Be the Mom by Tracey Lanter Eyster

What a breath of fresh air!!! Tracey Eyster was remarkably frank, open and honest. She shared her own personal life experiences showing moms that they aren't alone! Every chapter was engaging and fresh - sharing chapter after chapter of potential mom "traps" that we can easily get into if we aren't careful - these traps include: "Just-a-Mom," "Me Mom," "Martyr Mom," "Busy Mom," "Mirror Mom," "Tomorrow Mom," and "They Say Mom". Tracey explains each of these thoroughly yet with a good balance that she doesn't go overboard.

This book is incredibly practical and I would recommend this heartily to any mom that is wanting to be a godly mom. Not surprisingly, since this book is put out as part of "Focus on the Family" it is written with a Biblical worldview (for anyone that isn't looking for a Biblical worldview - this book is probably not for you as this is the context of the whole book). For those that want to raise their children to love God and want to raise their children according to the Bible - you will enjoy this book and find it extremely practical!!

I highly recommend this book!

This book was sent to me for free in exchange for an  honest review from Tyndale House Publishers. I was under no obligation to give it a positive review.

Reunion by Lauraine Snelling

Coming soon in July...

Reunion by Lauraine Snelling!

Summary of the book:

The Sorenson Family are planning a family reunion even though their mother Dagmar has just passed away from cancer and will not be there to join them. Dagmar's daughter Keira has been going through her mother's house with the help of her best friend (and brother's wife) Leah. Keira is searching for her birth certificate so she can get her passport for a trip to Norway that her husband surprised her with and Leah is looking for pictures to make a family memory book for all that will be attending the reunion.

When Keira stumbles upon her birth certificate, she is shocked to discover that under the "father" section it reads: "Unknown." Hoping that she is reading this wrong and not wanting to devastate her brother Marcus (Leah's husband), she keeps the information to herself until she can look into the matter more.

Meanwhile, Marcus (a pastor in the community) discovers that his teenage daughter is pregnant and tries to decide what to do about it: should he hide the information or resign from the ministry?

While plans for the reunion continue to take place, each member of the family seems to have a secret that they are keeping from the other members of the family and it will all come to a head at the reunion!

My review:

This book gave great insight into how devastating a teen pregnancy can be. There are many great thoughts throughout the book on what should or could be done with a Biblical view of life. I felt that this book did very well at detailing how it affected each person whether it was Kirstin (the girl who was pregnant), Jose (the father of the baby), Leah (her mom), Marcus (her dad) or Keira (her aunt). The book definitely kept the focus on what God's Word says about life even though it was not easy for any of them when "push came to shove".

This book does a fantastic job of showing how important unconditional love is in the believer's life. By showing unconditional love in your life, you get to emulate God's love for us as sinners! What a great picture!

I did enjoy this book even though it focused on some hard topics. The author did a good job of weaving the story so that you really did get involved in the characters lives and wanted them to do the right thing. I know there will be many people that find this book controversial, but for those that try to live according to the Bible I would think this book would only be encouraging!

I received this book for free from Faith Words in exchange for an honest review. I was under no obligation to give it a positive review.





Bringing Up Girls by Dr. James Dobson

I can summarize this book in one word: disappointing, but I'll expound on why I say this as you continue to read. I was so excited to have the opportunity to review this book because when I found out back in the summer of 2010 that I was going to be having a little girl I wanted to read everything I could get my hands on that would help me with raising her. My little girl just turned 18 months old a couple of days ago and I finally had the chance to read this book, but not just read it but own it for giving an honest review on it. I was so excited to read this book and then I started reading it.

It starts out telling about all the horrors of raising a daughter in this day - lack of morality in our country being the main topic that invades so much. I found it quite depressing, but figured that the book was just opening up that way to emphasize how important our roles as parents are in raising our daughters. Unfortunately, it just continued. I was almost 200 pages into the book and it was still just doom and gloom! I was disappointed. Where was the "practical advice and encouragement for those shaping the next generation of women"? This book was anything but practical or encouraging. The majority of this book I felt more and more depressed that I'd decided to have a child in this world that we are living in. But unfortunately (and no I'm really not upset I have my child - she brings such delight to our lives!) I already had a child and didn't read this book ahead of time so I'd know that I shouldn't have a child.

There were only 3 maybe 4 chapters that I felt even talked about how to raise your daughter. The majority of the book was just article after article about the decline in morality in this world. The other portion of the book seemed to plugging other books that Dr. Dobson had previously written so that you'd want to read those. I can tell you that this being my first Dr. Dobson book that I've read and the way this content matter was handled, it will probably also be my last! I can not in good conscience recommend this whole book to anyone that is trying to read a book about raising their daughters.

If you are wanting to read a book that will deter people from having children, then you may have stumbled upon the right one though! If you do feel the need to buy and/or read this book - just skip to the final chapter entitled "The Last Word" because that was the closest the book came to giving any parenting advice.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review from Tyndale. I was under no obligation to give a positive review.  

