Books for Adults

Gentle and Lowly

February 1, 2023 By Annette1 2 Comments

It has been a while since I finished the Gentle and Lowly, and since I’ve been trying to share with you some of the books that I’m reading, I thought I must tell you about this book. READ this book if you are faith-based person. READ this book even if you aren’t a faith-based person, and catch a glimpse (or five) of the heart of Jesus and stretch your understanding. And just perhaps your heart will be impacted. I know that my heart was very much impacted.

The Basic Details of The Gentle and Lowly

Title: The Gentle and Lowly: the heart of Christ for sinners and sufferers
Author: Dane C. Ortlund
Publisher: Crossway
Pages: 224
Intended Audience: Adults, Young Adults
Genre: Christian Discipleship, Christian Counseling, Christian Spiritual Growth
Formats Available: Hardcover, Kindle, and Audio.

Affiliate links will be used in this post through Amazon.

Author and Book

Dane Ortlund is a pastor at Naperville Presbyterian Church in Naperville, Illinois. A father of five children, and married to Stacey. He has written several books and has edited a couple of series: Knowing the Bible and the Short Studies in Biblical Theology.

The book:

This book draws us to Matthew 11, where Jesus describes himself as “gentle and lowly in heart,” longing for his people to find rest in him. The gospel flows from God’s deepest heart for his people, a heart of tender love for the sinful and suffering.

These chapters take us into the depths of Christ’s very heart for sinners, diving deep into Bible passages that speak of who Christ is and encouraging readers with the affections of Christ for his people. His longing heart for sinners comforts and sustains readers in their up-and-down lives.

Looking More Closely

Twenty Three Chapters fill the pages with titles such as His Very Heart, What our Sins Evoke, A Tender Friend, and Rich in Mercy. Each chapter draws us in deeper to more fully understand the character and depth of Christ’s heart. None of the chapters are overly long, easily read for a devotional period or over a lunch break.

Easy to read, you’ll find the essential nature of who Christ is throughout Ortlund’s writing. I rarely, if ever, struggled with any of the language used. This held true even when he drew from the Puritans as well. By the time you are finished reading you will have a better understanding of Matthew 11:28-30. ” 28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.””

Should you read it?

Of all the books I’ve read over this past year…. The Gentle and Lowly is BY FAR the most heart-impactful book I’ve read. GO READ IT! Seriously.

Dig into the heart of Christ for his people. See his tender regard. See Christ more deeply and clearly than you ever thought you would. It’s important. It’s just so important to see his heart. You won’t regret it. 🙂

The Girl Who Escaped From Auschwitz

January 18, 2023 By Annette1 2 Comments

I am enjoying a variety of WW2 based fiction lately. None have impacted me as much as the story of Mala Zimetbaum as told in The Girl Who Escaped From Auschwitz. I’m not saying other WW2 haven’t drawn me in completely, but this one drove me to learn more. Let’s talk eh? Oh… yes, must get the legalities out the way. I’ll be linking to Amazon so you can find it easily should you wish. The proceeds of that affiliate link help me bring you move reviews. 🙂

The Basic Details

Title: The Girl who Escaped from Auschwitz: A world war II novel based on a true story
Author: Ellie Midwood
Genre: WW2, WW2 fiction, 20th Century historical romance, WW2 historical fiction
Formats: Kindle, Audio, Paperback
Pages: 390
Additions: Book Club Discussion Questions
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Intended Audience: Young Adult, Adult

Discovering the Author and the Book

Ellie Midwood can be found on facebook, and is an author of historical fiction. A New Yorker, she lives with her fiancée and dog (Shark Bait). Her grandfather fed her love of history with his stories of fighting as part of the 2nd Guards Tank Army. A Jewess, she feds her love of WW2 and Holocaust History by collecting rare materials concerning it.

