Winner!

It's time to announce the winner!

The winner of their very own copy of Love & War: Finding the Marriage You've Dreamed Of is...

Congratulations, Stephanie! I know I have your address, but you'll get your book a lot quicker if you e-mail it to me again at brieblogs(at)optonline(dot)net or send it to me via Facebook. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

And, for those of you who didn't win, I can't urge you enough to check out a copy from your library or buy a copy of your own. It WILL have a positive impact on your marriage - even if only one of you reads it. The important thing is to take it to heart and realize that there are things that all of us can improve on in order to be a better spouse. My hubby didn't get to read the book, but just implementing changes in my own behavior resulted in positive changes in his as well.

From My Bookshelf (and a Surprise!)

Hubby & I took a road trip a couple weekends ago down south for him to do some business and to visit our good friends from church who recently moved to Lexington, KY. While hubby was installing systems and showing farmers how to put the patches on the cow's rumps, I busied myself reading.

I finally finished Sarah Palin's autobiography. Personally, I've always had a lot of respect for Sarah Palin and reading her book only caused that respect to deepen. Whether your a liberal or a conservative, I think you'll find her book interesting. (click on the picture of each book for a better synopsis)

The next three books I found on the "new release" shelves at the library. I like to browse these shelves to find some new authors who I may enjoy.

I read this book by Mitch Albom before in my "Death, Dying & Grief" class my senior year of college (Side note: To this day my hubby likes to comment to people how weird I am because that was one of my favorite college classes ever. I defend myself by saying that when your career goal is to be a medical social worker specializing in serving families of children with cancer, it's a very valuable class to have taken.) and really enjoyed it so I thought this next book would also prove to be an interesting read. I was right.

This next book was a light-hearted one I found on the new release shelf. I was surprised to find it was by a Christian author given my neck of the woods (not a heavily Christian area). It happened to be the third book in the series, but it didn't seem like you really had to read them in order. I'd like to get the other two books and see if the author has written anything else.

This book was also by an author I hadn't heard of before. It sounded like it could be an interesting story so I picked it up. It took a little bit to really grab my attention, and I thought I had the ending figured out a few chapters into the book, but when I got to the end I realized I was completely wrong. It ended up being a fairly good read and I may look for other books by this author in the future too.

 

Lastly, I don't remember if I ever mentioned the book I read by John & Staci Eldredge (he's the author of Wild At Heart  which I suggest even women read to have a better understanding of the men in their lives), but it is EXCELLENT and one I highly recommend to any engaged or married couple I know regardless of whether you're in an "up" or a "down" part of your relationship.

This book has made a serious impact on our marriage and I'm so glad I read it. A lot of it may be common sense stuff, but the way they present it really helps you understand your spouses' point of view a little better. If you're married or engaged, do yourself a favor and read this book.

In fact, I think this book is so great that I just now decided to giveaway one (1) free copy to a reader. Want to enter? Just leave a comment on this post telling me how long you've been married or engaged and where you met your significant other or send me an e-mail to brieblogs (at) optonline (dot) net with the same info. Make sure to leave a way for me to contact you if you win so I can mail you your book. Entries will be accepted through midnight EST on Sunday, June 20th. Winner will be announced Monday, June 21st.

Happy reading and don't forget to enter for your chance to win!

I sponsored this giveaway myself and did not receive any form of compensation for the promotion of this book.

From My (Digital) Bookshelf

A little while ago I found a code for a free download of this book:

If you haven't ever read Angie's blog, do yourself a favor and set aside a few hours and start at the beginning. It's a heartbreaking, but amazing story.

I read her story about a year ago, but when I started reading this book at 5 weeks pregnant, it brought a whole new meaning to her story. I'm just a little bit into it, but something that really struck me so far is this passage (click on it to view larger if necessary):

I don't know about you, but many times when I bring my requests before the Lord, I like to tell provide him a list of the acceptable solutions instead of just stating the problem and waiting to see what solution he provides. After all, his solution is always going to be better or more amazing than what we could think of ourselves (i.e. not just healing someone, but raising them from the dead or turning water into wine).