Raising Your Kids to Love the Lord by Dave Stone

This book was so easy to read. I read it all in less than a day. But the lessons that can be learned in it are so valuable to any parent that wants to raise their kids to love the Lord. My daughter turned 18 months old today. While I realize we are in the very beginning stages of raising her, I figured that this would be the perfect time to read this book and get some good insights on what to do while raising her (you know, before we really mess up!).

I'm not sure what I really expected this book to tell me, but to me it all seemed like a review. But that is only because my parents raised me the way this author writes about. For me, this book was a review and so many of the things I've already started to implement in raising our little girl. However, I can see this book being so practical and valuable to someone that wasn't privileged enough to be raised by godly parents and who wouldn't know what to do.

By the end of this book, I had tears in my eyes because I realized just how lucky (and by lucky I know that luck had nothing to do with it and that God had everything to do with it) I was to have been raised in a family that instilled all of these life lessons in me at a very young age.

I would highly recommend this book to anybody that is trying to raise their kids to love and serve the Lord because it is so practical and down-to-earth! The ideas and principles aren't unattainable! I know because I was fortunate enough to be raised with parents that held on to these same Biblical truths.

I'm so glad that this book was written and I'm sure I will look to it often when I'm getting discouraged in my journey as a Mom.

I received this book for free under the BookSneeze program and I was under no obligation to give it a positive review. 

The Creation as retold by Janice D. Green

I must admit when I first saw the pictures to this book, I found them rather strange and a little creepy. But then I realized that they are taken from a quilt and I thought the idea was interesting and fairly well put together. Before I ever actually picked the book up to read for this review, my now 18 month old daughter saw the book and seemed to really like the pictures. Since this book is written for children and not really for adults, I take that as a good sign that most kids would find the illustrations interesting as well. I did appreciate the uniqueness of the illustrations because I think it would help kids remember what day each thing was created.

As far as the content of the book, it really is just "The Creation" account that is found in Genesis. However, Mrs. Green has paraphrased it to make it easier for kids to understand. At the end of each page there are also some different questions that you can ask the kids. I felt like some of the questions didn't really pertain with that particular page, but they would open up a discussion with the child.

I can't really say that overall I would recommend this book as a purchase even though it is definitely unique. I think this book would probably be enjoyed by some and not by others - not just because it is about Creation (which I wholeheartedly believe in) but even just the way it is illustrated may not be what everybody is looking for.

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review from the BookCrash book review program. I was under no obligation to give it a positive review.

The Maid of Fairbourne Hall by Julie Klassen

Having just finished reading "The Maid of Fairbourne Hall" by Julie Klassen, the only thing I can think of is, "I wonder what else she has written, so I can read another great book like this one!" I know that I've heard of Julie Klassen, but I don't recall that I have ever read any of her books. I'm so glad I decided to review this one.

This book starts off with Margaret Macy realizing that her virtue is not safe living with her mother and step-father. Having taken a little bit of money before she leaves, she goes as far as the money will take her and then seeks employment as a housemaid. She only needs to stay hidden until her next birthday when she will receive a large inheritance. Since she has always had her own servants, she has a lot to learn as a housemaid. Because of her new station, she learns many lessons about herself and about not judging people on their appearances. Of course there is a little bit of romance and mystery thrown in the mix to make this a very interesting read throughout the book.

I really enjoyed reading this book. As the review on the back of the book states, "Her writing is comparable to Jane Austen's." I definitely found that the style or at least the time period was very similar, but it was also a very fresh look at that time period as well. I especially enjoyed all the little tidbits at the beginning of each chapter that had quotes from various books or letters from the time period this book was written about. It was all so interesting!

If you are looking for a book that makes you forget your life for awhile and puts you in a period in time that was so different from ours then you've found it.

I did receive this book in exchange for an honest review from Bethany House. I was under no obligation to give a positive review.

Sexperiment: 7 Days to Lasting Intimacy with Your Spouse by Ed & Lisa Young

When I saw that this book was available for review I thought it sounded like an interesting twist on your typical marriage help books and I was eager to read it. While I sincerely believe that my husband and I have a very good marriage, I figured that there would still be something that we could gain from this book. I started reading the book and it did not disappoint. While yes, the book does definitely focus on having an intimacy with your spouse - it goes beyond that! It covers so many excuses that we let crop into our lives that lead us away from "becoming one" in our marriages.

One of my favorite chapters was actually the first chapter because it covered the differences between men and women and how we think. I couldn't believe how accurate it was! I guess I shouldn't have been too surprised since this is written from a husband and wife team that have been married for over 30 years, but it still amazed me.

I think that this book would be very helpful for any marriage. Even if you have a solid marriage - it will help to solidify your marriage. If your marriage seems to be shaky - it can help you to get it back on track. This book even has a section at the end of each chapter called "Action Steps" for couples that are reading this together and are getting ready to embark on the "Sexperiment". While this book is written for married couples, it also has a section at the end of the chapter called "Before You Do" for engaged couples and "The Yoke is Not a Joke" for those that are still dating. I really appreciated the fact that over and over in these sections they made a point to say that this experiment is only for you once you are married, but there are things that you can consider before you are in that situation.

I received this book for free from FaithWords in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to give a positive review. All words and thoughts in this review are my own.