Posted November 28, 2016 in Reading, Review / 0 Comments
Three Dark Crowns by
Kendare Blake Series: Three Dark Crowns #1 Publisher: HarperTeen (2016)
Hardcover (398 pages)
Rating: Reading Challenges: 2016 Royal Challenge,
Read 2016 Synopsis
When kingdom come, there will be one.
In every generation on the island of Fennbirn, a set of triplets is born—three queens, all equal heirs to the crown and each possessor of a coveted magic. Mirabella is a fierce elemental, able to spark hungry flames or vicious storms at the snap of her fingers. Katharine is a poisoner, one who can ingest the deadliest poisons without so much as a stomachache. Arsinoe, a naturalist, is said to have the ability to bloom the reddest rose and control the fiercest of lions.
But becoming the Queen Crowned isn’t solely a matter of royal birth. Each sister has to fight for it. And it’s not just a game of win or lose…it’s life or death. The night the sisters turn sixteen, the battle begins.
The last queen standing gets the crown.
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Tagged as 5 star, Read 2016
Posted November 3, 2016 in Faith, Reading, Review / 0 Comments
Fearless by
Sonja Corbitt Publisher: Ave Maria Press (2016 - November 4)
eARC (256 pages)
Via: NetGalley Rating: Reading Challenges: Read 2016 Synopsis
What are the sources of anxiety, stress, and fear you experience in your life? Popular Catholic speaker and author Sonja Corbitt believes that these often-paralyzing emotions are the direct result of our everyday battles against sin and temptation. In Fearless, she equips us with the spiritual tools we need to restore our spiritual well-being.
The term “spiritual warfare” conjures images of heavenly battles between archangels and demons, but Sonja Corbitt insists that there is a realm of spiritual warfare that is more domestic than it is cosmic—in the trenches of dirty bathrooms, fighting children, irritable spouses, the struggle to stop smoking or overeating, crazy schedules, and overwhelming workloads.
In her new book, the author of Unleashed takes us deep into scripture and the spiritual practices of the Church in order to show us how to resist the avalanche of temptations that can threaten us and lead to paralyzing anxiety and fear. Through her powerful personal story and teaching, Corbitt shows us how to put on the armor of Christ and learn to live fearlessly, love with abandon, and embrace life with confidence.
In Unleashed, Corbitt identified the spiritual wounds that reveal themselves through the harmful patterns and relationships in our lives.
In Fearless, she offers scriptural tools that help us understand and conquer the demons of sin, Satan, self, and sloth. She helps us recognize the methods the devil uses to keep us enslaved and she immerses us in a profound contemplation of love, which is the only possible weapon against the spirit of fear.
In this book you will come to understand
the spiritual roots of fear, depression, and anxiety;
ways to “abide” in Christ and find freedom from fear;
signs of negative spiritual suggestion and influence in your daily life;
the deep, personal lies we believe that keep us slaves to fear;
specific truths about the limitations of Satan’s power and character;
the “pieces” of spiritual armor that protect us from fear; and
how to rest fully in God’s goodness and love.
Each chapter contains features that will make it a popular resource for personal and group study: review notes, an invitation to prayer, and a series of probing questions (called God Prompts) that encourage you to explore the content in a deeply personal way.
Fearless offers encouragement to those who are anxious or fearful about the future and who seek a spiritual solution.
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Tagged as 4 star, Read 2016
Posted October 27, 2016 in Reading, Review / 0 Comments
The Secret of Pembrooke Park by
Julie Klassen Publisher: Bethany House (2014)
Paperback (451 pages)
Rating: Also by this author: The Painter's Daughter,
A Castaway in Cornwall Reading Challenges: 2016 Backlist Books,
Read 2016 Synopsis
Abigail Foster fears she will end up a spinster, especially as she has little dowry to improve her charms and the one man she thought might marry her--a longtime friend--has fallen for her younger, prettier sister.
