Book Review: Francis Man of Prayer

When I was presented with a chance to review Mario Escobar's Francis: Man of Prayer
 I was pretty excited.  The more I learn about Pope Francis the more I like him and I was very eager to learn more about him by reading a biography about him.  Now I have to say I was a bit surprised to see that a Christian publisher had published a book about the Holy Father.  Of course, after having read through the book I realize now that alarm bells probably should have gone off in my head after my initial surprise at a Christian publisher doing a biography on a Pope.  But I thought the best of the publisher and agreed to review this book.

The book started off great.  It gave a nice background on Pope Francis before he became Pope.  I was able to see past what I perceived as quaint descriptions of Catholic practices.  I know that Protestants don't fully get Catholicism so I wasn't bothered by some of their descriptions that missed the mark.  But then I delved further into the book and the more I read the more I became convinced that this book was pure anti-Catholic garbage.

The author didn't just make slights at Pope Francis, he had plenty of inaccurate and off base things to say about Blessed John Paul II and our Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.  And there was plenty of inaccuracies regarding the Catholic Church in general.  If you're a rabid anti-Catholic then you'll likely enjoy this book.  If, however, you're a Catholic I'd suggest you steer clear of this book and pick up a book published by a Catholic publisher.  Our Sunday Visitor has recently published a biography of Pope Francis which I'm certain would be a much more accurate account of our new Holy Father.

I was provided with a free review copy of this book by Book Sneeze in exchange for my brutally honest review.

Book Review: You Be Sweet

I have an eleven year old daughter who is very interested in learning to bake, so when she saw that I could review a southern style dessert cookbook she was pretty excited.  I decided that I'd make her day and I requested a digital copy of You Be Sweet: Sharing Your Heart One Down-Home Dessert at a Timeto read on my iPad.  

Ordinarily when I download an ebook, I don't have any issues with the entire book showing up in my Kindle app, which is my preferred method of reading ebooks.  However, with You Be Sweet, I found that the pictures of the recipes didn't show up at all, which I found odd.  Suspecting that something wasn't right I was able to obtain a different e-version of this book that I was able to read in iBooks.  With iBooks, I am able to see the photographs of featured recipes.  I found it really odd that you can't see the pictures in the Kindle app (and I even tried it on our Kindle touch and no pictures showed up there, either) but you can see them in another e-verison of the book.

You Be Sweetis essentially a cookbook with stories of southern entertaining.  The stories are interesting, but my daughter and I were primarily interested in the recipes.  Many of the recipes in this cook book are simple enough that my eleven year old was able to whip them up on her own.  I do wish that all of the recipes had a picture of how the finished product should look.  I'm more likely to try a new recipe if I can see what it is supposed to look like before I attempt it.  So lack of pictures is the biggest drawback of this book as far as I'm concerned.

There are plenty of yummy sounding recipes in this book.  After paging through this book for a few hours my eleven year old had found several desserts that she wanted to attempt.  Frozen Hot Chocolate was tops on her list.  She managed to toss it together in a short amount of time and everyone liked this very rich drink.

If you're looking for a dessert recipe book with some unique ideas that are sure to have coming back for seconds, you might want to give this book a whirl.

I was provided with a free e-version of this book by Book Sneeze in exchange for my honest review. You can take a peek inside You Be Sweet by visiting the product page at Amazon.

Book Review: The Ultimate DVD Read and Share Bible Vol. 2

A couple months ago I was given the opportunity to read volume 1 of Tommy Nelson's Ultimate DVD Read and Share Bible.  I found some of the story placement to be a bit odd, but other than that, I thought it was a cute bible story book for small children.  Because I liked volume 1, I was very happy to be presented with the opportunity to review volume 2, as well.

Much like the first volume of this Read and Share Bible, the stories are told in a way that will be easy for very young children to understand and retain.  The illustrations are cheerful and nicely represent the stories they accompany. For every story, a scripture reference is given so you will know where you can look it up in the bible.  As with volume one of this bible, this bulk of the stories found in this volume are from the Old Testament.

