Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Back to the Blogosphere
Two years since my last update. I've read all kinds of books, but haven't posted any reviews. I still have all kinds of books on my "to read" list. It grows constantly. Now that I have the blogger app on my iPad, I'll be posting reviews more often.
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Tim Tebow: Great QB, Great Leader, & Most of All, Great Heart After God
Okay, so I’m a born-&-raised Florida Gator fan. Orange, especially when paired with blue, happens to be my favorite color . . . But I didn’t start really watching the Gators play till high school. The credit for that can go my high school class—I was the only girl, so sports was always on topic. They got me hooked, and I’ve been loyal ever since.
Chris Leak was playing QB when I started really paying attention. I watched through his years, and when Tebow started playing in Leak’s senior year, I saw him and thought, “Good to know we’ll have someone to step up when Leak’s gone.” I left it at that.
Didn’t think another thing of this Tebow guy.
Until that summer.
I read a piece about Tim being in a church play as Goliath and the boy who played David did the Gator Chomp as he stood over him. It made me laugh, and made me wonder if maybe, just maybe, there was more to this guy than football. So I kept reading the stories to see. I watched him the following season, and my respect for him grew.
It’s hard for someone to earn my utmost respect, but this man, who is almost a year younger than I am, has earned it through his action on the field and—most of all—off the field. I particularly love the stories about his family. His parents, sisters, brothers . . . His mother is such a beautiful lady who seems to be full of so much wisdom that I would just love to sit down and chat.
I even attended an event he spoke at, but I’m getting a little off track here . . .
This is a book blog, not a sports blog . . .
Well, for this post, it’s both.
I received Tim Tebow’s book, Through My Eyes, and just had to start reading . . . I know, I know, I have a pile of books plus all the kindle books to read too.
But I had to read this. And, as each page was turned, Tim Tebow earned even more respect in my eyes. Tough feat, but he did. As I read his stories from growing up—his family stories, his work ethic, his sports life, his love of God—I couldn’t help thinking that his parents certainly did a great job. Then I read about his football career at Florida. As he recalled the games, I could see them playing over in my head—I watched most all of them myself.
What I loved most was how he readily used each piece in his life as a life lesson with God. He didn’t shy away from talking about Christ, and how his relationship with Christ plays a vital role in everything he does. That is where the majority of my respect for him comes from—from truly standing as a Christian, and not just playing the “Christian” when it’s convenient. Far too many people are Convenient Christians.
All in all, this book is inspiring, informative, and just a good read—it gives you a glimpse into Tim’s mind, motivation, and heart. Florida Gators fan or not . . . Denver Broncos fan or not . . . This is one guy of whom we can all be a fan.
Check this out: http://www.timtebowfoundation.org/
Chris Leak was playing QB when I started really paying attention. I watched through his years, and when Tebow started playing in Leak’s senior year, I saw him and thought, “Good to know we’ll have someone to step up when Leak’s gone.” I left it at that.
Didn’t think another thing of this Tebow guy.
Until that summer.
I read a piece about Tim being in a church play as Goliath and the boy who played David did the Gator Chomp as he stood over him. It made me laugh, and made me wonder if maybe, just maybe, there was more to this guy than football. So I kept reading the stories to see. I watched him the following season, and my respect for him grew.
It’s hard for someone to earn my utmost respect, but this man, who is almost a year younger than I am, has earned it through his action on the field and—most of all—off the field. I particularly love the stories about his family. His parents, sisters, brothers . . . His mother is such a beautiful lady who seems to be full of so much wisdom that I would just love to sit down and chat.
I even attended an event he spoke at, but I’m getting a little off track here . . .
This is a book blog, not a sports blog . . .
Well, for this post, it’s both.
I received Tim Tebow’s book, Through My Eyes, and just had to start reading . . . I know, I know, I have a pile of books plus all the kindle books to read too.
But I had to read this. And, as each page was turned, Tim Tebow earned even more respect in my eyes. Tough feat, but he did. As I read his stories from growing up—his family stories, his work ethic, his sports life, his love of God—I couldn’t help thinking that his parents certainly did a great job. Then I read about his football career at Florida. As he recalled the games, I could see them playing over in my head—I watched most all of them myself.
