter that it deals with - cults.
It's not something you think about much, and they are not really heard about much, unless something goes wrong and there is a news story about one, or an expose on one of the current affairs programs. In reality, you don't want to have to think about them, but you do need to be aware that they do exist; and the reason they exist is because we live in a sinful, broken world.

The way this book was written also makes sense in light of a recent blog post that Jeanette did about her own search for God. Not that she was in a cult, but she was searching for God and He did draw her to Himself.
It makes me think of something I read a long time ago, where Blaise Pascal brought up the context of all of us having a "God-shaped hole".
“What else does this craving, and this helplessness, proclaim but that there was once in man a true happiness, of which all that now remains is the empty print and trace? This he tries in vain to fill with everything around him, seeking in things that are not there the help he cannot find in those that are, though none can help, since this infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object; in other words by God himself.” 
- Blaise Pascal, Pensées VII(425)

ACRBA Blog Tour - Too Pretty by Andrea Grigg

4 - 8 May 2015

Australian Christian Readers Blog Alliance

is introducing

Too Pretty
((Rhiza Press), August 2014)

By

Andrea Grigg

About the Book:

Being beautiful isn’t easy – just ask Ellie Paxton.

Frustrated by a long string of empty relationships, Ellie makes a promise to God not to date for six months, a promise she’s determined to keep.

Tired of being continually misjudged because of her looks Ellie moves to Sydney for a fresh start. But when her path keeps crossing with the darkly handsome Nathaniel, that promise becomes much harder to fulfil.

As they battle with their attraction for each other, Ellie is not the only one to discover it takes more than simply looking in a mirror to find out who you truly are …

Could it be that God has a bigger plan? Could this really be one of those matches made in heaven …?

About the Author

Andrea Grigg grew up in Auckland, New Zealand, but has lived more than half her life in Australia. 

Andrea lives with her husband on Queensland’s Gold Coast, where they have raised their three adult children – two daughters and a son.

Recently retired from teaching ten-year-olds, if she isn’t being a domestic executive or socialising, Andrea can be found in her cave, writing stories.

My Thoughts:

This book was really interesting in the way family dynamics affect the way people feel about themselves and how they respond to things that happen in their lives. I also liked it that there were boundaries in how far characters would go physically in their relationship.

By working through the issues that came up for the characters, you also learn that you don't have to be (and really shouldn't be) defined by your past. Things from the past need to be learned from, but should not consume you. Yes, there may be consequences, but it is possible to move beyond your past.

The only thing I didn't like was the cover of the book. It nearly put me off reading the book. I just don't like having the face that big on the cover, and it seemed really artificial. Normally I don't comment on covers, but this one was just a bit too much for me.

Reading Challenge Updates 3

Since my last post I've done some reading that covers both of my challenges this year.

3 more books read to reduce my TBR pile (although I have just bought some more books to add to it, but they won't be part of the challenge this year).

• Before Amen by Max Lucado
• The Pledge by Jane Peart
• Hunter's Prize by Marcia Gruver

9 out of 18, takes me to half way through the challenge (and it's not even half way through the year).

I had read The Pledge years ago, so it was interesting to read it again, particularly since I was still a teen the last time I read it. This was also one of the books that I didn't get through in the 2014 Challenge, so I'm glad I've read it now.

Both The Pledge and Hunter's Prize are historical fiction, so they haven't been as appealing to me to read/ I'm not sure why or when I stopped being interested in historical fiction - it used to be what I read all the time. I guess all of us have times when our tastes in reading change, and for me that means I'm not interested so much in historical fiction. The main kinds of books I want to read at the moment are contemporary novels. I don't really want romance, but mystery and suspense are fine. I just don't want to only read those. What I'm really looking for are more books like the Sisterchicks series by Robin Jones Gunn. They aren't romance or mystery/suspense; but they are about women living their lives and doing some really interesting things.

Before Amen by Max Lucado is one of the best books I've read about prayer. I wish I'd had it years ago, It makes prayer seem like something I can do and it doesn't have to be flowery words or hours long. Some days it might just be that you call out God's name because your heart doesn't know what else to say. If there is just one book that you pick up to read this year, this is one that I recommend.

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I also marked off 2 more boxes in the 2015 Bingo Reading Challenge.

• Is written by an author you've never heard of: Andrew Murray: Destined to Serve by Olea Nel
• Features someone who shares your eye colour: The Promise by Jane Peart

It's pretty hard to find a character with the same eye colour as me, and I was kind of stretching it with this book. My eyes are a greenish hazel, that change slightly depending on what I'm wearing or how tired I am. The character in this book has hazel eyes.

I have no idea which books to read to go on with this challenge, so you'll just have to wait and see.

ACRBA Blog Tour - Andrew Murray: Destined to Serve by Olea Nel

6 - 10 April 2015

Australian Christian Readers Blog Alliance

is introducing

Andrew Murray Destined to Serve: A Biographical Novel 

(Clairvaux House (own imprint), 1 October 2014)

By

Dr Olea Nel 

About the Book:

For those who love Historical Fiction about Christian heroes of the faith"Historically accurate, and based upon Andrew Murray's letters and early biographies"

A boyish and fun-loving Andrew Murray arrives back in South Africa after being ordained at the Hague on his twentieth birthday. He soon discovers that his preaching lacks the power displayed by his heroes of the faith. He therefore decides to embark on a quest to become a powerful preacher filled with the Holy Spirit.

