FaithfulReader.com - WORD OF MOUTH

May 2005

This contest period's winner was Kibi13@aol.com, who received a copy of OBSESSED by Ted Dekker.

sherri5@pa.net
I just finished The Storekeeper's Daughter by Wanda Brunstetter. It is a really good Amish novel and is the first of a three-part series. 4 stars.

God's Gift by Dee Henderson is also a really good book, about a missionary who has to give up the mission field. God has other plans for him, one of which is finding love. 4 stars.

Always Jan by Roxanne Henke is book 4 of the series "Coming Home to Brewster." Very uplifting and insightful novel. Loved it. 5 stars.

Kibi13@aol.com
One Tuesday Morning by Karen Kingsbury. 5 stars.
Beyond Tuesday Morning by Karen Kingsbury. 5 stars.
Cape Refuge by Terry Blackstock. 5 stars.
Southern Storms by Terry Blackstock. 5 stars.
River's Edge by Terry Blackstock. 5 stars.
True Devotion by Dee Henderson. 4 stars.
True Valor by Dee Henderson. 5 stars.

onorman@arlibrary.org
I am reading "The O'Malley Chronicles" by Dee Henderson. They consist of 6 volumes: The Negotiator, The Guardian, The Truth Seeker, The Protector, The Healer, and The Rescuer. I rate them all 5 stars. They keep you reading way into the night to finish them!

grandview9956@mintel.net
At the Scent of Water by Linda Nichols. 4 stars.
With Ms. Schaivo in the news, this book is really starting to strike a chord with me. I have read Not a Sparrow Falls by this author and LOVED IT!! This one may be a 5 by the time I finish it. I'm only about halfway through right now.

simj26@yahoo.ca
A Scandalous Freedom: The Radical Nature of the Gospel by Steve Brown. 5 stars.
When I read the review of this book at FaithfulReader.com, I knew I was going to have to read it. I asked my library to order a copy, thinking they wouldn't, but they did! I was thrilled. Mr. Brown writes humorously and in a down-to-earth style. This book was excellent! Most Christians are "so bound...and they can't tell anybody." Christians often fear "stepping out of the box" and going against what's "acceptable" for the greater fear of rejection. Mr. Brown encourages us to take risks, "upset people!", and tell others that we're not perfect...but God loves us anyway! :) An empowering book that's definitely on my wish list to be owned someday!

Lost Christianities: The Battle for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew by Bart D. Ehrman. 4 stars.
I was a little bit afraid picking this book up, that it would be a New Age style thing, or that it would conflict with my beliefs (you have to be so careful these days!). As it turns out, it only affirmed my beliefs, and I learned a lot! A great book, with LOTS of history. The easy-to-read, semi-humorous nature of the book made it easy to like, even though the content required a bit of "brain power." :)

tfranzen2124@comcast.net
Letters From a Skeptic by Dr. Gregory Boyd (4 stars) is a collection of letters between an atheist father and his believing son. This is an excellent book and doesn't deal in trite or easy answers. A great resource for anyone who is in the position of "defending their faith."

eileenkey@sbcglobal.net
Dead of Night by Brandilyn Collins. Mrs. Collins is a master author of a page-turner. Her believable characters might be your next door neighbors who've become entangled in a life or death situation. The empathy spills from the reader toward the characters. Do not begin this book late at night unless you plan on staying up! A complex plot with an ending no sleuth will detect in advance. 5 stars plus 5!

wgjones3@praize.com
Winds of Evil by Sharon K. Gilbert (Whittaker House, 2004). 5 stars.
Katy Adamson is a big-time author from a small town in Indiana. When she learns of her aunt Cissy's death, she rushes home to settle the estate and finds the town in an uproar over the disappearance of two high-school kids. Deciding that the story might make a good book, Katy digs deeper to find much more going on in her hometown of Eden: strange lights in the sky, crop circles, demonic manifestations, and genetic engineering are all being whispered about in hushed conversation. Katy's investigation leads her to her aunt's pastor and into the home of a double amputee Native American named John Thundercloud, a man who has seen much and has written down all he knows so that someday, others will know the truth.

joyce@bwgi.org
A book I would highly recommend is:

Becoming Who God Intended by Dr. David Eckman. 5 stars.
This life-changing book helps people to expose the emotions on which their lives are running. It helps readers to identify whether their lives are running by love, joy and peace, or guilt, shame and worthlessness. It also helps readers to change any disconnect that may exist between one's view of what the Christian life is supposed to be and one's experience of it. Ultimately, it provides a means or process for readers to take the information they know about God and integrate it so that their emotions and their experience reflect the truths that they say they believe.

tfranzen2124@comcast.net
For anyone interested in Christian psychotherapy I suggest author Gerald G. May. I am re-reading his new book, The Dark Night of the Soul (5 stars) and regularly refer to Addiction & Grace. 5 stars.

miz_books@yahoo.ca
Walk Away the Pounds by Leslie Sansone. 4 stars.
Leslie Sansone has created a great indoor fitness-walking program! The moves are easy and uncomplicated, and they won't do damage to already tender joints and muscles. No more excuses! She encourages you to modify the program to what you need. The book is filled with success stories, and explains how, through using this program, a lot of people have found a way to manage their diabetes, or reduce their risk of heart disease, etc.

Since reading this book, I have bought the videos, and have been "walking away the pounds!" I have tried other programs like Tae Bo, and Latin Dance, and they were all so complicated that I easily gave up. Leslie's program is simple, and fun! I enjoy popping in the tapes and walking with these new "friends"!

Savannah From Savannah by Denise Hildreth. 4 stars.
I love how quick-moving this story was! From the moment I picked it up, I was hooked into the story, and I didn't want to put the book down. It shows how our life's course can change in the blink of an eye, and how we can complain, or adapt.

tfranzen2124@comcast.net
Two wonderful (and different) books:

First, for a fiction pick: Mary Called Magdalene by Margaret George (4 stars). A fictionalized yet historical novel about this interesting friend of Jesus. Worth the read for historical understanding alone!

For my second book I am thrilled about Captivating by John and Stasi Eldredge (5 stars). An excellent book about women's spirituality and sexuality by authors who know how to teach!