After reading The Girl who Escaped from Auschwitz I urge you to learn more about Mala Zimetbaum. You’ll see the cruelty and kindness of people during WW2 and life in the concentration camps. The lies told, the truths seen, and how hope can live even in hard times. This is the fictionalized story of Mala and Edward. A love born in the hardness of Nazi extremism. Desperation leads to hope in escape. Can it be done? Will it last? We already know the story, but getting there… it’s worth the journey.

The Girl who Escaped from Auschwitz

How does one find hope in horrible situations?

It’s not an easy thing to do you know. When you are surrounded by death, bullying, and lies. How does one find hope? For Mala, being in a privileged position due to ability with languages, hope came in small things. Finding ways to help fellow inmates, ways to change another’s fortunes, and ways to be beyond your present circumstances. It’s not easy, and for hope to be overcome, is too often possible.

And then Edward. Unexpected, a fellow prisoner, finding courage to ask for help. Discovering in each other a common ally.

The clear writing pattern, and the personalization of Mala and Edward brought this story to life. The gruffness of the Russian prisoners, the hopelessness of moms losing their children, the choice to believe despite smoke and stench, and betrayal of the photo op prisoners. All the emotions out on a shirt sleeve for all to see, wrapped up with straight-forward depictions of being in prison just for being who you are.

This is a well-written story to draws you in. Definitely recommend.

And it to your schooling?

Are you researching European History? Or perhaps studying WW2? Perhaps your study is more along the lines of understanding why people in confinement act they way they do. The Girl Who Escaped From Auschwitz will add depth to those studies. Showing you how people can live beyond religious lines, and find hope in the hard things of life. Even if the story doesn’t end in roses, it shows that people can stand for more than you think when push comes to shove. And THAT my dear readers, is worth reading about.

Want to read other WW2 books? Check out this list.

Foreign Body

January 11, 2023 By Annette1 2 Comments

I’m going to try to intersperse reviews of books I’m listening to or just reading. Just so you know, I tend to prefer mysteries and fantasy. 🙂 I read the occasional historical based fiction, and I’m trying to read more non-fiction faith based books. I also have this rather large stack of WW2 books from the lad’s studies that I want to read that he told me were excellent. 🙂 So LOTS and LOTS of books! By the bye, I’ll link to the book on Amazon and if you purchase through that affiliate link it helps me keep sharing books with you. 🙂 Today I’m going to review a Robin Cook book entitled Foreign Body.

I think almost every Robin Cook book I’ve read is about something medical and something that is not right with the medical community. There are times when it makes me somewhat suspicious so I don’t read a whole bunch of them in a row! Foreign Body is one such book and the scenario feels rather plausible. I could see money being a big factor in this area.

Basic Details You’ll Want

Title: Foreign Body
Author: Robin Cook
Publisher: G.P. Putnam & Sons
Copyright: 2008
Pages: 438
Type: Mystery, Fiction, Medical thriller, medical fiction
Formats: Audio, paperback, kindle, hardcover
Age Range: Adult
Book 8 of 12: Jack Stapleton & Laurie Montgomery

About Author and Book

Robin Cook lives in the world of medicine from training in surgery, working in the medical field with the military and working as an ophthalmologist. He uses his medical knowledge throughout his 37 medical mysteries. When I browsed the books he has written I realized there are many I haven’t read yet! There’s about 16 of them I need to introduce myself too in time. 🙂

Foreign Body. Take a company in the medical field that wants to make money and discovers they are losing money due to medical tourism. Add a fixer to the problem and promise good rewards upon success and suddenly people start dying in hospitals. A sticky wicket in the form of a young medical student becomes a thorn in the side to the fixer and thus a thriller is formed.

What did I think?

I liked it or I wouldn’t have finished it! It was compelling. I wanted to know if Jack and Laurie could help Jennifer solve the mystery of her grandmother’s unexpected death.

Mr. Cook does an excellent job of creating desire to see how all the pieces fit together. Could cremation actually help solve the case? Or could they find a doctor who will buck the system?