Right now I have many "problems" to bring before the Lord such as not enough money to pay all our bills and a dear friend battling terminal bone cancer. My challenge to myself as I pray over these things is to not provide God a list of solutions, but rather to present him the "problem" and wait to see how He will provide. After all, He ALWAYS provides.

Allergen-Free Baking

I was watching Martha the other day and she had this guest on who wrote a book all about allergen-free baking. Personally, we don't have any allergies in our family, though, I do think I have developed a small gluten-intolerance if I eat too much of it.

Despite the fact we have no allergies, I still am dying to get my hands on this book and try out some of her tricks because they look delicious and sound so healthy for you.

She even did a blind taste test on some people in the audience with egg-free cookies. One cookie had eggs and the other used a mix of flaxmeal and water to replace the egg. The taste testers chose the egg-free cookie!

If you have allergies or intolerances, or you want to experiment with healhier baked goods, check out this book:

From My Bookshelf

There were so many books I read in 2009 that I never got a chance to post about here. Many of them were fabulous reads so as I get the chance I'm going to try to post about them.

In the meanwhile, here's the latest book I'm reading:

This book was a Christmas gift from some friends and I'm really enjoying it so far. I know Sarah Palin is a polarizing figure - you either love her or hate her. Personally, I'm a big fan. Afterall, I don't hide the fact that I'm a conservative Republican. Her book is proving to be a great read and I look forward to learning even more about Sarah and her strong desire to serve our great country.

The next book I want to read is one I heard about on a friend's Facebook page:

Unfortunately our county library system doesn't carry this book (maybe it has something to do with the fact that there are few Christians in the area where we live) so I'm going to have to order it here. The subtitle of this book is: "Have we tamed the Son of God to Fit our Lifestyle". I think it will be an interesting discourse on Christianity in America and how we seem to have removed ourselves from the fact that many Christians throughout history the worldover have faced serious persecution for their faith and in America we tend to think if we're a follower of Christ our lives should be filled with only good things.

It struck me last night driving home how much of a blessing it is to live in America. At any moment, that blessing can be taken from us whether it be via politicians who put things into law with which we disagree or war or who knows what. The important thing is to remember God has blessed us as Americans in an immense way and we are to be incredibly grateful for that. At the same time we need to remember "to whom much has been given, much will be required." (Luke 12:48)

P.S. If you want to order any of these books to read yourself, click on the desired image.

Am I the last one...

...to get hooked on the Twilight series?

All the rage between my friends on Facebook a few months ago was how great the Twilight books were. I'm not normally one to read the latest "must read" (case in point I've never read any of the Harry Potter books nor do I think I ever will), but something about how many different people were saying these books were good caught my attention.

I picked up the first one a couple weeks ago and was wondering what all the hype was about until I got about half way through the first one. Then, I'm said to say, like the rest of the world, I was hooked.

I quickly finished Twilight and then moved on to New Moon. A couple days ago I finished Eclipse and now I'm anxiously waiting until there's a copy of Breaking Dawn available in the library to be checked out.

It's a very good series and a fast and entertaining read.

I still haven't decided if I want to see the movie, though. Any suggestions from those of you who read the book and saw the movie? Is it worth it?

And, if you were Bella, would you rather be with Jacob or Edward? Call me crazy, but I think I'd choose Jacob.

From My Bookshelf

While I was in Vancouver I read two more books that I thought I'd post a review on here.

This was by the same lady who wrote "The Immortal" that I did a review on earlier. It is about three women who become trapped in an elevator during a hurricane in the Tampa Bay area. They are all somehow connected to the same man...one is his wife, one is the woman he's having an affair with (she thinks she's dating a widower), and the other is the cleaning lady for his office. They call an elevator repairman who risks his life to come out and rescue them. While reading it, I forgot that it was by a Christian author and thus was just reading it for the story. However, at the end I noticed the study questions again and realized how it really is a picture of Christ coming in the midst of terrible storms in our lives and bringing us salvation. We need to be willing to reach out take his hand, and make the leap. If we don't we won't be saved. I highly recommend this book and will be looking for another Angela Hunt book to read in the future.

