Valerie's Reading Cafe

Soulprint by Mark Batterson

2011-01-22T07:57:00.000-05:00

Soulprint by Mark Batterson is a book about discovering your divine destiny. As one who struggles with an extremely low self esteem, the intro of this book just breathed life into my very soul. However, Batterson points everything back to the Creator, our Heavenly Father, as he should have because we know if we read God's Word, that everything was created by Him and for Him (Colossians 1:16). As we enter into chapter 1 and through the end of the book we take a look at the life of David. With each chapter there was always something that was thought provoking that makes you want to examine your own life or at least for me, as someone who longs to be a woman after God's own heart. In my opinion, this book has the potential to change lives, to the ones who apply what they learn though reading this book! It's also a book that can be read 2 and 3 times or more and as a matter of fact as I sit here and type this review I'm ready to read it again. Only this time I want to take a look at the discussion questions they have provided at the end of this book. So dig in and be prepared to be amazed at the works of our Creator!

Here' a link to read Chapter 1!
And here's a link to buy Soulprint!

*I have received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.*

Hand of Fate by Lis Wiehl with April Henry

2010-04-09T08:31:00.001-04:00

I received a copy of this book to review from the Thomas Nelson Book Review Blogger Program which is called BookSneeze (you can find out more about them at booksneeze.com). So a Big Thanks goes out to Thomas Nelson!

Hand of Fate is story is about a talk radio show host who gets murdered and the Triple Threat Team all gets to work on this case just like they were all able to work together in the first book. I read the first book in this series and loved the story itself but the character development wasn't so great for me. However after reading this book, I was very pleased to learn more about the characters that make up the Triple Threat but the story line itself was a little so so for me. Overall though I really enjoyed this book. I think the reason why I had a hard time with this story line was because there wasn't even the first clue to point to the person who done it in this book where in the last one I knew at one point in the book who the person was but by the end of the book I had switched my answer to someone else to who I thought done it.

With all that being said I think those who enjoy mystery novels will love this book and I look forward to the 3rd installment of the series!

Never Say Never by Lisa Wingate

2010-04-01T14:01:00.001-04:00

First of all I would like to give a big thanks to the Bethany House Publisher for allowing me to receive a copy of this book for review!

The first time I read a Lisa Wingate book was maybe about 3 months ago and I fell in love with the characters in Word Gets Around which was the second book in her Daily, Texas Series. I still have not had a chance to read Talk of the Town which is the first in the series. Even though I am not a big fan of reading books in a series out of order I was very excited to find that these book can be read as stand alone books so that makes me happy in itself.

In Never Say Never, I found I was able to relate in some ways to the characters and the real message I pulled from this book has sorta become my life's motto and has been for quite a while, not because I read this book but because of things that has happened in my life, which in essence makes me feel like I can sort of relate to the characters.

Overall I thought this was an excellent book, it was little slow for me at one point but I loved the message I pulled out of the book and I feel whoever reads this book will not be disappointed!

Face of Betrayal by Lis Wiehl with April Henry

2010-02-03T13:06:00.001-05:00

This is only my second book that I have chosen to review for the Thomas Nelson blogger book review program (which you can look into at booksneeze.com). I will say I was much more pleased with my decision to review this book than the last book I chose! A big thanks goes out to Thomas Nelson for allowing me to review this book and keep it in exchange!

It starts out, from the very first page, of a 17 year old girl, who is a Senate Page, who goes missing while being home for the holidays. From there you meet 3 women, who consider themselves to be called the Triple Threat, who search for clues and answers as to what happened to this 17 year old girl. As the story went on I kept trying to figure out who was behind the disappearance of this girl and I was right at one point but I kept going back and forth as to who I thought it was and in the end when it came out as to who was behind it I was wrong. I loved this book for the challenge in trying to figure out who was behind the disappearance of this girl. However the actual story line with the characters who was trying to figure out what happened to the girl, the Triple Threat, was a little so so for me. This was a very quick read and I had a hard time putting it down because I wanted to know what happened to this girl. If you like suspense novels I would highly recommend this book but if you are looking for character development I wouldn't suggest you read this one because I did feel it was a little lacking in that aspect. Overall all though I still thought it was a pretty good book!

The Sacred Meal by Nora Gallagher

2009-12-30T19:26:00.003-05:00

To start off I would like to say that I chose to read this book through the Thomas Nelson Book Review Blogger program. So a big thanks goes out to Thomas Nelson for allowing me to receive and keep a copy of this book for reviewing.

