Tree Swing Reading

Review of "The House of Dark Shadows"

House of Dark Shadows: Dreamhouse Kings, Book 1 by Robert Liparulo

Description:

When the Kings move to a new home in a new town, the house seems odd at first; but things get really strange when they realize that some rooms are portals to other worlds.
The Kings face terrifying dangers within the rooms of their home, but it still seems like an adventure until people start coming out of the rooms and into the house. When one of the intruders kidnaps their mother, they must find a way to rescue her-but who would believe such a fantastical story?

My Thoughts:

This book had moments where it had me a bit spooked.  Maybe because I was reading it in the middle of the night one night when I couldn't sleep and I was using a small little book light to read by.  OR, maybe, just maybe because Liparulo knows how to build up suspense!  How creepy to move into a house that just "feels" scarey.  That's just what Xander has to do when his family moves into an old victorian home in a small town.  Now he's seeing shadows and going into a room and coming out in a different time and place in history.  Without warning! 

A very intriguing story with a pair of brothers who are determined to solve the house's mystery in spite of being afraid, because, afterall, as Xander knows, courage is not the absence of fear but doing what you need to do even when you are afraid.  And this house certainly gives him reason to be afraid.

While this book may be listed as a "teen" book, I found it kind of scarey even for me.  Just to warn you...  Very suspenseful, gripping, and exciting.  I can't help but wonder where the house will take them next.  Leaves you with a cliff-hanger as Xander's mom is taken through time and space somewhere. Not for the readers who don't like a bit of the edge of your seat suspense.  But for those of us who enjoy a bit of it, you won't be bored for sure!

CFBA Blog Tour and My Review of "Faking Grace" by Tamara Leigh

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
Faking Grace
Multnomah Books (August 19, 2008)
by
Tamara Leigh

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

After Tamara Leigh earned a Master’s Degree in Speech and Language Pathology, she and her husband decided to start a family, with plans for Tamara to continue in her career once she became a mother.

When the blessing of children proved elusive, Tamara became convicted to find a way to work out of her home in order to raise the children she and her husband longed to have. She turned to writing, at which she had only ever dreamed of being successful, and began attending church. Shortly thereafter, her agent called with news of Bantam Books’ offer of a four-book contract. That same day, Tamara’s pregnancy was confirmed. Within the next year, she gave up her speech pathology career, committed her life to Christ, her first child was born, and her first historical romance novel was released.

As Tamara continued to write for the secular market, publishing three more novels with HarperCollins and Dorchester, she infused her growing Christian beliefs into her writing. But it was not enough, and though her novels earned awards and were national bestsellers, she knew her stories were lacking. After struggling with the certainty that her writing was not honoring God as it should, she made the decision to write books that not only reveal Christianity to non-believers, but serve as an inspiration for those who have accepted Christ as their Savior. Her inspirational romances are peopled with characters in varying stages of Christian faith, from mature believers to new believers to non-believers on the threshold of awakening.

Tamara Leigh enjoys time with her family, volunteer work, faux painting, and reading. She lives near Nashville, Tennessee with her husband, David, and two sons, Skyler and Maxen.

Two of her latest books are Splitting Harriet and Perfecting Kate.


ABOUT THE BOOK

All she wants is a job. All she needs is religion. How hard can it be?

Maizy Grace Stewart dreams of a career as an investigative journalist, but her last job ended in disaster when her compassion cost her employer a juicy headline. A part-time gig at a Nashville newspaper might be her big break.

A second job at Steeple Side Christian Resources could help pay the bills, but Steeple Side only hires committed Christians. Maizy is sure she can fake it with her Five-Step Program to Authentic Christian Faith–a plan of action that includes changing her first name to Grace, buying Jesus-themed accessories, and learning “Christian Speak.” If only Jack Prentiss, Steeple Side’s managing editor and two-day-stubbled, blue-jean-wearing British hottie wasn’t determined to prove her a fraud.

When Maizy’s boss at the newspaper decides that she should investigate–and expose–any skeletons in Steeple Side’s closet, she must decide whether to deliver the dirt and secure her career or lean on her newfound faith, change the direction of her life, and pray that her Steeple Side colleagues–and Jack–will show her grace.

My Thoughts:

Another good book by Tamara Leigh!  I always enjoy her quirky characters who have very real foibles and character flaws.  Maizy Grace is just one of those characters.  She needs money because her part time job at a paper is not covering her epensives.  So she looks for another part time job at a Christian publisher and has to "fake" her beliefs in order to get the job.  She changes her name to "Grace," adds appropriate "Christian" jewelry (aka cross necklace and WWJD bracelet), throughs in some "Christian" bumper stickers for good measure, and actually gets the job.  The problem is keepering her co-workers believing her "lies" means actually going to church and befriending them.  Imagine her surprise when she ends up learning things from them along the way.

