Whispers of Rest: 40 Days of God's Love to Revitalise Your Soul

A good friend has been challenging me lately... okay, for the last few years, to do something difficult. "Put yourself equal," she says.  Basically, give yourself the same priority as you give others.  In a world of constant moving and everything to do, stopping for the sake of yourself is considered a frivolous notion.  To many Christians it feels downright vain.  What Bonnie Gray is challenging us to do in this new release, Whispers of Rest, is to approach rest with a healthy perspective and she gives practical exercises to help.  It's not the humanistic (verging on narcissistic) "me time" movement some may think.  It's not about making yourself the center of the universe.  This book is rather a beautiful journey of taking time to discover who you really are in the presence of a loving God.

Called a "devotional detox," this 40-day exploration is all about creating space for your soul to breathe, and dare I say, heal.  Each day follows a pattern of reading, reflecting, and a time to pray and rest.  Although she shares a bit of her own story with each passing day, the focus is really on what God is saying through His Word and through taking time to just be with Him.  She challenges us with scripture that inspires application.  Her call to reflect has questions with the remaining page left with enough whitespace to jot down your own answers if you want.  Even if you like to keep a pristine book instead, this space provides a visual prompt to stop and really consider your answers before moving on.  For those that struggle to know how to pray, Gray provides help that correlates with the day's focus, while leaving room for you to speak your heart to God.

It is surprising how challenging this journey is, but Gray leads the way with ease.  God has gifted her with this message of rest and I suspect anyone who takes this 40-day journey seriously will find it to just the beginning.

The Essential Amish Cookbook: Everyday Recipes from Farm and Pantry

Author of many Amish Cookbooks, Lovina Eicher brings things back to basics in her new release, The Essential Amish Cookbook.

Cooking and baking is something I do because I enjoy.  And because I need to eat.  And because I like to eat tasty things.  I'm fortunate because I learned how to do these things from an early age.  I do however realise that this kind of homemade is becoming a lost art.  Younger generations have grown up without the basics and therefore are overwhelmed by the more daring or involved recipes.  A brief scroll through social media reveals a pattern of quick, minimal ingredient recipe videos folk are saving, pinning, and studying.

This is not the book for those who are searching for more advanced cuisine or groundbreaking technique.  It is a fantastic tool for anyone who needs a place to begin. This book keeps to the Amish idea of keeping life simple and provides simple recipes that will serve as a proper foundation for years of cooking.  Do not be mistaken to think that simple means bland.  From zesty combinations like the Pea and Cheese Salad, to the classic homespun Pot Roast, these recipes are made to taste good.  I was actually a little surprised to see ingredients like Velveeta and instant pudding mix in some recipes, but again that would appeal to our generation of convenience.  I mean, if we have it why not use it.

I especially like that this includes several desert recipes, as I love Amish baked goods.  Eicher even includes seemingly foolproof bread recipes.  She also includes two additional sections titled "Church Meals" and "Wedding Meals."  These highlight special dishes for the occasions while sharing details about the Amish culture at these special times.  Beautiful photographs and personal tidbits strewn throughout make this a personal book.

Although some recipes seem intuitive and redundant to the seasoned cook, I like how she doesn't assume the new cook would already have some basics and so she includes those recipes.  In that sense it truly is a book of essentials.  It is a fantastic tool for anyone who needs a place to begin and would be a great gift for those millennial just heading out into independent living.

Finding Spiritual Whitespace: Awakening Your Soul to Rest

"By redefining quiet, God is showing me He can transform my loneliest and messiest moments into the most beautiful and intimate experiences with Him."

What started out as simply a journey to fulfill a life's dream and inspire others turned into a journey that would change her life.  When Bonnie Gray of FaithBarista started writing her new book, uncovered memories began wreaking havoc and she found herself in the throes of PTSD.  Through this, she began writing the deeper story.  Full of raw emotion and vulnerability, Spiritual Whitespace shares insight on finding rest with God, and ultimately our identity in Him.

Bonnie doesn't hold back as she shares glimpses of her past, each significant in forming conclusions that would shape her perceptions of herself and the world around her.  But this book is not simply a collection of memories, it is a journey with destination. It is about transformation with all its messy attributes exposed, laid out on the page... in ink.  It is a brave, daring move that has purpose.

Even as we listen to the message through Bonnie's own story, we hear echoes of our own. While our stories may be different, one doesn't need to have suffered the same trauma to have believed the some of the same lies formed from our own broken experiences.

