tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85327357211548086672024-03-12T18:00:39.138-07:00Ridiculous ReviewsAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04581111547348324601noreply@blogger.comBlogger95125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8532735721154808667.post-74814395332767664392014-11-03T07:40:00.003-08:002014-11-03T07:40:57.963-08:00Wow...You guys are awesome. You guys are amazing! Despite being back a forth with my reviews, I have almost a total of 70,000 views on this blog. And honestly it could have nothing to do with my reviews at all....it's just freakin cool. So I'm here to say that I have been reading a lot of books lately and I remembered writing reviews way back when and thought, "Hey...I think I want to write a few". Don't hold it against me, I will try to stay more consistent. I am full time student at Paul Mitchell. But reading has kept me sane these past months and I have rediscovered my love of escaping into a good book. Look forward to sharing it all with you guys. Message me if you have a specific book you would like reviewed. I'm always open to suggestions.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04581111547348324601noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8532735721154808667.post-83328083470012810362012-07-04T14:17:00.000-07:002012-07-04T14:17:04.952-07:00Taking A BreakI'm taking a break until further notice. I'll still be reading, I just won't be posting my reviews until I am more able. I don't know when this will be but I promise I will be back. So until then, happy reading.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04581111547348324601noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8532735721154808667.post-87944896661165131262012-05-28T16:28:00.000-07:002012-05-28T16:33:41.737-07:00The Invention of Hugo Cabret<br />
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<o:p> </o:p>Well it’s been a long time coming….my first review in a
long, long, LOONNNGGGGG time. But it’s here! And with things getting settled
(once again) I intend on many more to come.
I’m really excited about this book because it’s a new movie. Personally I really like to read the book
before watching the movie. Only because I like to compare and contrast
details; I find details in a book to be
important because I’m better able to see the story in my head (sort of like
watching a movie in my head…a really, really long movie :] ). Some like to watch the movie first. Sometimes
I like to watch the movie, but either way, for this book I’ve decided to read
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<b>Plot: </b><o:p></o:p></div>
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4 stars:<br />
I really enjoyed following Hugo around on his mini
adventures. The story starts with Hugo stealing a little wind-up mouse from a
toy store. For a few chapters after that we see what happened to Hugo to get
him to the toy story and then the story fast forwards back to where we left off
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Hugo and his father
had found a wonderful machine that was in the shape of a man writing. The
machine was found by the two clockmakers, sadly in a rusty and broken state.
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back to its full glory, hoping to finally see what the automan is supposed to
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Unfortunately, before they could finish their long hard
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Unsure of his ability to match his father’s talent at gears,
Hugo clings to the only clue to fixing the mysterious man, his father’s
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<b>Characters:</b><br />
5 stars:<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The characters were so enjoyable to learn about. They were very mysterious and every time I thought i figured one of them out they ended up surprising me. My favorite character to learn about were <span style="line-height: 15px;">George Melies. His character is just so interesting. His life is so dramatic, mysterious and historic like it's hard not to get wrapped up in it. </span></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 15px;">5 stars:</span><br />
<span style="line-height: 15px;">I would feel absolutely safe about reading this with my younger siblings. The most suspenseful piece in this book is young Hugo being chased my a cop and being put in jail.<span style="color: red;"> Something to take note of is that Hugo's uncle is a alcoholic and abandons Hugo and at the end of the story is found dead because he drowned. </span></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 15px;">I also watched the movie and LOVED it! I encourage all to watch it. I had just as much fun watching it as I did reading it.</span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 15px;">Let me know what you think? Have you read the book? Watched the movie? Read a book that reminds you of The Invention of Hugo Cabret?</span><br />
<span style="color: red;"><span style="line-height: 15px;"><br /></span></span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04581111547348324601noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8532735721154808667.post-83704408651969403242011-11-05T18:28:00.000-07:002011-11-05T18:28:51.968-07:00Hello Out There!!!Well. It's been a while. <br />
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This is just a little update to let all of my readers know that I have NOT left you and that I will be back. Right now any writing time is minimal so I'm using what I got to fill out job applications. But soon my schedule will become more clear to myself and at that time I'll let you know what's going on. Until then:<br />
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Sit tight.<br />
Comment here and tell me what books you've been reading.<br />
And know that I'm coming back I promise.<br />
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Here's a list of books I've been reading:<br />
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Recently a friend was telling me a little bit about what they were studying in school concerning religion. Right now they are studying Tao Te Ching. I was curious and decided to do a little research on my own. I picked up a book at Barnes and Noble, Laozi Tao Te Ching on the Art of Harmony translated by Chad Hansen. Personally, I find a few of their "verses" to be a bit self contradictory which just makes me giggle. More on that later. <br />
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American Gods by Neil Gaiman. I thought of you Gabriel when I saw this and just had to buy it. It was only one dollar. How could I pass that up?<br />
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Pompeii: city on fire by T.L. Higley. I got this book from my good friend Kait when I last visited her. I was so excited to read it!!! Thank you Kait!<br />
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What would you say if I told you there is a cure for Cancer? Don't believe me? Well neither do I! But I've heard a lot about it and was recently given the book World Without Cancer by G. Edward Griffin which is a book explaining how the vitamin B17 does just that. I can't wait to read it. <br />
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The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson is next on my list. I've wanted to read it for a long while and finally decided to just get it and dive in. SO far so good! It's really exciting. <br />
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And last but not least, A Lasting Impression by Tamera Alexander. I was suppose to review this book and Love on the Line By Gist on a blog tour but missed the date. A lot has occurred between the time I signed up and the date I was suppose to post a review and I just wasn't able to. However, when I have time I give my word there will be a review for both. <br />
