Book Review: The loving kitchen

The loving Kitchen by Leann Rice is a wonderful collection of homemade (from scratch) Southern cooking just like the ones she blogs about.  The cookbook covers every course and meal possible.

This book also contains a great discussion with the cook about where her passion from cooking comes from and why she enjoys spending all her time in the kitchen.  There are many pictures in the book.  Probably 50% of the recipes have a picture.  They pictures are beautiful.  I do wish all the pictures would have been labeled. Some were not and it was hard to tell if it was a picture of the recipe before or after it.

I enjoyed flipping through this cook book.  There were many recipes very similar the ones I already make and a few I’ve been wanting to try.  I also love her emphasis on tasting the love in your cooing. She also gives some great tips on how to make recipe turn out great.

I am happy about adding this cookbook to my (virtual) self of recipes.  I already have a few ear marked to make soon.

Please note I was given a copy of the book to read and review by the publisher.  My opinions above are my own and I was not compensated for a positive review.

Book Review: Smart Money Smart Kids

Smart Money Smart Kids; Raising the next generation to win with money by Rachel Cruz and Dave Ramsey is a great book.

First off I love Dave Ramsey and his message on responsible stewardship of money.  Rachel, his daughter, has joined his team speaking across America to kids.  She is the preventative care to his emergency care approach.

Rachel was born the same year Dave and his wife had to file for bankruptcy.  As she grew she watched her parents struggle to rebuild their financial lives and learn along the way the steps he now teaches daily.  As her parents were embracing this new thinking of money, they taught their kids from a very young age how to manage money.  They allowed mistakes to be made small so they wouldn’t be made huge when they were older.

Rachel and Dave discuss how allowing children to understand how money works and its finiteness as a child is key.  They also discuss the importance of balancing gifts with overindulgence, teaching grace and compassion instead of self-centric worlds. 

One of my favorite sayings in this book is most of the lessons “are caught not taught.”  I love this reminder that children are always watching and learning from our lives every day.  I can’t teach giving if I don’t give.  I can’t teach compassion of if never show compassion. 

Overall I really enjoyed this book.  It is a wonderful encouraging book for parents to look at their lives and find the daily lesson on how to teach children how to grow up to become effective productive adults.

 

Note: I was given a copy of this book to read and review from the publisher.  The opinions above are my own and I was not compensated for a positive review.

Book Review: Moment Maker

Moment Makers by Carlos Whitaker discusses how taking advantage of specific moments in life can turn them into the best memories.  Some of his examples are play cards on the side of a deserted road when their car broke down, going up to a complete stranger and talking to them, and slowing down enough to take a moment with your children.

I enjoyed this book a lot.  Before reading this book I did not know Carlos Whitaker by name.  But since reading this book I have found a lot of videos on youtube and learned a lot more about him.  (FYI-not in a creepy stalker way either, he discusses his youtube videos in the book.  I just checked them out.)

I think Carlos makes a lot of great points about how we need to open our eyes and be ready for anything because 1) you never know what/who God is going to put in your path each day and 2) bad situations can turn into moment makers with the correct attitude (i.e. sitting on the side of a deserted road playing cards).  It has challenged me to look at every situation in a different way to see how we can turn the frustrating into fun and the bad into good.

Note: I did receive a copy of this book for free from the publisher.  The opinions above are my own and I was not compensated for a positive review.

Book Review: The Nesting Place

The Nesting Place: It doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful by Myquillyn Smith is a book about how to decorate and love your home.  She describes how to love the home you’re in now and how to love the journey of decorating on any budget and loving the imperfections in life.

At first I thought this book was going to be a coffee table style book with lots of pictures and a few helpful tips on how to decorate but it’s not.  It’s much much more.  The author takes your through her journey of being content and happy in your current home.  She describes how small changes and expressions of yourself/your family will turn any house into a home. 

