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

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

Review: Outlive Your Life by Max Lucado

Thank you to BookSneeze.com for letting me review this book.



About the Book

These are difficult days in our world's history. 1.75 billion people are desperately poor, natural disasters are gouging entire nations, and economic uncertainty still reigns across the globe. But you and I have been given an opportunity to make a big difference. What if we did? What if we rocked the world with hope? Infiltrated all corners with God's love and life? We are created by a great God to do great works. He invites us to outlive our lives, not just in heaven, but here on earth. Let's live our lives in such a way that the world will be glad we did.

For more information on Outlive Your Life please visit Thomas Nelson's website.

Visit the Max Lucado Community's website.

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Follow the Lucado Team on Twitter.

My Review

In Outlive Your Life Max Lucado once again has an inspirational message for us all. He wonders what might the world be like if each person gave what they could to make someone else's life better. He understands that we all don't have the same ability (money, time, etc.) to give, but we all have something. It is these little things that he thinks might make the big difference.

I loved the message in this book. When we see the poor starving children on TV we wish there were something real that we could do. We wish we could send them tons of money to help out, but in reality most of us don't have tons of money. But we can do something. Even something as little as inviting someone over for dinner is helping someone who may be eating alone. It just takes a little effort and the compassion to not turn a blind eye.

The main idea of the book is that we are all God's people and by helping others we are doing God's work. There are many versus that Lucado uses to show how helping those less fortunate (or the Gentiles as the Bible refers to them) is doing God's work. Jesus was not turning a blind eye to these people, and if we are to do God's work neither should we.

As always the writing was great. The chapters were fairly short and the book was a quick read. I loved how each chapter had a verse that it focuses on, and what I took to be, a prayer for us to let God help us help others. This really was an inspiring book. And as usual Lucado shows us how easy it can be to really help others.

Outlive Your Life: You Were Made to Make A Difference

Review: Audiobook: Fever Dream by Preston & Child

Thanks to Anna at Hachette for letting me review this one.



About the Book

Yesterday, Special Agent Pendergast still mourned the loss of his beloved wife, Helen, who died in a tragic accident in Africa twelve years ago. Today, he discovers she was murdered. Tomorrow, he will learn her most guarded secrets, leaving him to wonder: Who was the woman I married? Why was she murdered? And, above all . . . Who murdered her? FEVER DREAM Revenge is not sweet: It is essential.

For more information about Fever Dream please visit Hachette's website.

You can also visit the authors' website.

My Review

There were so many things going on in this one I don't even know where to start... It was such a good book. I can truly say that I didn't see anything coming.

The characters were pretty good. Being that this was an audio book I didn't get the same connection to the characters that I do when I read the book myself. But they were well developed characters none the less. Pendergast was an odd person, and that's putting it lightly. I liked Hayward the most I think. She seemed to be the most level-headed.

The story itself was fantastic. Right from the beginning the action starts and it doesn't really let up. Like I said it wasn't at all predictable. There were so many twists to the story that I was shocked by many of them. The twists weren't cheesy either. Each of them really added something to the story. It wasn't like they added a twist just for the sake of adding a twist.

The narrator was great. Rene Auberjonois did a great job with this one. I loved his voice, even when I used to watch Deep Space Nine I always liked his character, his voice was soothing then. Again he is fairly well known, but I didn't "see" his known characters while he was reading.

Again I LOVED this one. Although it was a little long I was kept drawn into the story the whole way!

Fever Dream

Blog Tour Review: The Home for Broken Hearts by Rowan Coleman

Thanks to Gallery Books for letting me be a part of this blog tour.



About the Book

THE DOOR IS OPEN . . .

For young widow Ellen Wood, her Victorian home is a refuge—a place to feel safe with her eleven-year-old son, Charlie. But when money grows so tight that Ellen could lose the house, her sister, Hannah, makes a radical suggestion . . . rent out some of the rooms. Soon Ellen has three lodgers: Sabine, a German coworker of Hannah's, recently separated from her husband; Allegra, an eccentric but wise novelist; and Matt, an up-and-coming young journalist in search of his voice, who has just landed a plum job in London.

Ellen thinks three strangers are the last complication she needs, but they make her realize just how isolated she has become. Their presence exposes a secret she's been keeping hidden, as well as a conflict with her sister that is both shocking and revealing. And while a love affair with a younger man seems like a fantasy powered by her imagination, Ellen can't deny her deep connection to Matt, or the changes he inspires in her and her relationship with Charlie. Outside her home's sheltering walls lies a world of opportunity as well as danger. Now that she's had the courage to open the door, does Ellen dare step through?

Witty, moving, and deeply insightful, The Home for Broken Hearts celebrates everything that makes life worth living, from an author who knows just how to speak to the heart.

To find out more about The Home for Broken Hearts please visit Gallery's website.

You can also visit Rowan's webiste.

Also "like" Rowan on Facebook or follow on Twitter.

My Review

I sometimes find it hard to get into books about England because even though they are written in English the slang and differences in language make it difficult for me to fully grasp what the characters are saying. While I did experience a bit of that with this book for the most part it was pretty easy for me to pick up on. I'm finding that the more I read from English authors, the easier the language differences are to decipher. Having said that I really thought this was a great book.

The whole premise of the book is that Ellen's life is ripped apart by the death of her husband and she is trying to rebuild. What ensues in that rebuilding is a great story of family and friendship. The relationship that Ellen has with her young son and her sister are already strained and the fact that a year after Ellen's husband's death she is still not sure on how to "recover" make the relationships even more strained. Then the lodgers come into the story and everything Ellen has thought about her life, her future, her ability to cope are turned upside down.

The characters are very well developed. I really liked Ellen, she needs some work, but who doesn't... And given that her husband was her life she's very lost. She comes off as being meek and weak-willed, but as the story gets going she finds her strength and her ability to live a life without her husband.

I really liked the writing. It was humorous at times, not poking fun at the situation, but humorous none the less. It was also very emotional. Understanding what emotions Ellen is feeling is almost painful at times. I could feel the grief she was dealing with. Although the main plot was a bit predictable there were more than enough twists thrown in to make the story really stand out.

I think I'm going to have to pick up some of Coleman's other novels. And I have to say that as I'm writing this I'm thinking of ways that the story could continue into a series with all these characters. It was truly an engaging story.

The Home for Broken Hearts