I was fascinated to discover how the medical and forsenic rules differ between countries. Jack and Laurie were, admittedly, lucky to not get caught circumventing the rules. If this were a true story I would wonder what would happen with the people who helped them.

The characters felt real due to their errors in judgement, their desire to make amends, real reasons for hesitations, and such like. No character felt too good to be true, or too evil to exist. They were all just people making good and bad decisions.

I don’t recall any use of inappropriate language, or at least if there was, there wasn’t enough to turn me aside.

It was great to delve into the India and catch a glimpse of the disparity in their system. The other poverty as well as the beauty. The reactions of the Americans varied greatly… with most despising the utter poverty some people live in.

If you like a good mystery, and don’t mind questioning the medical system, Robin Cook’s Foreign Body will delight you and take you into a different world for a while.

The Orchard by Beverly Lewis

October 22, 2022 By Annette1 2 Comments

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product (The Orchard) through Nuts About Books. Affiliate Links will be used, thank you for your support of my blog, costs you nothing to do so, and is so much appreciated.

Beverly Lewis is a popular author in the Christian fiction set. She uses the Amish community of her childhood to inspire her work. Romance, faith, and working through salvation issues feature as predominant themes in her work (at least in her works that I have read). The Orchard does not deviate from that path. If you like the work of Ms. Lewis, you will enjoy this work featuring twins Ellie and Evan.

The Basic Facts

The Orchard is a 352 softcover work of fiction by Beverly Lewis. She is a prolific author and you can learn more about her and her books on her website. Bethany House Publishers put together a lovely cover for this latest Lewis novel.

Written during the Vietnam war, we are witness to the tensions in the Amish community and the Englishers about being conscientious objectors. The Vietnam War was a time of protests and high tension in the United States. Ms. Lewis touches on some of the difficulties of this time period. People fleeing over the border, the conscription, the protests, the anger against the Amish community and more. Not written with the intent to sensationalize, but woven into the story as a natural part of the struggles of the day. These struggles are an integral part of how this story of the twins plays out.

Learning more about The Orchard by Beverly Lewis

A standard adult fiction presentation in a softcover format. You’ll find it available in four formats: Audio, Kindle, hardcover and paperback. The text is a reasonable size for reading, but I could easily see seniors using a magnifying glass to expand the lettering.

The chapters are ornamented with numbers and what I think are apple blossoms. A single blossom marks changes within a chapter. These changes might be a letter received, a time change, or perhaps a change in character focus.

The story is written in a user-friendly manner, an easy-going story that, is fairly easy to predict where it will go next. A relaxing read on a Sunday afternoon. Faith is evident throughout. Likeable characters fill the pages.

Would I recommend it?

I’m not a huge fan of Christian fiction written around the Amish community. I find them fairly predictable and nothing that happened in this book really surprised me. Well okay, one thing surprised me and that was an incident that happened with Sol. But as soon as it happened it was like “OH, yeah, that was necessary for the rest of the story to fit”.

That said, I know a number of women who would love reading this. It’s light Christian fiction that encourages us to think about pacifism and what it means to us. Not always as easy a decision as you might think. The Orchard by Beverly Lewis is a feel-good story, with a strong faith element. It contained just enough controversy to make it an interesting read. The characters felt real, and I could well imagine how hard it was for Evan’s parents and seeing how their boy reacted to faith issues. Observing them working through their pain (and anger) felt familiar to me. It was a good reminder to not count out God’s work in the lives of the wayward.

Homeschool Connection?

If I were doing a unit on the Vietnam War with its protests, or just on pacifism/conscientious objectors I would be inclined to have my students read through this novel. My goal would be to have them write a critical response to how the characters responded. Seeing real-life struggles is pivotal in helping youth think through issues.

Mothering by the Book

September 17, 2022 By Annette1 2 Comments

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product (Mothering by the Book) through Nuts about Books. Affiliate Links will be used, thank you for your support of my blog, costs you nothing to do so, and is so much appreciated.