She shares the heart of Christ as she finds answers in scripture to the questions that arise, challenging the conclusions previously drawn in pain.  She shares her encounters with Christ, but then engages her reader to do the same. After all, reading about resting in Him isn't the same as resting in Him.  She gives prompts for exploring this practically in life.

All this she does with seemingly effortless style.  Even as she pens the trauma, there is a steadiness and calm that is neither restraint nor control.  It is rest.

This book is one to be poured over slowly.  It isn't a mere inspirational read, although it is inspirational.  It is rather an invitation to participate in a journey of hope and healing with God.

To read more by Bonnie or to see what others are saying, check out 

Faith Barista - because some days you need a double shot of faith.

Book Review: The Mountains Bow Down, Sibella Giorello

"The Last Frontier is a dream destination for this forensic geologist who's hoping to leave behind a hectic work schedule and an engagement drained of romance. But when a passenger goes missing and winds up dead, Raleigh's vacation suddenly gets lost at sea."

Two-time Pulitzer Prize nominated storyteller Sibella Giorello continues her novel series centered around FBI agent and forensic geologist Raleigh Harmon.  In this fourth novel, her main character takes a vacation on an Alaskan cruise with her ailing mother, an aunt and her aunt's eccentric friend.  Also on board is a Hollywood film crew shooting their final scenes, when one amongst them is found dead.  Harmon partners up with their FBI agent consulting for the film to solve this mystery before hitting land.

There is a lot going on in this book.  With Harmon we see a character that is very real and complicated which is refreshing.  She is an ambitious woman who is very good at her job, although the reader can often see how she uses her work as an escape from the challenges in her personal life.  The relationship with her fiance is distant at best and in an effort to protect her mother's fragile mental state, she has kept the nature of her work hidden, although readers are able to get the sense that this deception only adds to the mother's struggles.  She is a woman of faith, but she is still flawed and still struggles with her own wounds.

I really found myself liking the character of Harmon, which despite the who-dunnit plot, was the real story of the novel; a kind of watching her personal journey of growth.  I found her believable, and especially as a Christian character, not so overly caricatured.  It was interesting to watch how she had to balance her faith with the other characters with whom she had to interact.  I thought that was handled well.  The ongoing story line of her personal relationships was also very realistic as it things didn't all have an easy solution or ending.  I appreciated the realistic humanity of it all.

As for the rest of the plot, I thought the setting was intriguing and the mystery engaging.  I liked the other characters and had a real sense of them.  I did have some trouble keeping the layout of the ship straight although she was knowledgeable in her descriptions.  There were also such a large number of characters.  Because of this, the plot was hard to follow at times.

As for the Christianity, this is not a book about preaching the salvation message to the reader.  It was really about how Harmon as a Christian had to live in the world around her, which includes people of all types and attitudes towards Christianity from which Giorello didn't shy away in her character development.  Harmon herself is flawed, but it would be unrealistic and unfair to present her as someone who is always right or perfect just because she's the Christian.  Although it isn't preachy, her faith was not avoided, but rather referred to often, seeing as it is a major part of Harmon's identity and personal journey.  I appreciated this.

Although this is the fourth in a series, I had never read any of the previous books.  I was pleased to see how easy it was to jump right in without any foreknowledge and yet it didn't feel as if it was some kind of overly detailed beginning that would make me want to skip a few pages if I had read the previous books.  In fact, reading this has made me want to go back and read the earlier novels.

I rate this book 4 out of 5 inkspots.

I received this book free from the publisher through the Booksneeze book review for bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Book Review: The FIne Art of Insincerity, Angela Hunt

This is the story of three Southern sisters with ten marriages between them and more looming on the horizon. It takes a "girls only" weekend spent closing up Grandma's treasured beach house for the sisters to really unpack their family baggage, examine their relationship DNA, and discover the true legacy their much-marrying grandmother left behind.

This novel is by best-selling author Angela Hunt.  The Fine Art of Insincerity is simpy the newest in a string of successes, including The Note, which was featured as a Hallmark Channel Film Original.  This new release is a character driven novel focusing on a single weekend in the lives of three sisters, having been raised mostly by their grandmother,  and all with hidden wounds that have shaped their perceptions of the world around them and each other. 

The dysfunction begins right from the start, as the reader gets a first person glimpse into the minds of each sister.  I don't always enjoy reading first person and present tense narrative, but in this case, it is a necessary past of the storytelling.  Hunt has also done a very good job of not just making the characters different in personality, but even in their way of thinking and speaking.  It is very easy to distinguish the voice of each sister from the very beginning.  Should the reader still need a visual reminder of the change, the author has chosen to use different fonts for each sister's segments. 

