Book Review: Days Like These by Kristian & Rachel Anderson

This book was an eye-opener for what people with cancer have to go through while fighting the battle of this evil monster. In Days Like These, Kristian Anderson documents his journey of being terminally ill. His wife, Rachel, has also added parts to the book to go along with his blog posts. The reader will laugh and cry along with Kristian and his family as they share the struggles of what cancer does to an individual and family. Kristian described things that cancer patients have to go through that I never knew they had to endure. While these things were hard to read, I liked the way Kristian always kept God at the center of everything he did. He stayed true to his faith and let it shine through in his life. Many people have seen his You Tube video that went viral! It was made as a present for his wife's 35th birtday. The book contains several places where one can use a smartphone to scan links to watch video clips by Kristian. I would recommend this book to people who have loved ones fighting the battle of cancer. It will open your eyes and inspire you to see the good in times when it seems that just can't be possible. I received a complimentary copy of this book from BookSneeze to read and review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Book Review: KVJ Bride's Bible

I love size and look of this pocket KVJ Bride's Bible by Thomas Nelson!  It is the full, KJV of the Bible in an adorable, sleek, slimline style.  The cover is a simple white and silver lacey print with silver on the edges of the pages.  There is a white ribbon bookmark inside of the Bible that you can move around to mark your place. 

The words of Christ are in red, and there are summary headings for each story / new topic in the chapters.  The front of the Bible has special pages for the Bride to list members of the wedding party as well as pages for pictures and special moments.  The back of the Bible has a Concordance, followed by several pages of colored maps.

The only drawback to a Bible that is this small is the fact that the print is also tiny.  Don't get me wrong, you can still read it.  The print is just VERY small!  This Bible is the perfect size to carry in your purse, backpack, or car.  It would make a perfect and special gift for the new Bride-to-be.

I was given a copy of this Bible compliments of BookSneeze to read and review.  All opinions of this Bible are my own.  I plan to give this copy away to a special young lady that will soon be getting married at our church.  :)

Book Review: Downfall by Terri Blackstock

Downfall, the third and final book in the Intervention Series, was my favorite of the three!  Once I started reading it, I didn't want to put it down.  The book was full of suspense and twists all the way to the end!  The Covington family has been through a lot of pain and trials in this series, but I love the way Blackstock opens the eyes of the reader to the reality of what drugs can do to a person and their family.  She writes these books as a mom who has personally experienced these same trials and emotions with her own daughter who had drug addictions.

Emily Covington and her younger brother discover a homemade bomb under her car one morning as she is leaving for school.  That same morning, the wife of someone she knows is murdered.  As she pieces things together, Emily finds herself racing the clock to save the lives of others and trying to track down the killer.  Because of her past with drug abuse, Emily's family has trouble trusting that she hasn't relapsed and brought this upon herself.  I love that the book ends with a wedding and happiness for the Covington family!

I received a copy of this book from Zondervan to read and review.  All opinions of this book are my own.  I highly recommend that you read this book and the rest of the of the series, too!  :)

Book Review: Vicious Cycle by Terri Blackstock

Vicious Cycle will have your attention from the first page!  This is book number two in the Intervention series.  I love reading a book that is hard to put down, and this book is just that!  Blackstock writes this book from the perspective of Lance, the 15-year old brother of Emily from Intervention  (Book 1).

Lance tries to help a pregnant, teenage meth addict and finds himself in a situation he never dreamed he would be in.  He discovers a newborn baby in the back of his car and knows that it belongs to Jordyn.  We follow the family through the snares of drug addiction and the harsh realities of crimes that go on in today's society such as baby trafficking.

We also are able to rejoice as Emily completes her year of drug rehab and gets to come home.  We see how hard it is for her to be released from her "safe place" and be back in society where drugs are so easy to come by.  Drug addiction truly is a vicious cycle.  It is only with God's help and putting 100% of our faith and trust in HIM that one can overcome the evils of today's world.   

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Zondervan.  All opinions expressed about Vicious Cycle are my own.  I hope that you enjoy reading this book as much as I did!  I highly recommend this book to you and look forward to reading book three in this series!  :)

Below is a video clip about Vicious Cycle:

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Book Review: Coming Home by Karen Kingsbury

This is yet another amazing story written by Karen Kingsbury!  I was able to finish this book in just a couple of days (which is a challenge with two little ones always wanting my attention!).  :)   All I can say is "Wow!".  God has truly gifted Karen Kingsbury with a talent for writing!  I want to warn you that you will need a whole box of tissues to get through this one!

In this story, John Baxter is about to celebrate his 70th birthday.  The children all plan to come home with their families to surprise and share this special day with their dad.  The day of the big celebration, as it looks like everything is falling into place, the unthinkable happens.  The lives of each family member are forever changed as they deal with the tragedy that unfolds before them. 

I wanted to be angry with Karen for causing this tragedy occur to the Baxter family and making the book become so sad, but this is an event that could happen to any of us at any given time.  It was truly a blessing to see how she let each of the characters react and lean on God thorough something so horrible.  It opened my eyes to what life really means, what is really important, and what a wonderful future that we have in store for us if we believe in Jesus Christ and have accepted him as our Saviour!  So, I want to thank Karen for writing something that must have been so hard.  Even as Christians, we are not exempt from pain and tragedy.  Praise the Lord that we have a better home waiting for us than what we have here on Earth!!!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Zondervan to read and review.  All opinions are my own.  I highly recommend this book to you!

Book Review: Intervention by Terri Blackstock

This book was an eye-opener to me about what life would be like having a child addicted to drugs.  So many families have to deal with this in today's society, and this book gives the reader a glimpse of what those families go through.  Told mainly from the mother's viewpoint, Barbara Covington has to make some hard choices when her eighteen-year old daughter is caught in the strongholds of addiction.  Emily is on her way to rehab with the interventionalist, when she disappears from the airport and the woman with her is found dead.  

We follow Barbara and her son, Lance, through the journey that they take trying to find and save Emily.  The detectives think that Emily is just another addict killing for another hit.  Her family thinks she is innocent.  Who murdered the interventionalist?  Where did Emily go?  Each page pulls you deeper into the mystery!  See the extremes that a mother will go to in order to save her child, all of the time keeping her faith in God.

Once I started reading this book, I didn't want to put it down!  I loved the suspense that Blackstock builds throughout the whole story.  It ends with a twist that I wasn't expecting!  I highly recommend this book and cannot wait to get my hands on the next one in this series!  Keep the wonderful, Christian fiction coming, Blackstock!  :)

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Zondervan to read and review.  All opinions are my own.