slow going

only kind of book i am reading these days....
but you will get no complaints from this Gram ;)

Love, Charleston

While Contemporary Christian Fiction is not my favorite kind of book, I did enjoy Love, Charleston by Beth Webb Hart. Hart managed to create characters with real depth that grabbed my heart. This is not your typical love story. The characters have plausible issues in their lives, some of which may very well have touched your life also.
Real life drama is what I enjoyed the most about this bookpostpartum depression, marital infidelity. Beth Webb Hart actually went there, she wrote about post partum depression. Lish suffers from it and we see how others react to it, we see her recovery process.

Then there is Della and how her desire to provide for daughter is so very strong that she convinces herself that even infidelity is okay if it gives her a source of security and happiness.

Roy, as a minister begins the story not wanting to be in Charleston at all. But by the end of the book he has fallen in Love also. With the plans of God. Gods ways are greater than are own.

Love, Charleston is a Thomas Nelson Book and was provided for me to review for free in return for my honest, unbiased review. You can review books for free also, join the BookSneeze program. Click the Button on my blog for more info.

Saint Francis by Robert West

A small little book in the Christian Encounter Series by Thomas Nelson Publishers, this is the story of Saint Francis of Assisi. I grew up with very little knowledge of this Patron Saint of the Catholic church as an unchurched little girl in the south, so I was very interested to read this book. St. Francis was born in Assisi, Italy to wealthy parents, but he chose to forego worldly pleasures to devoted his life to God. After a very serious illness he gave all he had to the poor and devoted himself to prayer and scripture. He joined with some "ragtag" men who were brothers in the ministry about which little was known except that they were humble and that they rejoiced most in poverty.Francis made a move that revolutionized the church by introducing the vow of poverty. It followed scripture and the life of Jesus. It is how we today should live our lives, as well.

Francis cared for the lepers. the outcast, the unlovely. He followed in the footsteps of The Lord Jesus. As a Christian, that is exactly what I am called to do. I am not going to forego all of my worldly pleasures, but I must be willing to if Jesus asks me to. There are things I have let go, but I have a long way to go before you could call me a saint.

I found this book somewhat interesting. I didn't really understand a lot of it. After all these years and all of the religious and Biblical education I have had, I am still not Catholic and still don't understand all the ways the Catholic church works.But I do know how to follow my Lord, how to love others like Saint Francis did!


I give the book three stars, it was well written with nice cover, easy language, an asset to my collection. I received my copy free through the BOOKSNEEZE program in return for my unbiased review. You can get free books to by joining in.

Tuesday Night at the Blue Moon by Debbie Fuller Thomas

I loved this book. Of course it wasn't one I was given to review, just one I borrowed from My sister in law, but this is one of the best Christian novels I have read lately. Debbie Fuller Thomas wrote about real people who I connected with and could relate to.
The storyline isn't exactly likely to happen, but it is a novel, an escape.

Marty Winslow loses her 13 year old daughter, Ginger, to a horriable genetic disease that nobody else in the family has ever had. That is when she discovers the awful truth that her daughter was switched at birth. To complicate matters even more, her real daughter, named Andrea has recently been orphaned and now lives with her aging grandparents in a Senior adult mobile home park.She fights for her in court. Andie comes to live with Marty and thats where the story gets really good.


The home that Andie had to move to was a trailer situated behind the run-down Blue Moon Drive-In the Family owns and runs. Andie has to settle into a family that is dealing with its own grief over the loss of thier sister as she is dealing with the death of her parents as well as the news that her entire past has been a lie. There are two new sisters, school, her distrust of God all that need to be worked out.

I like the way the book is written. One chapter is Marty speaking and the next will be Andie speaking, this helps you to see how both sides of the story affect two different generations.

A word of warning....Marty bakes to deal with her frustration and pain and the author goes into detail to tell you what she bakes, so you might feel the urge to concoct a few desserts as you read this book!

