Posted January 15, 2015 in Faith, Reading, Review / 0 Comments
Loved as I Am by
Miriam James Heidland Publisher: Ave Maria Press (2014)
eARC (128 pages)
Via: NetGalley Rating: Reading Challenges: Read 2015 Synopsis
When Sr. Miriam James Heidland’s life as a successful college athlete proved unfulfilling, she went searching for something deeper and ended up falling in love with Jesus. By charting her own journey toward wholeness, Heidland invites young Catholics to pursue their own relationship with Jesus.
Although originally full of athletic ambition and goals for a career in sports news, Heidland was transformed in a very slow but deep way during her undergraduate years, moving from party girl to bride of Christ. In Loved as I Am: An Invitation to Conversion, Healing, and Freedom through Jesus, Heidland helps readers learn from her experience of seeking love in the wrong places and instead finding it in Christ. She shares her struggles—learning she was adopted, battling alcoholism, and healing from childhood sexual abuse—as signs of hope that anyone who desires to know Christ can find him and be loved intimately by him in return. By bringing readers into Heidland’s healing process, Loved as I Am provides a gentle and subtle template for finding peace and freedom in Jesus.
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Tagged as 5 star, Catholic, Catholic Book, NetGalley, Read 2015, You Read How Many Books Challenge
Posted January 5, 2015 in Reading, Review / 0 Comments
Blood of a Stone by
Jeanne Lyet Gassman Publisher: Tuscany Press (2015)
eARC (395 pages)
Via: NetGalley Rating: Reading Challenges: Read 2014 Synopsis
Set in the first century on the edges of the Roman Empire and the Jesus movement, Blood of a Stone is a sweeping story of murder, betrayal, love, and the search for redemption.
Faced with the brutality of slavery, Demetrios confronts his master and flees by the blood of a stone. Determined to escape his past, he struggles to create a new life and a new identity with his friend and fellow escaped slave, Elazar.
However, freedom has its price. Secrets cannot remain secret forever. A chance for love is lost. Elazar betrays Demetrios to a so-called prophet named Jesus of Nazareth. Fearing the Roman authorities and Jesus, Demetrios risks everything to silence those who would enslave him again. His quest leads him to startling discoveries and dire choices. Demetrios must answer the question we all ask: Can we ever be free of our past?
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Tagged as 4 star, NetGalley, Read 2014
Posted December 27, 2014 in Reading, Review / 0 Comments
Merry Christmas!
It is so great that Christmas is more than just a day so I can say Merry Christmas
for quite a while yet, until the Baptism of the Lord on January 11 actually.
Merry Christmas!
The Case for Christmas by
Lee Strobel Publisher: Zondervan (2014)
eARC (96 pages)
Via: NetGalley Rating: Reading Challenges: Read 2014 Synopsis
Who was in the manger that first Christmas morning? Some say he would become a great moral leader. Others, a social critic. Still others view Jesus as a profound philosopher, a rabbi, a feminist, a prophet, and more. Many are convinced he was the divine Son of God. Who was he really? And how can you know for sure? Consulting experts on the Bible, archaeology, and messianic prophecy, Lee Strobel searches out the true identity of the child in the manger. Join him as he asks the tough, pointed questions you d expect from an award-winning legal journalist. If Jesus really was God in the flesh, then there ought to be credible evidence, including Eyewitness Evidence Can the biographies of Jesus be trusted? Scientific Evidence What does archaeology reveal? Profile Evidence Did Jesus fulfill the attributes of God? Fingerprint Evidence Did Jesus uniquely match the identity of the Messiah? The Case for Christmas invites you to consider why Christmas matters in the first place. Somewhere beyond the traditions of the holiday lies the truth. It may be more compelling than you ve realized. Weigh the facts . . . and decide for yourself."
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Tagged as 4 star, Christmas, NetGalley, Read 2014
Posted December 24, 2014 in Reading, Review / 0 Comments
Esther: Royal Beauty by
Angela Hunt Series: Dangerous Beauty #1 Publisher: Bethany House (2014)
eARC (325 pages)
Via: NetGalley Rating: Also by this author: Delilah Also in this series: Delilah Reading Challenges: Read 2014 Synopsis
An ambitious tyrant threatens genocide against the Jews in ancient Persia, so an inexperienced beautiful young queen must take a stand for her people.
When Xerxes, king of Persia, issues a call for beautiful young women, Hadassah, a Jewish orphan living in Susa, is forcibly taken to the palace of the pagan ruler. After months of preparation, the girl known to the Persians as Esther wins the king's heart and a queen's crown. But because her situation is uncertain, she keeps her ethnic identity a secret until she learns that an evil and ambitious man has won the king's permission to exterminate all Jews--young and old, powerful and helpless. Purposely violating an ancient Persian law, she risks her life in order to save her people...and bind her husband's heart.
Esther marks bestselling author Angela Hunt's return to biblical fiction. In each novel she explores an example of a Hebrew Old Testament tob woman: a woman whose physical beauty influences those around her--and can change the course of history.
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When I first saw this book on NetGalley, I knew I had to request it. It is about Esther! I absolutely love the movie One Night With the King and the biblical book of Esther. Esther (or rather, Hadassah) is one of the biblical persons who really fascinates me. And the cover is just beautiful.
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Tagged as 5 star, All Time Favorites, NetGalley, Read 2014
Posted December 18, 2014 in Faith, Reading, Review / 0 Comments
Chastity is for Lovers by
Arleen Spenceley Publisher: Ave Maria Press (2014)
eARC (120 pages)
Via: NetGalley Rating: Reading Challenges: Read 2014 Synopsis
In 2012, journalist Arleen Spenceley outed herself as a twenty-six-year-old virgin in a Tampa Bay Times op-ed that went viral. In Chastity Is for Lovers, Spenceley expands on that piece, advocating Catholic teaching on sex and marriage with candor and humor, and without judgment.
In her debut book, seasoned journalist and self-professed "happy virgin" Arleen Spenceley offers a mature, funny, and relatable vision of Catholic teaching on chastity for young adults. Chastity Is for Lovers provides perspective on a variety of topics—the difference between chastity and abstinence, how virginity is an affirming and valuable life choice, how the word "purity" can be harmful in ministry settings, how to date well, and why sexual self-control is the best form of marriage preparation—and gives single adults the best possible chance to find true love. She carefully avoids using language that shames readers and instead presents a view of chastity that is joyful and positive.
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This is a book I had heard about once before I found it on NetGalley. I requested it and read it in two days. Thanks, Ave Maria Press!
Take a look at the publication date. The feast of Saint Catherine Labouré! And the publisher is Ave Maria Press. From that alone, I knew I would like this book.
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Tagged as 5 star, Catholic, Catholic Book, NetGalley, Read 2014
