Start Here: Doing Hard Things Right Where You Are (Alex and Brett Harris) ~book review

You want to do hard things. But you don’t know where to start. You are changing the world around you. But you are tired and burned out. You feel called to do the extraordinary for God. But you feel stuck in the ordinary. Do Hard Things inspired thousands of young people around the world to make the most of the teen years. Now Alex and Brett Harris are back and ready to tackle the questions that Do Hard Things inspired: How do I get started? What do I do when I get discouraged? What’s the best way to inspire others? Filled with stories and insights from Alex, Brett, and other real-life rebelutionaries, Start Here is a powerful and practical guide to doing hard things, right where you are. Are you ready to take the next step and blast past mediocrity for the glory of God? START HERE.

At the age of eighteen, Alex and Brett Harris wrote Do Hard Things—and launched a movement that would change a generation. Young people around the world were ready to be inspired, ready to move beyond complacency, ready to rebel against society’s low expectations.

Let the rebelution continue.

Author Bio:
Alex and Brett Harris are the coauthors of the best-selling book Do Hard Things, which they wrote at age eighteen. Today the twins speak regularly to audiences of thousands on The Rebelution Tour, maintain a hugely popular online presence through their blog, TheRebelution.com, and have been featured on CNN, MSNBC, NPR, and in the New York Times. Raised in Portland, Oregon, the brothers currently attend Patrick Henry College in Virginia.

You can get your book at Randomhouse.com!

I received this book as a review copy from WaterBrook Press, a division of RandomHouse. I was not compensated for my time or written review.

Fantasy Novels from WaterBrook Multnomah Press: Raven's Ladder & Lady Carliss

Two great fantasy books about the stories of a hero's journey are great picks from Waterbrook Press and Multnomah! The first book is called Raven's Ladder: A Deadly menace breaking through the ground. The People of Abascar must abandon their sstone refuge and flee into the forest. But their king has seen a vision...

Following the beacon of Auralia’s colors and the footsteps of a mysterious dream-creature, King Cal-raven has discovered a destination for his weary crowd of refugees. It’s a city only imagined in legendary tales. And it gives him hope to establish New Abascar.






But when Cal-raven is waylaid by fortune hunters, his people become vulnerable to a danger more powerful than the prowling beastmen––House Bel Amica. In this oceanside kingdom of wealth, enchantment, and beauty, deceitful Seers are all too eager to ensnare House Abascar’s wandering throng.
Even worse, the Bel Amicans have discovered Auralia’s colors, and are twisting a language of faith into a lie of corruption and control.
If there is any hope for the people of Abascar, it lies in the courage of Cyndere, daughter of Bel Amica’s queen; the strength of Jordam the beastman; and the fiery gifts of the ale boy, who is devising a rescue for prisoners of the savage Cent Regus beastmen.
As his faith suffers one devastating blow after another, Cal-raven’s journey is a perilous climb from despair to a faint gleam of hope––the vision he sees in Auralia’s colors.

About the Author:
Jeffrey Overstreet is the author of The Auralia Thread, the fantasy series which begins with Auralia's Colors, a thrilling adventure twice-nominated for a Christy Award, and Cyndere's Midnight. He is an award-winning film critic and columnist, his work appearing in many publications including Image and Paste. He is also the contributing editor for Seattle Pacific University's Response magazine.
You can learn more about this book or purchase Raven's Ladder from RandomHouse.com.

