My Lighthouse

I recently discovered this song, and it may just be a new favourite. It is certainly about one of my favourite things.

Reading Challenge Update 6

Just one more book to add this time, but that means I have only one book left to complete the challenge!!

• Hear Me When I Call by Charles Swindoll

was the book I finished this time, which puts me at 17 out of 18!

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There is also just one for the Bingo Challenge this time:

• Takes place in your favourite time period: My Brother's Crown by Mindy Starns Clark and Leslie Gould

It has taken me a long time to figure out what my favourite time period is, but with this book I finally worked it out.

What I really like are books that combine contemporary and historical. These usually involve the exploring of family history and having the stories from ancestors intertwining with current events. This is just such a book.

For me, it doesn't really matter what the historical period is - this one was set in the 1600's; others have been set much later. I think I like this combination because I am very much interested in my family history (although I have not really been able to research it).

If you would like to read my book review for this book you will find it here.

Until next time ... happy reading.

ACRBA Tour - Same by Katrina Roe

5 - 9 October

Australian Christian Readers Blog Alliance

is introducing

Same
(Wombat Books 1 July 2015)

By

Written by: Katrina Roe Illustrated by: Jemima Trappel

About the Book:

When Uncle Charlie comes to visit, Ivy keeps her distance. He seems different from other people she knows. Can Uncle Charlie find a way to show her that he is not so different after all?

Same is a touching true story about love, acceptance and finding common ground.

Katrina Roe’s debut children’s book Marty’s Nut-Free Party was shortlised in the Speech Pathology and CALEB awards. Same helps a child relate to what is actually the same, in someone who seems so different.

About the Author

Katrina Roe is an author and radio presenter.

Most recently she was host of the morning show on Sydney’s Hope 103.2 radio (www.hope1032.com.au) before leaving to have her second baby. 

Katrina also has a successful parenting blog (www.frommouthsofbabes.wordpress.com). 

Marty’s Nut-Free Party was her first children’s book, followed by Emily Eases herWheezes. Emily was listed as a notable book by CBCA in 2015. Same is her latest book, and is scheduled for release in July 2015.

Katrina has also contributed to two inspirational anthologies, All Creation Sings: Psalms of Everyday Christians and a book about miscarriage called In God’s Hands: Overcoming Miscarriage in a Broken World.

In 2009, she completed her Masters in International Relations, just for fun!  Katrina also likes kayaking, bushwalking, reading novels, taking holidays, listening to music and hanging out with friends.  She’s adamant that tea should always be made in a pot and she has a definite weakness for soft cheese.
She lives in Sydney with her three young daughters and her husband Chris.

Jemima is a Sydney-based artist and illustrator who enjoys riding her bicycle. Like many illustrators she was born holding a pencil and uses it frequently to bring words to life. 

She decided to make a career out of her passion, and in 2012, after five years at the College of Fine Arts and the University of NSW, she emerged with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (with honours), a Bachelor of Arts (a combined degree) and the ability to converse in French.

Same by Katrina Roe, is her first book with Wombat Books. Prior to this, Jemima illustrated Wonderfully Madison (2013 – winner of the children's book category in the Caleb awards that year) and Fearlessly Madison (2014) by Penny Reeve (published by Youthworks Media). She is also the illustrator of the short comic, A friend in need, by Karen Bielharz (part of the self-published Kinds of Blue anthology, 2011), and is the linework artist for the short animation Money Tree (2011), written and directed by Hawanatu Bangura. 

My Thoughts:
This is a beautifully illustrated story and is very true to life. Both children and adults have the same reactions as Ivy did in the story when someone who is "different" appears (although adults don't generally run away). This story is a good reminder to look for something that we can have in common with everyone; and such a good way of teaching children.

I'll be donating my copy to the after school care program where I work, so that those children can learn about finding something the same in everyone they meet.

Book Review - My Brother's Crown by Mindy Starns Clark & Leslie Gould

One of the great things about books is that you learn some things about yourself while you read them. For the Bingo Reading Challenge that I've been doing this year, one of the squares was for a book that 'Takes place in your favourite time period.' I had been racking my brain for ages trying to figure out what my favourite time period actually is, and in reading the book I'm about to review I found it (more on that in my next challenge update).

My Brother's Crown

Cousins of the Dove #1

by Mindy Starns Clark and Leslie Gould

(Thank you to Harvest House Publishers for my copy.)

Back Cover:

Women of Uncommon Courage

France, 1685

Catherine Gillet knows her brother, Jules, wants to protect her from the sinister threats of the French crown. But Jules is involved in a potentially deadly enterprise, one connected with an encoded document. When his actions put the whole family at risk, will Catherine find a way to save them?

Virginia, present day

Rene Talbot, a direct descendant of Catherine's, is fascinated by the document that's been part of her family legacy for more than three centuries. Certain its pages hold hidden secrets, she takes a closer look - and makes a shocking discovery. But when memories of a childhood trauma are rekindled, she's forced to seek answers of a different kind. Inspired by the faith and bravery of Catherine, can Renee find the truth and face her deepest fears at last?

From the authors of the Christy Award-winning The Amish Midwife comes an epic story of two women, centuries apart, each discovering her own hidden bravery, standing for what she believes in, and finding love in unexpected places.

Authors:

Mindy Starns Clark is the bestselling author of more than 20 books (over 1 million copies sold) including fiction and non-fiction. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, John, and their two daughters. Connect with Mindy at www.mindystarnsclark,com.

Leslie Gould is a bestselling author of 20 novels. She received her master of fine arts degree from Portland State University and lives in Oregon with her husband, Peter, and their four children. Connect with Leslie at www.lesliegould.com.

My Thoughts:

Mindy and Leslie have beautifully woven the stories from these two time periods together. It is a wonderful thing to know your family history and it certainly plays a part in what you do in your life now and why - this was true for Renee as she reflected on the life Catherine lived.

While I had heard of the Huguenots, I was not very familiar with why they were persecuted (not that I really understand persecution in any form - it just should not be, but then we haven't reached heaven yet). The persecution of these people, was yet another example of religious persecution - something that has shown itself in many different forms, during every century.

Faith is at the centre of both of these women's lives. One thing that challenged me, particularly from Catherine's story, is how essential it is to know what you believe and why you believe it.

While there is completion to this book, there are also many questions raised and threads of both stories yet to be unravelled. I look forward to reading the next book in this series: My Sister's Prayer.

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.