About the Author

Dr Olea Nel was born in Cape Town, South Africa. After completing her training as a teacher in Andrew Murray’s heartland of Wellington, she relocated to Australia to further her studies. Besides attaining a PhD in Linguistics, she also has qualifications in Information Studies and Theology. Having now retired from her position as a senior librarian at the National Library of Australia, she is able to pursue her passion for research, especially within the fields of church history and biography. Her aim is to share her findings with fellow Christians.

http://www.onandrewmurray.com/author

My Thoughts:
I don't often read biographies, so for this to be a biographical novel it made it much easier to read. It made it more personal, more like you were there with Andrew Murray, hearing his thoughts, sharing his life, rather than just hearing "so and so did this, went there, talked to x ...".

Olea has done a really good job of painting a picture of what life was like for Andrew Murray during this time of his life - and the story is not done yet. This is just the first in a series of books, and I'm really looking forward to the next one.

Before I read this, I had heard of Andrew Murray, but didn't really know anything about him. This book is about his first few years in ministry.

Reading Challenges Update 2

I've been having fun with my 2015 Bingo Reading Challenge!

The hunt has been on for books to fit the categories and for some of them I still haven't figured out with book to read, but that's okay because it's still early in the year.

So the books for the next squares are:

• Makes you cry: Not My Will by Francena H Arnold
• Has a child main character: Swallow Me, Now! by Melissa Gijsbers
• Is a classic you've never read: Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell

I'm currently reading one more (you'll have to wait for my next update), but then I'm all out of ideas, at least for now.

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I've also made a little progress on my 2015 TBR Pile Challenge.

3 more books have been read for this with another in progress and one about to be started.

• Spoken For by Robin Jones Gunn and Alyssa Joy Bethke
• It's Just You and Me, Lord by Marion Stroud
• The Spotlight of Faith by Bill Crowder

This takes me to 6 of 18 read - I'm 1/3 through the pile related to the challenge. My TBR pile did grow recently with a purchase of books during a recent sale at my favourite book store.

ACRBA Tour - Swallow Me, Now! by Melissa Gijsbers

2 - 6 March 2015

Australian Christian Readers Blog Alliance

is introducing

Swallow Me, Now!
(Lilly Pilly Press, October 2014)

By

Melissa Gijsbers

About the Book:

All Sam wants to do is to fit in at her new school. Feeling alone, and desperately trying to find her place in the world, she concocts an AMAZING story - BUT it backfires on her, and she becomes known as the 'Evil Genius's Daughter!' Can her life get any worse?

About the Author

Melissa Gijsbers started writing when she was in High School during the 1990s, even winning some awards for a short story and a script. For many years, life got in the way of creative writing, however she did start blogging around 2006.

She currently lives in Melbourne, Australia with her two sons and a pet blue tongue lizard.

My Thoughts:

This is a book I would definitely recommend for you to share with your children if you are trying to address the issue of bullying. It is also a good one for thinking about children who are coming to a new school and the things they are affected by, particularly those who have come from other countries.

I look forward to reading the next book in Melissa's Green Oaks Primary School series.

Reading Challenges Update 1

Yes! I've been reading books. Not all for challenges, but a few. Some I'm still getting through, but they will be read before the year is out.

I thought I'd do an update for both challenges - 2015 TBR Pile Challenge and 2015 Bingo Reading Challenge.

First up is the 2015 TBR Pile Challenge.



I'll get on with what I've read shortly, but there has been one change. Two books on the pile have been removed from the challenge. My sister read the books before I did, and recommended that I don't read them. Her opinion is one that I highly value and listen to, so I won't be reading Strong and Stubborn by Kelly Eileen Hake and An Honest Heart by Kaye Dacus. This means there are now a total of 18 books for the challenge.

So far I have finished 3 books and am currently in the process of reading 3 others (those 3 are all non-fiction and at least 2 are devotional books that I read a small section of each day).

The 3 books I have finished are:

• Light Force by Brother Andrew and Al Janssen (this one was one that I didn't read in last year's challenge)
• Finding Spiritual Whitespace by Bonnie Gray
• The Land Uncharted by Keely Brooke Keith

I found Light Force to be really interesting. It is a sequel to Brother Andrew's first book - God's Smuggler - and talks about what he has been doing since the publishing of that book made it impossible for him to continue his ministry in Europe. I found it most interesting the way his ministry focus has changed to focus on Palestinians - both Christians and Muslims - and the way his life has impacted world leaders and the influence he has had on the way Palestinian Christians have outreached to their own community, particularly in the face of war and terrorism.

Reading Finding Spiritual Whitespace has become part of a study for me, this year, on what true spiritual rest is. Over a few week I was often left with the thought that rest was important in my life and wanted to discover how I could rest in the middle of a busy life. Many people have a word for the year, and this year my word is REST. I'm not talking about getting enough sleep (although that is important), but true rest that is offered by God. The journey is not over, even though I have finished this book - there is still much more to learn on this topic.

So with these 3 books read and 2 books off the list for good, I'm at 3 out of 18 read.

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And now for the 2105 Bingo Reading Challenge.

My Bingo card has just one book read, but I'm working on how to read a few more. I will have one other square filled soon (thanks to a book I got to review).

The book I read for a genre that I don't normally read was The Land Uncharted by Keely Brooke Keith. It was a science-fiction book, and that is something I really don't usually read, but you might have read the blog tour and review post I did about it. Yes, it made it on both of my challenges for the year! But that's not against the rules.

So that's where I'm at with my reading challenges this year. Stay tuned for further updates, reviews and whatever else I think about and post!