Tuesday, December 29, 2020

Alice in Wonderland

 I reread this book which is weird for me. I never reread books but I wanted to see what I remembered about the story. Alice fell through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world of nonsense. This book was hard to describe because it doesn't follow any particular plot. It is considered to be one of the best examples of the literary nonsense genre. I enjoyed reading this book because it reminds the reader about just being yourself and having an imagination. 




Tuesday, December 22, 2020

Made to Crave: Satisfying Your Deepest Desire with God, Not Food

This book was good. I enjoyed it even though a lot of the content was not relatable as the eating thing goes. This book talked about a woman’s desire to be healthy and the spiritual empowerment necessary to make that happen. Craving things is not a bad thing. But God created us to crave more of him. Many times we have misplaced the craving for God with a craving of overindulging in physical pleasures. Learn to stop beating yourself up over the numbers on the scale. Discover that your weight loss struggle isn’t a curse but rather a blessing in the making, and replace justifications that lead to diet failure with empowering go-to scripts that lead to victory. You can reach your healthy weight goal and grow closer to God in the process. This is not a how-to book or the latest and greatest dieting plan. 




Miracles from Heaven: A Little Girl, Her Journey to Heaven, and Her Amazing Story of Healing

Annabel Beam spent most of her childhood in and out of the hospital with a rare and incurable digestive disorder that prevented her from ever living a normal life. One she fell three stories headfirst inside an old, hollowed-out tree when playing with her sisters. She could have died but she survived without a scratch. She laid unconscious for hours while the rescue workers tried to save her. She visited heaven. After being released from the hospital, she defied science and was inexplicably cured of her chronic ailment. This is a remarkable true story of faith and blessings and told from a mother's perspective. This was a great book. I enjoyed watching the movie as well. I enjoyed seeing more of the story that the movie left out. 








Tuesday, November 24, 2020

God Is in the Small Stuff... And It All Matters

 This was a quick read for me. I found somethings useful but not a lot. It was okay. 




Saturday, November 21, 2020

Girls with Swords: How to Carry Your Cross Like a Hero

This book was okay. It was a little bit of a disappointment for me because I knew a lot of the material already. The book was separated into three sections. The first section Chosen. This talked about how we are chosen by God to fulfill His purpose and how the Devil tries to deceive us. The second section Trained talked about what God uses to teach us by using fire and water. This was my favorite section. Then the third section was Armed which talked about the different types of swords and how to use them. I learned a lot in this section.





Tuesday, September 1, 2020

Talking to Heaven: A Medium's Message of Life After Death

James Van Praagh is a spiritual medium--someone who is able to bridge the physical and spiritual worlds. Unaware of his spiritual gifts until he was in his twenties, he slowly came to terms with his unique abilities. In addition, many of his sessions with grieving people who came to him looking to contact the spirits of deceased loved ones are explored. Van Praagh also helps the reader recognize and positively deal with the pain of grief in a healthy, honest manner. This book was excellent!





Orange is the New Black

Convicted and sentenced to fifteen months at the infamous federal correctional facility in Danbury, Connecticut, for delivering a suitcase of drug money. From her first strip search to her final release, Kerman learns to navigate this strange world with its strictly enforced codes of behavior and arbitrary rules. She meets women from all walks of life, who surprise her with small tokens of generosity, hard words of wisdom, and simple acts of acceptance. Heartbreaking, hilarious, and at times enraging, Kerman’s story offers a rare look into the lives of women in prison, why it is we lock so many away, and what happens to them when they’re there. I also met the author at an event.




Tuesday, August 18, 2020

Tell Me About God: Simple Studies in the Doctrine of God for Children

This book was very good. It was an ABC book about God's character. It would explain an aspect of God's character, a Bible passage relating to that character description, a verse to memorize, a song from the Psalms, and a question from the Shorter Catechism.



Unglued: Making Wise Choices in the Midst of Raw Emotions

 This book was very good. It talked about how to acknowledge and deal with raw emotions that come from old wounds. There are different types of reactors when raw emotions come up stuffers and exploders. This book talked about how to gain confidence in resolving conflict, finding peace in difficult relationships, identify what reactor you are, respond with no regrets by managing tendencies to stuff or explode, and gain peace when responding to situations out of our control. 



Tuesday, June 23, 2020

Tired of Trying to Measure Up

The first section of this book talked about how we get wounded by shame, how the mentality of measuring up came into existence, spiritual abuse, and shame-based relationships. The second part talked about healed by grace and finding God's way to heal this mentality. This was very good and I would recommend this to anyone.








30 Days to Understanding the Bible Unlock the Scriptures in 15 Minutes a Day

In just fifteen minutes a day, you will learn about the Bible's key people, events, and doctrines to get more out of God's Word. This simple-to-use, straightforward guide. I highly recommended this. I have learned more about the Bible through this book than I have my whole life. Then I can go back and reread the Bible with a lot of clearer understanding.
    This book includes different sections such as The “Arc of Bible History” to help you visualize the Bible’s overarching themes. The “Story of the Bible” summarizing Genesis through Revelation in just a few pages. The core beliefs of the Christian faith, focusing on the teachings that have united Christians for the last 2,000 years. Plus bonus sections.








66 Ways God Loves You: Experience God's Love for You in Every Book of the Bible

This book took you through every book in the Bible and showed you with a verse about how God loves you.  For example, in Genesis God fashions me with His hands. In Esther, He makes me royalty. In Acts God’s Spirit comes to live in me. Each chapter includes a meaningful reading on the message of that book in the Bible, along with a simple takeaway to help you bring the message to light in your own heart and life. It was very good.








