Book Review: The Daily Question

A Simple Way to Reflect on Life and Faith

This keepsake daily journal prompts you to record what is happening in your heart and spirit. The short questions at the top of each page are quick to answer—but their impact could be life changing! You’ll go back and answer the same question a year later for five years in a row, creating a time capsule of soul transformation.

 

With questions about…

·  your view of yourself (“What three words would people use to describe you?”),

·  your view of God (“What attribute of God are you thankful for today?”),

·  your current circumstances (“Who do you wish you could talk to today?”)

…this journal keeps a beautiful record of your hopes, thoughts, and spiritual journey.

My Review:

This book is so cute.   This book is a great way to reflect on your life over the past 5 years.  The lines for each reflection are only a few and they are written one for each day with spaces for the next 4 years.  I love that you can look back on what you wrote the previous years.  Leaving only room for short answers makes this journal easy to follow through with although I am guessing some answers would use more room.  I appreciate that aspect.  I am excited to start using this journal and am also excited to see my previous responses.

I received this book for free in exchange for my honest opinion.

Book Review: A Prairie Girl's Faith

The beloved author of the Little House books was not only one of America's great pioneer storytellers but a woman of vibrant faith.

A Prairie Girl's Faith provides the first extended, in depth discussion of the Christian faith of one of America's most beloved pioneer women--Laura Ingalls Wilder. Although the faith of the Ingalls' family pervades books in the Little House series, the more specific details of Laura's faith have never been fully explored. It took extraordinary pluck for anyone to survive the harshness of frontier life--from the heartbreak of sudden crop losses to murderous storms to unrelenting loneliness. This book reveals how in surviving, the brave Laura drew not just on her character, but found encouragement, strength, and hope in her relationship with God.

My Review: 

I am a huge Little House on the Prairie fan so I was so excited to get this book.  One of the things that I love and admire the most about their family is their faith. I was thrilled to get to read more about that part of their lives.  This book is written in a way that makes it super easy to pick up, read a bit, and then put it down for the rest of the day.  That is what this mom needs in most books!  It is written in short little "stories" or examples of how they lived because of their faith.  I loved this book and will treasure the ideas and stories in it.  I highly recommend this book especially for Little House lovers!

I received this book for free in exchange for my honest opinion.  

Book Review: The Creeps

A follow-up to the New York Times best-selling Deep Dark Fears: a second volume of comics based on people's quirky, spooky, hilarious, and terrifying fears. 

Illustrator, animator, teacher, and comic artist Fran Krause has touched a collective nerve with his wildly popular web comic series and subsequent book Deep Dark Fears. Here he brings readers more of the creepy, funny, and idiosyncratic fears they love illustrated in comic form--such as the fear that your pets will tell other animals all your embarrassing secrets, or that someone uses your house while you're not home--as well as two longer comic short-stories about ghosts.

My Review:

This book is pretty hilarious if you have the tiniest bit of dark humor in you.  It is filled with short little comics about many of the things we find strange or creepy.  The comics turn these issues into hilarious little bits.  I chose this book to give as a gift to someone who will appreciate the darker humor that Fran Krause shares in this book.  I know she will love it and I might need to buy another copy or two and definitely check out the first in this "series".

I received this book for free in exchange for my honest opinion.  

Review: Amazing Animal Facts Postcards

Based on Maja Säfström's delightful book The Illustrated Compendium of Amazing Animal Facts, this collection of 50 collectible postcards is the perfect way for animal lovers and art lovers to share and collect Maja's charming illustrations.

Housed in a keepsake box and arranged, much like a recipe box or card catalog, in tabbed sections (air, forest, sea, etc) this posctard box lets the user share all the curious knowledge and amazing artwork that makes Maja's book so special. From the Otters (they hold hands when they sleep in the water so they don't float away from each other!) to the elephant (mother elephant pregnanices last two years!) each postcard presents a unique look at the animal kingdom that will delight and astound. 50 postcards; 25 designs repeating, printed on toothy uncoated stock, with the animal's biological classifcation on the back.

My Review:

These were so cute.  The facts were a bit simple, but great for a short and sweet postcard.  The pictures are wonderful.  You can definitely color them in, but they are great alone also.  I love that there are two of each because I might not want to send them if there was only one.  I can't wait for my kids to pick out which ones to send to family members.  Definitely love and definitely recommend!