When I chose this book I thought I was going to like it because it was supposed to give you insight into the Sacred Meal which I call Communion, others may call it something else. However as I started reading it the author Nora Gallagher goes on about her experiences of partaking in Communion. I think is great for her to share how she felt and what it meant to her but that was not what I was expecting when I chose to read this book. So needless to say I was very disappointed in this book. It took me a while to read this book because I just could not get into it very much at all but I stuck with it since I had to, to write this review. Overall the book was okay it may mean something to someone else but I just had a hard time with it.

The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks

2009-11-12T11:07:00.001-05:00

Here is a quick summary of : The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks this is a book about a 17 year old girl named Veronica "Ronnie" Miller whose life was turned upside down when her parents got divorced. Her dad was a former concert pianist and teacher at the school of Juilliard. When her parents got divorced her dad moved from their New York home down to a little town along the beach-side called Wilmington, North Carolina where he was raised as a little boy. This angered Ronnie and she chose to be mad at her dad, so much so that she hadn't spoke to him once in 3 years, so you can imagine how angry she was when she found out she had to go spend a whole summer with him but that summer, I believe (from my own personal thoughts after having read this phenomenal book), changed her life forever. This is a story of love between a parents and their children as well as first loves.

Now without giving any spoilers to the book I would like to share my own personal thoughts, if my thoughts seem vague I am sorry, but after you read the book I am sure you will understand. One of the first things after having read this book that pops out to me the most is the fact that Ronnie's father exudes a strength that can only be drawn from the Holy Spirit. When Ronnie lashes out and gets angry with him, he loves her and never yells back and when a situation occurs that looks as though she is guilty of something he believes her when she says she is innocent, given her history in this particular situation he would have had every right not to believe her. This particular thought on the book inspires me to want to be a better parent and strengthen my relationship with God so that I too can exude these traits of the Holy Spirit that I am currently lacking right now. The second thought that I would like to share that stands out to me is the fact that Ronnie even though she may do things wrong she know when she has and she takes on the consequences whatever they maybe. I share this as this is something that I think we all should do, you reap what you sow so to speak or as another analogy goes don't do the crime if you can't do the time.

In closing if you have read any Nicholas Sparks books I am sure you are aware of the themes that usually run through all his books and this one is no different that is why I wanted to share the things that I drew from the book, the things that inspired me to be a better person. I think this is a great read and if you like this type of books than you will love this one!

With this being my first review of a book on my blog if you have any comments or anything that you would like to share please do so. I would love to know if my review has helped you in anyway or maybe you have already read the book, how do you feel about these thoughts that I have drawn from it?

May God bless all who visit this page and may the words I say inspire you to go out and change the world one step at a time! ~Valerie

Welcome!

2009-11-05T10:37:00.000-05:00

As a growing Christian, I am constantly, especially here lately, being challenged with what I am feeding my brain especially through television. After watching what I thought was going to be a good show, when it came out this Fall, last night I realized the filth and the underlying messages are just too much I am really feeling God tug at me and I am hearing that voice saying you should not be watching this. So I have decided to start spending my free time reading!

Growing up I was never much of a reader, I guess if I wanted to fall asleep quicker I should have picked up a book and started reading because growing up that is exactly what reading done to me. Every once in a while the required reading for school interested me but most of the time I found it incredibly boring. However back around May/June of this year I decided to try reading for a hobby and I was shocked to find that I actually liked reading. Maybe it was the book I chose to read after looking at some select titles and descriptions but I am not sure. I was also completely shocked to find that I could read and almost 500 page book in 5 days....I mean this was the first book I had picked up in a really long time, now remember I said reading made me fall asleep so to read a 100 pages a day to me was just phenomenal!

Since then I have read about 30 books from different genres but the majority is Christian fiction. So far my favorite authors are Karen Kingsbury and Nicholas Sparks!

Now within the past week or so since I finished reading Nicholas Sparks most recent book titled The Last Song, I have been wanting to share the things that I learn from reading a book, what is I like about a book or even if there is something I don't like about a book. Thus the reason for creating this blog, I am going to use this blog to convey what I want to share about what I am reading or have read. I hope you will find what I have to say useful in your search for a book to read and I would love to take this time to welcome you to Valerie's Reading Cafe!

May God bless all who visit this page and may the words I say inspire you to go out and change the world one step at a time! Please feel free to leave any comments that you may have!