Connected2Christ

Archive for the ‘Book reviews’ Category

About the Book!

Fear of being abandoned keeps 19-year-old Harmony Dust trapped in an abusive relationship. Tens of thousands of dollars in debt and struggling to get by, someone tells her how much money she can make as an exotic dancer. For the next 3 years, Harmony lives a double life as Monique, a dancer in a strip club.

“Scars and Stilettos” is Harmony’s stark, honest, & ultimately hopeful story of how God found her in that dark, noisy place & led her back out. She has since completed an MA in Social Welfare & now leads Treasures, an organization helping women in the sex trade discover their true worth & value. For more information about Harmony or her book please visit her website: http://www.scarsandstilettos.com.

“You will want to get a copy for every person you know… Once you start this book, you will not be able to put it down. You will laugh, you will cry, you will be encouraged, you will fall in love with God all over again.”

Holly Wagner, Author and Founder of GodChicks

“Harmony’s story is compelling evidence of how far the love of God reaches to heal broken lives and restore all that has been stolen. Scars and Stilettos is a must read for anyone who lives in despair and believes there is no way out. Harmony, as the founder of Treasures Ministries, has been a guest at Mercy Ministries to share her story with our residents, and the impact was great. Her life is now devoted to reaching out to those who are still living in the circumstances that she came out of, literally loving them to Christ. Harmony is living proof that in Christ, old things are passed away and all things are new.”

Nancy Alcorn, Founder of Mercy Ministries

“The thing that blows me away about Harmony’s story is that she showed back up. How easy would it be to never step foot in a strip club ever again. The pain, the memories, the past was all right there but she decided that this was not about her but the hundreds of women that remained in the clubs.”

Craig Gross, Founder of XXX Church

My Thoughts…

This book is a truly moving testimony poured out from a honest heart. I picked this story up in the morning hours and could not put it down! And with that being said, I had finished reading this book before the evening. This book is inspirational and moving story, that shows God’s loving grace and the fact that no matter how far you go, there’s always forgiveness in brokenness. I encourage everyone to pick up this story  full of hope, love, and purpose. Before warned that many parts of this book may be a little too graphic for some but I applaud the author in being honest and letting us know how it really is out there and what she went through.

Kregel Publishers is graciously donating a $50 Amazon.com gift certificate for the Litfuse Blog Tour Contest! Woo-hoo (thanks Kregel!)

To enter, tweet (see TWEET THIS below) or
share the book on Facebook using this link: http://www.litfusegroup.com/Blog-Tours/scars-and-stilettos-blog-tour.html

TWEET THIS:

Scars and Stilettos-story of ex-stripper #HarmonyDust & her work now to reach out to those still in the sex industry. http://ow.ly/1WrGD

(must use hashtag #HarmonyDust to be entered into Amazon.com gift certificate drawing)

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review

NCV Dad’s Bible: The Father’s Plan Hardcover

By Robert Wolgemuth / Thomas Nelson

If you are stumped as to what you are going to get your Dad or your children’s father for Father’s Day this year, you might want to check out the Dad’s Bible: The Father’s Plan! I was given the opportunity to review this Bible through Book Sneeze and I must say it’s a great gift!

This hardcover Bible is put together wonderfully and offers so much information in means to encourage and uplift men of all ages whom are looking to become the men and father’s God has created and lead them to be.

Features

• Articles
  • Walking in Authority - 100 articles on how dads should walk in the authority God has entrusted to them
  • Godly Character – 100 articles designed to teach and challenge
  • Passing it on- 50 articles about igniting the faith of the next generation
  • Dads in the Bible (30)- a look at the lessons taught by biblical fathers
  • Building your Children - 7 articles about nurturing and developing the potential in your children
  • Insight- 250 articles giving practical, biblical answers to life situations
  • Question and answer section- how to answer the hard questions
• Topical Index
• Presentation page
• Hardcover

After learning about this Bible, I also learned there is a perfect companion the Mom’s Bible, in which I am totally going to look into to purchase for myself. This Bible  retails price is $29.99 and is a real steal if you ask me! I know my husband will love this Bible and I can’t wait to give it to him on Father’s Day.

Disclaimer: I  received a copy of the Dad’s Bible: The Father’s Plan for free to review for Book Sneeze.(Thomas Nelson)

Bible Jumble for Kids

by Christopher Hudson with Megan Chrans
Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
Games/Word & Word Search
ISBN 978-1-4143-2696-2
Ages: 8 and up
SRP $9.99

The Bible Jumble for Kids is a fun puzzle book that features a total of two hundred Bible based and themed puzzles! There are six categories which include: traditional jumbles, mystery person jumbles, jumble detective, jumble criss-cross, find the jumbles and Bible passage jumbles.

If kids are a little lost or just can’t figure out one of the puzzles,there is a themed Bible verse reference at the top of the page. Also, all the answers are in the back of the book.