The Second book is book 4 in the Knights of Arrethtrae series. I think this series of books, along with The Kingdom Series, would be a great series to go through with your pre-teen/teenager, especially if you are a home schooling family!
Lady Carliss and the Waters of Moorue:
Determined, smart and a master of both the sword and the bow, Lady Carliss has proven herself as a veteran Knight of the Prince. Returning from a mission of aid, Carliss is plunged into adventure once again as she searches for the marauders responsible for kidnapping a friends’ family. Along the way she is reunited with Sir Dalton and discovers that the struggle in her heart is far from over. When Dalton falls to the vicious attack of a mysterious, poisonous creature, Carliss finds herself in a race against time. As Dalton clings perilously to life, she must find the antidote in the distant and strange city of Moorue.
While there, Carliss uncovers the master plot of a powerful Shadow Warrior that will soon overtake the entire Kingdom. Her faith in the Prince and her courage as a knight are tested as she faces evil Shadow Warriors and a swamp full of dreadful creatures. The lives of many, including Dalton’s, depend on Carliss. But she cannot save them all, for time is running out. She faces an impossible choice: save Dalton, or let him die so that others may live.
**The back of the book has discussion questions to go with each chapter, along with the answers. I think that these books are so wonderful for parents and their kids to enjoy together. I really like that there is scripture references to the story line and how we can apply these truths to our lives!**
About the Author:
Chuck Black, a former F-16 fighter pilot and tactical communications engineer, is the author of ten novels, including the popular Kingdom Series. He has received praise from parents across the country for his unique approach to telling biblical truths. His passion in life is to serve the Lord Jesus Christ and to love his wife, Andrea, and their six children. He lives with his family in North Dakota.

You can learn more about this book or purchase Lady Carliss from RandomHouse.com

These books were provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group. I was not compensated for my written review.

Books for gifting this Christmas~ from Randomhouse.

I love books written by Lisa Tawn Bergren, and my kids are thrilled to read them, or have us read to them. Lisa's books are filled with words that speak to the heart of kids (and adults) and the pictures are just priceless.
God Gave Us Christmas, is about an adorablelittle polar bear that is curious and asks many questions. Her curiosity brings her to some questions that children may ask at Christmas time, like: “Who invented Christmas?” “Is God more important than Santa?” Little cub learns that God loves her, everyone, so much by sending his son for us. Mama Polar worded her answer very well, and she told her little cub about the best Christmas present ever!
I think that these questions are valid questions, and I love that Lisa's book helps guide parents tell their children (through reading) a way that will answer their question.

God Gave Us Love, is a fun and heart-warming story about a Little Cub and his Grampa Bear’s fishing adventure. The fishing trip is interrupted by otters, and the young polar is not happy that the otters are in the way. This book teaches kids about loving others, even when they are unlovable. The little bear asks questions like "Why is it easier to love those we like?" " Where does love come from?" "And why does God love her so much?"
Grampa Bear patiently answers his little grandson's questions by explaining the different kinds of love we can share: the love between friends, the love between families, the love between moms and dads, and the love for God.
He also assured Little Cub that because of the love God has given him through his Son, there’s nothing he can do to make God love him any more or any less. Through Grampa Bear’s encouraging Little Cub to love others with a “God-sized love,” children will be inspired to love others and to be patient, gentle and kind, so that in every way, they too can demonstrate God’s love. One of the best lines in this book is this: "His Love brings out the best in us,"and this one, "Because we want to love others as God loves us, we don't always feel like loving them. But when we choose to, it is always the right thing."
I recommend each of these books from Lisa Tawn Bergren, and these books would make a great Christmas gift to your child, or some other special one in your life.
Another great book that would make a great Christmas gift is Treasured, by Leigh McLeroy.
Treasured is a book about our most treasured keepsakes, or where we happen to store them. Our "treasured places" hold the very being of ourselves, and they represent the story of our life. This book reveals God as being a collector, and his great book: THE BIBLE, is full of his treasures. Within the pages of the Bible you will find Abraham's Knife, A bloodstained piece of Wood, and a Golden Bell. All of these items, and more, are described in detail and how God's "treasures," help us get to know the Heart of God. This is a great book for motivating you to get to know our loving and living God, and to have a "treasured" encounter with him.
Author Bios:
Leigh McLeroy is the author of The Beautiful Ache and The Sacred Ordinary. An avid collector and recorder of everyday moments, words, and wonders, Leigh’s keen eye for God’s presence in ordinary life infuses her writing and living with a deep, insistent joy. A frequent conference and event speaker, the author makes her home in Houston, Texas, and posts often on http://www.leighmcleroy.com/ and http://www.wednesdaywords.com/.

Lisa Tawn Bergren is the award-winning author of nearly thirty titles, totaling more than 1.5 million books in print. She writes in a broad range of genres, from adult fiction to devotional. God Gave Us Love follows in Lisa’s classic tradition of the best-selling God Gave Us You. She lives in Colorado, with her husband, Tim, and their children, Olivia, Emma, and Jack.

