Monday, March 28, 2011

Dragons: Legends & Lore of Dinosaurs - a Creation Conversations review

Dragons: Legends & Lore of Dinosaurs is a book by Master Books, a division of New Leaf Publishers. It's a hardcover book, and it's chock-full of information about dragons and dinosaurs, written according to Biblical facts and scientific facts.

If your child loves dragons and dinos, you'll definitely want to get a copy of this. It's an interactive book, with fold-out pages, books within the book, envelopes with pull-out tidbits of info inside them, and lift-the-flap pages. If you can't afford this book (retail price is $17.99), check your local library.

My children have devoured this book, and my husband and I have enjoyed it, too. The only thing I could have asked for more of were maybe some more pictures. It is definitely word-heavy. Overall this is a great book, and a nice asset to our shelf!


I received Dragons: Legends & Lore of Dinosaurs as a complimentary gift in exchange for review from Creation Conversations.

Lazarus Awakening - a LitFuse review

Lazarus Awakening, written by Joanna Weaver, is an amazing book. The premise of the book centers around Lazarus' resurrection, but weaves tidbits here and there about OUR awakening. Lazarus Awakening includes a 10-week Bible study that would be good for the individual or for a group.

The thoughts that Joanna has put into this book is profound. She makes some excellent points that really moved me. In particular, this quote from page 81 was one that spoke to me:

"Where have you laid him?" Jesus asked Martha and Mary through His tears (John 11:34).
"Come and see, Lord," they replied. Then together they went to Lazarus's tomb.
Oh how I wish we could grasp the immensity and emotion of this tender exchange and what it means for us today.
Where have you laid your pain? Jesus asks us tenderly. Where do you keep all your shattered hopes and dreams? Where have you laid the part of you that died when you failed or were abandoned, forgotten, betrayed? Where are you entombed and enslaved, hemmed in, shut down, and closed off?
Come and see, Lord.
That's the only response we need to give. Come and see.
I highly recommend this book for women who are in need of some "awakening". I imagine we all could use some of that whether we realize it or not! I deem this book....

If you're interested in reading more reviews about this book, click {here}!



About Joanna:
Joanna Weaver is known the world over for her transparent and life-changing books, Having A Mary Heart in a Martha World and Having a Mary Spirit. These two books have sold over a million copies and have been translated into several languages including Spanish, French, Dutch, Chinese, German, Korean and more. Joanna has appeared on a wide variety of nationally syndicated radio and television broadcasts. Past appearances include: The Harvest Show, At Home Live With Chuck & Jenni, Midday Connection, HomeWord, and Janet Parschall’s America . She is also a highly sought after speaker and shares her message at intimate gatherings and several high profile events each year. But Joanna's greatest joy is found in being a wife and mother and her role as a pastor’s wife. For more information about Joanna, please visit her website. www.joannaweaverbooks.com.
About the giveaway:
Joanna is celebrating the release of Lazarus Awakening with the Heart of God KINDLE Giveaway!
In Lazarus Awakening Joanna writes about getting God’s love from our heads to our hearts. We all know Jesus loved Mary – look how she worshiped. And we can understand why He loved Martha – after all, look how she served. But what about those of us who don’t know where we fit in the heart of God? Lazarus Awakening explores the tale of the third follower – Mary and Martha’s brother, Lazarus. We never hear him speak, we never see him serve. The only thing of any significance that Lazarus did was to die. And yet, the Bible is clear. Jesus loved Lazarus. And He loves you and me as well. Lazarus Awakening looks at different aspects of the story we find in John 11. We learn what it means to be a friend of God and begin recognizing the tombs we spend far too much time in. Find out more here.
One grand prize winner will receive:
  • * A Brand New KINDLE with Wi-Fi
  • * Having A Mary Heart in a Martha World
  • * Having A Mary Spirit
  • * Lazarus Awakening
Joanna will also select two additional contest entrants to receive copies of her trilogy. Enter soon by clicking the icons below (you’ll find these in the attached html code document) and then tell your friends. Hurry the contest ends April 16th. The winner will be announced on Joanna's blog on April 18th.
I received Lazarus Awakening as a complimentary gift in exchange for review from Litfuse Publicity Group.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

The Mountains Bow Down - a LitFuse Review

Sibella has done it again! The Mountains Bow Down, a Christian fiction suspense novel written by Sibella Giorello, kept me on my toes! This is another novel about a character named Raleigh Harmon, an FBI agent who struggles to keep her job a secret from her mentally unstable mother while at the same time solving mysteries related to her job and hoping for a discovery into her father's death years ago.

