Book Review of The Daily Question for you and your child

What a neat concept! A 3 year spiritual journey to enjoy with your child. The questions are insightful. How fun it will be to see the changes and growth in your child from one year to the next. What a neat way to encourage that special time together to truly get to know your child as a person. A great way to draw out each child's unique and individual personalities. It would also be interesting to see how each child in the family answers the questions - are they remarkably different or amazingly similar? What a treasure the book will become as it is saved for when the child is an adult with children of their own. 

Always thankful for the opportunity to review a book. This book was sent to me for review by WaterBrook and Multnomah. 

Catching Christmas by Terri Blackstock

Wow great story! I really could relate to Callie, the older grandma. She reminds me a bit of my late grandmother. As my grandmother got older she also became rather embarrassingly outspoken and would just 'say it like it is'. I still remember my cousin bringing her boyfriend to grandmother's house and my grandmother saying loud and clear to all in ear shot that 'honey, you can do better than that.' There were times when I was so embarrassed by her comments I just wanted a large sink hole to swallow me up whole. Still, I look back on her fondly and love that she just spoke her mind. 

I love the character of Callie who is similar in her outspoken ways. Wonderfully, told story and very heartwarming. Truly couldn't put it down and finished it in a couple days. Callie is an inspiration to us all and I hope that when I get old I lead others to Christ as she did. She did it by being a great example to others. She demonstrated Christian love and was a fun loving person that drew people in. The story is vey well written and the characters are very believable. 

I received this copy from the publisher through Edelweiss. 

Walk On by Ben Malcolmson

WOW!!!

First, I have to admit I am the only female in a house of males and often I get tired of everything sports. I like to watch when my own kids are playing on a team, but otherwise, I would often rather do something else other than watch sports. And I never want to pick up a book reading about sports or the players. So picking up and reading a book about a football player, well let's just say it was not my first choice. I actually am not really sure why I decided to join the launch team for this book as it is not my normal genre. Something about the book intrigued me and am I thankful. I started reading and COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN! I was completely surprised! It is truly a remarkable story and I just loved his sense of humor. While Ben has had remarkable opportunities, he is also very humble and just a very, very likable man. This story is very similar to Rudy, the walk on at Notre Dame except with one most important and remarkable difference. Ben clearly sees God's hand guiding his path and talks about his faith in this book. That was left out of Rudy's story. Rudy failed to see the bigger picture - the picture that God had a purpose for him and his journey was to point others to see Jesus. Ben gets that and that makes this a remarkable book, a most remarkable story. 

And shhhh ---- don't tell but when this book officially gets released, I will be purchasing several copies to give as gifts. I know I want my sons to read it. I think it is a story they would enjoy. It is important to have Godly men that live out their faith and are good examples for young men of today to look to, be inspired by and follow. We have such a lack of character in those of Hollywood and often times those are the larger than life examples our youth of today see so vividly in the media. Yet, it is men like Ben that should be held up for our youth to see as an example to follow. 

I found Ben's book to be a blessing and I am so thankful I decided to join the launch team and read it. I simply cannot say enough about how surprisingly wonderful this book truly was. I highly recommend it and can honestly say it would appeal to all as this truly is not my normal genre. I actually found myself rooting for Ben and the Trojans along the way!

"I received this book from the publisher through their book launch program."

The Memory Box by Eva Lesko Natiello

Imagine googling yourself and finding out details about your life you didn't remember. Caroline is a suburban housewife with a squeeky clean past or so she thought. Until one day, she googles herself.  She can't believe what she begins to find out about her past - a past she doesn't remember. How could she not remember? She feels she is losing her mind and seeks out a counselor only to find out she had been a patient of his previously. He helps her to unlock the memories she has stored away somewhere in the far recesses of her mind. 

This book is a spellbinding story that I just couldn't put down. It is a psychological thriller, with surprising twists along the way. It was very well written and I highly recommend reading this book. The ending threw me for loop; it was quite the surprising twist. At times I felt just frustrated with the main character for not pulling herself together, for not being able to just deal with things and move on. Then, the twists and turns in the story led me to a different conclusion. 

Gratitude in Motion by Colleen Kelly Alexander

A true story. Colleen Kelly Alexander's story. An amazing story of survival and coming through a horrific event with a stronger faith. Colleen was run over by a truck as she was riding her bike home from work. The driver never stopped and never cared that he hit her. That was the hardest, most difficult aspect for her to deal with - the fact he looked right at her, hit her anyways and never stopped. She should have died that day but didn't and her story is an amazing story. I was impressed with her sense of humor. She tells a harrowing tale and yet I found myself laughing as I was reading it. I am a breast cancer survivor and I can relate to using humor to face the tough. I found humor even in the ickiness of drains, gauze, and bandages. Colleen did too. She faced depression but she was able to climb out of the despair and choose gratitude. A friend has a blog about choosing joy because it is not so much the difficulties you face but how you face them that matters. A person can choose to be defeated by all that life throws at them or they can choose to rise above it all. A person can choose to be grateful and can choose joy even when facing the toughest of circumstance. I truly recommend this book. It is an amazing story. And certainly one that will help put things in perspective. It is hard to be down about any daily situation when reading about someone that has faced so much worse. 

The Dog that Saved Stewart Coolidge by Jim Kraus

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The dog, Hubert, shows up one day and begins a life of crime. He sneaks into the grocery store and steals bones to eat. With no one to look after him, he is a very hungry stray. Stewart bonds with the dog but it is his job while working at the grocery store to stop the bandit thief. Stewart ends up taking the dog in which is how he meets Lisa, his neighbor who lives in the apartment below him. Lisa, would like to be a reporter for a major newspaper or television news some day. Currently, she writes occasional articles for the local small town newspaper. She begins to write about the thieving dog and her articles start to gain national attention. Yet, Hubert, who is at the center of all the attention, seems to have just one thing on his mind - it seems that Hubert wants to see Lisa and Stewart have a relationship together. The dog's antics seems to bring them closer together. 

It is a truly wonderful read. I enjoyed it and it is so nice to read a story where the characters, while not perfect, are striving to have a relationship that is Godly. Even though, they live in close proximity, they keep the relationship pure. It is a great story especially if you like stories with animals that almost have human characteristics. 

Book review Kill Shot by Susan Sleeman

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was suspenseful and well written. I liked the characters. They were believable and real. A deadly new weapon, self-steering bullets, is stolen and FBI agent, Rick Cannon is in charge of the investigation to recover the weapon and prevent more deaths. The investigation leads him to Dr. Olivia Dobbs, when two of her patients are murdered using the self-steering bullets. A mutual attraction develops between Rick and Olivia as they hunt for the killer and try to recover the bullets. It's a great book. I couldn't put it down. I wanted to know how it ended. I have ordered the first book in the White Knight series, Fatal Mistake and can't wait for it to arrive.