God Gave Us Love - Love It!! (Book Review)

“God Gave Us Love” is an excellent book for children (and some adults) that explains God’s love and His desire for us to love the same way, in a straight-forward, hard to misunderstand style.

The author, Lisa Tawn Bergren, has taken a difficult subject for some to get a handle on and stated it simply, yet not in a manner that demeans the subject.

I also found that the illustrations by Laura J. Bryant were an excellent complement to the text.

Written for the youngest of readers, this is an excellent book to have in a collection. I plan on reading it to my children (6 and 7), along with reading it to my K5 tee-ball team at our mid-practice discussion time. It ties beautifully into our talk about the second greatest commandment as related from Jesus to “Love our neighbor as yourself.”

You can’t go wrong with this one.

I was provided this copy of the book by Waterbrook/Multnomah in return for an unbiased review of same.

When a charming polar bear cub climbs into bed one night, she asks her Mama a very important question--one that little "human cubs" often wonder about, too: "Where did I come from?"

As Mama bear tucks her youngest cub under the quilts, she gently, tenderly, and reassuringly communicates the message loving parents everywhere (bears and non-bears alike) want their little ones to hear: "We wanted you very, very much, and we are so very glad because—God gave us you." 

synopsis from Waterbrook/Multnomah website - http://waterbrookmultnomah.com/catalog.php?isbn=9781578563234 

Book Review

11/22/63 by Stephen King

On November 22, 1963, three shots rang out in Dallas, President Kennedy died, and the world changed. What if you could change it back? Stephen King’s heart-stoppingly dramatic new novel is about a man who travels back in time to prevent the JFK assassination—a thousand page tour de force.

Following his massively successful novel Under the Dome, King sweeps readers back in time to another moment—a real life moment—when everything went wrong: the JFK assassination. And he introduces readers to a character who has the power to change the course of history.

Jake Epping is a thirty-five-year-old high school English teacher in Lisbon Falls, Maine, who makes extra money teaching adults in the GED program. He receives an essay from one of the students—a gruesome, harrowing first person story about the night 50 years ago when Harry Dunning’s father came home and killed his mother, his sister, and his brother with a hammer. Harry escaped with a smashed leg, as evidenced by his crooked walk.

Not much later, Jake’s friend Al, who runs the local diner, divulges a secret: his storeroom is a portal to 1958. He enlists Jake on an insane—and insanely possible—mission to try to prevent the Kennedy assassination. So begins Jake’s new life as George Amberson and his new world of Elvis and JFK, of big American cars and sock hops, of a troubled loner named Lee Harvey Oswald and a beautiful high school librarian named Sadie Dunhill, who becomes the love of Jake’s life—a life that transgresses all the normal rules of time.

courtesy Amazon/book content

I read a lot that King has written. Some I like (Salem's Lot, The Dead Zone, IT, Insomnia, The Stand) and some I don't (From a Buick 8, Desperation, Cell). This latest is definitely in the first category.

I'm a sucker for time travel stories and this one was well thought out and put together. The use of a stationary end point for a time machine (or tunnel in this case, or even better, stairway) isn't original, but King goes well past that minor point.

The problems with change in the timeline is dealt with as well as the emotional toll brought about by interacting with the past.

It was nice to see Derry again along with characters from IT. Derry is still the cesspool that King introduced us to in earlier works.

I especially enjoyed the latter stages of the novel when the mystery of the bum with outside the doorway is revealed.

There is no doubt though, this is King at his best with descriptive dialogue and exposition. 

This is a book that anyone should enjoy, not just a Stephen King fan.

Eye of the Sword - Review

Where angels walk the ground and the future is told in song, does a man of low rank have a chance at love with a princess?

In Camrithia, a land of shadows and mystical secrets, Trevin lives to serve King Laetham. But his heart belongs to the princess, Melaia. When the King sends Trevin on on a dangerous quest to find the missing comains—captains in the king’s army—he must leave Melaia to the advances of a swaggering Dregmoorian prince.

Challenged to prove his worth, Trevin throws himself into his quest. Striving to prove his love, Trevin undertakes a second mission—find the harps Melaia seeks in order to restore the stairway to heaven. Through fire caves, rogue winds, and murderous threats, Trevin remains steadfastly dedicated to his quest—even when he is falsely accused of a heinous crime. As Trevin’s time runs out, he realizes he must face the shame and horror of his own past and the nightmare that has come to life. Will he have the courage to finish what he has started?

This is the second book in the Angelaeon Circle by Karyn Henley. In this book the focus is on Trevin instead of the princess, Melaia, and his quest for both the harps and his own self worth.

As I mentioned in my review of the previous book, Breath of Angel, that I enjoyed the characters and back story. I enjoyed this book even more. Trevin is much easier to get a feel for and his search, not the one for the harps, but the one for himself and his own worth as a man are very real.

The action is fast-paced and there’s not much time for lagging throughout. The plot is advanced believably, with many questions and plot points left unresolved for future installments in the series.

A good read for the younger crowd, it is also entertaining for those of us in somewhat advanced age.

This one rates a five from me and as usual, I was provided my copy of the book by Waterbrook-Multnomah in return for an honest review.

For a look at Chapter One, click here Show More