Walking on Water When You Feel Like You're Drowning

Tommy Nelson and Steve Leavitt have paired up to pen a book on dealing with anxiety and depression from a Christian perspective. "Walking on Water When You Feel Like You're Drowning: Finding Hope in Life's Darkest Moments" shares personal stories and triumphs of Tommy Nelson as he faced severe anxiety and depression. This book offers a lot of valuable wisdom to those who might also be facing these problems, or those who have a family member or friend going through depression or anxiety as well. The book takes a practical approach to explaining anxiety and depression, where it comes from, and how to deal with it. The book offers helpful information to questions those struggling may have, such as whether or not to take medication, and how they can change their mindset to help them in their troubles.

I thought this book was well written, and clearly comes from someone who knows first hand what a battle anxiety and depression can be, and how overwhelming it can feel to face. I thought this book offered sound advice for those who are dealing with anxiety or depression, and really broke these problems down and offered real advice that can be used in healing.

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

The Anger Workbook

"The Anger Workbook" by Les Carter and Frank Minirth is an interactive workbook aimed at helping us recognize and manage anger. This book is really neat, as it has so many interactive features to help you understand how anger affects your own life - questions with space to write out your own answer really helps identify anger in your life, even if you don't think it affects you. This workbook is broken up into four sections: Identifying Your Anger; Anger Thrives on Unmet Needs; How Other Emotions Can Create Anger; and Applying New Insights About Anger Reduction. The book offers a lot of valuable insights and principles to help understand and reduce anger in anyone's life. Even if you don't consider yourself to be an angry person, I think you could still benefit from the valuable tidbits in this workbook.


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.

What About Heaven

"What About Heaven?" by Kathleen Long Bostrom is a book in the "Little Blessings" series that offer children answers about Heaven - what Heaven is, who goes to Heaven, and what it is like in Heaven. The book is written in a sing song tone, with a cute rhyming pattern, which helps children remember some of the things they hear. The actual explanations about Heaven are Bible based, and each page gives the Scripture where the basis for that part of the story can be found. 

The book is easy for young children to understand, and Bostrom made the clear choice to use kid-friendly words, which makes this book appropriate for ages 3 and up. Another thing that I thought was important was that this book is very uplifting and cheerful - it makes Heaven feel like an exciting and fun place to go.

The book is illustrated by Elena Kucharik, and done wonderfully. The depictions of Heaven, and Angels are bright, colorful, and perfect for young children.

I thought this book was great for young children, especially if the loss of a loved one or loss of a pet has your child questioning what happens after they are gone.

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

6 Verses That Can Change Your Life

"6 Verses That Can Change Your Life" by Joe Barnett is is great Biblical companion for reinforcing essential Biblical principles. This book is a paperback cover, with 215 pages of actual reading, followed by a section devoted to individual action steps and a group discussion guide that corresponds with the chapters in the book. The book itself is broken up into six different sections, each with a major theme, such as "joy", "courage", "patience", and "trust". Each section offers five chapters that expound on the theme from a Biblical perspective, exploring, explaining, and relating to the theme. The end of each section also offers one page of summary resolutions - essentially promises that you can make to help reinforce that theme.

I thought this book was thoughtfully written, and Biblically researched. I think that nearly anyone could benefit from the principles and advice contained in these chapters. I would recommend this for any adult reader, as it covers such important topics and really uses Biblical references as well as modern day tie-ins to help the reader relate.

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

Gaither Homecoming Bible

"The Gaither Homecoming Bible" is an absolutely beautiful Bible that attempts to build faith not only through the word of God, but also through music and personal stories from others. Bill and Gloria Gaither and their team put together this Bible, and it is wonderful - they have added color to the pages of a traditional Bible, as well as made the connection between music and the Word. This is a hardcover, New King James Version. Throughout the Bible, they have added personal stories and insights from a variety of people, that ties in to the message of that particular passage of the Bible. Another thing they did was take a handful of popular hymns and trace back their origins, which was interesting to read.

I thought this Bible was beautifully pieced together with all the little extras that the Gaithers have added. I loved the added color on each page, and the musical features. I would highly recommend this Bible to anyone - I love it, and will definitely treasure it for many years to come.

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. I did not receive any financial compensation for this review.

Men of Sunday

"Men of Sunday" by Curtis Eichelberger is the perfect book for the Christian football lover! This book profiles some of the biggest names in football - past and present, and their challenges they face not only in their career, but in their faith. Most people think that these NFL athletes are tough, no nonsense kind of guys, but this book sheds light on a side of these men that most never see. Through in person interviews, Eichelberger retells the struggles and faith of men like Tony Dungy, Ray Lewis, Aaron Rodgers, Tim Tebow, and Herb Lusk. What I loved about this book is that each chapter has a theme, and Eichelberger uses stories from these men and others tied in with Biblical references and verses and it all fits together. I thought this book was very well written, and truly interesting. I was able to find a newfound respect for many of these men by learning their personal stories of faith and challenge, and how they were able to come out on top in their spiritual lives as well as on the football field. Great book, and would highly recommend it.


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.

90 Devotions for Kids

"90 Devotions for Kids" is a cute way to start getting your child into the habit of reading a little bit of the Bible every day. The devotionals are numbered, but not dated, so it is easy to jump in whenever you pick up the book. Each devotional starts with a Bible verse for that day, and then a short story or real life application for that verse. This is followed by a made up scenario about a particular character that helps compound the lesson and make it more real life for the child reading. The devotional ends with a daily challenge, that encourages the child to dig deeper into the lesson, or read more in their Bible. The very last part of the daily devotional is a Bible Theme memory verse. At the end of each week, there is a "theme" that takes a topic and gives almost an overview of the devotionals, with a memory verse, short story or explanation, and a short prayer. These topics cover subjects like learning about Jesus, the Bible, and forgiveness. Also mixed into this book are puzzles for the child to tackle. I thought this devotional gave a lot of variety and paid attention to topics that can really help younger kids grow in their faith. I would recommend this book for children ages 5+. Wonderfully written, great applications, and easy Bible verses for children to remember.


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