Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Our Best Reads For December


Gerard's Best of the Month and the Year is Final Salute by Jim Sheeler
I give this book 50 Stars for each state in the country represented in this war! It's so powerful!!

Hard to know where to begin about this book. I thought "Dewey, The Library Cat" was my book of the year, but this is now my book of the year. This is about Major Steve Beck who is a casualty notification officer. The book tells the story of the men who paid the ultimate price for our freedom and the families they left behind. "Final Salute" is so filled with emotion that at times I just had to stop reading. It got to me. You will not forget the men and the families you read about in this book. I hate to admit it, but I read about men killed and forget all the people it affects. This jolted me back to reality! I'll never look at death causalities like I did before. My heart goes out to their families who are now in my prayers. I salute all our service people. Maybe Christmas is not the time to read about this, but then again, it probably is to know that people are out there especially hurting at this time of celebrating our Savior's birthday. You must read this book. God bless the USA and thank you service men and women!! May God bring you home safely.

Karen's is Love Your Life by Victoria Osteen. This book moves right along and gave me the feeling that Victoria was a friend chatting with me. It is packed with lots of good advice and is very encouraging and uplifting. I liked that she included summaries of “anchor thoughts” at the end of each chapter.

One thing that especially made an impact on me was the suggestion to keep a list of everything I like about my husband and everything he does to make my life easier. Instead of keeping track of his mistakes, or things he did that made me mad, this will help me stay focused on his good points and help me not to forget these things.

I also read the Sonshine Girls-Summer Secret by Rene Morris who is also a blogger. Although the idea is to just pick a favorite of the month for this post, I want to mention this book too because I did enjoy it and think it's great for young girl readers. This is the first wonderful Christian fiction book in the Sonshine Girls series which is geared to tweeners and young teens. Issues that are raised include friendship, bullying, forgiveness, Chrisianity, cliques and peer pressure. There are four main characters that make up the Sonshine Girls. As I read, I could closely identify with Kristin and Charli. The author has done a fantastic job of capturing the moodiness and general camaraderie that girls often demonstrate. In the back are tips for dealing with bullies which could be helpful someone who is being bullied. The book moves right along and is a very enjoyable read. You may want to visit the author's blogs, who is a mother of six, at The Sonshine Girls and Cheaper by the Half Dozen.

7 comments:

The Silver Age Sara said...

My late husband was in the service for over 25 years. I never forget the sacrifices of the brave men and women and the trauma to the families left behind. They are always in my thoughts. I'm going to order this book today.
I think "Love Your Life's" tip about keeping track of what we like in our partner rather than the negative can spread to all aspects of our life. We are so much happier when we choose to be positive.
I don't have any young girls but I do follow Rene Morris' blog and I'm sure her book is fantastic.
Karen, thanks for sharing three wonderful books I hadn't know about before.

Daisy said...

We just got "Dewey, The Library Cat" this weekend!

Rene Perez said...

Thank you so much Karen! I so appreciate your mentioning my book again.

DayPhoto said...

Thank you for these new to my book reads. I have added them to my growing list.

Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com

Sandee said...

Have a terrific day and you and yours have a very Happy New Year. :)

Alan said...

I saw Victoria Osteen and her husband on Larry King the other night.

My all time favorite is still Billy Graham, I like what I've heard from his daughter also.

Anonymous said...

Mountain Woman: Wow, didn't know your late husband was in the service for that long! Gerard is sure you will like Final Salute.

Daisy, we are sure you will like "Dewey, the Small Town Library Cat." I think though, that any cat would enjoy being a library cat. All libraries should have one!

Rene', you are welcome for the book plug. I enjoy sharing good books I find with others, and yours really is a great one for girls! I know from Shelfari and Amazon that people are always looking for books that their kids will like and want to read so you go, girl! So cool that your publisher saw my review and wants to use it on the next edition!

Linda, I know what you mean about a growing "to read list." I like to use the Amazon wish list to keep track of books I'd like to read. So many good books and so little time!

Sandee, Thanks for the New Year's wish and same to you! Glad I "met" you this year, it seems our background is very similar.

Alan, I wish I had seen that Larry King show. I don't generally watch him just because I don't care for him and the way he dresses. I like Billy Graham too and he is definitely a Godly man who walked the walk. I enjoyed his son's autobiography very much--"Rebel With a Cause" by Franklin Graham.

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