What I loved most was how he readily used each piece in his life as a life lesson with God. He didn’t shy away from talking about Christ, and how his relationship with Christ plays a vital role in everything he does. That is where the majority of my respect for him comes from—from truly standing as a Christian, and not just playing the “Christian” when it’s convenient. Far too many people are Convenient Christians.
All in all, this book is inspiring, informative, and just a good read—it gives you a glimpse into Tim’s mind, motivation, and heart. Florida Gators fan or not . . . Denver Broncos fan or not . . . This is one guy of whom we can all be a fan.
Check this out: http://www.timtebowfoundation.org/
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Lots of Catching Up...
So I haven’t been so good about updating this thing lately… but then again, I haven’t even had a chance to read much. It’s been about a year since I very steadily read a lot. School and work kept me pretty busy and tired. Thanks to school though, I got a kindle. Why am I thanking school? Well, I had to buy my textbooks, which I then sent in to Amazon’s trade back program, and I got over $140 as an Amazon gift card—after applying that to the price, I only paid about $30 for my kindle including the shipping. I’ve been taking it with me everywhere I go, and thus, I’ve been reading more.
Four books have kept my imagination occupied over the last few weeks. The latest one I finished is by the author from my last post—Jeremy McNabb. He has published two works on Amazon: one a novella which I read and reviewed in February, the other a novel that I’m reviewing now.
Joy & Carnage
Joy & Carnage tells the story of Mercedes--a girl who, once popular, becomes an outcast after an accident that kills her best friend and leaves her face disfigured. She is then welcomed by people from one of the very groups she once considered the outcasts. Eli and Damian let her in on an event they’ve been plotting, the massacre of all their classmates. She thinks they’re joking at first, but after a painful prank, she eagerly joins them. When the first plan doesn’t succeed, they try again at their ten year reunion. Yet, something is very different in the second attempt—Eli, now a pastor, is working to stop the massacre at the reunion.
The ending… well, let’s just say that it is certainly worth the read.
The story is particularly interesting in how it follows the plots of each event at the same time. The events of the high school attempt and the attempt on the reunion seem to be happening simultaneously. McNabb does a great job with the characters and the plot. It keeps your attention so much so that I have to add the name Jeremy McNabb to my list of authors whose books have kept me up late into the night. (Thanks, Jeremy.)
Jeremy McNabb does a fantastic job in this book, and I highly recommend it.
And, Jeremy, just so you know, I’m still waiting for more of your stories to read.
Get Jeremy's books here: Joy & Carnage
Gravesight (Long Tail City)
Other works I have to review:
Deadlock by Robert Liparulo
The Warriors by Mark Olsen
On my reading list:
Apotheosis by Nathan Hodgdon
Splinters of Eternity by Michal Ingraham
Burn by Ted Dekker & Erin Healy
Immanuel’s Veins by Ted Dekker
The Priest’s Graveyard by Ted Dekker
The Best of Evil by Eric Wilson
Dark to Mortal Eyes by Eric Wilson
Demon by Tosca Lee
Havah by Tosca Lee
…and more...
Four books have kept my imagination occupied over the last few weeks. The latest one I finished is by the author from my last post—Jeremy McNabb. He has published two works on Amazon: one a novella which I read and reviewed in February, the other a novel that I’m reviewing now.
Joy & Carnage
Joy & Carnage tells the story of Mercedes--a girl who, once popular, becomes an outcast after an accident that kills her best friend and leaves her face disfigured. She is then welcomed by people from one of the very groups she once considered the outcasts. Eli and Damian let her in on an event they’ve been plotting, the massacre of all their classmates. She thinks they’re joking at first, but after a painful prank, she eagerly joins them. When the first plan doesn’t succeed, they try again at their ten year reunion. Yet, something is very different in the second attempt—Eli, now a pastor, is working to stop the massacre at the reunion.
The ending… well, let’s just say that it is certainly worth the read.
The story is particularly interesting in how it follows the plots of each event at the same time. The events of the high school attempt and the attempt on the reunion seem to be happening simultaneously. McNabb does a great job with the characters and the plot. It keeps your attention so much so that I have to add the name Jeremy McNabb to my list of authors whose books have kept me up late into the night. (Thanks, Jeremy.)