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Well that's it! I hope to hear from all of you. Let me know what you're reading, book reviews that have caught your interest lately. I've been so behind on any bloggish. If you have any good reviews that YOU have written, post them here! I want to read them. Also let me know what you think of the books listed. Reviews coming soon! I hope. <br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04581111547348324601noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8532735721154808667.post-89318084054387204002011-09-26T19:53:00.000-07:002011-09-26T19:53:32.524-07:00In My Mailbox<div style="text-align: center;">
My mailbox has been kinda sparse lately. I've been busy and haven't had a bunch of time to spend on my blog this month...but I did get a few books. Here's what I got t his week:</div>
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I most likely won't read the last 4 but, idk...maybe I'll get bored. </div>
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I also have Angel Time coming to me:</div>
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In other news....look what I found on pinterst.com just for you my book lovers:</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04581111547348324601noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8532735721154808667.post-42770496740385511852011-09-21T11:41:00.000-07:002011-09-21T11:41:09.888-07:00Fairer Than Morning Blog Tour<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><b>About the book:</b></span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-t7rqjLgLodA/Tij44jvj4KI/AAAAAAAAAYc/FCUBjSBI_Nw/s1600/FairerThanMorningCoverArt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-t7rqjLgLodA/Tij44jvj4KI/AAAAAAAAAYc/FCUBjSBI_Nw/s320/FairerThanMorningCoverArt.jpg" width="208" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Ann dreams of a marriage proposal from her poetic suitor, Eli-until Will Hanby shows her that nobility is more than fine words. </span>O</span>n a small farm in 19th-century <u></u><u></u>Ohio<u></u><u></u>, young Ann Miller is pursued by the gallant Eli Bowen, son of a prominent family. Eli is the suitor of Ann's dreams. Like her, he enjoys poetry and beautiful things and soon, he will move to the city to become a doctor. Ann travels to <u></u><u></u>Pittsburgh<u></u><u></u>, accompanying her father on business. There she meets Will Hanby, a saddle-maker's apprentice. Will has spent years eking out an existence under a cruel master and his spirit is nearly broken. But Ann's compassion lights a long-dark part of his soul. Through his encounters with Ann's father, a master saddler, Will discovers new hope and courage in the midst of tremendous adversity. When the Millers must return to <u></u><u></u>Ohio<u></u><u></u> and their ministry there, Will resolves to find them, at any cost. If Will can make it back to Ann, will she be waiting?</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Read an excerpt here: <a href="http://www.rosslynelliott.com/books.php" style="color: #0000cc;" target="_blank">http://www.rosslynelliott.com/<wbr></wbr>books.php</a></span><br />
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Click the cover to buy the book!!!!</div>
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Rosslyn Elliott grew up in a military family and relocated so often that she attended nine schools before her high school graduation. With the help of excellent teachers, she qualified to attend <u></u><u></u>Yale<u></u> <u></u>University<u></u><u></u>, where she earned a BA in English and Theater. She worked in business and as a schoolteacher before returning to study at <u></u><u></u>Emory<u></u> <u></u>University<u></u><u></u>, where she earned a Ph.D. in English in 2006. Her study of American literature and history inspired her to pursue her lifelong dream of writing fiction. She lives in the Southwest, where she homeschools her daughter and teaches in children's ministry.<u></u><u></u></div>
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For more about Rosslyn, visit her website: <a href="http://rosslynelliott.com/" style="color: #0000cc;" target="_blank">http://rosslynelliott.com</a></div>
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My Thoughts:</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">This book was great...like I was saying on my completely weird vlog...I loved it. However, I did not expect to like it because personally, romance novels are just </span>tacky<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> if not written correctly. And yes! There is a right and wrong way to write a romance novel. Especially if it's "Christian" fiction. But this is worth the time to read. The two main characters, Ann and Will, </span>intersect<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> eachothers lives in such a beautiful and natural way. I like it when love stories fold out </span>naturally<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">, like it was meant to be. Which may just be the most romantic thing you will ever get me to say, but it's true! True love is a thing that lives a grows and breaths and takes time to grow stronger. And I really got the feeling that Ms.Rosslyn understood that when writing this. It also made it a much more enjoyable story, rather than just jumping into a crazed </span>woman's<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> romance, we drifted into a young </span>woman's<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> life who may have been in the middle of a romance, but knew what was important. Over all this book was </span>beautifully<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> written and I enjoyed reading it way more than I thought I would. It will be placed right next to my Jane Austen books :] I would </span>recommend<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> this book to young ladies of maybe 13 and up. </span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04581111547348324601noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8532735721154808667.post-75194688049306409182011-09-18T18:52:00.000-07:002011-09-18T18:52:29.144-07:00You Don't Know Jack<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://ianyanmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/you-dont-know-jack.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://ianyanmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/you-dont-know-jack.jpg" width="145" /></a> Recently I watched a movie about Dr. Kevorkian....sounds like a load of fun right? haha Well I really liked it. I'm not going to get into the details about what I believe about Dr.Kevorkian but I did like the movie despite what I agree or disagree with it...I recommend it to those who have an opinion, because Hollywood (go figure) did take some creative liberties on an emotional level. It's pretty obvious that Hollywood...or people in Hollywood have an opinion. Enjoy! </div>
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<img height="200" src="http://www.shockya.com/news/wp-content/uploads/you_dont_know_jack_john_goodman_poster.jpg" width="135" /> <img height="200" src="http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQetf-S8Sf6iQxb8hQxO-Cq4VlZEbW6lTp5-0LdDkYKpG66Uve6qQyyKUz7" width="134" /> <img height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_NNW_E9LCtxw/S8hioGAYBKI/AAAAAAAABGc/Inw-V3VWyJ8/s200/you_dont_know_jack_ver2_xlg.jpg" width="135" /> <img height="200" src="http://i2.listal.com/image/1098657/600full-you-don't-know-jack-poster.jpg" width="134" /> <img height="200" src="http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRrLsXN3uXIgn9-la8ttBqo_G3CyPVJow2794FwRDEVUi0T96K3NqymzDli" width="134" /> </div>