In The Mountains Bow Down, Raleigh is on a "vacation" on a cruise ship with her mom, her eccentric aunt, and a strange friend. The vacation turns out not be all that relaxing when she finds herself in the midst of a murder case. Once Raleigh has determined that the death that occurred on the cruise ship was not a suicide as was originally decided by ship crew, Raleigh got the FBI involved. What she wasn't prepared for was for her boss to send in help in the form of Jack Stephanson, a man who she had worked with previously who was an utter jerk. She also wasn't prepared for how he'd take her mind off of her fiance DeMott Fielding. . . .

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, and I hope to read more Raleigh stories in the near future! Interested in reading my review of her previous book in the Raleigh series? Click {here}!

I've decided that this book is:

Sibella’s celebrating the release of The Mountains Bow Down with a blog tour, a Cruise prize pack worth over $500 and a Facebook Party! Don't miss a minute of the fun.




One Grand Prize winner will receive:
  • A $500 gift certificate toward the cruise of their choice from Vacations To Go.
  • The entire set of the Raleigh Harmon series.
To enter click one of the icons below. Then tell your friends. And enter soon - the giveaway ends on 4/1! The winner will be announced at Sibella’s Raleigh Harmon Book Club Party on FB April 5th, 2011! Don’t miss the fun – prizes, books and gab!

Enter via E-mail Enter via FacebookEnter via Twitter

About the Facebook Party: Join Sibella and fans of the Raleigh Harmon series on April 5th at 5:00 pm PST (6 MST, 7 CST & 8 EST) for a Facebook Book Club Party. Sibella will be giving away some fun prizes, testing your trivia skills and hosting a book chat about the Raleigh Harmon books. Have questions you'd like to chat about - leave them on the Event page.


To see more reviews about this book, click {here}!

I received The Mountains Bow Down as a complimentary gift in exchange for review from Litfuse Publicity Group

Thursday, March 3, 2011

A Trail of Ink - a Litfuse Review

A Trail of Ink, a fabulous medieval suspense fiction book written by Mel Starr was simply delightful. This book is the third in a series written about surgeon Hugh de Singleton. The story was 229 pages long, and also included an excerpt of the first chapter of the fourth book in the series.

Hugh de Singleton, a surgeon (and bailiff) in medieval England, finds himself in the midst of a mystery after Master John Wyclif's beloved books are stolen. Hugh travels to Oxford in order to try to solve the mystery, but in the midst finds himself in awe of a maiden of the name of Kate Caxton. However, he also discovers that he is not the only one who has had his eyes turned by the lovely young lady. Soon Hugh realizes that not only is he having to figure out the mystery of the stolen books, but he's also having to watch out for his life, too. He realizes that he may have upset one person too many.

I've decided that this book is:


About Mel Starr:
Mel Starr was born and grew up in Kalamazoo , Michigan . After graduating with a MA in history from Western Michigan University in 1970, he taught history in Michigan public schools for thirty-nine years, thirty-five of those in Portage , MI , where he retired in 2003 as chairman of the social studies department of Portage Northern High School . Mel and his wife, Susan, have two daughters and seven grandchildren. www.melstarr.org
Contest: Kregel Publishers is graciously donating a $50 Amazon.com gift card for the Litfuse Blog Tour Contest! Woo-hoo (thanks Kregel!) All you have to do to enter is either tweet (see TWEET THIS below) or share the book on Facebook using this link: http://www.amazon.com/Trail-Ink-Chronicle-Singleton-Surgeon/dp/1854249746/ref=sprightly-20

I received A Trail of Ink as a complimentary gift in exchange for review from Litfuse Publicity Group