The book includes two DVDs that offer cartoon versions of 26 different stories from the book.  Many of the videos cover several of the little stories.  While the cartoons aren't the greatest animation, they are still decent quality.

My biggest gripe about this book is their retelling of the Last Supper.  Just as in other Tommy Nelson books from this series that tell the story of the Last Supper, they refer to the wine as grape juice or to be more specific "juice of the grape."  It simply irritates me that they don't call it wine.  This type of translation makes me shy away from recommending it for Catholic children.

Overall it's not a bad bible story book.  I'd recommend this book for Protestant children and Sunday school teachers of little ones of preschool-kindergarten age.  I would not recommend this book for Catholic children.  However, to be completely fair, given that the book is from a non-Catholic publisher, I didn't have any expectations that this book would be completely in line with a Catholic translation of the bible.

I was provided with a free copy of this book through Thomas Nelson's book reviewer program BookSneeze in exchange for my honest review.

Book Review: Precious Moments Storybook Bible

Having long been a fan of Sam Butcher's Precious Moments art work, I was delighted to have the opportunity to review the new Precious Moments Storybook Bible published by Thomas Nelson.  This lovely padded hardcover children's bible is beautifully illustrated.  As you would expect of a Precious Moments bible, the illustrations are perfectly charming.

The storybook bible is suitable for gift giving.  There is a dedication page along with several pages entitled "Church Record" where you can fill in the dates of sacraments received, vacation bible schools attended and other such things.  This book would make a lovely gift for a baptism or dedication. Given the way the record section is worded, I would say that this book is primarily geared to protestant children.

The stories in this book are written in a way that is clearly intended for very young children.  I felt that some of the harsher aspects of some bible stories seemed to be softened so as to not frighten little ones.

My only real gripe with this book is the order of the stories.  I prefer children's bibles that flow from the beginning of the old testament to the end of the new testament.  This storybook bible hops all over the place.  As an example, you'll find the story of the crucifixion before the story of the nativity.  You'll also find old testament stories mixed in with new testament stories.

Overall, this storybook bible is very nice for sharing bible stories with very young children.  Just looking at the illustrations of this book is a delight.

I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book by Thomas Nelson's reviewer program, BookSneeze, in exchange for my honest review.

Book Review: The American Patriot's Almanac

I'm one of those people who has an unquenchable thirst for history.  I'm not sure what it is about it that attracts me, but I just know that I'm like a sponge wanting to soak up every ounce of historical knowledge that I can get my hands on.  When I was presented with the opportunity to review The American Patriot's Almanac I was more than happy to take a peek inside the covers of the book to see if it was any good.  I was delighted with what I found in this book.

There was plenty in this book that I expected to see.  When you're well versed in American history, sometimes there are key facts that you fully expect to see in any volume that broadly covers our nation's history.  In addition to the usual suspects, there are plenty of other articles of American history that are lesser known in this lovely book.

One of the things that particularly struck me about this book was it's size. The book is 7.5X9.5 inches and nearly 2 inches thick.  This book is the patriotic equivalent of a daily devotional book.  For every day of the year (with the exception of February 29th) there is a patriotic article and a little section called "American History Parade" which lists events that happened on that day in history.  There are larger articles at the beginning and end of the book as well as in between each month.

I think this book is very well done and would be a great gift idea for the American history buff in your life.  This book would also make a great resource for a homeschooling family.  With it's daily reading format, one could easily incorporate  a this day in history type of element into their history curriculum.

This review was written as part of the BookSneeze program from Thomas Nelson.  I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Book Review: Jesus Calling

Sarah Young's Jesus Calling 356 Devotions for Kids is a devotional that is supposed to be geared to young kids and tweens.  Having paged through the book I suspect the publisher is a bit off in their target range.  I think this book is better suited for tweens to teens.  I simply don't see a child who is 7 or 8 using this devotional effectively.

