Fearless Daughters of the Bible

"Fearless Daughters of the Bible" by J. Lee Grady is an awesome book for women. This book profiles 22 women of the Bible, and tells their story of faith, hope, and strength. What I really loved about this book was that not only does J. Lee Grady pick the most popular women of the Bible, such as Ruth, Esther, and Mary, mother of Jesus, he also picks out more obscure female figures, such as Achsah, Jehosheba, and Priscilla. 

This book takes the time to tell the whole story of each of these women, detailing their life and times. I thought that each story really takes you back into the life of each woman, really helping you understand their struggles, and their faith. Each chapter follows the story of a different woman of the Bible, and highlights the reality of their own personal situation. For example, in the story of Esther, we learn that King Xerxes was a despot, who had many concubines at his disposal, and constantly used the threat of execution to maintain order. 

I really thought that this book gives us a rare glance into the lives of some of the Bible's heroines, and really gives an awesome perspective of these women and their life and experiences. I would highly recommend this book to any women looking to learn more about our heroic ancestors! 

FTC DISCLOSURE: I received this book for free from Bethany House Publishers in exchange for an honest review. I was not obligated to write a positive review.

You Can't Make Me (But I Can Be Persuaded)

"You Can't Make Me (But I Can Be Persuaded) by Cynthia Ulrich Tobias is a book devoted to helping us bring out the best in our strong-willed children. I have to admit I was very intrigued by this book because I have a very independent, strong four year old. I don't believe this to be a bad thing, but it does seem to create some conflict, so I was open to any suggestions as to how to nurture her independence rather than try and change it. 

One of the most helpful pieces of advice that I took away from this book was changing the way that I reacted to conflict with my daughter. Rather than issue an ultimatum, giving her a "do this or else" attitude, Tobias suggests using a positive reinforcement to achieve peace. I found this to be particularly useful with my own strong-willed child. I also really liked that Tobias took the time to explain the mentality of a strong-willed child, based on age, from toddler years through young adults, giving a simple, but thorough explanation of their mentality and mindset at each age. It really does help to understand what your child is thinking and helps you craft a better response when conflict arises. 

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has a strong-willed child in their life. I think it was so important to understand that independent and strong-willed children aren't "difficult", but they just have a different approach to their way of thinking, and we have to adjust how we approach them when it comes to discipline and rules. 

FTC DISCLOSURE: I received this book for free from BloggingforBooks.org in exchange for an honest review. I was not obligated to write a positive review.

Our Daily Bread Devotional Bible

Our Daily Bread Devotional Bible is a hardcover NLT version of the Bible with daily devotionals built in. This Bible Is unique in that each book of the Bible is broken up into smaller sections and those sections are prefaced by a page long devotional that helps integrate the chapters of that book that follow. 

What I really liked about this Bible is that it essentially merges two books into one. The devotionals are easy to understand and relate to. They were placed perfectly and the smaller sections each devotional accompanies is not too long. Length-wise, it is easy to make time to read one each day. 

The only thing I didn't like was that the devotionals are dated, so January 1 is the first few chapters of Genesis and so on. I would have rather the just dated the devotionals "day 1" and so on so that no matter when you start this Bible, you can start at the beginning. 

FTC Disclosure: I received this book from Tyndale House Publishers in exchange for an honest review.

The Anger Workbook

"The Anger Workbook" is a workbook devoted to helping us begin to acknowledge and limit anger and the effect that it has on our lives. Les Carter, PhD and Frank Minirth, MD have based this interactive guide on 13 steps that help build an effective anger management mentality. This is a workbook, which I think works so well for a topic like this, because it poses questions and gives you plenty of space to write in your own answer. It is really a great tool for an honest assessment of your anger, and it offers solid guidance for controlling/limiting/managing anger in your everyday life. This book isn't just for people who have serious anger management issues - this would be perfect for the stressed out mom, busy working father, or moody teenager! I thought that "The Anger Workbook" really helped me be honest with myself about situations I can look at differently, and attitudes I can change in order to have a healthier mentality. I would recommend this to anyone - it is a very useful book!

FTC DISCLOSURE:  I received this book for free from BookSneeze.com's blogger program in exchange for an honest review. I was not obligated to write a positive review. The views and opinions expressed herein are entirely my own.

6 Verses That Can Change Your Life

Joe Barnett's book, "6 Verses That Can Change Your Life", focuses on six attributes that are deemed to be essential - attributes such as joy, assurance, peace, and trust. Each attribute has its own section of the book, and each section is broken down into smaller chapters that offer personal stories, historical and Biblical references, and explanations from Barnett. The last page of each section is essentially a meditation of what you can resolve to do in order to implement the principles from that section.

I liked the premise of this book. When you truly break down the faith of a Christian to its most basic foundation, you will find those six principles. This book offers wisdom and guidance in developing and expanding our own personal understanding and implementation of these ideals. The historical and Biblical references are useful and relevant to the message, and the book flows well.

I also liked the fact that Barnett included a group discussion guide for each chapter, as well as what he calls, "Individual Action Steps", which are recommendations to further your understanding of the message through Scripture, self evaluation, and actions you can take to reinforce the message of the chapter.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone - I think it would be especially useful for those experiencing a hard time in their life, or those struggling in their own faith. Wonderfully written, and truly resourceful!

FTC DISCLOSURE: I received this book from BookCrash.com in exchange for an honest review. I was not obligated to write a positive review. All opinions expressed herein are entirely my own. I did not receive any financial compensation for this review.

The Gaither Homecoming Bible

"The Gaither Homecoming Bible" is a New King James Version bible translation assembled by Bill and Gloria Gaither. The Bible itself is a traditional translation, but the Gaither family added a lot of extras into it - the major theme is tying in songs, poems, and quotes from others into the text. This Bible offers a little more color in the pages than a traditional Bible, which I really liked - Colorful text boxes with quotes or important Bible verses, as well as a splash of color in the top margins of the pages. Articles and personal stories are inserted into appropriate places in the text to help the reader make a more personal connection with the Bible, which is a nice addition. I also really enjoyed the tie ins to music - featured articles such as "The Power of Music to Heal" as well as the stories behind popular hymns were really interesting.

The only thing that this Bible is missing is an index, which I use quite frequently in my other Bibles for looking up specific topics and subjects. Other than that, this Bible has everything you could ask for, and a little more. The Gaithers did a wonderful job in assembling this beautiful Bible.

FTC DISCLOSURE: I received this book for free from BookSneeze.com's Blogging for Books program in exchange for an honest review. I was not obligated to write a positive review.

Men of Sunday

"Men of Sunday" by Curtis Eichelberger is a compilation of stories of faith from what I would have thought would be a most unlikely source - some of the NFL's elite players. This book was really interesting in the way it was put together. "Men of Sunday" is broken up into nine chapters, each one having a theme, such as "temptation", "what it means to lead", and "family sacrifices". Throughout the pages of this book the reader is told stories of faith, God, and struggle from some of the most famous names in football. "Men of Sunday" features prominent athletes like Mike Singletary, Trent Dilfer, Justin Tuck, LaDainian Tomlinson, Oshiomogho Atogwe, and Jay Feely. These personal stories from these men are interwoven with Biblical stories to make a very inspirational, very interesting book. I really enjoyed reading this book, and would highly recommend it to the football fan in your life.

FTC DISCLOSURE: I received this book for free from BookSneeze.com in exchange for an honest review. I was not obligated to write a positive review.