A fun premise, with a bit of sarcastic wit aimed good-naturedly at those of us who try to make ourselves look really "Christian" when it suits us.  I enjoyed it very much!

If you would like to read the first chapter of Faking Grace, go HERE

“Tamara Leigh takes her experienced romance hand and delights readers with Chick-Lit that sparkles and characters who come alive.” - Kristin Billerbeck, author of The Trophy Wives Club

“A delightful, charming book! Faking Grace has romance, truth, and a dollop of insanity, making Tamara Leigh a permanent addition to my list of favorite authors. Enjoy!”
- Ginger Garrett, author of In the Shadow of Lions and Beauty Secrets of the Bible

“Tamara Leigh does a fabulous job looking at the faults, the love, the hypocrisy, and the grace of Christians in a way that’s entertaining and fun. Maizy Grace is a crazy character I couldn’t help but like. I loved this book and highly recommend it!”
- Camy Tang, author of Sushi for One? and Only Uni

Review of "Riven" by Jerry Jenkins

Note: Until Oct. 4, you can still enter to win this book by commenting here.

Description:

Raised in a dingy trailer park, Brady Wayne Darby has only a death sentence to show for his sad, sorry life. But when weary man of God Thomas Carey meets this no-account with nothing left to lose, the seismic wave of rebirth and redemption will shake a state---and the nation---to the core!

My Review:

To be honest, this was not an easy book to read.  Not because it was boring or poorly written--far from that--it was just painful because of knowing the outcome and watching it come.  Like the movie "The Passion of Christ" where you know it will be hard to be reminded of the suffering of Jesus, but you watch it anyway because we need to be reminded.  Not that Brady's death is meant to be a replacement for Jesus' or in any way equal to his suffering...but I get ahead of myself.

The story is about two men and goes back and forth between their stories.  Brady is living a difficult life where he bounces in and out of trouble and can't seem to stop himself from his eventual slide into crimes, jail time, addictions, and more trouble. He ends up on death row awaiting his execution for killing his girlfriend. 

The rest of the story is Thomas.  A middle-aged pastor who has been shuffled from church to church to find himself accepting a job as a chaplain in the supermax prison.  He finds himself weary and saddened by the human depravity in the prison, frightened when cancer strikes his beloved wife, and mourning the determination of his daughter to not have anything to do with his faith or church.  Enter Brady Darby into his prison.

It is at this point that both men find what they've been missing.  Brady finally finds out that God loves even a murderer.  Thomas finds hope in watching Brady discover Jesus.  Knowing he is to be put to death, Brady has an idea come to him.  He is determined to show as many people as possible what Jesus went through with his crucifixion by recreating it in his own execution.  He wants to be crucified on a cross like Jesus, not to die for his own sins, but to show others the depth of Jesus' love for them.

Quite a storyline, huh?  I've given away enough of the storyline now, but suffice it to say that the outcome will stay with you for a long time.  It is a powerful reminder of God's love and sacrifice.  So while I had trouble wading through parts of it only because I was dreading the eventual outcome and was aching for the desparation of these men, it was important to let the story carry out because the pain that reading about it causes is only a teeny tiny fraction of the actual pain that Jesus suffered to die for our sins.  And it is important to remember that He is the one who gives hope because all of us are sinners like Brady and are in need of a Savior.

One more box of books...

First, let me apologize to those who requested books from the last "first come, first served" stuff.  I have your info, but haven't had a chance to package and mail the books yet.  Monday I had to catch up on school work (which I'm really enjoying by the way), Tuesday the kids had off of school, and Wednesday I found out our block was having a garage sale so I ran around the house cleaning out closets so I could participate and get rid of some "stuff."  So the week got away from me.  Now I'm exhausted!  Does anyone else find having garage sale is really tiring?  I can't tell you how many trips up and down the stairs I made!

Anyway, I have one more box of books for a last "first come, first served" opportunity.  These are books that may have a little wear on them, but not too much.  I thought about selling them in the garage sale, but wanted you guys to have a chance at them instead.  It gives me warm fuzzies to pass along my books to my blogging friends!

So, here are the titles I have.  If you want one, email me tamireads @ charter . net (no spaces) and if you request it first, I will send it to you.  I will mark off the ones that are spoken for as I receive requests.