I received these postcards for free in exchange for my honest opinion.  

Game Review: Punderdome: A Card Game for Pun Lovers

From the daughter-father duo that created Brooklyn's beloved live pun competition comes Punderdome, the "Punderful card game [that] will replace Cards Against Humanity at your next party" (Mashable.com).

One part game, one part conversation starter, you don't need to be a pun master to master Punderdome: the goal is to make bad jokes and have fun along the way.

A player (the prompter for that round) draws two prompt cards from the deck, and then reads the prompts to the rest of the group, who have 90 seconds to create a single, groan-worthy pun that combines the two prompts.     

When time is up, pun makers share their puns with the prompter, who awards the prompt cards to the player whose pun he or she likes best. The winner then draws the next pair of prompt cards and the process repeats. Players win by obtaining 10 pairs of cards.

Every Game Set Comes With:
·         200 double-sided cards (100 White and 100 Green)
·         2 Mystery Envelopes with fill-in prize slips
·         2 80-page pads for drafting puns
·         1 instruction card and 1 pun example card
·         A stu-PUN-dous time for 3 or more players

My Review:

This game sounded like lots of fun.  It definitely is if you are clever.  I am the person who thinks of great come backs days later.  I am not a clever person in that way.  The game was fun to watch, since I am much better at observing this game than playing.  I am planning to gift this game to some people in my family who are all pretty "pun"tastic.  It would be a great game to play at a party!!  It may be just what your holiday party needs!

I received this game for free in exchange for my honest opinion.  

Book Review: The More of Less

Don’t Settle for More
 
Most of us know we own too much stuff. We feel the weight and burden of our clutter, and we tire of cleaning and managing and organizing. 
 
While excess consumption leads to bigger houses, faster cars, fancier technology, and cluttered homes, it never brings happiness. Rather, it results in a desire for more. It redirects our greatest passions to things that can never fulfill. And it distracts us from the very life we wish we were living.
 
Live a better life with less.
 
In The More of Less, Joshua Becker, helps you….
 
•          recognize the life-giving benefits of owning less
•          realize how all the stuff you own is keeping you from pursuing your dreams
•          craft a personal, practical approach to decluttering your home and life
•          experience the joys of generosity
•          learn why the best part of minimalism isn’t a clean house, it’s a full life
 
The beauty of minimalism isn’t in what it takes away. It’s in what it gives. 
 
Make Room in Your Life for What You Really Want
 
“Maybe you don’t need to own all this stuff.” After a casual conversation with his neighbor on Memorial Day 2008, Joshua Becker realized he needed a change. He was spending far too much time organizing possessions, cleaning up messes, and looking for more to buy.
 
So Joshua and his wife decided to remove the nonessential possessions from their home and life. Eventually, they sold, donated, or discarded over 60 percent of what they owned. In exchange, they found a life of more freedom, more contentment, more generosity, and more opportunity to pursue the things that mattered most.
 
The More of Less delivers an empowering plan for living more by owning less. With practical suggestions and encouragement to personalize your own minimalist style, Joshua Becker shows you why minimizing possessions is the best way to maximize life.
 
Are you ready for less cleaning, less anxiety, and less stress in your life? Simplicity isn’t as complicated as you think.

My Review:

This book couldn't have been suggested at a more perfect time for me and my family as we just left a 2100 sq foot house to move into less than 400 sq feet in an RV.  This book starts out with the father postponing his play time with his child because he has too much to do.  The too much was all based on stuff...on things they had accumulated.  Living with more is a very American way of living and one that causes us many issues that often don't even seem related.

This book can help you start release the ties and see what good could come.  I highly recommend it.

I received this book for free in exchange for my honest opinion. 

Book Review: The Mexican Slowcooker

A collection of 55 fix it and forget it recipes for Mexican favorites from an award-winning Mexican cooking authority, in a stylish, engaging package.

When acclaimed chef and cookbook author Deborah Schneider discovered that using her trusty slow cooker to make authentic Mexican recipes actually enhanced their flavor while dramatically reducing active cooking time, it was a revelation. Packed with Schneider’s favorite south-of-the-border recipes such as Tortilla Soup, Zesty Shredded Beef (Barbacoa), famed Mole Negro, the best tamales she has ever made, and more, The Mexican Slow Cooker delivers sophisticated meals and complex flavors, all with the ease and convenience that have made slow cookers enormously popular.