Mothering by the Book is a book of encouragement. Encouragement for moms in their parenting journey and encouragement to dig into the classics. Use the classic stories to help you create a new framework for thinking. Perhaps it’s time for another approach, you think? Look into the classics, see them in the light of God’s love, and see ways to parent better. 🙂

The Basic Details of Mothering by the Book

Mothering by the Book: The Power of Reading Aloud to Overcome Fear and Recapture Joy By Jennifer Pepito introduces us to using classical literature in raising our families. 240 pages, published by Bethany House Publishers, 14 chapters, book suggestions, verses to memorize, and study guide questions.

I am reviewing a softcover edition for Nuts About Books. This book falls into the Christian Parenting, Women’s issues, Motherhood, and Family and relationships sections of your library.

Chapter titles which other than the first one (Let Literature free us from fear) all start with “overcoming fear” , so they are as follows:

of being alone through journaling
the baby years by staying present
of failure by speaking life
of children leaving the faith through family identity
of failing our children by living for a greater purpose
of the future by not complaining
of not having enough by thankfulness
of not being able to managed by building good habits
by running after purpose
leading through forgiveness
by knowing scripture

And then closing with Sing to shut up Fear.

Digging Deeper

You know how you read some non-fiction books and every chapter is laid out exactly the same? Has it benefits right? This is exactly what you’ll find Mothering by the Book. You’ll find yourself doing study questions, memorizing scripture, as well as exploring new books on the topic at hand. So much reading and spending time in God’s word… it’s a good thing that!

The author tried to pick verses that went along with the chapter topic.

The font is easy to read and printed on a crisp white page. Frequently shoutouts in grey scale would occur, drawing our attention to important details.

The author makes it very easy to follow along with point form, headings, etc. She breaks each chapter down into digestible portions and speaks with a neighbourly tone.

You are meant to take your time with this mothering book. Taking your time to examine yourself AND do some reading out loud… to yourself and/or to your family. Each chapter starts with a quote from a classic book you are encouraged to read.

So go ahead, set about reading Little Britches, or Baby, or Cheaper by the Dozen. Read them, get involved with them, but just read. Connect again to interesting characters and talk about them with your family and learn important life lessons from the books your read. Be seeking for good books to read, whether it’s the one Ms. Pepito recommends or others. Reading opens up new ideas and paths for us, shouldn’t we be reaching for them?

Should you read it?

The author’s goal is simple. She wants us to stop being afraid by giving us an alternate behaviour to practice. Don’t want to be a grumble? Find things to be thankful for! Don’t want your family to have no purpose in life? Show them you have a greater purpose….. serving the Lord.

Fear does not need to stop us in our tracks. We need to look for away around it. The author found this as she dug through the classics she read aloud to her family. So perhaps… you might too. Look to the classics to find answers to some of your fears. Memorize scriptures so you have words to put to what you see God doing and what he wants you to become. Fear less… read more!

Find some encouragement to do so in Mothering by the Book.

Did I find it helpful on my parenting journey? Not really, my lad is almost an adult now. And we have always read tons of books and talked about them. But it all makes sense right? Dealing with fear or insecurity… Learn from those who have gone on before and go to the scriptures.

Other parenting books you might enjoy

Over the years I’ve reviewed other parenting books.

Your Best Life Later

September 10, 2022 By Annette1 4 Comments

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product (Your Best Life Later) through Ascot Media Group. Affiliate Links will be used, thank you for your support of my blog, costs you nothing to do so, and is so much appreciated.

Andy McQuitty shares his personal life as he writes to his children to encourage their spiritual growth. He wrote each a journal over their years of maturing. The end result is his book Your Best Life Later, a compilation of scripture, images, and scripture. A journal that speaks to how to live out our Christian faith.

Your Best Life Later, is a compilation of five journals author Andy McQuity kept for each of his five children. McQuitty talks about child-rearing issues that cross generations. His goal: provide wisdom for parents and Godly messages. These are intended for readers to learn from and share with their own children.

