Tree Swing Reading

New Cup from Starbucks

I was standing in line at Starbucks a few days ago, waiting for my Peppermint Mocha (LOVE!) and I saw some of these cups in a basket for sale.  I fell in love with them!  Just thought I'd share.  They say:

"I have found that a good story is even

better with a nice cup of Cocoa

and a longish nap."

And there's a mouse reading a book at the bottom.  Just plain fun!

Favorites from 2010

I just looked back over my blog posts from 2010. What a crazy year of blogging it's been! You guys are so sweet to hang in there with me through all my crazy venting, worrying, and questioning.

This is my official list of favorites from 2010. They are not necessarily published in 2010, but read by me in 2010. I tried to keep it down to 10, but I threw in a series as one just because I can.

Here are my favorites, in no particular order (click on the book name to read my review post):

Crossing Oceans by Gina Holmes.

The Bishop by Steven James. Non-stop action. Thrilling!

Chasing Lilacs by Carla Stewart. Tender story that really hit home for me.

Reluctant Prophet by Nancy Rue. Great story. Great characters. Fabulous!

By Darkness Hid by Jill Williamson. Great story of a battle between good and evil.

Though Waters Roar by Lynn Austin. Beautiful mother-daughter relationships showing how God used each of them.

A Friend at Midnight by Caroline B. Cooney. A book that met me where I was when I needed it.

Scared by Tom Davis. Powerful story of hope in the midst of unbelievable suffering.

Watch Over Me by Christa Parrish. Tender and beautiful.

Dreamhouse Kings Series by Robert Liparulo. I loved the action and intensity of the books. Never a dull moment!

INSPY Award Winners Giveaway: "Evolving in Monkey Town" by Rachel Held Evans

Here is the new giveaway! I am giving away the books that won the INSPY Award, which is an award created by a group of bloggers for "excellence in faith-driven literature"?  Check out their website: http://inspys.com/ for more information.

I will be giving away these books one at a time, so be sure to come back again in a day or two for the next one!

Here are the rules:

A. Post a comment to this post to indicate you would like to be entered for this book.

B. Answer today's random question for fun.

Today's question (forgot to change it when I first posted, sorry!): What got you started with your passion for reading?

My answer: I had an aunt who supplied me with great books and parents who read to me a lot.  I also had neighbors who babysat me and acted out the Narnia books for me. 

C. If your name is drawn, I will send you an email to let you know. Please respond within 10 days or the winner will be redrawn.

D. Enter by January 13 for this book. Winner to be announced the following day.

E. Come back again soon for more giveaways!

Today's book: from the category Creative Non-fiction, Evolving in Monkey Town by Rachel Held Evans.

Description:

Eighty years after the Scopes Monkey Trial made a spectacle of Christian fundamentalism and brought national attention to her hometown, Rachel Held Evans faced a trial of her own when she began to have doubts about her faith. Growing up in a culture obsessed with apologetics, Evans asks questions she never thought she would ask.

She learns that in order for her faith to survive in a postmodern context, it must adapt to change and evolve. Using as an illustration her own spiritual journey from certainty, through doubt, to faith, Evans adds a unique perspective to the ongoing dialogue about postmodernism and the church that has so captivated the Christian community in recent years. In a changing cultural environment where new ideas threaten the safety and security of the faith, Evolving in Monkey Town is a fearlessly honest story of survival.

My Thoughts:

Well, this one gave me a lot to think about. I'm not even sure how I feel about it; but I think that's kind of the point. To think about this stuff I mean. I didn't always agree with everything she wrote and I worry slightly about some of the text where I felt like the author was standing on the edge of a slippery slope as far as absolutes of the Bible and my faith go. But again, I think that was kind of her point.  She wanted to be able to ask hard questions about God and feel like that was ok. Sometimes I had to take a deep breath and try not to read too much into her illustrations and recognize the purpose of asking the questions.

I think the reader has to remember that this is a record of her journey. I have a journey in my faith too. I, too, used to be in a place where I thought it was wrong to ask questions of God; to wonder why we could give Him credit when our plane was on time, but not wonder why someone else's plane crashed. I like that Held Evans gets her questions out and allows for tough questions that don't have answers.

This book has opened a door for me, in a sense, because it is prompting me to research some of my own questions. Questions that I had been ignoring before, which only became a separation between me and God. So, I am reading some more books and looking for my own journey. I think Held Evans would be pleased that her book sparked me to explore and develop a more interactive give and take faith discussion in my own life. I don't think it would matter to her so much if I agreed with her conclusions completely, as long as I was asking the questions and doing the work to find my own discoveries.

Bloggers Best Books of 2010 Lists

I want to make a place where people can link to their "Best Books of 2010" lists. I can't take credit for the idea. I saw it on Twitter, but I thought it would be fun to try. If you have a blog with a list of your favorite books from 2010, put your link here!

2011 Reading Goals

True confessions time. I have A LOT of books.  What's worse is that I haven't read most of the books I have. I have some really great books just waiting for me to read them. I NEED to read them. But then a new book comes out and I want to read that too. I hate the thought of missing out on a great new book!  But it's more than a little sad to see the books that have been patiently waiting for me to read them. It makes me think of the toys from Toy Story waiting for someone to play with them.  I'm sorry to my lonely books!

I need to keep myself reading the books on my shelf. So 2011 may have reviews from books that aren't always brand new releases. But I think that's ok too. Some will be new, some will be a from a few years ago. There's great books out there waiting for us to discover. One of my goals for 2011 is to read at least 100 of these books from my shelf. (Yes, I have over 100 TBR books!) I'll put a list on the sidebar and we'll see how I do with crossing them off.  I'm sure many of them will end up being in giveaways too!