My Review:

I adore Mexican food. I love it.  I also adore my slow cooker.  I also love it.  Big time.  Who doesn't love sticking some food into a pot and having it cook itself in a few hours.  You can leave and come home to a house full of delicious smelling, awesome tasting food or you can be there all day and smell the goodness.  

This book is beautiful.  It is filled with colorful pages and great recipes.  It is the exact kind of cookbook that I love.  There are hardly any Mexican recipes to make in a slow cooker so I was very excited to see this book.  I really love it and now treasure it as a part of my collection.

I received this book for free in exchange for my honest opinion.

Book Review: Andi Under Pressure

Book Description

Twelve-year-old Andora ‘Andi’ Boggs and her new best friend Colin Carter couldn’t be more excited to attend the prestigious science camp at the local university in Killdeer, Ohio. Unfortunately, Discovery Camp’s curriculum appears to include much more than just chemistry and biology. From day one, the university is plagued by a series of pranks—missing markers, loose crickets, and stolen scales. Campus security blames the mysterious janitor Polk, but even though Andi agrees he’s acting suspicious, she can’t believe the gentle old man would do anything illegal. Then one prank goes too far and their chemistry professor is injured by an explosion in the lab, upping the stakes of the investigation. Andi and Colin must unravel the secrets behind the chemistry department and Polk’s dark past before danger closes the camp for good.

Book Review:

I am always looking for new books for my 12 year old daughter to read and enjoy.  I gave her this one hoping she would.  She loves mysteries and spy stuff.  She really did enjoy the book and read it quite quickly.  She loved that it was a series and we are definitely going to order more from Andi's adventures.  The book is clean and not full of stuff that I don't want my daughter reading or dwelling on.  It is similar to the Nancy Drew series in my opinion.  I definitely recommend this book and the entire series for your young daughter.

I received this book for free in exchange for my honest opinion.  

Book Review: Another Way Home

Another Way Home (Abingdon Press, October 2015)

Sometimes God’s ways are not at all what we expect . . . and exactly what we need.

Grant and Audrey are adding grandchildren to their family left and right, but middle daughter, Danae, and her husband, Dallas Brooks, have been trying for years with no baby in sight.

Though Danae is ready to consider adoption, Dallas will not even discuss it. Despairing of ever having a family of her own, Danae decides to pour her passion and energies into volunteer work with a newly opened women’s shelter in town. Looking for a good cause to fill her lonely days, she never expects to give her heart to the hurting women she meets there. She’s finally learning to live her life with gratitude, but then heart-wrenching events on Thanksgiving weekend threaten to pull the entire Whitman clan into turmoil—and leave them all forever changed.

Deborah Raney’s books have won numerous awards, including the RITA, National Readers Choice Award, HOLT Medallion, and the Carol Award, and have twice been Christy Award finalists. She and her husband, Ken, recently traded small-town life in Kansas—the setting of many of Deborah’s novels—for life in the (relatively) big city of Wichita, where they enjoy gardening, antiquing, movies, and traveling to visit four children and a growing brood of grandchildren who all live much too far away.

My Review: 

Who doesn't want to live where the cover shows?  This is the third book in the series and I did not read the other books.  I think that it would have helped, but it was not necessary by any means.  I might go back to read the previous 2 now that I have read and enjoyed this one.  The story line is one that many people can relate to in one way or another.  I found it very easy to see myself in the story and it was completely captivating.  I wanted to keep reading to see how God would work things out in the story.  If you are looking for a great, easy to pick up read I definitely recommend this book.

I received this book for free in exchange for my honest opinion.  

Book Review: Against the Grain (cookbook)

Revolutionary all-natural recipes for gluten-free cooking--from the owner of Against the Grain Gourmet.

