Review: Lily

Lily by Anna K. Payne
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Short, quick read.
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

There are really two stories that are going on here and the intertwine with each other. Lily is at the end of her rope. She is divorced three times and pregnant with her third child, all from different dads. She is invited to a Bible Study and wonder why God would ever want her.
Meanwhile she witnesses a murder during a freak storm at the beach and now the killer is out to get her, and she keeps calling the undercover cop who rescued her, she just does not know why.

Will Lilly make until the end of the story or will the bad guy kill her? Will the cop and Lilly ever realize how they feel? Will Lilly accept Jesus? I am fairly sure you can guess the answers. But take a look anyway.
Recommend to those who want a light simple read of a Christian nature. While I have seen some call it a cozy, to me a cozy has a mystery. This is not a mystery in that we know who did it. It is more a drama of what will happen in the day to day life of the title character.

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Review: Pineapple Puzzles

Pineapple Puzzles by Amy Vansant
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The third in the series of Pineapple Port and the characters are much the same. Before I go further, I was given a copy in exchange for an honest review. I am also part of the author's street team that promotes the series.
Amy has again written an interesting story. There is a murder out there who is killing people and making them look like accidents. Then, so that people know, the killer is leaving pieces of a puzzle behind as a sign that it is them doing it.
Charolette, our hero, is trying to figure out the person doing the killing as part of her training for being a private eye under the auspices of her neighbor the police chief and her boyfriend's uncle, Samus, who was a private eye at one time. Telling you much more of the story gets to giving clues to how it ends.
The one gripe I have about this, and it is the reason it only got 4 stars, is that the ending did not wrap things up. Someone who should be in jail is not. I suspect that is so the author can set things up for a future book but I am old school and like my stories not to be continued. Still, it is not a bad ending, and I have seen a lot worse than this in stories that I have read lately.
I recommend to anyone who wants a fun, light-hearted mystery. Though the series has been promoted as a Cozy, I would not recommend it as a Cozy. It is not bad, just there are some things in it that do not fit in the Venn diagram of what makes a Cozy.


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Review: The Last Librarian

The Last Librarian by Brandt Legg
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I am not sure where I picked up this book, just that it was in my  library and it looked interesting.  I was a little hesitant in reading it at first.  It was coming across as a 'save the whales' type of book. That was just the leaning of the author I am sure.  In reality, a book about saving books has to be a little bit about saving the environment.  I get ahead of myself.
Our story takes place in the near future. There has been a natural disaster, a plague, that has killed off a large percentage of the population of earth. In order to survive, the war that naturally follows, a one world government is created.  As that government flourishes so does the population of the earth, and the prosperity as well.  In order for things to continue to flourish, the government puts rules in effect for everything from reproduction to reading.
Everyone also has their own computer devices.  They do everything for them.  Even provides them the books they are going to read.  This makes the needs for libraries a thing of the past.  One small device can hole a library of books.
Eventually all the libraries are closed, except for one. And the Last Librarian is soon going to be out of a job. Or is he, a close friend has discovered that words are being changed in books and comes up with an idea to save the most important books in the library.  It is a race against time and the risk of losing his life but our hero takes it on.
Fun stuff in the book comes in the form of quotes from authors we know. Liberal quotes from Fahrenheit 451 and 1984 are scattered through out the book.  Another thing scattered through out is cussing, but it is safe  cussing. It reminded me of the original Battlestar Galatica.  In order to get cussing past the censors, they made up a few words.  Same here, but I am sure that it was not done to get it past the sensors.  There is one moment of intimacy hinted as well but I had to read the paragraph twice just to make sure I read what I thought I read.  This book is safe for kids, though I am sure many would get a little bored with it.
My only real problem was the ending. In order to make sure the second story would have a place to start we are left with many of the plots in the story left hanging.  If I could have I would have taken off a 1/2 star for that. 
In the end a good book. It is kind of long (or seemed so to me).  I would say that any one looking for a good adventure story would like it. 