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Back Cover:</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Dr. Jack Kevorkian (1928 - 2011 ) in the 1990s, when he defies Michigan law assisting the suicide of terminally-ill persons. Support comes from his sister, a lab tech, the Hemlock Society president, and a lawyer. The child of survivors of the Armenian genocide interviews applicants: his sister video tapes them. He assembles a device allowing a person to initiate a three-chemical intravenous drip. The local D.A., the governor, and the Legislature respond. In court scenes, Kevorkian is sometimes antic. He's single-minded about giving dying individuals the right to determine how their lives will end. He wants the Supreme Court to rule. He picks a fight he can't win: is it hubris or heroism?</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04581111547348324601noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8532735721154808667.post-17753526509325387572011-09-11T16:05:00.000-07:002011-09-11T16:09:03.563-07:00Red<br />
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I had a few friends tell me about the movie Red, but for some reason I never really had an interest in it....until a wonderfully empty Sunday came along and wouldn't you know mom had requested Red from Netflix.<br />
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Red</div>
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After trading in his professional past as a black-ops CIA operative for a new identity, Frank Moses (played by Bruce Willis) is basking in normality. But he's forced to return to old habits when an assassin puts a target on his back and goes after the woman (played by Mary-Louise Parker) he loves. Helen Mirren and John Malkovich co-star as former members of Frank's team who reluctantly reassemble to save his life in this Golden Globe nominated action comedy.<br />
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Rated PG-13 1 hr. 51 min. 2010</div>
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My thoughts:</div>
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I'm just going to start with the part that might offend people the most. The "F" word was only mentioned once...but in my opinion the lady who it was directed at, deserved it. </div>
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Other than that, I laughed through most of it. It was awesome. It's a good action movie and the description above is sarcastic in the best way. I highly encourage all comedy action lovers to watch this movie. I would not recompilation this movie to children...</div>
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Here's the Trailer:</div>
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I'll be quoting this movie for some time. :] Enjoy!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04581111547348324601noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8532735721154808667.post-35151270746700763372011-09-10T11:00:00.000-07:002011-09-10T11:00:42.966-07:00Every 20th Follower FeatureYay!!! I first started to feature every 20 followers with Ellie from <a href="http://curiositykilledthebookworm.blogspot.com/">Curiosity Killed the Bookworm</a> (<--Click Me) And after that i just couldn't wait until my 40th follower, which is of course the next 20th follower. And guess who?<br />
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Crystal from <a href="http://abooklovingirl.blogspot.com/">Just Another Book Lovin' Girl</a> (<-- Click Me)<br />
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You should all go follower her because she is just awesome...don't believe me?? You soon will:<br />
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<b>Tell us a little bit about yourself.</b></div>
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My name is Crystal, I'm 20 years old and I'm from Southern California. I've lived here all my life with my mom and 3 sisters. A few of my favorite things are reading, blogging, photography and even a little scrapbooking.<br />
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<b>What is your favorite genre?</b></div>
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I have a lot of favorites but mystery is at the top of my list.<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>What is/are your favorite book(s) of all time?</b></div>
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My all time favorites list is always growing but the ones I'm crazy about right now are The River of Time Series by Lisa Bergren and The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins<b>.<br /> </b></div>
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<b>What is/are your least favorite book(s) of all time?</b><b><br /></b>I feel bad giving specific book names so I'll just give you my least favorite genres. I've tried a few Fantasy and Horror novels but I've ended up not finishing them mostly because I can't "get into" them<span style="font-weight: bold;">.</span><b><br /></b></div>
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<b>What about writing do you like or dislike? </b></div>
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I love that writing is like an escape for both the author and reader. You're taken into another world where there are no limits to what you can do. When it comes to writing there are so many possibilities and it's an amazing creative outlet.<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>Can you remember your first review ever? If so what book was it on?</b></div>
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The very first review I posted on my blog was for an audio Bible called <a href="http://abooklovingirl.blogspot.com/2009/08/word-of-promise-new-testament.html" rel="nofollow" style="color: #0000cc;" target="_blank">The Word of Promise Next Generation</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">.</span><b></b></div>
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<b>What got you started in blogging your book reviews?</b></div>
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I think I had seen someone post a link to <a href="http://booksneeze.com/" rel="nofollow" style="color: #0000cc;" target="_blank">BookSneeze</a> on Twitter in 2009 and I decided to try it out. I started my blog that day and I've had so much fun these past two years.<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>What do you like to do when you aren't blogging?</b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">I like reading, spending time with my family, taking pictures of my adorable dogs, and playing Super Nintendo with my niece =D I also enjoy gardening and cooking with my mom.</span></div>
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*Sigh*...yeah. We are totally going to be friends her and I... :]</div>
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So here is a review she recently posted for us to enjoy : </div>
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</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">'<a href="http://abooklovingirl.blogspot.com/2011/09/20-random-facts-about-me.html" rel="nofollow" style="color: #0000cc;" target="_blank">20 Random Facts About Me</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">'</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Haha. It so fits for today huh? Well, recently she lost all of her followers. So if you were one of her followers, go make sure you still are. And if you've never heard of her, you should so go follower her. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Thanks for stopping by Crystal! It was a breath of fresh air to have you :] </span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04581111547348324601noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8532735721154808667.post-10987894492812389912011-08-29T19:01:00.000-07:002011-08-29T19:01:51.228-07:00VlogI have no time...so this was the result:<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04581111547348324601noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8532735721154808667.post-71676144583758812332011-08-28T08:18:00.000-07:002011-08-28T08:18:55.579-07:00Back From The Past<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"></div><div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/03/Artemis_Fowl_-_The_Atlantis_Complex.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/03/Artemis_Fowl_-_The_Atlantis_Complex.jpg" width="197" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