Jack Daniel's Spirit of Tennessee Cookbook, by Lynne Tolley & Pat Mitchamore

I recently began reviewing books for Thomas Nelson Publishers. I signed on with them thinking the books would be Christian books, so I was surprised when my very first book to review was a cookbook entitled Jack Daniel's Spirit of Tennessee Cookbook by Lynne Tolley and Pat Mitchamore. I quickly saw that this book was much more than a cookbook, it was like a history lesson on life in Lynchburg, Tennessee.

Antidotes Like Hog Killing TIme In Tennessee, and tales of Miss Mary Bobo's Boarding House share the pages with recipes
like Pea-Pickled Salad and Supreme Cranberry Salad. In the vegetable category the Country Fried Corn, Wash Day Casserole and Zucchini Au Gratin caught my eye. How mouthwatering do Georgia Peach Muffins sound? I also was intrigued by the several pages of different breads they included. There is a step by step recipe on how to cook Possum and Sweet Taters. I will be passing on that one!

I was delightfully surprised by this cookbook. It is a slice of Southern living, much more than just a book with recipes. I was a little reluctant to be accepting of this cookbook, because I have never drank whiskey much less thought to cook with it. After reading it I have found it to be a delightful slice of life in the south. I love the recipes, will surely try some of them and feel like the authors have preserved a part of the sweet country life within these pages. This book will be sharing the shelf with my trusted favorites.

How to Reach Your Full Potential for God by Charles F. Stanley

This book is subtitled Never Settle for Less than His Best. In the beginning this book reminded me of a book I had previously read about living a life filled with purpose, but this book proved to be filled with much deeper Biblical principals and was not nearly as new age, feel good as the purpose filled book. I would highly recommend this book for someone looking to live a life of purpose that God has planned for you.

This book is divided into twelve chapters and is just over two hundred pages and very easy to read and understand. I read the entire book with a pen in hand so I could underline the ideas that I wanted to remember. I think I underlined something on every page. Chapter Two is entitled Don't Settle for Less. Dr. Stanley says "He (God) wants us to embrace the life He has planned for us. This means we must live all our days to the utmost." What a challenging statement.

Having a clean heart, a clean mind, a healthy body are all addressed. He talks about right relationships, keeping a balanced schedule. I particularly enjoyed the section that talked about using the gifts God gives you to serve the body of Christ. It was in depth and insightful.

One of the features of this book that I enjoyed was found at the end of each chapter they included a profile of a person telling how the person is using their God given potential to serve God. These were encouraging,personal, and meaningful glimpses into real life.

Dr. Stanley is Senior Pastor of First Baptist CHurch in Atlanta, Georgia and has written many best selling books. This book was provided free to me from Thomas Nelson Publishers in turn for this review.

The Liturgical Year-the spiraling adventure of the spiritual life by Joan Chillister

I was eagerly anticipating this book, the second from Thomas Nelson Publishers for Book Review by bloggers. I have a thirst for knowledge about the church and the liturgical year because I grew up in a baptist church and only recently began incorporating practices from the churches calendar into my life. I was somewhat disappointed with this book however.

It is written by Joan Chittister who is a nun, a member of the Benedictine sisters of Erie, Pennsylvania. She is also a lecturer and has authored many award winning books. I found this book to be very textbook like and didn't find many practical ways to put into practice the liturgy she writes about. I think that was what my heart was seeking.

Advent will be here very soon. I relish the idea of waiting for the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. Chittister said " The real power of the liturgical year is its spiritual capacity to touch and plumb the depths of the human experience, to stir the human heart." I think the advent season is where this begins. The beauty of advent is that it is a season of JOY.

Most of us celebrate Christmas, without giving any thought to the church calendar or how it fits into it. I have been studying the names of God so I found this quote on page 83 to be especially meaningful " He is Wisdom, Adonnai, Flower of Jesse's Stem, Key of David, Radiant Dawn, God of All the Earth, Emmanuel-God with Us."

One chapter that I did learn from was Chapter 16- Asceticism. The vestments at church are not something I am familiar with. This was interesting. The idea of Lent and how you can grow spiritually is very intriguing and challenging.

This is a very easy & quick read. I wish it were a little more informative. But it has whetted my spiritual appetite to seek out more info, I guess that is a good thing.