An example of jumble in the Mystery Person category is as follows: Mystery Person #20 “One Who Washed His Hands” verses Matthew 27:11-26. Clues include Jewish Religious Leader, Not Guilty, Something Unexpected, and To Let Go to name a few.  And if you haven’t figured it out, the jumble is referring to Pilate.

I think this a great book for kids! You can easily bring it along on vacation for those long flights or the seemingly never ending times on the road! Though not limited to vacation times, your child can enjoy this Jumble book any day of the week and it could even be incorporated into a daily or weekly personal Bible study lesson.

You can take a peek of Bible Jumble for Kids by Christopher Hudson.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of Bible Jumble for Kids for kids 8 and older by Christopher Hudson from Tyndale House Publishers.

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old…or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!

and the book:

Let’s Have a Daddy Day

Zonderkidz (April 13, 2010)

***Special thanks to Pam Mettler of ZonderKidz for sending me a review copy.***

My daughter is a big fan of this book! The illustrations are quite eye catching and the book is a very easy read as it has a fun rhyming style.  My daughter enjoyed me reading this book and asks for it every night before bed. This book as simple as it may be illustrates a big lesson that whether plans don’t go as you wish that being together is what really matters in making wonderful memories together.

New York Times bestselling author Karen Kingsbury has written more than forty of her Life-Changing Fiction titles and has nearly sixteen million in print. Dubbed by Time magazine as the Queen of Christian Fiction, Karen receives hundreds of letters each week and considers her readers friends. Her fiction has made her one of the country’s favorite storytellers, and one of her novels, Like Dandelion Dust, is under production for an upcoming major motion picture release. Her emotionally gripping titles include the popular Baxter family novels, the 9/11 Series, Even Now, Ever After, and Between Sundays. Karen and her husband, Don, live in the Pacific Northwest with their six children, three of whom are adopted from Haiti. You can find out more about Karen, her books, and her appearance schedule at her website.

Dan Andreasen lives in Medina, Ohio, with his wife and three children. He has illustrated more than thirty picture books. When his daughter was asked by her first grade teacher, “What kind of work does your daddy do?” she replied, “He colors.”

Product Details:

List Price: $15.99
Reading level: Ages 4-8
Hardcover: 32 pages
Publisher: Zonderkidz (April 13, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0310712157
ISBN-13: 978-0310712152

TO BROWSE THE BOOK, CLICK ON THE BUTTON BELOW

Z

Browse Inside

Browse

Info

Add

Let’s Have a Daddy Day

I was given the opportunity to review ‘If I Could Ask God Anything-Awesome Bible Answers for Curious Kids’ by Kathryn Slattery as part of the Thomas Nelson Book Sneeze book club. This is a wonderful book that answers all sorts of questions that children have or may have when it comes to learning about God and the Bible.

This book is set up wonderfully! All the questions are broken into eleven groups; God, Jesus, Holy Spirit, The Bible, Christianity, Prayer, The Church, Christian Seasons and Holidays, Being a Christian Here and Now, Being a Christian Forever and Ever, and Big Questions.

Each of the questions asked are explained and always backed with scripture taken directly from the Bible in which is sometime listed or you can look it up yourself as a reference.

This book can be used for more than when those certain questions come up, but you can take this book and use it as a Bible Study to sit and do along with your own child or perhaps in a Sunday school children’s church class!

I know in the years to come, I’ll be using this book in my own home with my children. This book is recommended for children of all ages. I would say whenever your child starts asking the questions, it’s time to start looking to this book as I know each child matures in their own time.

Thank you to the Thomas Nelson Book Sneeze Club for providing me a copy of this book for review. I was not paid for my review and the opinions expressed are my own.

In The Adventures of Pookster and Bubs, you’ll be introduced to sister Pookster and brother Bubs. Both in their everyday lives learn some pretty important lessons and principles to take to heart directly from the word of God.

In the story Pookster & the Unloose Tooth by Rhonda Funk, Pookster learns a valuable lesson about patience when it comes to loosing her two front teeth after forcefully causing one of her teeth to come out when it just wasn’t ready!

And in the story Pookster and the Practically Perfect Pickle, Pookster learns the importance of loving and unloving attitudes through her words which could be sour to those that are sweet much like pickles.

I’ve found each book to be illustrated perfectly by Eric Kieninger in a fun comic style. And with each of the books in this series a read along cd is included that is narrated by the author and her own children whom were the inspiration for these fun stories! I personally appreciated the sounds effects that were added to the reading of this story in which making it more visual to it’s readers and listeners.

I love that at the end of  each of these books, there is a section called What I’ve Learned and on the final page a Bible verses that relates to the lesson taught that your children can memorize if they so choose! And the fact that these books are perfect for both boys and girls alike is just another great feature.

I really enjoyed reading these books and I have no doubt that when my daughter is a little older that she’ll enjoy listening and reading these books as well. I look forward to more additions to the Pookster and Bubs series.

Pookster and the Unloose Tooth & Pookster and the Practically Perfect Pickle can be purchased from Amazon for $9.59 for paperback and 2.99 on the Kindle.