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</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Ever since I was 13 I've loved the Artemis Fowl Series. I zipped through the entire series as if I was watching a movie instead of reading a book. Or so I thought. Until recently, while looking through some library audio books and found the newest book from the series, I had no idea the series wasn't over. There were still two books that I hadn't read and bought (because I love them so much I collect them :). Last year, apparently without me knowing, The Atlantis Complex came out. So with the excitement of a little child with 50 bucks, I checked that baby out. And it was AMAZING!</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> I was so nervous to listen to an audio recording of an Artemis Fowl book, I was so scared that it would ruin it for me. But it was still amazing. I'm not sure if it was because the books are just too good to mess up, or if it was because of this guy: I was so nervous to listen to an audio recording of an Artemis Fowl book, I was so scared that it would ruin it for me. But it was still amazing. I'm not sure if it was because the books are just too good to mess up, or if it was because of this guy: I was so nervous to listen to an audio recording of an Artemis Fowl book, I was so scared that it would ruin it for me. But it was still amazing. I'm not sure if it was because the books are just too good to mess up, or if it was because of this guy: I was so nervous to listen to an audio recording of an Artemis Fowl book, I was so scared that it would ruin it for me. But it was still amazing. I'm not sure if it was because the books are just too good to mess up, or if it was because Nathaniel Parker. Then man who played the father in Stardust. I just love his voice. </span></div></div><div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div></div><div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Anyway, what whole story was amazing as usual. This one was about Artemis getting an almost OCD condition because his guilt has been eating away at him. He now wants to "save" the world from it's many troubles, but evil forces (evil faeries), yet again, wish to mess everything up. And of course the whole gang comes back together including, Butler, Juliet, Artemis, Holly Short, Mulch Diggums and Foaly. </span></div></div><div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> If I was to give consistent starts to books I like (which I don't) I would give this audio version of the book five stars.I would also recommend this series to people of all ages. Please leave a comment if you are a Artemis Fowl fan like me, or if you've read it. I always like hearing what others think about the book.</span> </div><br />
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04581111547348324601noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8532735721154808667.post-38843114932166868392011-08-27T15:05:00.000-07:002011-08-27T15:05:30.589-07:00Mugabe and the White African Blog Tour<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Corbel;">Welcome to yet another blog tour....I love these...This time I went with Mugabe and the White African.</span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Ben Freeth has an extraordinary story to tell. Like that of many white farmers, his family's land was "reclaimed" for redistribution by Mugabe's government.<u></u><u></u></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">But Ben's family fought back. Appealing to international law, they instigated a suit against Mugabe's government in the SADC, the Southern African equivalent of NATO. The case was deferred time and again while Mugabe's men pulled strings. But after Freeth and his parents-in-law were abducted and beaten within inches of death in 2008, the SADC deemed any further delay to be an obstruction of justice. The case was heard, and was successful on all counts.<u></u><u></u></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
But the story doesn't end there. In 2009 the family farm was burned to the ground. The fight for justice in Zimbabwe is far from over--<b><span style="font-weight: bold;">this book is for anyone who wants to see into the heart of one of today's hardest places and how human dignity flourishes even in the most adverse circumstances.<u></u><u></u></span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Read the press release for more: </span></b><a href="http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs019/1101807863309/archive/1106690411054.html" style="color: #0000cc;" target="_blank">http://archive.<wbr></wbr>constantcontact.com/fs019/<wbr></wbr>1101807863309/archive/<wbr></wbr>1106690411054.html</a><u></u><u></u></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><strong><b><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: black;">The PBS debut of</span></span></b></strong><b><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: black; font-weight: bold;"> </span></span></b><em><b><i><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: black; font-weight: bold;">Mugabe and the White African</span></span></i></b></em><b><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: black; font-weight: bold;">,</span></span></b><strong><b><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: black;"> the award-winning documentary of the same name, was on July 26. Watch now at PBS:</span></span></b></strong><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: black;"> </span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: black;"><a href="http://www.pbs.org/pov/mugabe/" shape="rect" style="color: #0000cc;" target="_blank"><b><span style="font-weight: bold;">http://www.pbs.org/pov/<wbr></wbr>mugabe/</span></b></a>.</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: black;"><br />
</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: black;"><br />
</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">Click on the book to buy it :] </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;"><br />
</span></span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><b>About Ben Freeth:</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=fe49dda081&view=att&th=131be96c5f4194b7&attid=0.1&disp=inline&zw" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=fe49dda081&view=att&th=131be96c5f4194b7&attid=0.1&disp=inline&zw" /></a></span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Ben Freeth, MBE, is a British-born Zimbabwean farmer. He has lived in <u></u><u></u>Zimbabwe<u></u><u></u> most of his life and is raising his three young children there, together with his wife Laura. Ben's story has already been the subject of an award-winning documentary which won Best Documentary 2009 (British Independent Film Awards), was nominated for the BAFTA Outstanding Debut Film 2010, and shortlisted for an Oscar in 2010.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The book was very moving and so well </span>written<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">. I found it somewhat hard to read, mainly because it was just so sad. I personally haven't seen the documentary, but I really want to now. There was a lot of violence and a lot of people died. There were some pictures given as well and some of them are pretty gruesome. Which is why I wouldn't </span>recommend<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> it to a child, but I personally appreciated the honesty here and not some sugar coating of what really happened. I have never heard of Mugabe (call me sheltered) so I researched him for myself and I didn't find anything that I could even consider good. A lot of it had to do with white families being </span>persecuted<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> in Africa, which </span>totally<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> threw me off for a second. I can't believe I'd never heard of it before. I was recently talking to a friend about the book, she was telling me that from my description it sounded like the movie "Faith Like Potatoes". In a sense I agree with her, but this book seemed much more violent to me. Overall, I really loved it and would give it to a good friend. </span></span><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">About the Giveaway!<u></u><u></u></span></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />
</span></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">To enter all you have to do is send a tweet (using @litfuse) about <i><span style="font-style: italic;">Mugabe and the White African</span></i> or share about it on Facebook!<u></u><u></u></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;">If you tweet we'll capture your entry when you use @litfuse. If you share it on Facebook or your blog, just email us and let us know (<a href="mailto:info@litfusegroup.com" style="color: #0000cc;" target="_blank">info@litfusegroup.com</a>). Easy. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
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</span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04581111547348324601noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8532735721154808667.post-10012058764339495432011-08-24T09:02:00.000-07:002011-08-24T09:02:00.088-07:00Too Blessed To Be Stressed Blog Tour<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">It's Another Blog Tour. This time I went with a bit of a different genre then I usually do. </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Too-Blessed-Stressed-Inspiration-Stress-Pool/dp/1616263466?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=widgetsamazon-20&amp;link_code=btl&amp;camp=213689&amp;creative=392969" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mxb7EachLS4/TiizYAskBMI/AAAAAAAADI8/AZMFKNhsm-4/s320/TooBlessed.jpg" width="228" /></a></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><b>About the book:</b></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Do your to do lists have footnotes? Has your fam suggested a rabies shot because your bite has surpassed Rover’s?</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Maybe it’s time for a healthy dose of truth gift-wrapped in humor. With her own offbeat brand of wit and near-wisdom, inspirational humorist Debora Coty addresses the heart-needs of desperate women drowning in the churning everyday stress-pool of busyness.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">In Too Blessed to Be Stressed, you’ll find simple, practical steps for attaining the peace that you crave as you struggle with the stresses of finances, health, career, relationships, self-image and family. You’ll discover healing, refreshment, and revitalization for your own spirit, body and mind through heart-changing real life stories, biblically based insights, and short chapters for on-the-run convenience.</span><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #e06666; font-family: inherit;">Click the book to buy it :]</span></b><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><b>About Josh and Bob:</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=fe49dda081&view=att&th=131a15d32f4dad95&attid=0.2&disp=inline&zw" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=fe49dda081&view=att&th=131a15d32f4dad95&attid=0.2&disp=inline&zw" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://deboracoty.com/" style="color: #0000cc;" target="_blank">Debora M. Coty</a> is a humorist, columnist, speaker, writing workshop instructor and award-winning author of over 100 internationally published articles and ten inspirational books. She has also contributed short stories and devotionals to numerous anthologies. Debora's passion is sharing her offbeat blend of humor and hope, wit and near-wisdom with women of all ages. As a piano teacher for twenty years, she acquired the skill of auditory long-suffering and has helped countless people as an occupational therapist specializing in orthopedics for over three decades. Mother of two grown children, Debora currently lives and loves in central <u></u><u></u>Florida<u></u><u></u>with her husband and desperately wicked pooch, Fenway.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">My Thoughts:</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The book has a lot of wisdom, however, I believe it was presented poorly. Mothers and grandmothers are not teenagers, they are grown women. And this book seemed to of had been </span>written<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> for a teenage audience with stress </span>quizzes<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> and the like. When I was little I </span>desperately<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> wanted this "journal" for girls that had every </span>quiz<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> imaginable...what guy is right for you, how you should do your hair, what make you should wear, what kind of friends you should have, how I should paint my nails on Wednesday vs. Friday.. So I asked my mother. And I must say thank you to God for giving me this kind of mother because her reply to me was, "You don't need that." She had also said some other things about the book, but in short she told me the book was trash. I still wanted it because Susie Joe had it, but mom was always there to say,"no". And I'm sure you can figure out for your selves why buying that book would have been a huge mistake. </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">I got the </span>same<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> feeling when reading this book. Not the, "I really like people telling me what to do based off of a random quiz of which I cannot tell if it is accurate or not". But the feeling of, "What am I...8?". </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Other people may not feel this way. If you like to take </span>quizzes<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> I encourage you to read it for your </span>self<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">. </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><b>Giveaway:</b></span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">To celebrate the release of her latest laugh-out-loud book, <i><span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Too-Blessed-Stressed-Inspiration-Stress-Pool/dp/1616263466?ie=UTF8&tag=widgetsamazon-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" style="color: #0000cc;" target="_blank">Too Blessed to Be Stressed</a><img border="0" height="1" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=fe49dda081&view=att&th=131a15d32f4dad95&attid=0.0.5&disp=emb&zw" width="1" /></span></i>, Debora Coty is hosting the Too Blessed to Be Stressed KINDLE Giveaway!<u></u><u></u></span></span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><b><i><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Too Blessed to be Stressed is a fun-filled read overflowing with insights and practical tips. Perfectly delicious for living happily ever after! </span></i></b><b><span style="font-weight: bold;"><u></u><u></u></span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">-Rhonda Rhea, best-selling author of Whatsoever Things Are Lovely<u></u><u></u></span></span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://litfusegroup.com/blogtours/text/13418047" style="color: #0000cc;" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Read what the reviewers are saying here.</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Corbel; font-size: 10pt;"><u></u><u></u></span></span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><br />