I think she also hit the nail on the head when talking about our fear to fail in decorating.  A good attempt is better than nothing.  And worse case you remove it or repaint it.  What a great stress-free philosophy.  I have found many times I want to redecorate our house but I’m crippled by doubts.  I have never thought about treating decorating (my current home and envisioning my dream home) as a journey that will change as my family grows.

I really enjoyed this book.  I love the pictures of her home as inspiration of what a house can turn into with an adventurous spirit, a willingness to try, and freedom to fail and redo.  I will definitely keep this book around as a reminder to go for it.

Note: I did receive this book for free from the publisher to read and review.  The opinions above are my own and I was not compensated for a positive review.

Book Review: Love Skip Jump

Love Skip Jump by Shelene Bryan is a book describing the author’s life ever since she made one decision to visit Uganda to see if her sponsored child actually existed.  In Uganda her life was turned upside down at the sight of poverty and a thought to feed the children.  Shelene founded skip1.org to help provide meals to people in third world countries that need a meal.  Since its inception it has provided thousands of meals to hungry children along with kitchens, medical care, etc. 

I really enjoyed this book.  Frist, Shelene writes in a style that is very easy to read.  It’s more like having a conversation over the coffee table with a friend then reading. Second, her story is amazing.  I find myself wanting to do all the things she has done.

This is a motivational, uplifting, thought provoking, and a feel good book.  Her prayers at the end of each chapter moved me and gave me a poignant prayer to ask God so that I can do big things for Him.

I would most definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants to do something big but doesn’t know what or how.  Shelene found the answer with a side comment at a dinner party about if her sponsored child actually existed or was just a con.  It’s amazing how God can use one “yes” and change the world one meal at a time.

 

Note: I received a copy of this book from the publishers to read and review.  The opinions above are my own and I was not compensated for a positive review.

Book Review: Nice People Rob God

Nice People Rob God by Althea Patrick is a book looking at how people rob God of the opportunities to bless us in our lives.  We rob God by not asking for his help or blessings.  We rob God by not fully trusting in Him and letting His glory by evident in our lives.  We rob God by not tithing what is already his.

I think Althea Patrick had the best intentions of writing this book but I found it very hard and tiresome to read.   Frist I found her writing technique a little strung together and hard to follow along.  She seems to have these long and so.. and so.. and so… so of course this is what I meant kind of writings. 

Another part of the book I found off putting is her use of the term “nice people.”  I get what she is saying when she says just because your nice doesn’t mean you’re saved.  I also get that sometimes Christians need to be not nice (honest, real, open) to further the kingdom.  But I did find that in her writing I felt like every time I read it you could imagine the author looking down her nose and scowling while writing it.  To me this is the exact opposite of what we need to be showing people.  I do think there are other words that would have better described people in the situation she was trying to describe.

All in all I think this book leans more towards a rant then a well thought out book.  Although I did like the authors use of multiple biblical stories and verses to exemplify her point, a lot of the time it came across and slightly out of context in her interpretations.

Personally I would not recommend this book for friends and family to read. 

 

Note: I was given a copy of this book to read and review for free.  The opinions above are my own and I was not compensated for a positive review.

Book Review: James: Faith becomes real

The latest book I read was James: Faith Becomes Real by Carole Arceneaux.  This book is a verse by verse discussion of the letter written by James using both modern and biblical examples.  This very slow deliberate approach to studying James allows the reader to fully understand all that James said and how it applied back then and how it applies in today's world.

This book was a very quick read for me.  The author has broken James into 1-2 verse sections and a 1-2 page discussion.  It could easily be used as a 5 minute daily devotion.  The author does a great job and titling each section that hits the main idea James was trying to express. 

If it was up to me the only thing I would change was the bible translation used. New living translation isn’t my favorite.  I personally feel like some of the emotion is lost or slightly altered with this version. 

All in all I enjoyed this book.  After reading through it in a couple days I would like to start the book over going into much more detail and taking it one verse at a time to really get all of James meaning out of it.

Note: I did receive a copy of this book for free to read and review.  The opinions above are my own and I was not compensated for a positive review.