INSPY Award Winners Giveaway: "Crossing Oceans" by Gina Holmes

Here is the new giveaway! I am giving away the books that won the INSPY Award, which is an award created by a group of bloggers for "excellence in faith-driven literature"?  Check out their website: http://inspys.com/ for more information.

I will be giving away these books one at a time, so be sure to come back again in a day or two for the next one!

Here are the rules:

A. Post a comment to this post to indicate you would like to be entered for this book.

B. Answer today's random question for fun.

Today's question: How do you organize your books? Do you have a system?
My Answer: I have them divided by non-fiction, fiction, and youth books and then alphabetical by author in that. I keep an Excel spreadsheet of the names too. Sometimes I enjoy organizing the books as much as I do reading them...crazy, I know!

C. If your name is drawn, I will send you an email to let you know. Please respond within 10 days or the winner will be redrawn.

D. Enter on or before Jan. 11. Winner will be announced the following day.

D. Come back again soon for more giveaways!

Today's book: from the category General & Literary Fiction, Crossing Oceans by Gina Holmes.

Description:

Jenny Lucas swore she’d never go home again. But being told you’re dying has a way of changing things. Years after she left, she and her five-year-old daughter, Isabella, must return to her sleepy North Carolina town to face the ghosts she left behind. They welcome her in the form of her oxygen tank–toting grandmother, her stoic and distant father, and David, Isabella’s dad . . . who doesn’t yet know he has a daughter. As Jenny navigates the rough and unknown waters of her new reality, the unforgettable story that unfolds is a testament to the power of love and its ability to change everything—to heal old hurts, bring new beginnings . . . even overcome the impossible.

My Thoughts:

Very, very good book! I totally fell in love with Jenny, her family, her daughter, etc. I cried. But the tears were about the beauty of Jenny's grace and love and that of those surrounding her. The storyline was tender and moving and all about the love of a mother for her daughter. I highly recommend this book!

Book Bullets:

• My rating: 5 out of 5 stars
• Genre: contemporary
• Themes: love
• Part of a Series: no
• Publication year: 2010
• Publisher: Tyndale

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all my blog friends!  Thanks for the gift of your friendship!

Review of "Deliver Us From Evil" by Robin Caroll

Description:

A beautiful yet tough woman working in a beautiful yet tough setting, Brannon Callahan is a search and rescue helicopter pilot for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Strong faith and a decorated history of service have kept her one step ahead of on-the-job dangers, but there’s no precedent for what’s about to happen. After a blizzard takes down a small plane carrying U.S. Marshal Roark Holland (already haunted by a recent tragedy), Brannon must save him in more ways than one and safeguard the donor heart he’s transporting to a government witness on the edge of death. Otherwise the largest child trafficking ring in history—with shocking links from Thailand to Tennessee—will slip further away into darkness along the Appalachian Trail.

My Thoughts:

I enjoyed this adrenaline-filled book very much! I like the nice combination of suspense and romance. Caroll does a nice job shifting from voice to voice in a way that is not at all confusing, but contributes to the storyline. I am excited to see the storyline involving one of the characters has been picked up in the book Fear No Evil and I look forward to reading that.

Book Bullets:

• My rating: 5 out of 5 stars
• Genre: Suspense, romance
• Themes: trusting God in spite of loss
• Part of a Series: yes? it looks like it, though I don't see an official series name
• Publication year: 2010
• Publisher: B&H Publishing Group

Wednesday's Hodge Podge

1. Share your Christmas Eve traditions.

We usually go to an early church service and then head over to my in-laws for dinner. We always have Kentucky Fried Chicken for dinner. I don't know why; it's a tradition they started before I joined the family; but it's nice not to have to cook a meal that night. Then we open gifts with them and my husband's sister's family from Minnesota. It's my favorite part of the Christmas celebration apart from the time with just our little family on Christmas morning.

 
 

2. What was the best book you read in 2010? (we're not going to include the Bible here)

The Knight by Steven James. Part of a great suspense series!

3. Do you have pets and if so do you allow them on the furniture?

Technically we have 2 pets. The fish is definately not allowed on the furniture! haha But the puppy has been on the couch. He's non-shedding, so it doesn't create a mess. He's too little to get up by himself, but has been brought up there to sit with us.

 

4. What event in 2010 are you most thankful for?

 2010 was a tough year for me. I feel likes it's hard to come up with something. I'm still saddened by the miscarriage I had this year and am still sort of searching for what to do with myself and which path to pursue for a "job" apart from being a mom, which seems to consume most of my time right now, but lately leaves me missing some of the pats on the back that a job used to give me.  As far as gratitude in 2010? I'm grateful my husband still has a job and has his health again this year.

 

5. What did you do in 2010 that you'd never done before?

I started working out regularly at the Y and taking a zumba class. Fun!

6. Brussel sprouts...friend or foe?

Not a fan.

 

7. Who would you nominate for man/woman of the year?

My husband! He puts up with all my health issues and my complaining about my health issues and my worrying about him and loves me anyway.

 

8. Insert your own random thought here.

I feel like I have big plans for 2011. I will hit a milestone birthday this year that starts with a four and I want to use it as the impetus to make some changes. I need to start thinking more positively about life and about myself.

Book winners

Here are the last of the book winners for the Christmas fiction giveaway:

I'll be Home for Christmas: Freda

Christmas with Tucker: Cindy W

Carol: Georgia

Thanks for entering!