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Review: Purgatory of the Werewolf

Purgatory of the Werewolf by Brian S. Ference
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Dorian wakes with a weird dream, he was destroyed by a large wolf, but here he was, in the forest, naked, bloody, but alive. He could not really understand what was going on. He feels renewed, healthy, and whatever scars he had were now gone.
So starts the Purgatory of the Werewolf, the second in the Wolf of Dorian Gray series. I have not read number 1, but I was allowed to review an advanced copy of this book for an honest review.
The book held my interest, which is saying a lot as I am not much of a horror/supernatural reader. I may have to track down book number one for a look at it to see how Dorian got this way in the first place.
Dorian does realize that he is the beast and with help, takes steps to distance himself from the population so as not to kill anyone else. It takes him to a British ship where he helps to battle the Chinese during what is the Opium wars of the late 1800's.
The author takes time to set each scene up, painting it with enough words but not too many as to over do it. Likewise, the points of view of each person telling the story ring true to the person they are. It was clear that the author took some time to put thought into each person.
While there is a small amount of violence in the story, that would be expected when you are telling a story of a werewolf. There are also some battle scenes. All of the violence is necessary to advance the storyline.
I would recommend this to anyone who likes horror/supernatural types of story but would not limit it to them. I did find it an enjoyable read.

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Review: Pineapple Mystery Box

Pineapple Mystery Box by Amy Vansant
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Another good book by the author.
Some may think that these are cozy mysteries, they are not. A Cozy implies to me that this might be a book you could tell your pastor you had read. These books have a little hint of violence and/or innuendo, but they are safe.
In book two, Charlotte is now trying to be a private eye. As the youngest of the retirement community she lives in (25, do not ask, read the books to find out why), her friends get her set up on a case because someone has switched all the Halloween decorations in their community. But all of a sudden one case blossoms into three and she (and her chalkboard wall) are on the way to solving all of them.
Declan, her maybe boyfriend is their as the owner of the pawn shop move into a Taco Bell name Hocko Bell (take a run for the hoarder) along with his ex-girlfriend who wants him back, or at least the pawn shop. At one point in the book he literally becomes the butt of some of the best jokes in the book.
If you like your mysteries on the spooky or serious side, this book is not for you. If however you love a good laugh, then his book is for you.
I want to tank Ms. Amy for a copy provided for an honest review. In further disclosure, I am part of the street team she has put together to advance her soon to be released 5th book. This is an honest review however. If I though the book was bad, you (and she) would know it.

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Review: Volunteering: A Guide to Serving in the Body of Christ

Volunteering: A Guide to Serving in the Body of Christ by Leith Anderson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I received a copy of this book from the Netgalley web site and the publisher, Zondervan in exchange for an honest review.
A short quick guide but with a lot of information in it.
I have been in volunteering in one way, shape or form in the 35 years that I have been a Christian. I have led departments (sound) and been a background person (kid's ministry) and a little bit of everything in between. I did not think that this book could tell me a lot about it, but I wanted to get some new ideas and thought this might do the trick. I was surprised and not disappointed.
While most of my Christian ministry of late has been online and this book deals with the local church, a lot of the material can be used for the online world.
The book deals mostly with the one in the trenches. One thing that it talks about finding your gift so you can serve effectively. So often we do not know where our gifts are and so if we do volunteer we do it in the wrong place, get discouraged and never volunteer again. So the authors encourage you not to quit but to seek someplace else to use your talents. There is even a guide to what your spiritual gift could be.
One think I liked that is not talked much about is that the authors gave a whole chapter to burnout. I speak from experience, it is real in Christian ministry volunteering. They talk about sensing it, and what to do about it from both sides, the leader and the person who volunteers. This was a powerful chapter.
I recommend this book to any who will be leading or volunteering in a Christian ministry. If you are a breathing Christian, this means you.