</div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Corbel; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Corbel; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://wildfireapp.com/website/6/contests/141953" style="color: #0000cc;" target="_blank"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" height="146" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=fe49dda081&view=att&th=131a15d32f4dad95&attid=0.0.4&disp=emb&zw" width="176" /></span></span></a><u></u><u></u></span></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Debora has created a “Too Blessed” prize package worth over $150! One grand prize winner will receive:<u></u><u></u></span></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">* A brand new Latest Generation KINDLE with Wi-Fi and <u></u>Pearl<u></u> Screen<u></u><u></u></span></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">* <i><span style="font-style: italic;">Too Blessed to Be Stressed</span></i> by Debora Coty (for KINDLE)<u></u><u></u></span></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">To enter just click one of the icons below. Hurry! The giveaway ends August 25th. Winner will be announced on the evening of the 18th during <a href="http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=100796683354892" style="color: #0000cc;" target="_blank">Debora's De-Stress Facebook Party</a>! Debora will be hosting a "life-preserver" chat (it’s okay if you haven’t read the book – who knows, you might WIN a copy!), testing trivia skills, swapping funny stories, handing out some decom-stress tips, and giving away tons of great stuff! (Chocolate, books, and more!) Hope to <a href="http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=100796683354892" style="color: #0000cc;" target="_blank">see you there</a>. Bring your friends and join the fun on August 25th at 5:00 PM PST (6 PM MDT, 7 PM CDT, & 8 PM EDT).</span></span></b></div></span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Corbel; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><b><span style="font-family: Corbel; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Corbel; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://wildfireapp.com/website/6/contests/141953" style="color: #0000cc;" target="_blank"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><img alt="Enter via E-mail" border="0" height="48" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=fe49dda081&view=att&th=131a15d32f4dad95&attid=0.0.3&disp=emb&zw" title="Enter via E-mail" width="48" /></span></span></a> <a href="http://apps.facebook.com/sweepstakeshq/contests/141953" style="color: #0000cc;" target="_blank"><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><img alt="Enter via Facebook" border="0" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=fe49dda081&view=att&th=131a15d32f4dad95&attid=0.0.2&disp=emb&zw" title="Enter via Facebook" /></span></span></a><span style="color: black;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><a href="http://wildfireapp.com/twitter/233/contests/141953" style="color: #0000cc;" target="_blank"><img alt="Enter via Twitter" border="0" height="48" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=fe49dda081&view=att&th=131a15d32f4dad95&attid=0.0.1&disp=emb&zw" title="Enter via Twitter" width="48" /></a></span></span></span></span></b></span> </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Corbel; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><b><span style="font-family: Corbel; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Corbel; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: black;"><br />
</span></span></span></b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><b><span style="font-family: Corbel; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Corbel; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: bold;">Also - be sure to check out Debora's series of Stress-Buster videos at her website: <a href="http://www.debcoty.com/" style="color: #0000cc;" target="_blank">www.debcoty.com</a>. Also, be sure to check out the photo caption contest she's running <a href="http://deboracoty.blogspot.com/search/label/photo%20caption%20contest" style="color: #0000cc;" target="_blank">on her blog</a> for a chance to win a copy of <i><span style="font-style: italic;">Too Blessed to Be Stressed</span></i>.</span></span></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><b><span style="font-family: Corbel; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Corbel; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: bold;"><br />
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</span></span></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><b><span style="font-family: Corbel; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Corbel; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: bold;">Thank You to Litfuse for providing me with this book for reviewing purposes. </span></span></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Corbel; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><b><span style="font-family: Corbel; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Corbel; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: black;"><br />
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</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04581111547348324601noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8532735721154808667.post-71351640290491591812011-08-17T10:59:00.000-07:002011-08-17T10:59:26.814-07:00Sibiling's ThoughtsI recently asked my sister what she thought about the children's books that I was given over the summer. Here's what she had to say:<br />
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<b>DoppleGanger: Book 2</b><br />
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My favorite part of DoppleGanger is the part where Saskia gets trapped in the sarcophagus, and Erik and Sadie try to find her. My least favorite part was when Miss Dorcas Potts came to take an interview with the kids. And the reason why is because it wasn't really mysterious. My favorite characters are the Dopple girls. I really liked the DoppleGanger because, it was really intereting and mysterious. <br />
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<b>Peril in the Palace:</b><br />
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My favorite part of Peril in the Palace was where the big eagals took Patrick and Beth and flew over the Palace.My least favorite part was in the begging where they just kept talking about the Imagination Station.And the reason why is because it wasn't really fun.My favorite characters are Beth and Patrick.I liked Peril in the Palace because,it was really exiting.<br />
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<b>The Red Knight:</b><br />
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My favorite part in Revenge of the Red Knight was where they found out that Hugh was really the Red Knight and was stealing everything. My least favorite part was where they met James.That was my least favorite part because,it wasn't very exiting. My favorite characters are Beth and Patrick. I like Revenge of the Red Knight because,its really cool how they meet another boy named James, and that they find out that Hugh is the Red Knight and whos stealing everything. <br />
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I got the idea to let her give a short review from Jane. I guess I figured the audience was meant for her age group, so now you know how it impressed her. My reviews coming up on the last two soon.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04581111547348324601noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8532735721154808667.post-31516315312260675362011-08-15T08:44:00.000-07:002011-08-15T08:50:37.555-07:00"Books I Should Have Read By Now" Challenge<div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;">2. The character of Lord Henry is an interesting one. </div><br />