Published by Leadership Books, you’ll find it’s a hardcover with a textbook feel to it. Five parts for each of the author’s children along with an afterword. This tome runs at 392 pages.

Looking Deeper into Your Best Life Later

Six parts make up Your Best Life Later, each part is a separate journal written with each specific child in mind. Journal entries include such topics as self-esteem, motives, handling big changes, character, the sabbath, and independence. Each entry to centred around God and is very much directed toward each of his children.

His goal in sharing these journals is to enable parents help their children mature into their faith and learn to live it out. He’s very open about using real-life examples to show Christian living.

His long-term view is preparing our sons and daughters, for a future life in heaven (thus the, your best life later title). We need to build spiritual maturity in those we love most. This is what these devotional journal entries are all about.

You’ll find scattered pictures throughout. These pictures included images of the American Flag, items from his children’s lives, and personal notes.

We are urged to see these journal entries as a quiet devotional time to encourage our faith and to help us with our spiritual maturity. This will help us share our faith in tangible ways with our children, helping them see God’s impact on their lives. This will help out most loved ones gain spiritual maturity themselves.

Scripture verses that fit each journal entry were added in 2021 as he was putting these journals together for publication.

Should you get it?

Well, I don’t know.

I have to admit that I struggled with Your Best Life Ever. I felt to me like I was reading a personal journal and I really didn’t know what to do with it. Kinda like you are bumping into a private conversation you shouldn’t be butting into. But that was my struggle AND it might not be yours.

The journal entries I read were packed full of wisdom and godly advice. I love his heart and how he so willingly showed it to each of his children (and now to us, a greater audience). He pointed out their strengths (like a gentle heart, or leadership) and how they can be both strengths or weaknesses. I think he met his goal of providing godly advice to his young adults.

I think it’s well worth adding to the shelves of my church library. Depending on the person reading, this will be a helpful parenting tool. Certainly makes me wish I had done this for my lad through his formative years… perhaps it’s not too late?

Summertime Reading

September 6, 2022 By Annette1 2 Comments

You’ve already seen the books I read in July, and I thought today I’d continue telling you about my summertime reading! Not quite as many books this month since I’ve been spending some time building a shed! Anyways, I will be linking to reviews or to amazon links to make it easy in case you want to get them yourself! 🙂 Hurts you none, is MUCH appreciated if you do buy, and it helps me out!

Books read for Reviews

The Science of Babies. Gives you the language needed to talk with your children, and you can add your own social context/faith to the conversation.

Listen to the language of the trees. I love informative picture books, and this one does a good job.

Future Worlds. A hugely fun book that you can use to develop critical thinking skills in your children, or a love of “can I be a part of that future possibility”.

Don’t Worry, Be Ha-Pea. Food + puns = a fun book.

The Button Pusher. I thought this a well-done book about ADHD and how hard it is to cope with it at times, but good helps and parental support make it easier.

Books read for fun

The Scrivener’s Bones. Hubsters LOVED Alcatraz vs the Evil Librarians so promptly ordered the next in the series. So as he finished it (and then ordered the next one) I get to read the one he finished! I may get through more of this series by the end of the month. FUN books. Get them for your middle-schoolers! 🙂 I find it immensely humourous how much he likes them and insists on getting the next as soon as he’s done the last! 🙂

Lola is Missing. A mystery, where they are trying to find a missing child. Started it last month! Reading it on Kindle. I’m finding the characters interesting and I’m hoping they find the child. I’ll be updating when I’ve finished!

Gentle and Lowly. What a fantastic journey into the heart of Christ. I so STRONGLY recommend that you get this book and delve deeply in his heart. See Christ more clearly, love God more dearly.

Time of the Twins. I admittedly didn’t care for this book and will most likely return it (on audible). Hubsters was surprised that I didn’t care for it as he knows the series and expected that I would.

How about you?

What books have kept you engaged with your summertime reading? Anything that you would recommend? If so, why?

Books for Adults

Gentle and Lowly

The Basic Details of The Gentle and Lowly