You can purchase these books, and others, at the RandomHouse.com website.

These books were provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group. I was given the product for my personal opinion and option to share with my readers. I was not compensated for my time or written review.

The Sound of Sleigh Bells (book review & giveaway)

I have had the privilege to read another one of Cindy Woodsmall's books, and I could not put it down. I just love Cindy's books, and I find myself really enjoying my hobby of reading again. I got the book: The Sound of Sleigh Bells, and it is a great book! Cindy does such a great job with drawing the reader right into the character's lives. The Sound of Sleigh Bells is a story of Beth Hertzler, who is a young girl who is haunted by the death of her fiancé. She carries the weight and guilt of how he died, and keeps it secret. Beth works alongside her beloved Aunt Lizzy in their dry goods store. She is a go-between for Amish craftsmen and Englischers who want to sell the Plain people’s wares. Out on one of her business trips she discovers a large, intricately carved scene of Amish children playing in the snow, and she is so captivated by the carving. She desperately wants to find this artist and encourage the carver to sell their work in her store.
She doesn’t know if her bishop will approve of the gorgeous carving , because it may be a sign of idolatry.
Beth's family and aunt Lizzy would love to see Beth return to her wonderful, loving self. Still after a year, she still wears black (a sign of mourning). Lizzy sees how the carvings affect the very heart of Beth, and stirs her. Lizzy is encouraged at how Beth lights up when she talks about the wood carving. So, on a mission to get the "old" Beth back, Lizzy travels to meet the carver. Finding Jonah, the artist, Lizzy comes up with a plan. Will her plan work like she wishes, a plan to reintroduce her niece to love work/life and love, or will it turn her hurting niece more away? Will Jonah be able to offer Beth the sleigh ride she’s always dreamed of and a second chance at real love–or just more heartbreak?
Author Bio:
Cindy Woodsmall is the author of When the Heart Cries, When the Morning Comes, and The New York Times Best-Seller When the Soul Mends. Her ability to authentically capture the heart of her characters comes from her real-life connections with Amish Mennonite and Old Order Amish families. A mother of three sons and two daughters-in-law, Cindy lives in Georgia with her husband of thirty-one years.

You can find this book online at Amazon or Randomhouse.

Enter to win a copy of this great book! This giveaway is open to residents of the USA (bloggers/non-bloggers), and will end on October 30th, 2009. To enter, just leave a comment about something you have always wanted to do~ maybe even since childhood. You can come back once each day throughout the contest and enter again by just leaving a friendly comment relevant to the contest.**For extra chances you can: blog this contest, add my button to your site, subscribe to my blog, twitter this contest, and/or visit everyday and add another friendly comment. Lots of chances to win! Don't forget to put the extra comments for the "extra" work. Good luck!**
This review was sponsored by Multnomah Books, a division of Random House. They have supplied me with a book to review and keep for my personal opinion and option to share with my readers. I was not compensated for my time or written review. I was sent an extra copy to giveaway as a prize for my readers.

Good reads to celebrate: Back to School!!

The Confidential Life of Eugenia Cooper
The future is clearly mapped out for New York socialite Eugenia “Gennie” Cooper, but she secretly longs to slip into the boots of her favorite dime-novel heroine and experience just one adventure before settling down. When the opportunity arises, Gennie jumps at the chance to experience the Wild West, but her plans go awry when she is drawn into the lives of silver baron Daniel Beck and his daughter and finds herself caring for them more than is prudent–especially as she’s supposed to go back to New York and marry another man. As Gennie adapts to the rough-and-tumble world of 1880s Colorado, she must decide whether her future lies with the enigmatic Daniel Beck or back home with the life planned for her since birth. The question is whether Daniel’s past–and disgruntled miners bent on revenge–will take that choice away from her.
Author Bio:
Kathleen Y’Barbo is the best-selling, award-winning author of more than thirty novels, novellas, and young adult books, with more than a half-million in print. A graduate of Texas A&M University, she is currently a publicist with Books & Such literary agency.