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<div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;">My Thoughts On The Book:</div><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;">Being an avid classics reader, I've read most of the classics you could probably think of, maybe even some you can't think of. I'm just that crazy about books. But the one classic that took me forever to read was The Picture of Dorian Grey. I had read through it once when I was young, but I totally forgot everything. I tried watching the movie but I had to turn it off because the movie took way more creative liberty than I knew actually existed. So I decided to just read the whole thing over again. And I'm so glad I did.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Here's a little to know about Oscar Wilde:</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: left;">Oscar Wilde was born on October the 16, 1854 in Dublin, Ireland. He was not only a play write, but also an author and poet. His most famous work is The importance of Being Ernest. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Although Oscar Wilde was not shy about being homosexual or bisexual as many have said, he did marry a woman and had two children.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">You can read more about him from these sites:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0928492/bio">http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0928492/bio</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: left;">The Book Synopsis:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Oscar Wilde brings his enormous gifts for astute social observation and sparkling prose to <i style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The Picture of Dorian Gray</i>, his dreamlike story of a young man who sells his soul for eternal youth and beauty. This dandy, who remains forever unchanged—petulant, hedonistic, vain, and amoral—while a painting of him ages and grows increasingly hideous with the years, has been horrifying, enchanting, obsessing, even corrupting readers for more than a hundred years.</span></span></div><div style="margin-top: 7px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Taking the reader in and out of London drawing rooms, to the heights of aestheticism, and to the depths of decadence, <i style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The Picture of Dorian Gray</i> is not only a melodrama about moral corruption. Laced with bon mots and vivid depictions of upper-class refinement, it is also a fascinating look at the milieu of Wilde’s fin-de-siècle world and a manifesto of the creed “Art for Art’s Sake.”</span></div><div style="margin-top: 7px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The ever-quotable Wilde, who once delighted London with his scintillating plays, scandalized readers with this, his only novel. Upon publication, Dorian was condemned as dangerous, poisonous, stupid, vulgar, and immoral, and Wilde as a “driveling pedant.” The novel, in fact, was used against Wilde at his much-publicized trials for “gross indecency,” which led to his imprisonment and exile on the European continent. Even so, <i style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The Picture of Dorian Gray</i> firmly established Wilde as one of the great voices of the Aesthetic movement, and endures as a classic that is as timeless as its hero.</span></div><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: left;">My Thoughts:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Let me just start the review by saying that if I had the money, I would buy everybody a copy of this book. It's just that good. And I learned more about the author while reading this book than I have with any other book since the bible. That's big. No. HUGE. The symbolism in the book is detailed, the parallel of emotion, ideas and life style that you get from Lord Henry and Wilde is chilling, and the idea of salvation is so wrong, but it's such a wide spread thought that it made it realistic. I felt like I was a part of the story. For two days I was completely enthralled with the book, I'm surprised I stopped to eat. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">There are a few important things that I would like to mention. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">1. Through out the entire book, there was a consistent, relentless battle between good and evil inside and outside of Gray. And both good and evil where represented by a key character. Good was represented as the artist that painted Dorian and evil was represented by Lord Henry, the most influential man in Dorian's life. If you've been reading my blog for some time, you know that the whole good and evil theme hooked me from the beginning. When we first meet Dorian, he is the perfect man. Every body wants to be Dorian. But the difference between the Dorian you first meet and the Dorian at the closing of the book, is that the Dorian you first meet is innocent.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://thevictoriandorian.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/dorian_gray01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="135" src="http://thevictoriandorian.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/dorian_gray01.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">2. Lord Henry's character is an interesting one. Henry believed in things such as, "If I ignore it, it will go away or cease to exist". And in his heart, he made himself believe that in the most extreme sense. Lord Henry was also very cynical and often influenced Dorian to act upon very corrupted morals. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: left;">Here are some of my favorite quotes from Lord Henry:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">"The highest, as the lowest, form of criticism is a mode of autobiography."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">"The one charm of marriage is that it makes a life of deception absolutely necessary for both parties."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">"There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">"Those who are faithful know only the trivial side of love; it is the faithless who know love's tragedies."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">"The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. Resist it, and your soul grows sick with longing for the things it has forbidden to itself, with desire for what its monstrous laws have made monstrous and unlawful."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">"It is only shallow people who do not judge by appearances. The true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">"Humanity takes itself too seriously. It is the world's original sin. If the cave-man had known how to laugh, History would have been different."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">"I can sympathize with everything, except suffering."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">"The people who love only once in their lives are really the shallow people. What they call their loyalty, and their fidelity, I call either the lethargy of custom or their lack of imagination. Faithfulness is to the emotional life what consistency is to the life of the intellect - simply a confession of failure."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">There are a million more I wish I could post, but I do believe you would stop reading and pick up the book your self :] </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">These are all from yours truly, Lord Henry. And these specific quotes are only from the first three chapters...</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">3. The Soul in The Picture: <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">Spoiler Alert!! </span>Skip .3 if you would not like the story spoiled for you. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">When Dorian was given the finished painting from the painter, Basil, he wished, almost prayer like the book says, that he would always look the way the painting then depicted him. And so from then on his should was trapped in the painting. Every sin he committed would show up in the painting, even the murder of his dear friend the painter would show up on the painting. His youth was never ending. This is mention able because the thought of immortality is a very well thought out ability thanks to Oscar. Immortality was given to a corruptible, yet perfect boy. If you are able to corrupt perfection, wouldn't you want it to die? I suppose that is the question here. Would you want to live forever, knowing who you really are with no way out?