Books, Movies, and Chinese Food

Summary from Christianbook .com: What would YOU do if you had to make a life altering decision? Would you stand your ground and choose a path that follows your belief? Or would you give in to peer pressure to avoid rejection? With this 2 in 1 book you are given the opportunity to do just that. In High Stakes, Amber and Brittany are best friends but now they're in competition with each other. Whoever has the best grades and perfect attendance is able to win a brand new car! Amber wants to win so badly, especially since her father got laid off and money has been really tight. But when Amber cheats on a test and Brittany gets blamed for it, will Amber own up to it or let Brittany take the fall? You decide and discover the life-altering consequences. In Essence of Lilly, Lilly will do anything to avoid being at him, including making up youth group events to hang out with her boyfriend Jason. But when Jason wants her to lie to her parents about an overnight church retreat so she can st...

Visit Amish Country during the fall as Lydia King attempts to make Charm, Ohio, feel like home after losing her husband. But is her heart ready to open back up to love when gifts appear on her porch from a mystery source? Could it be from the widowed father of four energetic boys, or is it from the man who has rejected romance to be his family's caregiver? When life hands Lydia another challenge, will the gift giver be there to support her? This is hard to believe but this was actually the first Amish book that I have read by Wanda Brunstetter. I'm a big Amish fiction reader but even though I have many of Brunstetter's books, I haven't actually sat down and read one until now. I know she's very popular with Amish readers but I just haven't gotten around to reading her. This book brought together something I never thought I would read in a book: Amish and midgets. It's a very unlikely combination that sounds like it would never work out but Brunste...

For the sake of her ailing mother, Marianne Denton becomes engaged to Noah Brennin---a merchantman she despises. But as the War of 1812 escalates, Jonah's ship is captured by the British, and the ill-matched couple learns vital information that could aid America's cause. As they battle to save their country, will they also find love? I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed reading this book. I was expecting a full out historical ROMANCE but instead I got a HISTORICAL romance. Believe me this makes a difference. Oh there's plenty of romance throughout the story but with so much focus on the historical aspects of the time period, I found myself wanting to board the ship and ride out the adventure with Marianne and Noah. The story takes place around the War of 1812 so Britain and the young American country are still at arms with each other. The descriptions about life aboard a sailing vessel during the time period were very detailed and I could almost feel...

Landon Snow finds himself on a wild adventure at sea. When a huge, ark—like vessel emerges, Landon—and his sisters—join a quest to find the Island of Arcanum, where the animals of Wonderwood are imprisoned. With the help of his old friends—a horse named Melech, elfish valley folk, a girl named Ditty, and the poet/prophet Vates—Landon seeks to unlock the island's dark secrets and escape with the animals. But he must battle storms and the villainous Arcans—pirates who hoard animals as treasure. Will Landon ever make it back to Wonderwood alive? First off, I would like to apologize to any faithful readers who have been reading my blog since the beginning. I promised a review of this book back in November of 2006 and am only now getting around to it! When I first read these books, they had been touted as the Christian version of Harry Potter. I disagreed because there's no magic and frankly the storyline was not as good. Still though I thought they were good reads for middle gra...

Kate Walker joins the swim team and becomes obsessed with practice and making it through the championships with flying colors. What will Kate do when she s faced with pressure from her teammates to take an illegal substance that will help her swim multiple events in their championship meet? This book was another major improvement in the series that targets an older audience. And it's a move I really appreciated. Kate is a regular teen girl who's looking to find something to fill her spare time and that thing happens to be swimming. She's a natural at it and even at her best is better than the top swimmers already on the team. However in this day and age of competitive pressure, your natural best is not good enough. How Kate gets sucked into a downward spiral happened naturally. For the record, I don't drink energy drinks but that's purely because I can't stand the taste. I'll drink lots of coffee but I pass on the Red Bull. I liked how it was sho...

Molly Jacobs isn’t sure what she should do: Should she follow through with stealing some clothes for her friends from Magna—the trendy girls’ clothing store where she works? Or should she do what she knows is right, even if it means losing her newfound popularity? Remember how I had a bit of trouble with the previous two books in this series? Not that I thought that there was anything really wrong with the books, it was just that I thought the stories targeted a younger audience that what I felt they were intended for Well this book totally erased any of those thoughts. The ages of the characters in this book were 15 and I really felt that they acted like 15 years olds. Pretty much everything in this book was rather realistic and it made me feel like a teen all over again. I adored all the scenes that took place while Molly worked at Magna. There's lots of clothes talk and it's actually clothes that girls really do wear these days. One worry about Tween and YA fiction i...

Drew Daniels finally has what she thought she wanted—popularity and a cute boyfriend. But now she’s faced with choosing between pleasing her boyfriend and doing what’s right. Tween readers make the choice in this interactive story and see how the consequences change Drew’s life. Includes a contract and prayer to remind the reader of the importance of making godly decisions. I will say that I liked this book A LOT. To be honest, I enjoyed it more than the first book in the series. Previously I had issues with characters acting younger than their age or too many actual sermons in the book. This book had neither. Both Drew and Dani act like actual freshmen in high school. It's interesting to see how they began to grow apart and start trying to form their own distinct personalities. Stories about twins growing up sometimes have one twin resenting the other for leaving them behind. This one begins that way but Dani soon finds her own niche. Once again, the characters have clos...

