Blind Hope by Kim Meeder and Laurie Sacher

Blind Hope is a book about love, faith, and trust in the things unseen. It tells the story of an unwanted, mangy dog and the woman who rescues her. In the journey to help the dog regain its strength, Laurie begins to learn valuable life lessons from the dog; she realizes that it is not her helping the dog, but the dog helping her.

I believe that this book is a wonderful story, especially in the fact that it is a true story. While the story is a great one, the writing of the book is not as appealing. The authors tend to be so anxious to get their story across that they end up taking away from the simply amazing story of what Laurie learned from her new friend, and how she learned it. The excruciatingly detailed accounts of the landscape or the soup that they were eating took away from the real, deep, inspiring point of the book. This made it difficult to keep my attention and to follow along with the important parts of the story.

I believe that this book has potential to be a great book, but based on the trouble it had keeping my full attention, I don't think I would recommend this book to a friend -- at least not without a warning first.

Everything Christmas by David Bordon and Tom Winters

Everything Christmas is an enlightening, sometimes humorous book full of Christmas cheer. Inside the covers of this book, you will find fun facts about this holiday season, the history of Christmas traditions from all over the world, tasty recipes for the holidays, great gift ideas, and much more.

The book is broken down into 24 days, which can be used as an Advent calendar, but you might find yourself reading two or three days ahead because it is very informative and fun to read.

I enjoyed learning the history behind certain traditions of the Christmas season, as well as learning about how Christmas is celebrated in other countries around the world.I also like how the authors include the Christ Child in the back of the book, as well as Scripture throughout the book to enhance the true meaning of the Christmas season. If you are feeling super adventurous, this book even gives you the opportunity to learn how to say "Merry Christmas" in over 15 languages!

I would recommend this book to all of those who love the Christmas season and want to learn more about why we celebrate the way that we do. It is a fun read, and has many suggestions on starting your own family traditions!

A Year With God by RP Nettelhorst

A Year With God is a devotional book that has daily devotions based on passages from the Old Testament. Arranged by topic, each devotion gives a passage to read as well as some insight about what that passage means and how we can apply it to our lives today. The author's intent was to create a devotional that not only helps you understand the Old Testament in context, but also to help you apply it to your life.

This daily devotional has been quite interesting to me so far, helping me to understand more of the Old Testament and why God did what He did. The author uses many different versions of scripture, keeping the readings interesting as well as challenging. The author's insight is also very helpful. It is not full of his opinions, but is good at breaking down the text in a way that everyone can understand, and then adding one or two sentences on how to apply it to our daily life. His interpretations leave room for independent study on the topic or passage that he wrote about that day.

If you are looking for a daily devotional book to challenge you and to bring insight to God's words of the Old Testament, I would recommend this book to you.

Start! The Bible for New Believers, NKJV

This Bible is a Bible geared toward new believers and includes features such as key disciplines of a Christian life, core beliefs of Christians and messages focuses on aspects of salvation. The Bible also contains an Essentials section, which includes important things that all Christians should know about Jesus and God. This Bible is a New King James Version.
Overall, I would say that this Bible is a very practical tool for any new believer: The study tools seem to be very helpful for a somebody learning about the Christian life, and it also helps them to know how to put their new faith into action. The Bible itself does not seem very durable, with it being a paperback Bible, and it might not last very long if the owner of the Bible travels with it. I also think that it would be helpful if the font were larger, making it easier to read. I do like how each book of the Bible has an introduction page, and it is fairly easy to find because of the bright red arrow on it. Overall, I would recommend this Bible to new believers. I also think that it has some interesting stuff for more mature believers as well.

Review of Heaven is For Real, by Todd Burpo

This book is the story of a family's journey through life, and the faith that they had to make it through the hard times. It also captures 11 year old Colton Burpo's trip to heaven, where he met Jesus. Told by his dad, but using Colton's simple words to describe the things he saw, this book was a very interesting read to get you thinking about a world we can not yet encounter.

I enjoyed this book, and it kept my interest -- I finished it in just under two days! This book made me think about heaven, Jesus, and my beliefs more, and it also helped to paint a picture of what heaven just might be like. It is also encouraging to hear of a small child so excited about Jesus, and wanting everyone to know Him, so that they get a chance to go to heaven and meet Him as well. I enjoyed the fact that this family is just your simple, everyday family who wanted to share the story of what God did in their lives. It helps the reader relate to them on more than one level.

I would recommend this book to friends because it is a light, easy read and it may help you to understand, or at least start to think more about just what God has waiting for us when we die.

You Were Made to Make a Difference by Max Lucado and Jenna Lucado Bishop

This book is a book aimed toward the teenage population, to motivate them to go out and to make a difference in the world. It teaches what the Bible says about going out and doing, and the best part is that it is focused on the teenage generation. It shows them how to make a difference in simple ways, and right in their home towns.
I truly enjoyed this book, and even though it was geared toward teenagers, I found myself challenged in different areas of my life as well! My husband is a youth pastor, and I liked this book so much that we are planning on possibly using it as a series for our weekly youth meeting. The book talks about who God is and how He loves each one of us. It also talks to teens about just how important is is to get out and to help others, to help those in need, because that is what we were called to do. The authors also included stories of teenagers around the country who have made a difference in their communities as well as many different ideas to get teens started in making a difference.
Although I didn't quite like some of the analogies used in the book, I would recommend this book to not only teenagers wondering how to get closer to God and to make a change in their community, but also to youth leaders, volunteers, and people who are seeking God and ways to serve Him.

Searching For God Knows What, By Donald Miller

Searching for God Knows What, by Donald Miller, is a book focused on removing the formulas and the codes that society has put upon God and His word, and instead talks about how to read and listen and follow not using complex formulas, but doing so simply. Miller dives into the first books of Genesis, talking about how the Fall effected us, and questioning what it was really like to live in the times of Adam and Eve, before the Fall.

This book has taken me a while to read, and it has made me think about Adam, Eve, and Creation in a totally different light. By taking away complex formulas that we often think we must use to crack the so called "code" of what the Bible is telling us, this book has helped me to read the Word for what it is... instruction from God. It has put into perspective that Bible stories are not only stories, but real events that happened to real people, whom we have descended from.

Reading Miller's book always brings up new questions, and makes the reader truly think about who God is, and what His purpose is. It is a book that I would recommend to any reader. It is also a book that is easily read more than once, and keeps you coming back after the third read.