Monday, May 25, 2020

It was Like That Once

This is a book of poetry by Andrei Guruianu. It was a quick read and very good. Sorry, I don't have a picture of the book.


Do It Scared: Finding the Courage to Face Your Fears, Overcome Adversity, and Create a Life You Love

This book helped you to identify your own unique Fear Archetype. A fear archetype is a specific type of fear that keeps you stuck. She talked about it and then provided tips on how to conquer it. This book was very inspiring and practical. The fears that hold us back include that we're not good enough, not smart or talented or capable enough. It's the fear that others might laugh at us, or that we'll get hurt or be rejected, or that pursuing our true potential will simply be too hard. True courage means taking action, despite the fear.








Jesus Wants All of Me

This was a through the year devotional for kids. It had colorful pictures and the language was easy to understand. I enjoyed it very much.








What on Earth am I Here For?

This is the expanded edition of the Purpose Driven Life. This helped me to understand why I am here. Rick Warren will guide you through a forty-day spiritual journey. Knowing God's purpose for creating you will reduce your stress, focus your energy, simplify your decisions, give meaning to your life, and most important, prepare you for eternity.
   The first section was days 1-7 that talked about Why Are You Here. The second part days 8-14 is Purpose One: You Were Planned for God's Pleasure. The third part days 15-21 is Purpose Two: You Were Formed for God's Family. The fourth part days 22-28 is Purpose Three: You Were Created to Be Like Christ. The fifth part days 29-35 Purpose Four: You Were Shaped for Serving God. Then the last section days 36-42 is Purpose Five: You Were Made for a Mission.
   This was an excellent book and I would recommend it for everyone. Especially for people who feel lost.










Sunday, May 3, 2020

Enough: Silencing the Lies That Steal Your Confidence

This book was about the voices in your head that tell you that you're not good enough, smart enough, pretty enough...or just not enough, period. This mental game makes you lose faith and confidence. This book has two parts. Part 1: The Battle for Your Thought Life. Part 2: The Lies Women Tell Themselves.
    Part one talked about how to recognize the lies, reject the lies, and replace the lies with truth. Part two talked about the 10 lies women tell themselves.
1) I'm not good enough.
2) I'm worthless.
3) I'm such a failure.
4) I'm so ugly.
5) I would be happy if.
6) I can't forgive myself.
7) I can't forgive the person who hurt me.
8) My life is hopeless.
9) I can't help myself.
10) God doesn't really love me.
    This was an excellent book. My favorite part was replacing the lies with the truth reference guide. It took each of the lies and provided verses that go along with it and added more as well. It is really helpful. I also meet the author personally at an event I attended based on this event. I highly recommend this to everyone, not just women.








Tuesday, April 21, 2020

Reckless Design: Wild Surrender

This was a great short book about a missionary, Katie Wells. She gave up her comfortable life to follow what God told her to do by serving Him in Bolivia for eight years. It was very cool seeing how she learned to interact with her surroundings since she didn't speak any Spanish. She learned how to trust God. she also was a teacher at a church in the jungle. She put prayers at the end of each chapter and questions. Each chapter was filled with the lessons she learned and how to apply the lessons to walking with God. It was excellent. I highly recommend it.











Today God Wants You to Know...You Are Beautiful

This book was full of 180 devotionals about how we are viewed as beautiful to God. The topics were beauty by design, nature, experience, season, redemption, grace, prayer, pain, triumph, sacrifice, surrender, worship, growth, biblical, loss, need, others, Him, witness, and eternity.  Some were really good some were okay. I would highly recommend this for anyone who struggles with this concept of not thinking they are beautiful because it was an eye-opener for me.








Thursday, April 2, 2020

The Wisdom of Unicorns

This was a cute book that talked about unicorn characteristics and how to contact your unicorn. They have powers of positivity, spiritual healing, and general awesomeness. It also had motivational quotes, mantras, and colorful illustrations.










Sunday, January 19, 2020

The Legends of Ryland Creek

This was the 3rd book in the saga. Andrew is an orphan and heir to a vast gang of drug dealers, has been ordered to prove his worthiness. Bent on revenge he arrives to kill the Ernst family. but after getting to know Lill and her family he comes to realize he wants a better life









The Bible NIV

I read the Bible from front to back. I enjoyed it a lot and I understand the Bible a lot more now.








The Darkest City

This was a very interesting story. This was a great story but hard to explain. Ordinary miracles easily are forgotten and honesty.









Dreams Alive: Prayers by Teenagers

This book had more than 140 prayers and reflections by teenagers from all over the United States. Their reflections touch on themes and feelings at the heart of their experiences, the future of the environment, the importance of friends and families, and the challenges of making important decisions. I really enjoyed reading this book. The teenagers had some wisdom that really impressed me.








The Case for Christ Answer Booklet

Lee Strobel was an atheist when he began his career as a journalist. Through his journalistic research, he became convinced that Jesus is real. This movie tie-in booklet hits the highlights of The Case for Christ Answer Booklet.








The Case for Christmas: A Journalist Investigates the Identity of the Child in the Manger

Consulting experts on the Bible, archaeology, and messianic prophecy, Lee searches out the true identity of the child in the manger. If Jesus really was God in the flesh, then there ought to be evidence like who was in the manger that first Christmas morning?