WORD up!

During the last few months, we have featured many wonderful books on this blog. Tales of romance and adventure, action and horror, comedy and tragedy have been reviewed and previewed, here. Now, with fall fast approaching and my kids already back in school, it's time to return to school, ourselves. Although the tales of romance and adventure will still be showcased, it is time to dust off your Bibles and join me beginning September 3rd for an online Bible study of the book of Ruth called "Faithful Love In Human Relationships." Leave comments, reply to others' questions, pose your own questions. There's no need to hold back like you might be tempted to do in a small group Bible study. I can't wait to hear what you have to say!

Sandra Byrd’s “Let Them Eat Cake” is such a charming novel. Alexandra isn’t living her dream. She went to college, got her degree in French, and graduated without that wonderful career. In fact, she’s just been fired from her job translating nutrition labels. But she can’t tell her family and disappoint her parents AGAIN! In addition, her parents are moving in six months, and she can’t come along. Will Alex be able to stand on her own two feet before it’s too late? This touching novel left me uplifted. I can’t wait to try the recipes that are included in the text! I was a bit disappointed that the romantic aspects didn’t develop further, but that’s how life is, isn’t it? So, needless to say, I can’t wait for a sequel!!! I loved the warming touch that the images and notes sprinkled throughout the text seemed to provide, offering greater believability. I was completely thrilled with how all of Alex’s loose ends were tied up. God works that way so often. It’s nice to be remin

It is time to play a Wild Card ! Every now and then, a book that I have chosen to read is going to pop up as a FIRST Wild Card Tour . Get dealt into the game! (Just click the button!) Wild Card Tours feature an author and his/her book's FIRST chapter! You never know when I might play a wild card on you! Today's Wild Card author is: Mark Batterson and his/her book: Wild Goose Chase: Reclaim the Adventure of Pursuing God Multnomah Books (August 19, 2008) ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Mark Batterson is the lead pastor of Washington, DC’s National Community Church, widely recognized as one of America’s most innovative churches. NCC meets in movie theaters at metro stops throughout the city, as well as in a church-owned coffee house near Union Station. More than seventy percent of NCC’ers are single twentysomethings who live or work on Capitol Hill. Mark is the author of the best-selling In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day and a widely read blogger (http://evotional.com/). He lives on Capito

Broken Angel By Sigmund Brouwer "In this addictively readable futuristic Christian dystopia, Brouwer (The Last Disciple) takes readers inside a state run by literalistic, controlling fundamentalists. There, reading is a serious crime; citizens are drugged into submission; and those who break rules are either sent to slave labor factories or stoned to death. Occasionally, a few brave souls try to escape to “Outside.” At the center of this novel is Caitlyn, a disfigured but graceful and brave young woman whose father essentially orders her to make a run for it. For reasons not revealed (even to Caitlyn) until the very end, she is chased by a variety of people who want her dead or alive. While trying to escape, Caitlin meets up with two traveling companions who have their own reasons for fleeing, and she is aided by a sort of underground railroad. Its leaders believe the fundamentalist government has distorted true Christianity, so they risk everything to help people get Outside to

It is time to play a Wild Card ! Every now and then, a book that I have chosen to read is going to pop up as a FIRST Wild Card Tour . Get dealt into the game! (Just click the button!) Wild Card Tours feature an author and his/her book's FIRST chapter! You never know when I might play a wild card on you! Today's Wild Card author is: Dandi Daley Mackall and his/her book: When God Created My Toes WaterBrook Press (August 19, 2008) ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Dandi Daley Mackall has published more than 400 books for children and adults, with more than 3 million combined copies sold. She is the author of WaterBrook’s two other delightful Dandilion Rhymes books, A Gaggle of Geese & A Clutter of Cats and The Blanket Show. A popular keynote speaker at conferences and Young Author events, Mackall lives in rural Ohio with her husband, three children, and a menagerie of horses, dogs, and cats. Visit the author's website . ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR: David Hohn is an award-winning illustrato

It's the 21st, time for the Teen FIRST blog tour!(Join our alliance! Click the button!) Every 21st, we will feature an author and his/her latest Teen fiction book's FIRST chapter! D. Barkley Briggs and his/her book: The Book of Names (Legends of Karac Tor) NavPress Publishing Group (July 15, 2008) ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Dean Barkley Briggs is an author, father of eight, and prone to twisting his ankle playing basketball. He grew up reading J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Patricia McKillip, Guy Gavriel Kay, Stephen R. Donaldson, Ursila K. Leguin, Susan Cooper, Madeline L'Engle, Terry Brooks, Andre Norton and Lloyd Alexander (just to name a few)...and generally thinks most fantasy fiction pales in comparison. (Yes, he dabbled in sci-fi, too. Most notably Bradbury, Burroughs and Heinlein). After losing his wife of 16 years, Briggs decided to tell a tale his four sons could relate to in their own journey through loss. Thus was born The Legends of Karac Tor, a sweeping adventure of f

It is time to play a Wild Card ! Every now and then, a book that I have chosen to read is going to pop up as a FIRST Wild Card Tour . Get dealt into the game! (Just click the button!) Wild Card Tours feature an author and his/her book's FIRST chapter! You never know when I might play a wild card on you! Today's Wild Card author is: KELLY EILEEN HAKE and his/her book: The Bride Bargain Barbour Publishing, Inc (September 1, 2008) ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Life doesn't wait, and neither does Kelly Eileen Hake. In her short twenty-three years of life, she's achieved much. Her secret? Embracing opportunities and multitasking. Kelly received her first writing contract at the tender age of seventeen and arranged to wait three months until she was able to legally sign it. Since that first contract five years ago, she's reached several life goals. Aside from fulfilling fourteen contracts ranging from short stories to novels, she's also attained her BA in English Literature a

It is time to play a Wild Card ! Every now and then, a book that I have chosen to read is going to pop up as a FIRST Wild Card Tour . Get dealt into the game! (Just click the button!) Wild Card Tours feature an author and his/her book's FIRST chapter! You never know when I might play a wild card on you! Today's Wild Card author is: Dandi Daley Mackall and his/her book: God Loves Me More Than That WaterBrook Press (August 19, 2008) ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Dandi Daley Mackall has published more than 400 books for children and adults, with more than 3 million combined copies sold. She is the author of WaterBrook’s two other delightful Dandilion Rhymes books, A Gaggle of Geese & A Clutter of Cats and The Blanket Show. A popular keynote speaker at conferences and Young Author events, Mackall lives in rural Ohio with her husband, three children, and a menagerie of horses, dogs, and cats. Visit the author's website . ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR: David Hohn is an award-winning illustr