When financial problems force her family to sell their London home, a strange solicitor arrives with an astounding offer: the use of a distant manor house abandoned for eighteen years. The Fosters journey to imposing Pembrooke Park and are startled to find it entombed as it was abruptly left: tea cups encrusted with dry tea, moth-eaten clothes in wardrobes, a doll's house left mid-play . . .
The handsome local curate welcomes them, but though he and his family seem to know something about the manor's past, the only information they offer Abigail is a warning: Beware trespassers who may be drawn by rumors that Pembrooke contains a secret room filled with treasure.
Hoping to improve her family's financial situation, Abigail surreptitiously searches for the hidden room, but the arrival of anonymous letters addressed to her, with clues about the room and the past, bring discoveries even more startling. As secrets come to light, will Abigail find the treasure and love she seeks...or very real danger?
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Tagged as 5 star, Read 2016
Posted October 24, 2016 in Reading, Review / 0 Comments
Walk on Earth a Stranger by
Rae Carson Series: Goldseer #1 Publisher: Greenwillow Books (2015)
Hardcover (431 pages)
Via: Library Rating: Reading Challenges: Read 2016 Synopsis
Gold is in my blood, in my breath, even in the flecks in my eyes.
Lee Westfall has a strong, loving family. She has a home she loves and a loyal steed. She has a best friend—who might want to be something more.
She also has a secret.
Lee can sense gold in the world around her. Veins deep in the earth. Small nuggets in a stream. Even gold dust caught underneath a fingernail. She has kept her family safe and able to buy provisions, even through the harshest winters. But what would someone do to control a girl with that kind of power? A person might murder for it.
When everything Lee holds dear is ripped away, she flees west to California—where gold has just been discovered. Perhaps this will be the one place a magical girl can be herself. If she survives the journey.
The acclaimed Rae Carson begins a sweeping new trilogy set in Gold Rush-era America, about a young woman with a powerful and dangerous gift.
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Tagged as 4 star, Read 2016
Posted October 22, 2016 in Reading, Review / 0 Comments
Beauty Begins by
Chris Shook,
Megan Shook Alpha Publisher: WaterBrook Press (2016)
Hardcover (208 pages)
Rating: Reading Challenges: Read 2016 Synopsis
You are, and always have been, beautiful.
“Beauty begins. That’s the point of this book. Our understanding of beauty got started somewhere and somehow, and probably due to someone. Now that may have been a good start, but then again it may not have. But regardless of what your past looks like, we want to offer up this word of hope: it’s never too late to make peace with your reflection.”
We live in a culture that’s obsessed with beauty. Walk by any magazine stand, turn on a television, or visit the local shopping mall, and you’ll be bombarded with the images and ideals that our culture believes are the epitome of what it means to be beautiful. And if you’re like most women, you’ve probably spent countless hours trying to measure up to this standard of beauty whether you realize it or not.
But if you don’t make peace with your reflection, you’ll end up declaring war on yourself.
That’s where mother-daughter team, Chris and Megan Shook, want to help. In Beauty Begins, they explore the origins of beauty (hint, it didn’t start with a fashion magazine) and challenge each of us to trade the pressure of perfection for God's perfect love.
Poignant, relevant, and relatable, Beauty Begins is for every woman who wants to reclaim what it means to be truly beautiful.
Do you feel beautiful?
When you look in the mirror, what do you see? Others may tell you that you’re beautiful, but do you believe them? Why not? Don’t let another day go by without believing and knowing that you are fearfully and wonderfully made.
It’s time for you to exchange society’s cookie-cutter suggestions for what is beautiful and instead discover and reclaim what true beauty looks like – and the One who created it.
In Beauty Begins, Chris and Megan Shook share with you their own experiences and struggles with appearance and body image, as well as equip you with the wisdom to distinguish what’s artificial beauty and what’s real. Filled with heartfelt encouragement, insightful challenges, and undeniable truth, after reading Beauty Begins, you’ll never look in the mirror the same way again.
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Tagged as 4 star, Read 2016