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Review: A Matter of Life or Debt

A Matter of Life or Debt by Edward S. Blythe
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I like to pigeon hole my books as I read them. Some I know in advance what they are because of the description. Others, the description does not give a good idea, so I tend to try to figure them out as I go along, they usually fall into mystery, science fiction, romance (do not read many of them), etc. I think you get the idea. And there falls my first bit of trouble with this book. It does not fit any category that I have in my thinking. This does not make it a bad book, it just means that I do not know where to pigeon hole it.
We open at a time years ago, the people who are the leads in the book each have their own voice as they tell the story. Each speaks true to his character. This has been a problem with some books I have read as late, telling the story from the eyes of the character but not staying in it. Here they stay true to who they are as we listen in on their thoughts. The author has a good eye for the people he has populated this world with.
We journey with them, as they go through high school, military, prison, marriage, struggles, etc. While at times there seems to be a little too much information, looking back after it was done, it really was necessary.
I do not know why, I did not see anything that tipped me off, but the guy who was the big bad guy at the end was the one that I expected it to be, I just did not expect the ending as it was. It left me wanting to know what happened to the main focus of the story, Levi. Did they live happily ever after, did he go back to work on the border patrol? I would assume that there will be another book by the author to let us know. While the story did wrap up, it would have helped to know what happened to the main characters afterwards. That is why I knocked it down one star.

Recommend it people that like to look at character studies and what makes people tick. Thank you to the author for letting me read it in advance.

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Review: Into the Storm

Into the Storm by Amy Quick Parrish
My rating: 0 of 5 stars

I received this book for free and voluntarily reviewed.

Into the Storm picks up where book one left off, a few months later. It has a much different feel than the first book does. We know the characters so other than a few references to bring readers up to date that have not read the first one, we can get into the story.

While the previous book dealt with establishing Jamie and seeing how she was able to learn her powers. Book 2 deals more with time travel. I love time travel, have since I was a kid, but I have finally hit a time travel story that I did not like as much as I have others. The main downfall here to me was there was so much of it. We did not go back in time to one point and stay there. The characters seem bounce around time like a ping pong ball in the middle of a game. It got a little hard for me to keep up with where they were. At one point, near past, next 20 years ago, then to the present then to the deep past then almost to present again, if you understand what I am trying to say.

Other than that, the book is well written. The characters appear to stay true to form. While the time travel was confusing, the plot moved along and was interesting. We get to see into the background of one of them and that helps us to understand him better.

This is a YA book and I am a much older person, so maybe the time travel bouncing would appeal more to the younger crowd. The story did hold my interest. And that takes a lot for me.

Recommend it to people who have read book 1, and to others if you want a good story line of travel through time trying to right wrongs.

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Review: Pineapple Lies

Pineapple Lies by Amy Vansant
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I received a free copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

I had second thoughts about accepting this book. We are going to make fun of us old people (I am 64), and yes fun was made of them, but that is OK. They make fun of themselves as well.

The premise is one that could be a TV comedy show. I can see an ensemble cast doing great justice to the cast of characters in this book. Charlotte is in her mid 20s and lives in a retirement community. She is able to do this because her grandmother (who she moved in with when mom died) passed away leaving a young teen in a group of retired people who love on her. Now she is feeling she has to do something with her life so she paints the wall of her kitchen so she can make notes about herself. As she digs up her backyard to make a garden, a skeleton shows up and now she has a purpose, find the killer.

While most of the story is told from the eyes of Charlotte some of the others tell the story from their points of view as well. The author nails it hear. Each voice is quite clear. Charlotte can be scatter brained, we get to see that in her random drifts in to other topics that have nothing to do with what she should be doing and become a neat side trip in to other areas. Declan, her not quite a boy-friend (who is the son of the person she found) is another voice we hear from. His tends to be business like, and that makes sense as he owns the local pawn shop.