Fiction:

Dominion by Randy Alcorn

This Present Darkeness by Frank Peretti

The Quilter's Apprentice by Jennifer Chiaverini

Snow Angel by Jamie Carie

Non-Fiction

The Prayer of Jabez  by Wilkinson

Sanctuary: Creating a blessed place to live and love  by Pamela J. Bailey

The Heavenly Man, the remarkable story of Chinese Christian Brother Yun with Paul Hattaway

The Power of Extraordinary Prayer by Robert O. Bakke

The New Hide and Seek by James Dobson

The Contemplative Mom by Ann Kroeker

Celebrate Home by Angie Peters (Great Ideas for Stay-at-home moms is the subtitle)

The Sacred Romance by Curtis and Eldredge

God is Closer than you think by Ortberg

Deepening Your Conversation with God by Patterson

Courageous Faith by Keith Bower

MP3 CD:

Sunrise by Karen Kingsbury, abridged

Winners from Last week's BBAW giveaway

Here are the winners from the week-long giveaway.  You can still enter the "You Make the Call" giveaway here.

Fatal Decution goes to Elizabeth M.

The Edge of Recall goes to Michelle

Jacob's List goes to Sandy

Reclaiming Nick goes to Kerrie

Illluminated goes to Word Lily

Sweet Caroline goes to Alexia

A Shred of Truth goes to Heather

For Better or Worse goes to Tara R.

Between Sundays goes to Gail

Congrats and thanks for entering!

Just expressing thanks...

This summer, after book blogging was patronized in the mainstream media, Amy from My Friend Amy made a suggestion that we celebrate book blogging.  From that idea, Book Blogger Appreciation Week was born.  Many of us have participated in interviews, contests, give-aways, and through awards; but, this would never have happened were it not for the dream, perseverance, planning, hard work and dedication of Amy.  This has been a wonderful week and as members of the Book Blogging community, in one voice we want to thank Amy for all that she has done.

Amy, you are truly the Queen of Book Bloggers and we love you!

Hi Friends!

Just wanted to say hello to my blog-reading friends!  I really appreciate you all and thank you for reading my blog. 

I'm in the middle of reading Riven by Jerry Jenkins and am really enjoying it.  It's a powerful book!  Can you imagine what would happen if someone on death row asked to be crucified like Jesus?  He wants people to see what Christ went through for our sins, not that he's thinking he can die for his own sins. If you didn't add this book to your list of books you wanted to be entered for in the giveaway, you still can...just post another comment here and I'll add you to the list for it.  I'm thinking I'll give away more than one copy of this one.  How can you not take notice of a book by a well-known author of which he states that it is "the story he always wanted to write"? 

Here's a clip of Jenkins talking about the book.

BBAW Giveaway for this week

As I said in my last post, getting rid of any of my books is hard, but I know I need to send them out into the world to make more happiness for someone else.  This is where you come in.  You can be their new friends.  I kind of think of it as a "pay it forward" kind of thing.

That being said, I have some more happiness to send your way in the way of passing on some books.  I have two groups of books to send out.  This is my new book batch where you post a comment to enter as usual.  I am offering these books as part of the Book Blogger Appreciation Week so you need to enter by Friday, September 19!

I am not making this post really pretty with lots of pictures of the books.  Sorry for not having time to do that this week.  I figure you'll know if you want to win the book or not.

Rules for entering for this batch of books:

1. Post a comment and list the books you want to try to win.

2. Answer this question in your comment: "Why do you read blogs about books?"

3. Cross your fingers and give yourself a hug from me--my way of saying thanks!  Without you I would be lonely!

Here are the books for the drawing: (this post is NOT the first come, first served post--see below for that one, this post requires a comment for you to be entered into the drawing)

Fatal Deduction by Gayle Roper

The Edge of Recall by Heitzmann

Jacob's LIst by Stephanie Grace Whitson

Reclaiming Nick by Susan May Warren

Illuminated by Matt Bronleewe

Sweet Caroline by Rachel Hauck

A Shred of Truth by Eric Wilson

For Better or Worse by Diann Hunt

Between Sundays by Karen Kingsbury

Don't forget to post a comment for this contest.

First Come, First Served free books again

I'm madly going through my house and trying to make more space.  Getting rid of any of my books is hard, but I know I need to send them out into the world to make more happiness for someone else.  This is where you come in.  You can be their new friends.  I kind of think of it as a "pay it forward" kind of thing.

That being said, I have some more happiness to send your way in the way of passing on some books.  I have two groups of books to send out.  This batch is my "less than perfect" batch.  They are books that may have some signs of being read before by me and my friends and family.  I will offer these books as the "first come first served" again.  In my next post I will offer up some new books in a week-long giveaway format instead.

So, for this batch in this post, please email me right away if you see one you want.  Those who request it first will get it.  Email me the name of the book and your address info.  You can use the email link or use tamireads @ charter . net (without the spaces).  I will cross off the books that have been spoken for.