Despite being just over 300 pages, I found myself reading the whole book in just two sittings.  The tricky thing about character driven narrative is that it can often come out dry and uneventful.  However this book starts with one sister confronting her husband's infidelity, another sister considering infidelity herself, and the most secret of them all, the third sister planning her imminent suicide at the end of the weekend.  The sisters have obviously not remained close in their adult years and the weekend plays out with each casting judgments on each other.  This is so perfectly executed, without any dilution of the emotions and yet still subtle, just as we are in life.  I must applaud Hunt in this respect as the mechanics of this is a sensitive and complicated business.  

As in reality, the characters' perceptions of each other are shaded by their own misinterpretations of each others' intentions and thoughts.  As the reader with a view of them all, we can see how self-absorbed each has become because of their pain.  They are all so certain about what they think they know about life and each other, and yet we can see how none of them know each other at all.  It is painful to read most of the time, because as readers, we just want to slap the selfishness out of them all.  But even if we could, we probably wouldn't, as Hunt has been successful at also making the reader extremely compassionate towards each of them.  

My heart was breaking through this novel, even more so because it was so extremely plausible.  Hunt's novel proves the saying true, that wounded people wound people.   The novel is a call to honesty at all costs for the sake of healing, redemption, and restoration.  I imagine this book will do very well, and I hope the direct and confrontational look at these sisters will help expose issues within the reader that may have been left festering from an old wound.  In some ways it might hit too close to home for some folk, but Hunt doesn't leave the reader hanging, as there is light at the end.  It is not some too clean and easy to believe cliche, but it is a beginning for the characters, a beginning filled with hope.  

It is not however for every person, as it is a very estrogen packed novel.  Although it deals with issues primarily related to marriage and children, it id not limited to a married audience.  I would expect most adult women of any background would enjoy this.  There are some elements of faith, but they are minimal, but in one moment, the inclusion of the love chapter from I Corinthians is quite profound.

I rate this book 4 out of 5 inkspots.

I received this book free from the publisher through the Glass Road PR book review for bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Book Review: Holy Guacamole, Dan and Denise Harmer

When Trace Domingo is accepted into Chef Bonnie Miller's culinary boot camp, a life-threatening journey into Bonnie's past unfolds. In a vulnerable moment, Trace discovers part of Bonnie's closely-held secret. She hasn't yet decided to trust the "bootie" when a crisis makes the choice for her. The pair embark on a race against the clock across southern California and northern Baja in Mexico.

Pegged as a "Romantic adventure for foodies," this novel promised to be a great light summer read.  I was so ready to love it even before I opened the cover.  In a genre inundated with period settings and over idealized characters, I was excited for something in a contemporary setting with relatable characters and a sense of humor, not to mention the culinary themed backdrop.  I was however really disappointed by this book.

Everything started off really great.  I think it is may be because a couple author this book that the inside voices of the characters were more realistic.  In other words, it seemed like a guy wrote what guys think, and a girl what the girl would think.  This added to the authenticity of the characters, up to a point.  Just before the halfway point, the book started to lose it stability.  So much time had been spent on developing a story arc based on an exciting discovery that it would only make sense to follow that path.  However, this story was never actually followed.  Elements from the discovery were included in later parts, but were certainly not necessary to the late developed "real" plot.

The second half of the book was as rushed as the characters in the midst of their own escape.  The main female character Bonnie became more and more unbelievable as it went on, like a manic caricature of who she was in the beginning.  There were too many story arcs added into the equation, perhaps for added intrigue, but despite their dire circumstances, they came off almost flippant.  There really could have been a profound statement about adoption, as it played a major role in Bonnie's history, and even in the resolution.  However, no statement was clearly made.  (as one who formerly worked as an adoption coordinator for a third world orphanage, there was just something about the way that was handled in the end that made me cringe a little.)  I guess having no defined statement was my biggest issue; there seemed to be no real point to any of the themes that were brought up.  

In the end, Bonnie had transformed in attitude, but even that was handled in a haphazard way.  Her transformation seemed to be only inspired by a supernatural occurrence and done out of her own will because she saw that selfishness is bad.  There was no Christ, no revelation of the need for salvation, just the kind of change anyone can make, regardless of faith.  Now, I am not one to prefer heavy-handed preachy novels, but many things were just left a little too ambiguous.  I mean I cannot put my finger on any one specific thing and say, "This was wrong and therefore..." but maybe that's a problem.  I should be able to know what exactly the authors are saying, whether I agree or disagree.  This ambiguity was most evident with Trace, the character who was supposedly the one with faith from the beginning, well I think.  He did say "Thank God" once right at the beginning.  He just kind of went with whatever.  He didn't do anything wrong or bad, but he also didn't do anything remotely related to his presumed faith even in when in crisis.  

