Book Review: Spirit Fighter

Spirit Fighter by Jerel Law is a preteen teen Christian adventure book about Jonah Stone, a sixth grader who is average in every way until he finds out that he is a quarter angel.  Soon after when his mother is kidnapped by evil fallen angels Jonah and his younger sister Eliza are sent on a quest to save their mother.  The entire time they find all the amazing powers “quarterlings” have and how to rely on God for protection and guidance.

All in all in enjoyed this book.  It was a quick read and I think would be great for the intended audience.  I know they tried to compare it to a Christian Harry Potter or Percy Jackson and I think it’s close.  It’s hard sometimes to separate the literary talent from great advertising.  I would say that compared to most Christian authors in similar genres it is very well written.

I do think the author did a good job and mixing faith and scripture verses in a fictional story with adventure.  It didn’t come off as “Hey let’s take a break from this story to throw in a bible verse that kind of relates” like some do.  The idea of fallen angels having children with people does give a lot of interesting characteristic for a story line.

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

Book Review: Garden of Madness

Garden of Madness by Tracy Higley is a fictional telling of King Nebuchadnezzer and his daughter Tiamat. When the king is turned into a mad man because of a prophecy and his pride, Tiamat is left without a father.  Seven years later when her husband dies she is thrown into a twisted plot of power, greed, and secrets.  As she tries to untangle everything going on around her she discovers secrets that change her family history and future. 

Along the way she keeps running into her brother-in-law, Pedaiah.  Pedaiah does not like how the Judean people are slowing mixing their Beliefs with Babylonian gods.  He struggles with keeping himself separate from the Babylon and his feelings for Tiamat.

Together Pedaiah and Tiamat discover God’s amazing plan for both of their lives and their families.  They both lean how submitting to God’s plan can change nations.

I really enjoyed this book.  I was amazed at how hard it was to put down.  The author did an amazing job of mixing fiction with history and faith.  It gave a rich depiction of Babylon appearance of greatness and the hostilities with the Judean slaves.  I would recommend this book to my friends and family and a great entertaining read with a good message and neat insight into a different time and culture.

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

Book Review: Crazy Dangerous

Crazy Dangerous is a story of a teenage boy, Sam Hopkins, who makes the worst mistake of his life and then has to suffer through the consequences.  He gets into the wrong crowd, beaten up, blamed for murder, and becomes the friend of a strange girl no one else believes.  Through all of this his life is turned upside down and he discovers what a man and how faith effects that.

I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would.  There were a few spots where I struggled getting into it.  I also found when I stopped reading I could go a week until I remembered that I hadn’t finished it.  Not a gripper but good.  Then again I am not the intended audience. 

I would recommend this book to any preteen or teen I knew.  It had a good message.  Although the plot line was a little extreme to what teens today are experiencing, I thought the overall message of bravery and consequences was good.

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

Book Review: Momaholic: Crazy Confessions of a helicopter parent

Momaholic: Crazy confessions of a Helicopter parent by Dena Higley is the true story of Dena and her family. Dena tried to be everything; the perfect mother, wife, boss, pto member, church member, etc, and failed miserable. Only in those lowest moments was she able to realize how wrong she had gone by tying to do everything by herself. With the help of her family, friends, and her faith in God she was able to let go of her children and let them grow into responsible adults, who learned from their own mistakes. She also learned to change her identity as the women who could be everything the the woman who was a child of God’s and did not need to control everything.

Although her story is extreme it is very easy to see glimpses of yourself in some of the stories. From her story you realize children are going to make mistakes and they will learn more from them than you doing it for them. Also each child is different and needs to be taught differently how to grow and flourish on their own.

I really enjoyed this book. It is a quick read and highly entertaining (mostly because of how crazy her life has been sometimes). I would recommend this book to any mother (or father) trying to learn how to deal with life and all its challenges.

P.S. a helicopter parent is a parent how hovers over their child and everything they do.

Book Review: Simply Grilling

Another Great Cook Book!!!

Simply Grilling by Jennifer Chandler is a cookbook meant to make grilling simply and inviting. Tons of recipes cover everything from appetizer to dessert.

I really enjoyed looking through this cookbook and have marked many recipes to try. I was especially excited about the salad section. I don’t think salads when talking about grilling but she made them look amazing. Grilled Caesar salad or grilled bruschetta… YUM!

I do think she made many simple recipes but some seem a little less simple than initially implied. A couple of the recipes have two or three things cooking at once and not all on the grill. She also has a few dessert recipes that have nothing to do with the grill. They are just great summer grill out foods. Although they looked great, they didn’t seem to fit into the book.

All in all I am very happy about this book and can’t wait to use it. I am also interested in her other books mentioned in the opening pages.

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

Book Review: Farm Fresh Southern Cooking

Farm Fresh Southern Cooking by Tammy Algood is a wonderful cookbook full of recipes that use lots of locally available produce. Her desire is to get people out of the grocery stores and shop at local farmers markets and with local farmers. She also discusses briefly how to eat seasonally and preserve foods to enjoy all year long.

I was surprised by the amount of recipes in the book. A lot of times when you get a book advocating local produce its 150 pages of someone preaching why local produce is better and then 20 recipes.

This cookbook is many many recipes that all sound amazing. She does not limit it to ingredients only found locally. She does use canned tomatoes, corn bread mixes, etc occasionally from the store. But the emphasis of each recipe is using wonderful fresh ingredient that can be purchased locally.

I also enjoy all of the spotlights she does on local farmers. She has covered most of the southern states highlighting local farmers who specialize in a certain food. These are the bigger companies that sell on a larger scale but still offer an amazing product. With the highlight she includes contact information and the website (if they have one). This a great way to not only learn about the company but to also know where they are for a quick detour on a road trip. I already have a couple stops in mind for our upcoming trip to PA.

Also one of the farms I pass every day (Roger’s Farm in Gainesville Florida) was mentioned in this book. Its nice to know that a local place got a great shout out in the book.

All in all I really enjoyed this cookbook. I am excited to add it to my wall/kindle of cookbooks to use.

Note: I did receive a free copy of this book from www.booksneeze.com to review. The comments above are my own and I was not compensated for a positive review.

Book Review: The 13th Tribe

The 13th Tribe by Robert Liparulo is a book about a group of people left to roam the world and never die because of a decision they made a long time ago. Thousands of years ago Moses went onto Mount Sinai to commune with God and receive the 10 commandments. While he was up there the Israelites got restless and asked for a God. When Aaron complied and made them a golden statue, they worshipped it. For that sin on having so little faith in God a group of them were banished from the promise land and left to roam the earth forever. They have spent the years being vigilantes for God trying to get back into his favor with little luck.

As they plot what the newest biggest plan, everything falls apart. One of the senior leaders of the group does not agree with the innocent causalities that will occur with the newest plan and so he steals a very important piece and runs. The other scours the world looking for him ending up where it all started.

From the description above this books sounds exciting, action packed, and a little confusing. Unfortunately I was only able to find this book confusing… and very hard to read. The characters are well written and thought out but the writing style just seems to lag. Normally a book like this would only take me a couple days to read. It has been over a week and I am still less than half way through. Maybe the second half will pick up ad I will enjoy it but right now I cant imagine doing that. I think I need to put it down again and try later.

So this is my review of half the book. Its sounds great but lacks the intensity I expected.

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