There are enough turns and twists that you will keep changing who you thought did it. While the ending was not as clean as I thought it would be it did make a lot of sense as to how the body got where it was.

Though it has some innuendo, there is no real sex, which made the book an enjoyable read for me.

Need a nice cute romantic mystery, this might be a book to enjoy and I will enjoy making a run at the rest of the series.

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Review: Spirit-Empowered Theology: A Concise, One-Volume Guide

Spirit-Empowered Theology: A Concise, One-Volume Guide by Charles Carrin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

To start with the review, I got asked to review this book as part of a 'Blog Tour' I received an advanced copy of it through the author agent in this respect and from NetGalley.

When I read a nonfiction book I try picture where it would be used at. Christian books are usually a type of self help book or a Christian Education (aka Sunday school) type of book. This book does not meet either of those. While it is scholarly it is not something that would be used in higher education either.
Simply put, it is a encyclopedia of sorts. The author has put together what he thinks are important questions that should be asked and answered by all Christians. I will say the collection of questions are good, the answers brief and understandable and should be a good reference for the average Christian.
There is one 'but' though. Not all Christians believe the same. His theology leans towards the charismatic/pentecostal teaching. I have no problem with that. I believe much the same way. I have only small difference with what he says but that may be just a matter of semantics. Others who differ strongly with the pentecostal teachings can get a lot out of the other parts of the book, but that could be a stumbling block to many denominational members.
I think this is a book that should be in every Christian's home as a good reference book when questions about certain things come up. I recommend it to all. It may help non-Christians understand some of what their friends are talking about.

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Review: Heart Of Destiny: Book One Of The Heart Of The Citadel

Heart Of Destiny: Book One Of The Heart Of The Citadel by Susan Faw
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

An engaging fantasy adventure. Magic has been banned, or so it seems. 12 young girls go missing from the 12 provinces of the known world, that is run from the citadel. There is bad on the way, but who are the good people and who are the bad.

Engaging to the end. And a setup for a future series.

I received a free copy as a beta reader. I looked for editing problems. This is an honest review.

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Review: Mars Journey: Call to Action: Book 2

Mars Journey: Call to Action: Book 2 by Bill Hargenrader
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This picks up prior to where book 1 left off. It was a little confusing, but I understand why we could not have the events at the beginning of the book appear in the timeline of book 1.
Newer characters take the field and established ones get some depth to them.
The author does not ramble on about a scene like a lot of what I have read lately. However, if the words are necessary he is not afraid to use them either.
Since it is free for a review for book 1, which was free, there is not a lot invested here but your time, and the books are both short reads. Just because they are free does not mean they are not worth your time.
Recommend to all who like science fiction. Worth your time.

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Review: Mars Journey: Call to Action: Book 1: A Science Fiction Thriller

Mars Journey: Call to Action: Book 1: A Science Fiction Thriller by Bill Hargenrader
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Was given a free copy, as I believe all the copies of this book are. It is an introduction to a series of books ( I would call them short stories individually). There are people who will complain about buying three 'books' (actually eBooks) but in the end, right a review and get book 2. Only one you are paying for is book number 3.

Characters to me were believable. We are set down in the middle of a disaster in the making, and we are forwarded to the point where plans are being put into motion for a Mars mission. While set in what could be considered current time, it has to be some short time into the future.

Enjoyed the book and recommend it to all. Good solid writing. Looking forward to book number 2.

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Review: Jackie Robinson: A Spiritual Biography: The Faith of a Boundary-Breaking Hero

Jackie Robinson: A Spiritual Biography: The Faith of a Boundary-Breaking Hero by Michael G. Long


I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I want to thank Westminster John Knox Press and NetGalley for the chance to read this book.

I am not sure that I would call this a biography. I would call it a history book whose central figure would be Jackie Robinson. He had a tremendous impact on history and the period of time he was alive was certainly one that needs to be reviewed, especially in what this book talks about, civil rights. It is a history of the civil rights movement. Many times we branch off on the people and events that are part of his life, but we always come back to it.