Lindsay Martin is faced with a tough choice: Does she give in to peer pressure and make her friends happy or does she do what she knows is right—even if it means losing her friends forever? Tween readers make the choice in this interactive story and see how the consequences change Lindsay’s life. Includes a contract and prayer to remind the reader of the importance of making godly decisions. When I was growing up, I adored the Choose Your Own Adventure books. I would try out every scenario and keep my thumb held in place so I could go back and switch my decision to get a different outcome. The problem with those books though was that they usually involved situations that I would never find myself in and therefore couldn't really relate to. Therefore I was pleased to hear that there were these books coming out that were in the same vein as the CYOA books but involved real teens and tweens in situations that come across in life. This books deals with the ever popular game of Trut...

I'm giving away a brand new copy of today's book! Leave a comment with your email address so I can contact you if you win. I'll pick a name and announce the winner on Tuesday, July 1. International readers may enter. Good luck! From the outside looking in, local Chiropractor Dr. Rachel Donovan seems to have it together. She’s returned to her hometown of Shady Grove and runs a thriving Chiropractic practice. She’s be nominated as Shady Grove’s Citizen Of The Year, and appointed to the committee planning the town’s major centennial celebration and rodeo. Unfortunately, on the inside everything is not as it appears. The committee duties come with baggage—cute, cowboy baggage to be precise. Jack Westwood is the epitome of the stereotypical cowboy; rugged, handsome and bull-headed. While he makes everyone else swoon, Rachel is determined to not get involved any more than necessary. She knows his type—T-R-O-U-B-L-E. Unfortunately, the fallout from a mistake that Rachel made fif...

Running away doesn't solve everything Isabelle Gayarre was born the illegitimate daughter of a white man and his lover who was a slave. She's been sold to a master she does not want. Therefore with the help of her half sister, she attempts to flee to England. Josiah Carter, captain of the ship Isabelle finds herself on, is himself running away from the demons of his past. His relationship with his father is on the rocks. When he finds Isabelle on the ship, the two find themselves sparring with each other. A relationship grows, but Isabelle has not told Josiah the whole truth about herself. This book has a lot of adventure and romance in the story. Fans of historical fiction on the seas will enjoy this book. I liked the history part of the book especially dealing with the issues of slavery. I've always found it interesting about how in the 19th century that even a drop of mixed blood in you would make you a slave. Thus there would be blond hair, blue eyed people wa...

If only we were all colorblind Andy Carmichael is a reporter from the North who travels down to Georgia to write an article on the story of a dying woman. Miss Pembrook tells him to read a set of diaries which she says chronicles the story of her life. What the reader discovers next is a life of race relations, where color of the skin seems to be the only thing that matters. However for Andy and Miss Pembrook, it is what is inside that truly matters as shocking secrets of heritage and ancestry are discovered. Have you ever read a book that after you finish reading you feel totally drained? That's what happened to me after reading this book. I got so caught up in the characters and in the story that I felt like I was in the book. This was one of the most powerful books that I read this past year. The story just hooks you from the beginning with a mystery that is throughout the book. If you are a fan of happily ever after historical fiction, do not read this book. If you are n...

Russian Historical Fiction at Its Best It is the time of the Russian revolution where anyone connected with the royal family is no longer safe. Anton has been trusted with command by the tsar to take two servant girls from the royal house into safety. He soon falls in love with one of the girls, Oksana who seems to be hiding a secret from him. The two are constantly at odds but Anton has vowed to keep her safe. When he finds out her secret, will he still keep his promise to her or will he betray her trust? I was afraid when reading this book I would be lost because I hadn't read the 2nd and 3rd book in the series. I had read the first book, Ekaterina, and had enjoyed it very much. However this book reads as a novel by itself although reading the other books will probably help to connect the complete storyline. I'm a huge fan of Russian history especially when dealing with the Russian royal family. I have always found the rise and fall of the last Tsar of Russia and his fami...

A Pirate's Life for Me Lady Isabel Ashton's illegitimate baby boy has been kidnapped. She finds out it's because of the baby's father, Captain Kent Carlton, a pirate who left her before she had the baby. When he vows to help her rescue their son, Isabel is wary about this because she doesn't trust him. But after finding out that her parents will have nothing to to with getting back their grandson, she realizes that this is the only way to get him back. It's off to a high adventure on the seas with sword fights, storms, attacks from natives and deadly battles. Arrgh mateys! Ok I had been putting off reading this series for unknown reasons. I don't know why, I just never got around to the books in my TBR stack. Now after reading this book, I'm going to have to go back and read the first two. This is a highly addictive book about one of my favorite subjects. Pirates have become so "in" in the last few years thanks to Johnny Depp and Orlando ...

Fantasy fun for the kiddies Landon Snow, on a trip to visit his grandparents, finds himself transported into a magical world beyond the library. In it he discovers talking books, chess pieces that come to life, and trying to find out what is the meaning of the Book his grandfather keeps talking about. Strange clues and riddles keep him on his toes during his search. Will he find out the answer to what is the meaning of everything? I read this book mainly because it was highly touted as a Christian alternative to Harry Potter. Since I am a huge Harry Potter fan, I was curious as to see whether or not this book could live up to the hype. Well, if I was just going to compare the two, I find myself slightly disappointed. This book is nothing like Harry Potter, if anything it's more Lemony Snicket where you learn things while you're reading. There is lots of imagery in this book, a lot which might go over the head of little kids. I must admit, I got confused quite a bit while re...