I Am Second

If you have ever seen the I Am Second commercials on tv in which people dressed in black sit on a white couch and give pieces of their stories. then you have some idea of the impact of this book. The stories told in this book and on the iamsecond.com website are honest testimonies of the events that brought each individual to the realization that Jesus must be first . The stories are as varied as the people who tell them. There's the pro fighter who must turn away from the spotlight to see Jesus, the couple who overcame infidelity and now help other couples do the same, the former Biggest Loser contestant who found she had a life change to make that was more important even than losing weight, and many others. At the end of each section there are codes that can be scanned with a smart phone so that you can hear the people in this book and others like them tell their stories.

The I Am Second movement now includes a website and Facebook page. There are I Am Second small groups springing up all over. This book is a good introduction to this movement. More than that. though, this book is a wonderful picture of the grace of God as seen in the lives of so many whom he has redeemed.


i received this book free from Thomas Nelson publishers as a part of their BookSneeze book blogger program. All opinions expressed in this post are my own.

The Kitchen Counter Cooking School

In The Kitchen Counter Cooking School by Kathleen Flinn the author takes nine ladies who are fearful of cooking and turns them into confident home cooks via a series of cooking classes taught by Flinn and other chef friends. The project started when Flinn noticed a lady in the grocery store filling her cart with boxed or canned convience foods. Flinn strikes up a conversation with the woman curious as to why she doesn't make something such as pasta alfredo rather than buy it in a box. When the lady confesses that she doesn't know how to cook Flinn leads her around the store teaching the lady how to replace most of the items in her cart with real food and supplying the woman with recipes and instructions. this sparks an idea for the cooking classes. After visiting the kitchens of nine different women and seeing them "cook" everything from canned soup to frozen lasagna Flinn then instructs them over a period of several weeks on basic cooking skills such as chopping vegetables, making stock, roasting vegetables, making salad dressing, and more. The author's enthusiasm paired with the success of her students and her examinations of what really is in the boxes of convience foods so many rely on has inspired me to begin transitioning our family toward more real food. The book includes many easy recipes and tips throughout the chapters and at the end of the book. This was a fun read and great resource that I picked up at my local library and is a book I will probablybe adding to my own library.

Louisa and the Country Bachelor

Louisa and the Country Bachelor by Anna MacLean is such a fun read. The book is part of a series that features Louisa May Alcott as an amateur sleauth. This makes for an entertaining mystery that reads as if it could have been written by Alcott herself. I look forward to reading more in this series.

Daily Gifts of Grace

Daily Gifts of Grace: Devotions for Each Day of Your Year is a new daily devotional by Women of Faith. The hardcover book is beautifully covered with a springy green cover enhanced by Asian style sketches with a magnetic closure. The sketches continue to the pages of the book. with pale green floral drawings and a plae yellow ribbon bookmark subtly enhancing the devotionals.

The devotional readings are written by Lisa Welchel, Patsy Clairmont, Luci Swindoll, Sandi Patti, and others from the Women of Faith team. The reading for each day begins with a verse or two of Scripture followed by a short application. The authors cover many topics from grace to prayer to self-image, to friendships, and many others. The stories are as real as a conversation over coffee with a good friend.

This would make a great gift as the beautiful presentation and quality readings combine to make an excellent book. However, once you see this devotional, you just might prefer to keep it for yourself as an uplifting and sometimes challenging start to your days.

i received this book from the thomas nelson book review blogger program. all opinions are my own.

Close Enough to Hear God Breathe

Close Enough to Hear God Breathe is a book I really wanted to like. Author greg Paul seeks to draw the reader to a more intimate relationship with a loving heavenly Father. There are some nice personal illustrations that attempt to do that. However, the book feels choppy and hard to follow. At times I was unsure of the point the author was trying to make and flet that in some places he was trying to feminize God. This just wasn't a book I could stay with.

Disclosure of material: I received this book from the BookSneeze book review blogger program. I was not required to write a positive review. all opinions are my own.

Rumors of God

"Lord, I have heard of your fame;
I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord.
Renew them in our day,
in our time make them known;
in wrath remember mercy".
This prayer from Habakkuk is the basis of Rumors of God by Darren Whitehead and Jon Tyson. This challengin book urges the reader to show God to the world. The authors believe that although many feel the best days of the church are over, that God still has great things He wants to do in and through the church.

The chapters cover themes of generosity, love, grace, freedom, commitment, community, hope. and justice. Each chapter contains stories of individuals who are living out their faith in radical ways. The authors show how there can be more than just rumors of the greatness of God, but living examples in our time. This is a meaty yet accessable book that is worth reading more than once. It is a great call to action for the church and for individual believers who are ready to be used in new and exciting ways.     n

The Dog Who Came in From the Cold

I just finished reading The Dog Who Came in From the Cold by Alexander McCall Smith. This is the second book in his Corduroy Mansions series. Once again I finish another book by this prolific author with a smile on my face. This newest series is set in London and is full of wonderfully eccentric characters whose lives bump into each other. This series reminds me of The 22 Scotland Street series which is also by Alexander McCall Smith. The Dog Who Came in from the cold even ended with a poem reflecting on the place much like the Scotland Street books do. The title characterfor this Corduroy Mansions book is Freddie de la Hay, a Pimlico terrier who gets the opportunity to serve his country. Despite a few moments of uncertainty as to Freddie's fate, all turns out well, not only for Freddie, but for the other characters as well. There are still several loose ends left hanging at the end of the book which makes me eager to read the next one in this delightful series. I will be keeping a close eye on the shelves of our local libraries watching for the next installment of The Corduroy Mansions books.