The devotional has an appearance that looks fun and inviting while possessing a vintage look at the same time.  It's a cute book, and that alone may inspire some kids to pick and up and use it.

This particular devotional book is ordered by the calendar year.  Each day has a heading followed by scripture.  The reflections are written as if Jesus is talking to your child.  I liked how the reflections were written in a way that makes Jesus feel like a good friend talking to you.  It makes the devotional and a relationship with Jesus something that feels approachable for kids.  The reflections are followed up with a "Read on your own" section that has more Bible verses to be looked up.  If you have a child who isn't very good at looking up scripture a year with this book will certainly help your child become very familiar with finding verses in their Bible.

This book is suitable for gift giving and has a dedication page.  Since the devotional starts on January first, it would make a nice Christmas present.

I think this is a nice devotional but I'm wouldn't recommend it for Catholic children given that many verses that are taken from Protestant translations of the Bible.  Of course, this devotional is published by a Christian publisher and not a Catholic one, so that doesn't surprise me and I can't fault the book for not being Catholic.  If I were looking for a devotional for a Catholic youth, I'd want to see something that followed the liturgical year and highlighted major feast days.

I was provided with a free review copy of this book from BookSneeze in exchange for my honest review.

Book Review: A Christmas Prayer

A lovely little book just arrived on my doorstep today.  Amy Parker's A Christmas Prayer is a beautiful padded board book that teaches little ones the true meaning of Christmas in a gentle rhyming way.  The story is a small child's prayer at Christmastime.

The prayer itself is one of thanksgiving that tells the Christmas story.  We start with thanks for the Angel Gabriel, followed by thanks for our Blessed Mother, Mary and her faithful husband, St. Joseph.  Then there's thanks for a series of other things that all tell the Nativity story.  The prayer finishes with thanks for the gift of our Lord and God's great love for us.

The book is illustrated in beautiful soft colors.  As the story progresses we see how the child is using her toys to act out the nativity story.  The illustrations are sure to capture the attention of small children.

This book would be a lovely bedtime story during Advent for children up to about age 5.  I like that the focus of this book is not on the materialistic aspect of the Christmas season, but rather where it belongs, on the birth of Jesus.  The book is suitable for gift giving even though it does not have a dedication page.  

I was provided with a complimentary review copy of this book as a reviewer for Thomas Nelson's BookSneeze blogger review program in exchange for my honest review.

Book Review: The Heavens Proclaim His Glory

I have a daughter who is fascinated by astronomy and I figured she would love to spend time looking through Lisa Stilwell's The Heavens Proclaim His Glory.  The book is a compilation of images of the heavens as viewed through the lens of the Hubble Telescope.  My assumptions were correct and my nearly nine year old daughter loved paging through this lovely book and pondering all of it's beautiful and awe-inspiring images.  When looking though this book her primary focus has been to learn about the many images contained in it's pages.  The book has certainly been a hit with her.

This book is a mix of astronomy and faith.  I liked how the book was set up.  It has a nice relaxed feel to it.  There are gorgeous full color photos that are accompanied with the scientific description of the image and either a scripture reference or inspiring quote that nicely complemented the photo.

I suppose this book falls into the category of coffee table book.  The beautiful images and the inspiration to be found in them and the text that accompanies them are sure to spark many conversations.  It's the type of book that you could open to any random page and find something to inspire.  The dedication page in this book makes it suitable for gift giving.

I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book as part of the Book Sneeze blogger review program in exchange for my honest review.

Book Review: God's Promises for Girls

I recently had the opportunity to review God's Promises for Girls through Thomas Nelson's Book Sneeze reviewer program.  The book is comprised of inspirational Bible verses for various moods, for just about every aspect of a young girls life, and to bring comfort and understanding about the wonderful promises God makes to all of us for our salvation.  For each grouping of scripture, a cute little inspirational message is included.  Every section has an adorable illustration that goes along with the inspirational message.

