The Dragon and the Turtle Go On Safari

I received a complementary copy of this book from WaterBrook Multnomah.  I read it with my daughter.  She enjoyed the story.  I liked the pictures.  They were cute and colorful.  The story was cute, but parts of it were hard to read out loud.  I got a little tongue-tied.  I liked that the characters were using their imaginations.  I also liked that they were brave and helped out another creature even though they were scared.  I think that the book has some great lessons in it.  My daughter and I both enjoyed this book.

Journey to Riverbend by Henry McLaughlin

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Tyndale House Publishers.  The idea was interesting, but I didn't not particularly enjoy it.  This is a Christian romance western.  When Ben Carstairs is hung for a crime he did not commit, Michael Archer agrees to contact Ben's father and try and reconcile the two.  When Michael arrives in town Sam Carstairs is away on business.  Sam never makes it back.  The town puts together a posse to try and find and save Sam.  Michael goes along.  There is also a romance between Michael and Rachel.  Rachel feels like she can never have a healthy normal relationship because of her past, but she finds out that Michael has a past as well.  The book was very readable.  I did enjoy reading it, but there were a lot of plot holes that I had a hard time with.  I would give it a 3 out of 5.

Lady in Waiting by Susan Meissner

I received a complimentary copy of this book from WaterBrook Multnomah through their blogging for books program.  I really enjoyed this book.  It is historical fiction.  The book starts out with a modern day Jane who is going through a rough time in her life.  She stumbles across a ring that is hundreds of years old.  We also get to hear the story of Lady Jane Grey.  The two women are tied together by the ring, and also by the realizations that they make in their lives.  I think that the story is wonderful, and that there are also some really good insights into making a marriage work.  I really enjoyed this book.

Invasion by Jon S. Lewis

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nielsons BookSneeze program.  It was a fun read.  16 year old Colt's parents are tragically killed and he goes to live with his grandfather.  Soon after moving strange things start happening, and Colt is introduced into a whole new world.  There are aliens everywhere and they are trying to take over the world.  An elite force of humans is trying to hold back the tide.  The book is science fiction, so you expect to see some unlikely things.  As long as you can suspend belief and just enjoy the story this is a good book.  There are some things that seem like a stretch even for this genre, but over all it was an enjoyable, clean story.

The Charlatan's Boy by Jonathan Rogers

This was an excellent book.  Grady is a young orphan boy that has been raised by a huckster named Floyd.  He doesn't know who his parents are or how he ended up with Floyd.  Life is difficult, and it is getting hard to make money, so Floyd decides that they need to create another Great Feechie Scare.  Floyd can be be very calculating, and mean but Grady stays with him because it is the only life that he has ever known.   We get to follow these two through the ups and downs of their trade.  The ending of the book is a wonderful wrap up and also leaves us wanting more.  I am very excited for the future books in this series.  I received a complimentary copy of this book from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.

Gray Matter by David Levy, MD

Tyndale Media recently sent me an Advance Reader Copy of this book.  I found it fascinating.  Dr. Levy talks about how he started to pray with his patients and the results that he saw from this.  I believe in the power of prayer, and it is wonderful to see a book that tries to portray the wonderful things that can happen with prayer.  We learn about many patients that Dr. Levy has treated and how he has helped their lives.  He doesn't only treat the physical problems of the patients, but he also tries to treat the emotional and spiritual problems as well.  I like that he talks about the surgerys that don't work as well as the surgerys that do.  He shares the struggles that he has and the conclusions that he comes to when things don't work out as expected.  I also found the descriptions of the problems that he treated very interesting.  He keeps it at a low enough level that anyone can follow along.  All in all, I thought that it was a very interesting, insightful book.

A Time to Dance by Karen Kingsbury

I received a complimentary copy of this book through Thomas Nielsons BookSneeze program. Overall I enjoyed the book, but it also had some drawbacks. It is the story of a couple that have been married for over twenty years and have grown apart. They still love each other, but don't know how to come back together. The idea was interesting, and I enjoyed the characters. I felt like the author kept saying over and over how they still loved each other, but it was to late. Several times the husband and wife make it clear that they don't really want to get divorced, but they have already made the decision to do it, and feel like they can't change their minds. It seemed forced. If they really loved each other as much as implied, then they wouldn't have made the decision to divorce in the first place, and if they had then they would be able to take the steps to change their situation. I enjoyed the book, but felt like parts of it were contrived. I would give it a 3 out of 5.