The Sweetgum Ladies Knit for Love
Once a month, the six women of the Sweetgum Knit Lit Society gather to discuss books and share their knitting projects. Inspired by her recently-wedded bliss, group leader Eugenie chooses “Great Love Stories in Literature” as the theme for the year’s reading list–a risky selection for a group whose members span the spectrum of age and relationship status.As the Knit Lit ladies read and discus classic romances like Romeo and Juliet, Wuthering Heights, and Pride and Prejudice, each member is confronted with her own perception about love. Camille’s unexpected reunion with an old crush forces her to confront conflicting desires. Newly widowed Esther finds her role in Sweetgum changing and is surprised by two unlikely friends. Hannah isn’t sure she’s ready for the trials of first love. Newcomer Maria finds her life turned upside-down by increasing family obligations and a handsome, arrogant lawyer, and Eugenie and Merry are both asked to make sacrifices for their husbands that challenge their principles.Even in a sleepy, southern town like Sweetgum, Tennessee, love isn’t easy. The Knit Lit ladies learn they can find strength and guidance in the novels they read, the love of their family, their community–and especially in each other.
Author Bio:
RITA Award-winning Beth Patillo combines her love of knitting and books in her engaging Sweetgum series. Pattillo served churches in Missouri and Tennessee before founding Faith Leader, a spiritual leadership development program.

Rose House
A vivid story of a private grief, a secret painting, and one woman’s search for hope. Still mourning the loss of her family in a tragic accident, Lillian Diamon finds herself drawn back to the Rose House, a quiet cottage where four years earlier she had poured out her anguish among its fragrant blossoms. She returns to the rolling hills and lush vineyards of the Sonoma Valley in search of something she can’t quite name. But then Lillian stumbles onto an unexpected discovery: displayed in the La Rosaleda Gallery is a painting that captures every detail of her most private moment of misery, from the sorrow etched across her face to the sandals on her feet.What kind of artist would dare to intrude on such a personal scene, and how did he happen to witness Lillian’s pain? As the mystery surrounding the portrait becomes entangled with the accident that claimed the lives of her husband and children, Lillian is forced to rethink her assumptions about what really happened that day.A captivating novel rich with detail, Rose House explores how the brushstrokes of pain can illuminate the true beauty of life.
Author Bio:
Tina Ann Forkner is the author of Ruby Among Us. Originally from Oklahoma, she now lives with her husband and three children in Wyoming, where she serves on the Laramie County Library Foundation’s board of directors.


You can learn more about or purchase these books at RandomHouse.com:
The Confidential Life of Eugenia Cooper
The Sweetgum Ladies Knit for Love
Rose House

Fun Summer reads from Randomhouse: The Captain's Bride & Maire

I just got done reading The Captain's Bride, by Lisa Tawn Bergren. It was a superb book! It is book one of the Northern Lights series. Lisa really draws you into the character's lives, emotions, and experiences. The main character, Elsa, is from Bergen, Norway, and she is the Captain's wife. The story is about Elsa, her marriage, and their journey to the Americas.

The Captain, Peder Ramstad, gather with their friends and travel across the seas. This book dives into the stories of a few different characters: Kaatje Jansen, Tora Ander's, and Karl Martensen. Kaatje is struggling to keep her marriage together, being pregnant, too. Tora is a stow-away on the ship, and Karl is torn between feelings of loyalty and friendship with Peder to having deep, love for his best friend's bride, Elsa. This is a great book, and I couldn't put it down. There are so many moments that you just have to find out what happens next. It is fun to read of the stories that come from the ship-life. I recommend this book to those that love history, love, romance, suspense, and drama. I am looking forward to reading the second novel.
Maire by Linda Windsor, is book one in Fires of Gleannmara. The setting is Ireland, and the story is about Maire, who is the Warrior Queen of Gleannmara. Maire captures Rowan, who is a warrior from Emrys, reformed mercenary, and takes him as her husband. She has a challenging time understanding his unwavering faith, and his dedication to God. She cannot deny that the truth he displays: meekness and humility are stronger than any blade of steel. With that kind of weapon on their side, they battle together against the evil druid Morlach and corrupt his forces of darkness. In the end, they discover the cost, and joy, of following the one true God and His Christ.

Much of the legend, phrases, facts and language is that of Ireland. The story is from the heart of Linda Windsor, and her children. There is even a glossary in the back to help you understand a bit about her, and her put into words.