The books are:

In Between, On the Loose, and The Big Picture (Katie Parker Production series) by Jenny B. Jones

These Boots Were Made for Walking by Melody Carlson

Leave it to Claire, Claire Knows Best, and I Love Claire by Tracey Bateman 

Clear Blue Sky by F.P. Lione

Design on a Crime and Decorating Schemes by Ginny Aiken

The Watchers by Mark Andrew Olsen

non-fiction:

Raising Your Spirited Child by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka

The Birth Order Book by Dr. Kevin Leman

The Five Love Languages of Children by Gary Chapman

Waking the Dead and Waking the Dead Workbook (no marks inside) by John Eldgredge

The Power of a Positive Mom by Karol Ladd

Finding Your Purpose as a Mom by Donna Otto

What Every Mom Needs (from MOPS) by Elisa Morgan and Carol Kuykendall

Making Your Home a Haven by Cyndy Salzmann

What Every Child Needs (from MOPS) by Elisa Morgan and Carol Kuykendall

Boundaries with Kids by Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend

Remember, with this list, email me if you want the book(s).  First come, first get.  And remember, these may be slightly marked or worn just through the process of reading them.

A couple of thoughts about "Hood"

I have a confession to make.  I really tried to like Hood by Stephen Lawhead.  I read over 300 pages of it.  This is just not my genre. This is just me. I want to enjoy it, really, but I am not a fantasy reader.  I'm not saying I didn't like it--the action was great, the characters complex and developed.  I'm just saying it was a labor for me.  I had trouble keeping the complicated names straight and I grew frustrated with the use (a couple of times only, but still) of a word I didn't like (starts with "b" and describes an illegitimate child but was referring to people strongly disliked in this case, if you now what I mean).  I just didn't like seeing it in "Christian" fiction...I'm sorry if that makes me "backwards." 

Since I am giving away a copy of this book in my giveaway, I just wanted to mention it.

The action is good, but it has been a struggle for me.

For those of you who love these books, here's the Faithful Reader's glowing praise of the book:

From the movies and the books, most people would feel like they have a basic handle on the story of Robin Hood, who lives in Sherwood Forest and robs from the rich so he can give to the poor. Opening the pages of HOOD, I was a bit skeptical, but in a short time I was caught up in the majestic storytelling of Stephen Lawhead, known for epics such as the Pendragon Cycle and Song of Albion Trilogy.

Readers are introduced to Bran ap Brychan, a prince who is the sole heir to the Kingdom of Elfael. When Bran was a small child, his father, King Brychan ap Tewdwr, put a halt to their relationship, so Bran cared little about learning how to lead the people. When Bran is a young man, King Brychan raises his warband and heads off to Lundein to swear their allegiance to King William and the British. When the warband meets British warriors, the Count Falkes de Braose tells King Brychan that it's too late because King William has given him the lands of Elfael. The warriors fight and everyone, including the King, is killed except for Iwan, who barely escapes with his life and goes to warn Bran.

As the British warriors march toward Elfael, Bran tries to protect his family's wealth and then flees. With Iwan and Brother Ffreol, Bran makes a trip to appeal directly to King William to save his people. When they arrive in Lundein to meet the King, the three men are ushered in to see Cardinal Ranulf of Bayeux, Chief Justiciate of England. Because the King is in Normandy, the Cardinal is handling all domestic matters. Bran describes the massacre of his father and the warband nine days earlier. After learning that Count Braose purchased Elfael for 200 marks, the cardinal says that it can be changed for 600 marks and allegiance to the King. The decision is delayed, but Bran is angry and doesn't know where to get such an exorbitant fee. During the return trip, the trio is attacked and Brother Ffreol is killed. Bran flees for his life and ultimately is attacked again and left for dead drifting in a stream.

For a small portion of the book, it looks as though the hero has been killed. Then an old woman, Angharad, nurses Bran back to full strength. As he heals, Bran wants to escape at first but eventually decides to lead his people who are living in the woods. Angharad takes him to the secret place of the forest and reveals herself as Angharad the Hudolion, the Enchantress of the Wood; she becomes his trusted advisor. Iwan is living among these people and he becomes Bran's commanding officer.

And the connection to Robin Hood? Bran leads this band in the haunting forest where a mysterious phantom occasionally appears. Toward the end of the novel, Count Falkes says about this phantom, "The folks of Elfael call it Rhi Bran the Hud." Waving his hand dismissively, he added, "I am sick of hearing about it." Abbott Hugo turned from the window: "Robin Hood?"… "Sorry your grace, no-not Robin… Rhi Bran-it is Welsh. It means King Raven."

The talent of Stephen Lawhead shines with HOOD. Crisp characters are plunged into complex inter-relationships and a page-turning style. It's good to see Lawhead back in his comfort zone.