This period of time is important to me. Jackie broke the racial barrier in the late 40's and I was born n the early 50's. While I grew up in this time frame, until we get to the 70's much of it was new history to me. And a lot of it rung true to me. I can remember my father telling me that the negro needed to have his rights. I also remember, when a negro family moved in to the area and I went to play with them, I came home with a beating from my dad that I was never to go to that area again. So I can say that much of the problems between the races that is talked about was quite evident in the years I grew up.

The book is not political. It is a history of what happened. And it all revolves around Jackie Robinson. I would gladly recommend this book to anyone. It is not a book that preaches at you, but faith was a part of his life.


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Review: The Book Thief

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
My rating: 0 of 5 stars

I enjoy reading something different and this was. I borrowed it as an eBook from my local library. I did not realize until I was finished that it was considered a YA book. I think there is something for everyone in this book.
I loved the fact that Death was the narrator. A non-spoiler spoiler, everyone dies. I am not going to tell you how, but remember that Death is telling the story.
I have seen people complain about the language in the reviews. I did not notice, maybe because I do not speak German. Taking place in World War Two Germany, we follow the story from the country that lost the war. And we follow the story as Death tells us about the 'Book Thief', a girl who really does not steal a lot of books.
Enjoyable fiction. Take time to read it.


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Review: Millie's Angel

Millie's Angel by Kim Petersen
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received this book for free and voluntarily reviewed.

I enjoyed this book for most of it. It was an interesting character study of people and how they reacted to each other. I felt compelled to continue reading it even though I kind of figured out what was going to happen to the various characters. The only big question was what would happen at the very end to one of the characters. We could see the wheels being set in motion long before they happened. It did not end the way I expected it would, but that is OK.

The characters were well thought out and showed growth and development throughout the book. The progression of the years in the story flowed easily with what looked like some very natural breaks in their struggling lives.

Some might say if I though that well of everything, why do I only give it three stars. I guess I would have to say that I do not mind a little preaching at but when you spend pages trying to teach me your spiritual philosophy that I get put off. Most of the book I could see hints of New Age philosophy and that was OK. I am not going to put an author or a book down just because I disagree with what they believe to be true. If I did that, I would only read what I myself would write. I also expect the authors I read not to try to force their beliefs on me as well. I was interested in the characters and how things would progress but then all of a sudden, Millie, our main character goes on and on and on about her (and I suspect the writer's) point of view on how our world is all one stream of consciousness that we form our world around us with our thoughts. I felt like I was reading an advertising brochure for a new age religious organization. I felt like I had an investment in these people and now that I was hooked I was being spoon fed the belief of the author. Take that chapter (and it seemed like it was a whole chapter) and pull it out of the book, I would have given it a 4 star, maybe even a five star review.

To be clear, I do not begrudge the author her point of view, not do I think she is a bad writer. As I said, I enjoyed much of the book. I do not remember why I picked this out of a list of books to look at, only that it looked interesting.

I could recommend this to people only with the understanding that it does become a recruitment for the author's beliefs.

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Review: Shattering Time: Book 2

Shattering Time: Book 2 by K.J. Waters
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received this book for free and voluntarily reviewed.

I love a good time travel story. The other day I found reruns of a 60's show called Time Tunnel. I loved the movie 'Final Countdown' as well as 'Time after Time', both obscure to many. That said, when I had a chance to read a time story as an advance copy I decided to go for it.

I was not disappointed, well not a lot shall we say. Like most books lately it is part of a series of books. In reading any of these, if you do not start with the first one, you can get confused. Here I was book 2. However, the author was able to work the basic storyline of book 1 into the opening chapters in a way that I did not need to read it. And I can see that there is another book brewing, but this one left with a complete story.

