Blogging for books....

If you like books from waterbrook multnomah publishers check out their program in which you can place reviews for books or ebooks. I will be reviewing Christmas in Apple Ridge by Cindy Woodsmall later on.

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Feb. book giveaway

Here is the book I have chosen for Feb to be given away. Drawing will be on Feb. 28th. I haven't read this book but have an extra copy of The Lover's Knot by Clare O'Donohue. In order to get a copy here are the rules:

• Only US residents only, sorry the shipping cost is expensive
• Leave a comment
• Winner chosen by random.org

 

Library books...

I couldn't wait to check these two  books out at the library when I saw them. The first book called A Secret Gift by Ted Gup is based on the author finding letters that his grandfather had from the great depression. His grandfather had put out a ad saying that he would give $10 to people who wrote to him and telling him why they needed the money. The author then tries to find the family members who received his grandfather's gift to see how it effected their lives.

Former  People: The final days of the Russian Aristocracy by Douglas Smith is about the nobility during and after the fall of the Tsar. We all know what happened to the Tsar himself and his family but what about all of the smaller and other major players? This book will tell some of their stories. It appears some of them were executed, others sentenced to the gulags, became "enemies of the state" and others fled.

I will be reviewing both of these books once I am finished reading them. Can't wait to get started! What books are you wanting to start read? Read any good books lately?

Ivanhoe Review....

I have never read anything by Sir Walter Scott before.  I vaguely knew  a little bit about this classic book, that it took place during the 12th century in England. During this time the ruler was Prince John (while his brother King Richard was away), of course if this reminds anyone of then Robin Hood (how can it not with the saying the name of Prince John?), combine all of that with a few damsels and Knights is the main setting of the tale. Ivanhoe has just returned from fighting in the Crusades and wants to marry his beloved, Rowena. There is opposition to this and even to who Ivanhoe represents for other people. This book is rampant with the distrust of several groups against each other and even within them; saxons, normans, knights or common people, templars, holy orders, christians, muslims, jews, unbelievers, etc. It brings to mind of the injustices, superstition, and corruption done in history, especially during this lawless time in the medieval era. It was a wonderul read, and I can only say that I am disappointed in not knowing more detail of what happened afterwards to a few characters. I rate this a 4.5 out of 5. The first 100+ is mostly about the history and setting of this story, which some may feel drags on or is boring. I actually enjoyed this part, but I am a huge fan of reading history. After this the characters are talked more of and we are then introduced to more as well, the issue with that is it is harder to remember who was who. The version I had consisted of thee's and thou's among other type of old English language, so just be prepared for that (maybe there are versions without it?).

The version I had also had an index which helped. This is my fourth book review for the classics club and the first for outdo yourself reading challenge as well as my first review for historical fiction reading challenge.  The next book up to read is Oliver Twist.

Book Club selection....

The book club that I beong a member has chosen for us to read The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman. It seems pretty interesting. Per Goodreads the premise of the book is about a couple who have not been able to successfully have children. The husband was a fighter during WWII but is now the lighthouse keeper with his wife. On day a boat washes up with a dead man and a baby. It has won a 2012 Goodreads Choice award. I can't wait to start reading it.

Slow Cooker Recipes.....

I love to use the slow cooker, and will probably be using quite a bit in the next few weeks. It is great when our schedule is really busy to come home to an already cooked meal. Most of my recipes that I have are either soups or for turkey. I need to find more recipes though, but get a lot of mine from Taste of Home. I will be making a sweet sausage n beans type meal for tonight.  Here is the link for the recipe. You can't see it in the picture but the recipe does have more carrots, onions and french beans in it.  Do you all have any slow cooker recipes to share?

Dirty God Book Review

I finished reading Dirty God: Jesus in the Trenches by Johnnie Moore. I was given a copy of this book free from the publisher by BookSneeze, and am in no way obligated to give a positive review. These opinions I express are my own. This book is about Grace, and follows the author around the world where he talks about Grace and in some cases other religions. I didn't reallly think the part of him talking about the other religions added to his topic that much (it just seemed to be added as an afterthought in my opinion, and I was unsure about his views towards other religions). I really enjoyed this book though, the first part of the book is about getting grace was a little long. The second part of the book consists of giving grace to others, which I really enjoyed reading about. I did wish the book was a little more in depth or that there was a sequel. I may not agree with every opinion this author had but it did make me think about things that I sometimes had never thought of and at least see anothers view (others may have found the same but I think it is a book that a believer especially a new one may enjoy). I am giving this book 4 out of 5.