The other book I read was one that I found on the new release stand in the library and the cover caught my attention. It's sort of a spoof on the realty tv shows like The Bachelor/Bachelorette and Desperate Housewives. It's an easy read and just a fun book. No deep thoughts here really. There might be a few bad words, but I don't really recall any. I'd recommend it as a good beach read or just a light hearted read.

How I Spent My Weekend

Ahhh! What a relaxing weekend we had. Neither hubby or I really felt like doing anything productive, so we took it easy and had a wonderful time.

I read these books:

This book was really good and easy to get in to. Here's the summary: Who is Asher Genzano? A fanatic? A religious zealot? A raving lunatic? Or is he what he says he is--a 2000-year-old man cursed with immortality and on a holy mission to prevent a global cataclysm? Claudia Fischer's search for answers leads her into the past where myth, history, and prophecy intertwine in ancient legends of the Wandering Jew, biblical warnings about the Antichrist, and eyewitness accounts of the Crucifixion, the Inquisition, the Holocaust. What Claudia learns challenges everything she believes . . . about life, love, and God.

Okay, so this one was WAY below my reading level, but I read the "Christy Miller" series while I was a teenager and loved them, so when I saw that Robin Jones Gunn started a new series with those characters, of course I have to read those too!

I also worked on finishing up my craft room. Here are a few pictures of the bulletin board I made and my version of a window mistreatment that I read about on The Nester. Once the room is all finished, I'll post the before and after photos. It's quite the transformation!

CVS shopping was also on the agenda. I'm trying to learn their ECB system, and I was pretty excited with the deals I got this week. I'll try to do all the math and take a photo tonight and post more on those tomorrow.

Sunday after church we went and got our backs and necks adjusted and a massage done. That evening we had our traditional Sunday evening homemade pizza (my hubs is the best pizza maker in the whole world) and watched Charlie Wilson's War (well, I feel asleep halfway through), the Yankees game, and Desperate Housewives.

What a relaxing way to end/start our weeks!

From my Bookshelf

I just finished reading this book a few days ago and LOVED every minute of it.

It's about the pro-life vs. pro-choice debate. An abortion clinic burns to the ground with the doctor inside and a 19-year-old girl (one of the Christian protesters) is accused of the arson and murder. It gives a good look at how the legal system works and how in every circumstance we are dependent on God's grace and mercy because even when we follow the letter of the law, there are still people out there ready to slander us. I highly recommend this book.

From my Bookshelf

Today I thought I'd share with you my thoughts on the two most recent books I've read. They were passed on to me by my mother-in-law who had them passed on to her.

The first is:

This book is based on a true story about a woman named Emma who moved to the Washington Territory with her husband, Christian, as part of a religious group move from Bethel, MO. It is a story of her independence and lack of relying on God, and how God used different circumstances in her life to bring her back to Him. Overall it was an okay read, but unless you like really slow moving books that take 2/3 of the 400 pages to get into, I don't recommend it. Once I was finally in to the book, it was over in no time. My mother-in-law had the same opinion. Have any of you read any of Jane Kirkpatrick's other books? Are they any better?


The other book I'm currently reading is this:

I'm only about half way through this book, but I've only been reading it for about 3 hours and it's had my attention since the beginning. It's about a young woman in her early 20s who's struggling to find a career that not only provides for her, but that she enjoys, all while trying to please her family members. She also is living with her parents who are about to move into a 55+ community, so she needs to find her own place. So far I'm to the point where she finds a job working as counter help in a French bakery and she loves it, but she doesn't know how it's going to provide for her financially. One thing I like about it is that it includes recipes throughout the book. I wouldn't say it's a deep and insightful read, but it does have some good reflections on Scripture and is an enjoyable and quick read. Anybody read any more of Sandra Byrd's books? If so, which ones would you recommend?

Finally, this book I haven't read recently, but it's the first book in my most favorite series EVER. That series is "The Mark of the Lion" by Francine Rivers. She focuses on a lot of historical religious fiction, and I would have to say she is my favorite author hands down. I highly recommend any of her books. It's funny because this book I got for free at a Christian bookstore when the series first came out and I remember thinking to myself, "It must not be any good if they're giving it away for free." Boy, was I wrong!