I really really wanted to like this book.  There was so much potential within the first third of it too.   I think this might be the authors first novel, in which case I hope they can grow as there is definitely talent.  The execution needs some work though.  It is such a shame that I have to rate this book as I do. 

I give this book 2 out of 5 inkspots.

I received this book free from the publisher through the Glass Road PR book review for bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Book Review: Voices of the Faithful, Beth Moore

This devotional, complied by Beth Moore, is comprised of 366 true-life stories from missionaries serving around the world.  Moore concludes that its purpose is as a call to missions, whether to go or send or cover in prayer.  It is obvious her hope is that the stories will inspire folk to see outside themselves and get a sense of the church as a global body of Christ, resulting in the inspiration of the reader to find his/her own mission in that.

Each day, the reader is presented with a scripture verse, a short account from a missionary, and a simple prayer.  The book is divided up by date, with each month following a common theme such as God's Character, Prayer, God's Grace, Contentment, Spiritual Warfare, and Compassion.  Each month has a forward by Moore discussing these themes.

I really enjoyed this book.  Some accounts are the wild and shocking bits people seem to always expect from missionaries, while others are quieter, simpler tales.  Yet all are pointing to God as the one who is and who does, which is the point afterall.  I appreciate how these accounts show the humanity behind both the missionaries and those whom they serve.  Moore talks in her initial introduction to the book how these people are like everyone else, and this comes through strongly in many of these stories.  With the people sharing their struggles so honestly, it tears down the myth that one must be perfect in faith before serving as each story shows how it is God's hand at work.  I also appreciate that there is such variety with the stories, intuitively showing that God is neither dependent upon, nor limited by location and circumstance.  The short prayers at the end, while at times seek God's help for personal growth regarding the corresponding insight, are moreso prayers extending outward for the work that God is doing in the world.

My only complaint about this book would be that I wish each section were a bit longer.  Each day's reading is a quick easy read.  While this could be convenient for some, I find myself wanting to linger a bit longer.

I would highly recommend this book for anyone who wants a supplement to their regular Bible reading.  As it is a compilation of others' stories, it should not be mistaken to be similar to Moore's Bible Study series or her other books.  People who are looking for something specifically focusing and expounding on inward personal growth, may be initially disappointed.  There is a strong element of this in the book, especially with the monthly motifs, however, the responsibility of drawing these conclusions is left to the reader.  I think this is because these stories are meant to inspire the reader, by establishing truths about the nature of God and the possibilities that come with a willing heart, which in turn encourages on to ask God for the next step.

I give this book 5 out of 5 inkspots.

I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Book Review: A Year With God, R.P. Nettelhorst

A Year with God by R.P. Nettelhorst

This daily devotional book is self-described as   "a 365-day revelation of God's divine character through His actual words, along with reflections and insights to increase your understanding."  

The back cover proposes that the book will:

1) Examine Old Testament scripture within its cultural context.

2) Explain the meaning of what God is saying.

3) Reveal the application for our modern lives.

I was very excited to get this book and upon first perusal I noticed some things about the structure I instantly loved.  This book uses Old Testament scripture, which excluding the Psalms, is rarely found in many modern devotionals.  Also I really appreciated how it had blocks of scripture for each day instead of only one verse or a portion of a verse.  Looking at whole passages can help in understanding the context.  This is also useful when trying to understand a larger concept such as the character of God.  This book is divided into sections that allow the reader to carry on with a particular characteristic of God for several weeks, which would presumably help the reader build a more solid foundation of these aspects of God's nature with the various scriptures over time.

Upon reading each selection, however, I found myself underwhelmed.  Although most of the text space was used for explaining context, these explanations felt hesitant, diluted.  The reflections that would bring meaning and application were often reduced to a single sentence at the end.  This may have been a space issue, but it means that the conclusions were very general and rushed.

Because if this, I felt like the book did not fully live up to the purpose it intended.  However, it is an easy read and the brief conclusions are at least encouraging and uplifting.  I would recommend this book to someone who would simply like a supplement to their daily study or to someone who would like to read more of the OT and would find the pre-selected portions convenient.

I give this book 2.5 out of 5 inkspots.

I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”