The Bible verses in this book are taken from the International Children's Bible.  The Bible verses from this translation are in modern English and will be easy for young readers to grasp.  This translation is not Catholic, but I found nothing in this book that was contrary to Catholic teaching.  If I had, I wouldn't have passed it on to my daughters.

My children, ages 8 1/2 and nearly 5, like this book. The youngest child likes looking at the adorable and very vibrant illustrations.  Think modern Precious moments with bold colors.  My 8 1/2 year old daughter read a few sections of the books and thought it was very nice.  So I'd say it gets the little girl seal of approval.

This book would make a nice gift for a little girl.  There's a dedication page in this book that makes it perfect for gift giving.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com <http://BookSneeze.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Book Review: The Revolutionary Paul Revere

When I saw this book available for review from Thomas Nelson's Book Sneeze review program I paused for a moment and wondered how there could possibly be an entire book devoted to Paul Revere.  Aside from a midnight ride, I was totally unaware of what this book might contain.  Considering I am well versed in American history and didn't really know anything about Paul Revere aside from his legendary midnight ride to rouse the patriots that the redcoats were coming, I decided I had to read this book.

I was pleasantly surprised with the captivating story of Paul Revere.  Prior to reading this book, I thought of Paul Revere as being little more than a glorified footnote in American history.  While he's not a founding father by any stretch of the imagination, he certainly had a role to play in our nation's bid for freedom during our colonial period.

I walked away from this book with the impression that Paul Revere was the quintessential American.  From humble beginnings, he worked hard to improve his standings and eventually attain recognition and success.

The book is well written and quite engaging.  Unlike many history books, this book moves along at a nice pace.  I thoroughly enjoyed this book and recommend it to anyone who is looking for a gripping account of life in colonial Boston.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Book Review: The Gospel According to LOST

I recently had the opportunity to read Seay's The Gospel According to LOST as a reviewer for the Thomas Nelson Book Review Blogger program (I was supplied with a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review). I'm one of those avid fans of ABC's LOST series and I figured with the amount of analyzing I have done over this show over the past several years that this book would really appeal to me. The scriptural references and parallels that can be made with the LOST series was nothing new to me, and has been discussed in depth on LOST message boards and on a Philadelphia morning radio show (Preston and Steve, anyone?) in the past. LOST is the only show that has sent me running for my Bible to try and get clues for future episodes or a greater insight for the story line. So with that in mind, I was hoping that Seay's book would expand on what I had already discovered through various discussions with other LOST fans. Sadly, I feel he fell short. Seay's premise is good, but it's superficial at best. He attempts to explain the main characters of the LOST story line, but I feel he glosses over some key characters who may actually be larger than their small parts lead you to believe. As far as scriptural references are concerned, I think this book is a little lighter on them than I would have expected. Perhaps I feel this way because I read a lot of Catholic books that are heavy on scriptural references. I would also add that this book is not written from a Catholic standpoint, either. There are a few areas in this book that have statements that are clearly from a protestant standpoint, which makes sense given that it is written by a protestant. The writing style of this book is mildly engaging. I suspect that people, like myself, who have really analyzed LOST down to the last detail will find this book lacking and possibly even boring. In reading the epilogue of this book the author succinctly sums up the reason for this book. He writes "I sometimes wonder if I wrote this book so that I could have a legitimate reason to rewatch LOST episodes while my wife put the kids to bed.". I'd have to say that this is, indeed, probably the driving force behind this book. If the author's analysis had been deeper and more meaningful, I'd say he had a better motive in writing this book, but honestly, I think he did write this as an excuse to shirk his responsibilities as a dad and say "Sorry dear, I can't help you put the kids to bed tonight. I've got to do more research for that book I'm writing on LOST." (Grabs chips and heads for the couch.).