Nancy Cain came to gluten-free cooking simply enough: Her teenage son was diagnosed with celiac disease. After trying ready-made baking mixes and finding the results rubbery and tasteless, she pioneered gluten-free foods made entirely from natural ingredients--no xanthan or guar gums or other mystery chemical additives allowed. That led her to adapt many of her family's favorite recipes, including their beloved pizzas, pastas, and more, to this real food technique. In Against the Grain,Nancy finally shares 200 groundbreaking recipes for achieving airy, crisp breads, delicious baked goods, and gluten-free main dishes.
     For any of these cookies, cakes, pies, sandwiches, and casseroles, you use only natural ingredients such as buckwheat flour, brown rice flour, and ripe fruits and vegetables. Whether you're making Potato Rosemary Bread, iced Red Velvet Cupcakes, Lemon-Thyme-Summer Squash Ravioli, or Rainbow Chard and Kalamata Olive Pizza, you'll be able to use ingredients already in your pantry or easily found at your local supermarket.
     With ample information for gluten-free beginners and 100 colorful photographs, this book is a game changer for gluten-free households everywhere.

My Review:

I have a gluten intolerance so when I saw this book as one to choose to review I jumped on it.  Although my family seems to handle gluten just fine, it is easier to make everything similar and it is also an opportunity to take out unnecessary gluten (and usually unhealthy) filled foods at the same time.  This book is beautiful, which I really appreciate in a cookbook.  The recipes have been about 70% able to be duplicated.  Cooking or really more baking gluten free is not the easiest thing to transition to.  Overall, I am very happy having this resource in my home and love the ideas I get from it.  

I received this book for free in exchange for my honest opinion.  

Book Review: The Ology

Author: Marty Machowski

Help your kids understand who God is in The Ology by Marty Machowski, a beginners’ theology book great for kids of all ages. In the cellar of the old stone cathedral, Carla and Timothy uncover a life-changing treasure, a carefully wrapped ancient book known as The Ology. What adults might describe as a beautifully illustrated storybook of systematic theology, the kids discover to be a story of adventure, mystery, and wonder that leads them to the truth about God, themselves, and the world around them.

{MORE ABOUT THE OLOGY}

The Ology: Ancient Truths Ever New (New Growth Press, October 2015)

A page-turning storybook of theology for kids

In the cellar of the old stone cathedral, Carla and Timothy uncover a life-changing treasure, a carefully wrapped ancient book known as The Ology. What adults might describe as a beautifully illustrated storybook of systematic theology, the kids discover to be a story of adventure, mystery, and wonder that leads them to the truth about God, themselves, and the world around them.

Truth is for kids, not just for adults! So The Ology gives kids of all ages a beginner’s theology book to help them understand who God is and how we, as his children, relate to him. Arranged within a traditional systematic theological framework, each truth in The Ology is also connected to the larger redemptive story of Scripture. The doctrine of God, for example, is presented in the larger framework of creation, where the attributes of God are more clearly on display. The Ology takes abstract theological concepts and makes them easier to understand with the use of creative examples, illustrations, and analogies. The goal is not to say everything that could be said about a theological topic, but rather to share the key thoughts behind a theological concept. The Ology is a starting point to learning theology and aims to create a hunger and desire in children to learn more as they grow older.

Designed for six-year-olds through preteens, this flexible resource includes built-in adaptations for use with younger or older children, so that entire families can enjoy it together. Read The Ology to preschoolers, read it with grade-school kids, and let older kids discover the “hidden” truths by reading the corresponding Scripture passages for each section. However you read it, The Ology will give your children a gift that will last a lifetime—a solid foundation of life-changing biblical truth that will point them to the God who loves them and gave himself for them.

Check out this preview!

A companion The Ology CD from Bob Kauflin and Sovereign Music is also available.

Learn more and purchase a copy.

{MORE ABOUT MARTY MACHOWSKI}

Marty Machowski is a Family Life Pastor at Covenant Fellowship Church in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, where he has served on the pastoral staff for over twenty years. He is the author of the Gospel Story for Kids series, which includes “The Gospel Story Bible,” “Long Story Short,” “Old Story New,” and the “Gospel Story Curriculum,” as well as the Advent devotional and curriculum “Prepare Him Room.” He and his wife, Lois, and their six children reside in West Chester, Pennsylvania.

Find out more about Marty at http://martymachowski.com.

My Review:

This book is beautiful!  This book is designed for children six through preteens and I cannot wait to read it with my littlest one when she gets a bit older.  The beginning is written in story form with the intent to rope a child into the book.  The rest of the book is written mostly in Bible study form, but at a level that is enjoyable for children in that age range.  It is such a treasure to have in our house now and can definitely be used a resource to refer back to when needed or desired, not only as a great story book!

I received this book for free in exchange for my honest opinion.