While some of the books I review on my site are furnished by the publishers, authors, or publicists for the purpose of review all of my reviews are truthful, honest, and my sincere opinion.

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Review: Audiobook: Live Long, Finish Strong by Gloria Copeland

Thank you to Anna at Hachette for letting me review this book.



About the Book

In LIVE LONG, FINISH STRONG, Gloria Copeland presents a scripturally sound program to help readers claim the Bible promise of a long and blessed life . . . and a glorious death by "divine appointment." Gloria believes the Bible teaches that God desires for every Christian to live healthily beyond 100. In this book, Gloria reveals that the secret to finding this "Bible-based fountain of youth" is in daily receiving by faith and obedience the life-giving Word of God and allowing it to energize and renew our bodies. Each chapter helps readers discover and implement the principles of this amazing process. Here is an insightful new look at God's divine health plan for His children and a personal invitation by the author to join her in living a long and strong life until God calls us home in victory and triumph.

For more information about Live Long, Finish Strong please visit Hachette's website.

Find Kenneth Copeland Ministries on Facebook, Twitter, and friend feed.

See Kenneth Copeland Ministries in action on YouTube.

Visit Gloria Copeland's website and the Kenneth Copeland Ministries' website.

My Review

Although I didn't totally agree with the overall message, that we can live to be at least 120 years old, I did like the ideas that she presented to living a strong life. I did agree with her that our lives will be done when we have fullfilled our purpose on earth and God is "done" with us.

I liked how there were confessions at the beginning of each chapter and at the end of each chapter there were points to remember. When I listen to audio books sometimes my mind gets dragged away and I forget parts of what I've just heard. So the points to remember really helped me keep track of what was being said. At the end of the book there is a whole list of different Bible versus that talk about living long. I think that was kind of neat, that she was able to pull all of these versus together and put them in one place, as a handy reference (if you have the print version).

The writing was very good. It was so simple and had a good bit of humor included. I could really tell that Gloria had done her homework for this book, and the stories of centenarians were quite inspiring. But I think that living a long life is part of the makeup of her and her husband's ministry, so I would imagine she's been gathering this information for quite a while, not that it makes it any more or less inspiring.

The narrator did a great job reading. She had a Paula Dean quality to her voice. She just sounded like someone with so much love in her voice. It was more like listening to a friend talk that listening to an audiobook. I'm not sure if that was from the way the book was written, the narrator's voice, or a combination of the two (I'm leaning towards the later).

Overall I think this was a good one. I don't know that I would have picked it up on my own, but I'm glad I was given a copy.

Live Long, Finish Strong: The Divine Secret to Living Healthy, Happy, and Healed

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Review: Hidden Wives by Claire Avery

Thanks to the author for sending me a copy for review.



About the Book

Hidden Wives follows the journey of two young girls forced to grow up in a polygamist community where religion is distorted to justify rampant abuse, incest, misogyny and the taking of child brides.

Fifteen-year-old Sara and her beautiful sister, Rachel, are too young to legally drive a car, but are approaching spinsterhood in Utah’s secret polygamist Blood of the Lamb community. Having long since reached the “age of preparedness,” they will soon be married off to much older men selected by the hidden sect’s revered Prophet.

As Sara, chosen to become her uncle’s fifth wife, grows more distraught over her impending incestuous marriage, she begins to scrutinize the faith she has followed blindly her entire life.

But for Rachel, who will be married to one of the many powerful community leaders vying for her hand, disobeying the Prophet means eternal damnation. Her friendship with the newest member of the community, the young and handsome Luke, starts as an attempt to save his agnostic soul, but ends with the pair falling helplessly in love. When Rachel is forbidden to see him, her absolute faith in the Prophet is severely tested.

When Rachel’s future husband is finally announced, violence erupts, and the girls must find the strength to escape the only life they have ever known… before it’s too late.

For more information about Hidden Wives please visit Claire Avery's website.

My Review

I absolutely LOVED this book. It was such a heart-wrenching story. From the very beginning I was wishing for those girls to get out of there.

Rachel and Sara were great characters. Although Rachel was a bit dense, or I guess I should say brainwashed, she was such a compelling character. Sara, right from the word go showed so much intelligence. Her want to get away, but not leave her sister behind really made me heart ache for her.

The writing was beautiful, not in a poetic kind of way, but in that it was so simple, yet so compelling. Even though what happens in the story is hard to read I didn't want to put it down. There's a certain finesse to this book that makes it hard to put down (even when you have homework or sleep to get to).

The subject matter was difficult to read, but I think it's something that needed to be written. I think TV has sensationalized the polygamist lifestyle, and there's a much darker side that doesn't really come through in these shows. The abuse, incest, and brainwashing that occurred in this book was disgusting, for lack of a better term. I know that not all polygamists and compounds condone or practice this kind of behavior, but I'm sure that there are some (of both) that do, and that is a scary thought.

Such a compelling and heart-wrenching tale. I was hooked right from the beginning!

Hidden Wives