Christ-Centered Christmas by Hal and Melanie Young (E-book) - A Review

Christ-Centered Christmas is a charming 80 page e-book that introduces you to the Christmas traditions of the Young family. As its title implies the e-book's focus is on keeping Christ in your CHRISTmas. Hal and Melanie virtually open their doors to their home and take you on a tour of their favorite traditions with a warm blend of history, how-to's, and recipes.





In their e-book you will find the following topics:

Decorating

Celebrating Advent

Caroling Parties

and more . . .

One of my favorite sections in the e-book is the history behind why we decorate our homes with evergreen at Christmas time. This was a piece of history of which I was unaware. Like most, I grew up with the tradition of the Christmas tree and never thought much else about it. As an adult, I heard various arguments for and against with the opposing side citing it as a pagan tradition and therefore not appropriate in a Christian home. Our family has always loved having a tree and kept that tradition despite occasionally wondering if the naysayers had some truth in their argument. Well, I will happily put up my tree and my wreaths now in celebration of a Christ-Centered Christmas. Oh, and if you want to know the story . . . well, you'll just have to buy the e-book!

Hal and Melanie Young's Christ-Centered Christmas is definitely a keeper. I highly recommend it to everyone who wants to learn or add to their traditions of having Christ as the focus of your Christmas. It certainly left me with some new ideas and affirmations of old ones.

Plus, they included some really fantastic recipes!

Thank you Hal and Melanie Young for providing me with a free copy of Christ-Centered Christmas to review. They did not require that I provide a positive review and all opinions expressed are my own.

If you would like to find out more about Hal and Melanie Young or purchase Christ-Centered Christmas please visit www.raisingrealmen.com. Download this gorgeous 80 page, full color book (a $15 value) now for their introductory price of $6!! http://www.raisingrealmen.com/ourstore/christmas/

The Christmas Singing by Cindy Woodsmall - A Review

The Christmas Singing, despite its title, is not really about the holiday. This was a bit of a disappointment for me since I was looking forward to reading a Christmas themed Amish romance.

It is a charming novel about a scatterbrained baker named Mattie and her love life. Mattie has been hurt in the past and therefore is determined to not give her heart to any man again. Through a disaster she must confront her old love and all the feelings he stirs up. This is ultimately a novel about forgiveness and the wounds that are left behind when deception enters a relationship no matter how well meant.

I enjoyed the book as a nice light read. It's typical of the genre and worth a couple hours entertainment.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review. WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group does not require a positive review. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Indelible by Kristen Heitzmann - A Review

I don't think I've had a harder time, so far, coming up with a review for a book. Indelible is a romantic suspense novel by a Christian author. The Christian aspects of the story were very low key, at least to me. The title refers to the main character Natalie Reeve who has an eidetic memory that imprints a person's face and all their inner being indelibly in her mind. Her only method of removing the image is to sculpt it immediately into clay. Because of this she rarely looks at anyone's face and thus comes across as evasive. However, if she does look at someone she can see beyond the surface and her stare is hyper focused which makes anyone she does look at extremely uncomfortable.

She meets our hero, Trevor MacDaniel when he rescues her nephew from the jaws of a young mountain lion. Trevor battles his own personal demons. Thus, you have two flawed protagonists who must overcome their past and current issues in order to connect emotionally.

Then interjected into the story of Natalie and Trevor is a weird inner dialogue and passages from an obscure book. I had to go read other reviews before I knew that the passages were from Paradise Lost by John Milton. A poem I had never read and, frankly, have no intention of reading. I found these interjections to be distracting, disjointed and had a difficult time even comprehending how this twisted person even fit into the story.

You are never introduced to this deeply troubled individual. You are given clues to his personality through his ramblings but it's not until you get three quarters through the book that you have any idea why he's doing what he's doing. It's the last few chapters that really explain who he is and it's not until then that you have any understanding or sympathy as to why this person does what he does.

I also found the relationship between Trevor and his former girlfriend to be quite disturbing. She is married and has a child yet she is constantly worrying about him and getting in his business, etc. This is not a romantic relationship that has turned into a pseudo sibling connection. It definitely came across, to me, as someone who just wouldn't let go. Honestly, if I'd been her husband, I would not have been as complacent as he was for so long.

I did not enjoy this style of writing at all. I really didn't like the ending either. I won't tell you why because if you intend to read the book my reasons could spoil the story for you.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review. WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group does not require a positive review. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

The Scroll by Grant R. Jeffrey & Alton L. Gansky - A Review

Biblical archeology, murder, intrigue and a man who has lost his faith in God are the main themes in "The Scroll". Dr. David Chambers, due to a painful experience, has lost his hope in the scriptures that used to drive his passion. Known as the leading archeologist in the Holy Land, his work set the standard in biblical research. But, that was then. Now, drowning in doubt and depression and on the verge of leaving his passion for the Holy Land in the proverbial dust, David has the chance to redeem his faith and his career.

David's old friend and mentor Abram Ben-Judah calls him with the offer of one last dig. With the enticement of riches and a discovery unlike any other Dr. Chambers heads back to Israel. He quickly finds himself confronted with those very things he wanted to leave behind. Drawn into a fight for his life will his faith in God return or be forever lost?

I found that "The Scroll" was a little slow to start but an enjoyable read. Think Indiana Jones meets the bible meets end times prophecy. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in biblical historical fiction with a little bit of action adventure thrown in.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review. WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group does not require a positive review. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.



