Uncle Jesus

"Uncle Jesus" is a colorful children's book that tells the story of Jesus through memories that his young nephew has of his time with Uncle Jesus. The entire story is told through these memories, as a young Shem recalls his fondest memories of his uncle in conversation with his Grandma Mary.

The storyline of the book is cute and allows the younger reader to see Jesus as a real person who they can relate to through Shem. I would recommend this book for ages 6 and up. Some of the vocabulary choices are more appropriate for older children, as my four year old had some trouble understanding.

Overall I would give this book a 4/5. The illustrations are colorful and the story itself is an original idea to help kids relate to Jesus.

FTC Disclosure: I received this book for free from BookCrash.com in exchange for an honest review. I was not obligated to write a positive review and received no financial compensation for my review.

The Purpose Driven Life

I was so excited to receive "The Purpose Driven Life" by Rick Warren. This particular edition is the expanded edition, which updates the original version with interactive tools to help you get the most out of the book - for example, each day's reading includes a QR code that you can scan if you have a smartphone, and it links you to further lectures and information that correlate with the message of the day.

"The Purpose Driven Life" is a devotional style book, with one chapter to read every day. The book aims to help us understand our God given purpose in this life. Many people strive to be successful in their careers, finances, family life, and even in their spiritual life, but it is easy to overlook the fact that God has created each and every one of us for a specific God given purpose, as well. Rick Warren does a great job in putting this into perspective, and posing questions to help us find God's purpose for our lives.

What I liked about this book was that each day of the reading made me feel like I really was learning, and growing in my understanding of what God wants for my life - how I can better serve his kingdom. Rick Warren uses Bible verses to explain what God created us for, and how we can achieve his purpose. The chapters were only a few pages per day, so it was easy to pick up before bed and read that day's message.

I think this book was absolutely wonderful, and a perfect reminder that there is so much more we need to accomplish in our lives than getting that promotion, or making more money. I would highly recommend this book to any adult - it's really a very thought provoking book. I enjoyed it.

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.

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.