I have two major problems.
1) Sex. Ok, I understand it sells books. It seems like there were multiple sexual acts described in full detail. I cannot see most of them led to the the continuation of the story. Only one really. Others could have been covered with how the heroine though back of the night they shared or something like that.
2) Out heroine who seems to be a got it together 2o something, seems to not have it together in romance at all. She seems to hate her boyfriend but stays with him (Stockholm Syndrome). And yet seems to fall in love with her soul mate(s) time after time (pun intended).

The science nature seems plausible even though we know that time travel can not be done. Historically it seems accurate based on what I know. Story wise, great characters that appear well thought out.

Would I recommend it. I would if you can get past the over use of sex in the story. I might have give it another star if it had been toned down.

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Review: Murder at the Jolly Jester

Murder At The Jolly Jester by Ian   Thompson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Name sounded interesting and I received this book from the author as part of a promotion.

I am thankful for one thing in this book. While there was some romance hinted at there was not any sex scenes in it at all. So many of the fictional books that I have been reading of late feel that there must be sex in it for it to sell.

There is a murder at the Jolly Jester, a pub in a quaint English town. One of the regulars has been murdered. So now we have a physical game of Clue going on. We know what they did it with, just not where, how it was done and who did it, as well as how did the dead body get into a locked room. The proprietor of the Jester knows he cannot trust the police to clear his name so he goes to investigating it himself.

I was slightly disappointed in the ending. I did not feel that it fully led to its potential, i.e. not enough pointed to one of the bad guys. But it did make sense.

Good light hearted read that has just enough to keep you going.


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Review: One Nation Without Law: The Rise of Lawlessness, the End Times and the Power of Hope

One Nation Without Law: The Rise of Lawlessness, the End Times and the Power of Hope by Phil Hotsenpiller
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

To start with the review, I got asked to review this book as part of a 'Blog Tour' I received an advanced copy of it through the author agent in this respect and from NetGalley.

The title and the subtitle say it all, so if you are one that does not read the subtitle, then make sure you do. I did not notice it till just now. What do I mean by that? The book is divided up into three parts.
1. Rise of Lawlessness
2. The End Times
3. The Power of Hope

So as I said, the name says it all. As I had just sort of read the name (not the subtitle) I was very confused when the book seemed to take an abrupt right turn and move from lawlessness and the history of it and then went to a discussion of the end times. That is not the fault of the author, it was my fault for not reading the title clearly. I want to make sure that you are aware of it. If you are like me, end time prophecies can get to be a problem. In that respect I was not prepared for the end time discussions

The book held interest to me, even through the end times discussions. I had to just leave it as ones persons decision based on the way he interpreted the Bible. It is funny that we can all read the same scriptures and come up with different ways of what we think they mean.

Part 1, the rise of lawlessness was the best part of the book for me. Starting with Adam and Eve and coming up to the present time, we can see that there has always been lawlessness. We can also see that as we progress in time, things are getting worse. But we always have the power of hope. We are not left defenseless. We have the power of prayer and the armor of God. We are not to just roll over and let the end times come.

The book was well balanced, talking about the three parts with equal measure. It was a pleasure to see this because so many books on end times focus on one of these over the expense of the others, usually focusing on prophetic looks at end times. With a balanced look at things it makes it a book that I would like to keep in my library.

If you have a need for a good book on the end times, this would be it.

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Review: The Furious Longing of God

The Furious Longing of God by Brennan Manning
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book is Brennan Manning as he usually is. That is not necessarily a bad thing. Manning can be an acquired taste. It is one I enjoy.
His basic story is this. You can not sin so much that God can not forgive you. We are all ragamuffins and God loves each one of us. We have to learn to walk in that love. For people like Brennan, this can be hard, because sometimes we do not love ourselves and we get self destructive.
I would suggest it to all as a look at what I think that Christianity is all about, it is not about religion but relationship. Still, that will shock some people and they will not be able to handle it. Guess what? God still loves them anyway.

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