The Scroll by Grant R. Jeffrey and Alton L. Gansky (ch. 1 excerpt)

Sodastream Fountain Jet Soda Maker Starter Kit Bzz Campaign

So, over at www.bzzagent.com they are holding a contest, of a sort, to get into the Sodastream Bzz Campaign. Now I have been lusting over the Sodastream setup for over a year now. I'm not a big soda drinker but I do like to pop open a cold fizzy drink, especially when I am feeling stressed. However, the biggest drawback for me in drinking soda is how sweet it is. So I started researching if there was any way I could make my OWN soda that had the flavors I liked and less of that comatose inducing sweetness.

I found http://www.sodastreamusa.com/ and was very excited about the possibilities. Plus, who doesn't like experimenting to get your very own custom concoction? Needless to say I was over the moon excited to find out about this http://www.bzzagent.com/daily/view/sodastream-daily-bzz#

Now, I'm not the type to do a video, but I can sure babble away on my blog about my excitement and hopping up and down anticipation of actually being able to get into this Bzz Campaign.

Go Me!!

I'll let you know whether or not I get in. Because I know that you'll be waiting with fingers crossed just like me! :)

The Inconvenient Marriage of Charlotte Beck by Kathleen Y'Barbo - A Review

The Inconvenient Marriage of Charlotte Beck is the third and last book in Kathleen Y'Barbo's "The Women of the West" series. Since these are stand-alone companion volumes I didn't feel I missed too much by not reading the first two books. The Inconvenient Marriage of Charlotte Beck, like the others, is a Christian historical novel set in the old west.

Have you ever heard the phrase: "damned with faint praise"? Unfortunately that's what I'm about to do here. While I don't feel the novel was a complete waste of my time I just couldn't get attached to the characters. I found Charlotte Beck annoying and immature, although the author at one point hinted that her immaturity was just "for show" she never brought that plot point to fruition. The hero of the story was noble and self-sacrificing and didn't annoy me as much as Charlotte and quite possibly under different circumstances could have been a decent hero.

I also disliked the father constantly protesting that he loved Charlotte while continuing to force her into a marriage she didn't want. He assured her, and us, over and over that it was in her best interests since she was too immature and impulsive to be trusted otherwise. Me thinks he doth protesteth too much! An underlying theme throughout the book is the mystery surrounding Charlotte's mother and this mystery has much to do with Charlotte's behavior. I found it frustrating that the author didn't clue at least the stepmother in to this fact. I can understand that her father would be blind to it because of his own issues with the past but Charlotte's supposedly "on the ball" stepmother not once mentioned to anyone that maybe that was the root of everything.

Then in the last two chapters everything is rushed to the inevitably happy conclusion and all is well and everything is forgiven. I felt that after the prolonged buildup about Charlotte's immaturity and her dislike for the marriage and the man the book could have done with a couple more chapters allowing for more development of her mature character and her self-awareness of what her real issue was.

In conclusion, not a bad book, just not one that I found myself connecting with or wanting to add to my library.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review. WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group does not require a positive review. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

DRAGONSPELL by Donita K. Paul - A Review

DragonSpell is the first novel in a 5 book series by Donita K. Paul called the "Dragonkeeper Chronicles".  It is a Christian allegorical fantasy in the tradition of C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien and introduces you to a world rich with characters that will soon feel like old-friends. In a timeless tale of good vs. evil, adventure, self-discovery and eternal truths DragonSpell is destined to be a classic read and beloved by the whole family.

DragonSpell is the story of Kale, a young o'rant slave girl, who orphaned at an early age has lived among a village of mariones where the only things expected of her are obedience and hard work. Her life is changed drastically when she is drawn by forces beyond her control to a dragon egg. Kale is sent to deliver the egg to The Hall in Vendela and there she is also to be trained for service to Paladin.

"Are ye sure ye won't ride all the way into the city?"

That one question is the pivot point upon which Kale's new life in Vendela is diverted into a quest to rescue a precious meech dragon egg from the evil Wizard Risto. Afraid and with feelings of inadequacy and unworthiness Kale embarks on a journey to self-discovery, faith, and acceptance. A journey filled with untold danger, fainting dragons, teasing doneels, and an absentminded old wizard, Kale discovers she is not just a slave and that being in service to Paladin is more than being a servant.

I was surprised and delighted by DragonSpell. The story is rich in detail, full of subtle humor, adversity to overcome, lessons to learn and characters I didn't want to leave behind when the book was finished. I will definitely be putting DragonSpell on my "to keep" list and will be adding the rest of the series to my library as soon as I can.

DragonSpell by Donita K. Paul (Chapter 1)

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review. WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group does not require a positive review. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Why This Theme

I recently discovered that I like the steampunk genre. For those of you who do not know what steampunk is if you will click on the handy dandy link in the first sentence you will be taken to a Wikipedia article with which you can enlighten yourself on this delightful sub-genre of fiction, fantasy, and culture.

Pah! You say you are too lazy to click that little linky? Fine then, I shall summarize for you: Steampunk is a sub-genre of fiction, fantasy, and alternate history. The setting is typically Victorian era England and steam power is still widely used. Airships are a mode of transportation, and steam powers everything from your winged backpack to your computer.

You can find examples of steampunk machinery in works by H. G. Wells and Jules Verne. Movies such as "Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow", "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen", "Wild Wild West" (1999) and television shows such as "Warehouse 13" and "Wild Wild West" (1965) also epitomize the genre.

What I like about the steampunk world is that it combines the romanticism of Victorian England with  speculative technology. Frills and furbelows with clocks, cogs, and gears. It engages my imagination with the "what if's" and thrills me with the seeming dichotomy of the surreal to the possible.