Book Giveaway!

Congrats to Loraine for winning Shadow in Serenity! I just sent you an email.
This week, I'm giving away A Heart Most Worthy by Siri Mitchell. It's a great book! To enter to win, tell me about a desire of your heart. One of my desires is to get married. I'm praying God sends me the man he has for me or that he makes me happy with being single. Most days I love  being single, but these holidays can be hard alone, especially since it's the first Thanksgiving without my dad.
But, I don't mean to be a downer. Sorry!
To get a second entry, leave a second comment letting me know you follow the blog. I can only ship to the US, and I'll pick a winner next week.

I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving. My dad used to always say, "In America, every day is a holiday, every meal is a feast, and every man's a king." We got together often to eat, and he would say that every time. America has its problems, but I'm so thankful for it, flaws and all.

Cabin Fever: A Book Review

Greg is back and running from the law. When Greg and Rowley scheme up a plan to make some money for Christmas, their idea goes awry as usual, and school property is damaged. When a blizzard hits, Greg is stuck inside with his family but that's better than being hauled off to jail, right?

I enjoyed this book. Yes, some elements require the reader to imagine a little (like the family not noticing the neighbors having electricity), but what children's book doesn't?  I am a librarian at an elementary school, and I found the jokes about education hilarious. The kids were getting hurt on the playground equipment, so they removed each piece of equipment. When a kid got stuck, the teachers weren't allowed to touch a kid, so the parents had to come. They removed sugar drinks, so kids started selling them behind the school. It was also fun to see Manny grow up a little and become more of player in the storyline.

Fans of the series will enjoy this funny addition.

Shadow in Serenity

When Logan comes to the small town of Serenity to swindle a naive town out of its hard-earned money, he didn't count on meeting Carny, a former con artist herself. Will he be able to pull of the ruse without losing his heart in the process? 

Terri Blackstock is one of my favorite Christian suspense authors, so I found this book a little slow as it focused more on a romance than a mystery. The characters are vivid, the town is enrapturing, but the plot dragged on for a little too long.

Fans of Terri Blackstock will enjoy this book, but it's definitely not my favorite by her.

In the small town of Amaryllis, a serial killer is on the loose. In the last three years, five elderly women have been murdered in the exact same way. When a sixth woman is murdered, authorities believe it is the work of the serial killer although the woman murdered doesn't fit the profile of the previous victims. Is it the work of the same man, or is there a second killer threatening the peace of the quaint town?

This is Brandilyn Collins' best book! Although the book is a murder mystery, the entire story is told from the point of view of three women, who are quite different but similar in one way...they each believe they know who the murderer is. Working together, they begin to piece together the pieces, and I enjoyed the storyline of normal women stepping up and figuring things out instead of having the investigators do all the work.

As always in a Collins' novel, there is a lot of action, and while I suspected who the killer was, I still enjoyed the ride finding him. Even more than the mystery, I enjoyed seeing the character growth in the three narrators. This book is a must-read for Christian suspense fans!

I received this book in exchange for my review. My thoughts and opinions are my own.

Book Giveaway!

Congrats to Melanie for winning Try Dying.
This week I'm giving away Shadow in Serenity by Terri Blackstock.
To enter to win, tell me what makes you feel serene. Be sure to leave an email address. Get a second entry by following the blog (leave a second comment). I can only ship to the US.
I'll pull a name next week.

If you won in the last few weeks, I've been really busy and haven't shipped the books. I'm going to do it tomorrow, I promise!

The Busy Tree and My Trees

I LOVE this book, partly because of my tree obsession and partly because it is a simple but poignant look at one of nature's most beautiful creations.
Most people look at a tree as something that stands, provides shade, and can cause a lot of damage when falling. However, they are so much more. They are home to creatures, playgrounds for children, and the source of the very air we breathe.
The illustrations are magnificent and add vivid images to the short couplets.


I live in Kingwood, which is known for beautiful trees. My cousin sweetly came and shot some of my favorite tree spots. Here are a few of her pictures.

Falling for Rapunzel

Falling for Rapunzel is a cute twist on the Rapunzel story. Instead of the helpless maiden, we have a maiden with a bad hair day. When the prince hears her crying over her hair, he tries to save her, asking her to throw down something to let him climb up to rescue her. She doesn't understand him and sends down everything from socks (locks) to underwear (hair). She sends down her maid when he tells her to let down her braid, and the fairy tale ending comes true...just not the typical way.

This delightful tale is sure to entertain both children and parents alike.

Billy and Milly, Short and Silly

What a wonderful book for young children and those learning rhyming words. Told only in rhyming words, this book tells the adventures of Billy and Milly. With one word per page, the reader has to use the colorful illustrations to piece together the story. Young kids will have fun guessing the next rhyming word to complete the story.
I used this book with my kindergarten kids in the library, and they loved guessing the next word and then coming up with more rhyming words.

Longing

Even though Cody and Bailey are dating other people, their story is not yet finished. When life events cause their paths to cross, the two must figure out their lingering feelings for each other. Will they return to their first love or discover that your first love isn't always your forever love?

After being disappointed with the first two books in the Bailey Flanigan series, I enjoyed Longing. Bailey finally makes a decision about which man is the one for her. (I won't spoil it for you, but I will say that although I love both Cody and Brandon, the decision is logically and satisfying.) I became frustrated with the first two books because I felt characters I had loved for so long were being destroyed to fill a four-book series. However, this book brought the journey to a close in many ways. Both Bailey and Cody are now completely developed as characters, and as a faithful Karen Kingsbury reader, that was wonderful to read.  Although some of the subplots were far-fetched (Cody's football story), the story of Cheyenne was delicately written and touching to read since I have walked that road with someone I love. Now that Bailey has made her choice, I look forward to the fourth book to see her final growth as an adult woman.

I received this book in exchange for my review. My thoughts are my own.

Book Giveaway

Congrats to Michelle for winning There You'll Find Me. You're going to love it, my friend. I enjoyed reading everyone's comments. :)
Today, I am giving away Try Dying by James Scott Bell. To enter to win, leave a comment with something new you would like to try. I want to learn how to quilt. I called a sewing place around me because my mom, niece, and I want someone to teach us. Sadly, the classes are in the day when I'm at work and my niece is at school. I think we'll try youtube because I've heard from several people that they've learned new things by watching videos of someone demonstrating how to do something.

To get a second entry, follow the blog and leave a separate comment that you follow.
I can only ship to the US. I'll announce a winner next week.

Just so you know, I am moving next month, so I am cleaning out my books. I may do a few two/three book giveaways soon. :)