Christian Satire at its finest

I have long been a fan of The Babylon Bee articles that they post on facebook.  It is a great example of Christians being able to laugh at themselves in a way that isn’t too disrespectful.  This book is more of the same, but that is precisely what makes it a fantastic book.  There were several points where I literally laughed out loud while working through the book.  They take the things about us as Christians that truly are funny when you think about it, and they point at them in jest to show that we all need to lighten up a little.  I would recommend this to any mature Christian who is able to have a good laugh.

Really fun book!

I really enjoyed this book.  I have always been a video game fan, and to have the opportunity to learn about the complete history of video games in a form that I also love, namely comics, was a great combo.  The book is incredibly informative, and it is totally accessible for anyone.  Anyone from the youngest reader to the oldest aficionado will find the book to be a real page-turner.  I would recommend it to anyone who is wanting to learn more about the video game genre as well as history buffs.  It was a really fun book.

Who knew there was so much to learn about peppers?

Peppers of the Americas is a fantastic book!  This was my first cookbook that I have received from Blogging For Books, and I have been very happily satisfied.  First off, this is an incredibly informative book about the many varied types of peppers found in the Americas and all of their various uses.  The entire first half of the book consists of the history and origin of hundreds of peppers that are found in cuisine across North and South America today.  The second half of the book is filled with wonderful recipes that make use of many of the peppers described in the first half.  We have already tried several of the recipes in the book.  My personal favorite is the slab bacon in Hibiscus hot pepper adobo found on page 321.  It was a winner with my family as well.  The recipes are easy to follow and the ingredient lists are prominent and easy to read.  I would strongly recommend this cook book to anyone who loves to cook and add a little spice toothier life.

Who knew?

I had no idea that there was so much that went into making seemingly simple things happen every day.  The Physics of Everyday Things was an eye-opening experience for me.  I have what I consider to be a somewhat scientific mind, and yet I was blown away at all of the physics that happen to make an alarm clock work, an elevator take me up, my information to be stored “in the cloud”, or to make my LED television work.  This book, while it does have some very technical language at times, never felt over my head. It was incredibly informative and very interesting.  I would recommend it to anyone who is looking to figure out how and why things work the way they do.

What a GREAT resource!

Roadfood is such a great resource for any time that you might be traveling anywhere by car.  We have already used it a couple of times as we traveled to visit family, and we were not disappointed.  The way that the book is divided into regions of the country makes finding a place close to your travel route very accessible.  We were also surprised to find that we were already familiar with several of the restaurants found in the book.  We wholeheartedly agree with them being a part of the list.  I would enthusiastically recommend this book to anyone who loves to travel off the beaten path and anyone who loves food.

I learned so much

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is a student of American history, but I would also recommend it to anyone else for that matter.  There was so much that I didn’t know about this saga in our American past.  I had heard of Geronimo and of the struggle for control of the American Southwest, but I had no idea of the many stories that played into that whole era of United States history.  Paul Hutton does a masterful job of painting the scenes in this book.  It is engaging and a complete page-turner.  I simply couldn’t put it down once I began.  Do yourself a favor and go pick up this book.

Talking With God is good!

Prayer is one of those things in the Christian life that we all say we know we need, but, if we are honest, we all struggle with.  That is why we need books like Talking With God.  I was very pleased with this book.  It is a subject that I am always seeking to improve in my life, and this book had some valuable insights into steps to take to improve it.  I really appreciate how incredibly practical the book is.  The book is very conversational in its approach, and therefore, it is very accessible as well for anyone seeking to grow their prayer life.  I love what he wrote on page 35 where he says, “I don’t need to be uptight and serious when I pray.  Yes, it’s good to have a healthy reverence of and respect for God. But you don’t have to be emotionless or somber. There’s no need to practice our prayers before speaking them. God is abundantly loving and gracious. It isn’t a sin to smile or laugh when we’re speaking with God.”  So true and so freeing.  I would strongly recommend this book to all believers young and old.

The Women of Easter

I’ve mentioned I sometimes get to read books for free. The latest is The Women of Easter by Liz Curtis Higgs. She has a Christmas one too. I’ll have to grab that one day. But I’ve always Loved Liz’ writings. I first got hooked on her with the Bad girls of the Bible series. She’s always had a great way of making Biblical people come alive for me. Sometimes I struggle to find them relatable but she continues to amaze me with how her writing presents itself so I can grasp it. I love that she introduces the characters and we take an in depth look at these three ladies.  Mary of Bethany, Mary of Nazareth, and Mary Magdalene have so much to teach us. It even has a study guide so we could use it for a small group. What a great idea!

I love that its full of scripture! Many times when I read books it glosses over scripture, paraphrases, or uses it out of context. I’ve loved this and look forward to incorporating it into my Easter readings.

Walking On Water

I received a copy of “Walking On Water” by Madeleine L’Engle having never read anything by her, but knowing of the impact that her “A Wrinkle In Time” had had.  I was pleasantly surprised by this book.  I love L’Engle’s approach to the idea of creativity and art in conjunction with Christianity.  The wholistic view that she takes in refreshing.  As a worship pastor, I am always looking for different and better ways to be creative and ways to inject creativity into our worship services, and I have been both challenged and convicted by L’Engle’s words found here.  I love what she says on page 123, “When we take ourselves too seriously, as the chief or only object of God’s interest, then we fail to understand the magnitude of his love and concern for us.”  These words are so true! We so often, as Christians, try to be as somber and stoic as possible, and we fail to explore the depths of the creativity that God has woven into creation.

I would strongly recommend this book to anyone!

Love Unending

Sometimes I get the privilege to read a book before its out! It’s such fun- but seriously I love anytime I get to read. The latest book that I’ve gotten to read is Love Unending by Becky Thompson. I read her book Hope Unfolding earlier in the year and it was a delight.

So here are the details: it’s a marriage book, chapters are in the range of 10 pages so its doable with those mommas who have young kiddos, multiple jobs, lack of time-so basically all of us. I wouldn’t say it only applies to mothers with young kids. It’s set up with a 21 day challenge. Each day you get a challenge, time to reflect, and pray. It is fun because you get to anticipate your husbands reaction and then go back and evaluate how it went. Sounds like a fabulous idea right?! I mean I did those things in college…WAAAAAYYYYY back in the day. Some days I have to remind myself there was a time before I was a stay at home mom wiping tushies, playing diner and homeschool momma.

So here’s the deal- it’s available for pre-order on amazon. Seriously, whats more fun than mail…I mean this is cheap mail not medical bill from your son’s hospital stay oh say 6 months ago. But for real- it’s currently $8.92 with prime. Why are you still here? Jump over to amazon and purchase it….then come back and tell me you did. I just like to know- I mean maybe I’ll look and see if I see changes in your marriage too.

I tend to start each year with a marriage book-just kinda happens. But I think I’ll reread this again then. So if you want to join me in Jan 21 days of marriage challenge lets do this!