Jeremy McNabb does a fantastic job in this book, and I highly recommend it.
And, Jeremy, just so you know, I’m still waiting for more of your stories to read.
Get Jeremy's books here: Joy & Carnage
Gravesight (Long Tail City)
Other works I have to review:
Deadlock by Robert Liparulo
The Warriors by Mark Olsen
On my reading list:
Apotheosis by Nathan Hodgdon
Splinters of Eternity by Michal Ingraham
Burn by Ted Dekker & Erin Healy
Immanuel’s Veins by Ted Dekker
The Priest’s Graveyard by Ted Dekker
The Best of Evil by Eric Wilson
Dark to Mortal Eyes by Eric Wilson
Demon by Tosca Lee
Havah by Tosca Lee
…and more...
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Gravesight by Jeremy McNabb
I’m very picky when it comes to what fiction I read. And yes, I do judge a book by its cover. So getting me to read a new author takes lots of convincing. However, this author was given a bit of a freebee because I happen to have met him a couple years ago at The Gathering—the yearly get-together of Circle members/Dekker fans. So knowing he reads one of my favorite authors, I had to give his works a shot.
And I’m glad I did.
Gravesight by Jeremy McNabb is a novella connected to the Long Tail City trilogy. While these books are unpublished at this time, I’m confident it won’t be too much longer. Because Gravesight comes after the trilogy, the reader doesn’t have the privilege of knowing these characters and their backstory. While not everything is explained, McNabb does a great job explaining anything that is necessary for us to know within this story.
This story starts with these young twins who found a new friend that needs help. The boy’s uncle is after him. So they introduce him to Cage. Cage Donnagan is one of the Otherkind—and though without much backstory, I don’t really know how to explain this, the Otherkind seems to be a race that can mentally change from one form to another. (I’m sure the author can explain it better.) Cage sees that this boy is in trouble and decides to help him, getting a few other interesting characters involved along the way.
I don’t want to give too much more away since this isn’t a long piece so I’ll just tell you to go to amazon and look it up—it’s available for Kindle (or Kindle for PC), and at only 99 cents, how can you not want to check it out?
Overall, I’d say this is a great piece, and a good way to get introduced to this author—a writer from whom I only expect great things to come.
And I’m glad I did.
Gravesight by Jeremy McNabb is a novella connected to the Long Tail City trilogy. While these books are unpublished at this time, I’m confident it won’t be too much longer. Because Gravesight comes after the trilogy, the reader doesn’t have the privilege of knowing these characters and their backstory. While not everything is explained, McNabb does a great job explaining anything that is necessary for us to know within this story.
This story starts with these young twins who found a new friend that needs help. The boy’s uncle is after him. So they introduce him to Cage. Cage Donnagan is one of the Otherkind—and though without much backstory, I don’t really know how to explain this, the Otherkind seems to be a race that can mentally change from one form to another. (I’m sure the author can explain it better.) Cage sees that this boy is in trouble and decides to help him, getting a few other interesting characters involved along the way.
I don’t want to give too much more away since this isn’t a long piece so I’ll just tell you to go to amazon and look it up—it’s available for Kindle (or Kindle for PC), and at only 99 cents, how can you not want to check it out?
Overall, I’d say this is a great piece, and a good way to get introduced to this author—a writer from whom I only expect great things to come.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Jesus Manifesto
Jesus Manifesto by Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola is a great book to get you into studying the scripture to see who Jesus really is, which is not always who He’s made out to be. This book makes you see for yourself what your answer is to the important question “Who do you say that I am?” Have you lost sight of who Jesus really is and instead replaced Him with the doctrines of a church or what someone else says about Him? Each person needs to know who Christ is through their own study of the Word and own encounter with Him.
Sweet and Viola take the time to point out the problem—that many people have “Jesus Deficit Disorder.” They make the gospel about so many other things but don’t realize that unless Christ is at the center of it all, even the good things don’t matter. As Sweet and Viola point out the things that have stopped us from seeing Jesus for who He really is and placing Him in His rightful place, they also se scripture to point us in the right direction—that said, one should still always study the scripture for themselves. This is a good book, and a good tool for anyone that wants to make sure they know Jesus for who He really is.
Book provided by Thomas Nelson’s Booksneeze program.
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