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">and 4. Sybil Vane:</div><div style="text-align: left;"> The very essence of of the word "naive". </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><img height="203" src="http://www.moviephotogallery.com/data/media/133/dorian_gray_20.jpg" width="320" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Sybil vane was an actress. She didn't even know Dorian's name, and yet she "just knew she loved him". Only a child would think such things. But What is even more intriguing is that Dorian believed he loved her too. Until one night, Sybil didn't think she should act out love anymore when she had love through Dorian. Dorian, believing the lies of Henry, believed that his love for Sybil came through her acting. Therefore, he did not love her anymore. After telling her so, Sybil committed suicide. And Dorian knew it was his fault. I personally, believe that this played a big part in the ending, which I will not reveal. But I thought I'd mention all this here so you could think about it while reading. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">With that said, I leave you with the trailer for the movie. I don't recommend it to those who are like me and a a little squimish when it comes to visualizing Dorian's horrible acts, but to those of you who are interested:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="299" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/5eAQWllCHHU" width="510"></iframe>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04581111547348324601noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8532735721154808667.post-5853383378951730972011-08-07T16:50:00.000-07:002011-08-07T16:50:54.680-07:00Safe from the Past: Failed Blog Tour<div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-F8ptL7Fxx2c/Tc3_RC8KbHI/AAAAAAAAAD8/IXElD0xbuz8/s320/Challenge.jpg" /></div><br />
Awe Man. I missed a blog tour. Well, better late than never I suppose. Let's hope this doesn't become a habit. I'm also submitting this book into the "books I should have read by now challenge" because I actually didn't even finishing reading the book when my turn to review came around...(shame on me). Click me to buy the book --> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Safe-Past-Story-Faith-Determination/dp/1933651849/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1310054112&sr=sprightly-20">Safe from the Past</a>.<br />
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<a href="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1285799074l/9358102.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1285799074l/9358102.jpg" width="212" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><b>About The Book:</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><b><i><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">A kidnapping, the divorce of her parents, the loss of her father, temporary abandonment and extreme poverty are just some of the issues the author dealt with as a young child. </span></span></i></b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
Her mother finally tells her she must go to college so she can break out of this cycle of poverty and hopelessness. But how can she when she has no money and absolutely no confidence or self esteem? <u></u><u></u></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
Read this true story to discover what hope, faith and determination can do to change a life.<u></u><u></u></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
A truly inspiring, deeply personal tale of perseverance in the face of unimaginable hardships, Safe from the Past makes clear the restorative power of an education.<br />
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Told in an open, honest voice with the deepest sincerity, the author's life story serves as a rousing inspiration to those with the desire to create a better life than the one they are currently living. <u></u><u></u></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">No matter how helpless you feel, everyone has the power to shape their own life.</span><div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--yYK0LwKe-Q/TjIChjfNEAI/AAAAAAAAEfI/8ngxNHpNY-4/s1600/author_headshot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--yYK0LwKe-Q/TjIChjfNEAI/AAAAAAAAEfI/8ngxNHpNY-4/s1600/author_headshot.jpg" /></a></div></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><b>About Patricia Miller Mauro:</b></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><a href="" name="1315837e7bf331d2_LETTER.BLOCK16" style="color: #0000cc;"><span style="font-family: Corbel; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Corbel; font-size: 10pt;"><br />
</span></span></a></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><a href="" name="1315837e7bf331d2_LETTER.BLOCK16" style="color: #0000cc;">Patricia worked in </a><u></u><u></u>New York City<u></u><u></u>'s financial district for thirteen years in the field of securities operations. At that time, she went on to obtain an MBA from <u></u><u></u>New York<u></u> <u></u>University<u></u><u></u>. She and her husband moved to<u></u><u></u>Dallas<u></u>, <u></u>TX<u></u><u></u> in 2001 where they are raising their two children.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">During her time in NY, Patricia wrote an article entitled "A Tribute To My Mother" which was published in "The Recovery Journal" in 1999. Her book is a continuation of that tribute and serves to spread the message to those in similar situations that good news is on its way to children considering a higher education but who are afraid to dream. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><br />
</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">For more information please visit,<a href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=nqr8necab&et=1106293998304&s=1031&e=001x9_PGyZgpF0fKY0cSwInOIXMzUdmvcwIr_QWEd1neTzwOjOQv-bXvzXakwFKkGVwjP9_o6WVeoUcS_XlODx8aFzeZjvv0RkEXJ-ODO19gC0yJ7qrd8H5VX1_KJcyfOCZ" style="color: #0000cc;" target="_blank" title="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=nqr8necab&et=1106293998304&s=1031&e=001x9_PGyZgpF0fKY0cSwInOIXMzUdmvcwIr_QWEd1neTzwOjOQv-bXvzXakwFKkGVwjP9_o6WVeoUcS_XlODx8aFzeZjvv0RkEXJ-ODO19gC0yJ7qrd8H5VX1_KJcyfOCZ"><b><span style="font-weight: bold;">www.patriciamaurobooks.com</span></b></a></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">. </span></span></div><div><br />
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</div><div>My Thoughts on the book:</div><div><br />
</div><div>There is no doubt in my mind that God uses the poor, weak and oppressed to do mighty things in His name. And I believe that Ms. Patricia has the perfect story to tell with that in mind. I found her story to be very compelling and intriguing. She's one of those people I wish I could just hug because I know of all her troubles. Her book was also an easy read, which made it flow easy. Biographies can be hard to work through if they don't "flow". However, I had a feeling that a few points where dramatized. But it was just a feeling. I don't think everyone is going to have this feeling, therefore I will not name specifically where I felt this way. Otherwise, Her story is good and reminds me of many a bible story where God chooses to show His strength through the small and weak. Go Patricia! </div><div><br />
</div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Litfuse is Hosting a giveaway!!!</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-weight: bold;">About the Giveaway:<u></u></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />
</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal">To enter all you have to do is send a tweet (using #litfuse) about <i><span style="font-style: italic;">Safe From the Past</span></i> or share about it on Facebook!<u></u><u></u></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">If you tweet we'll capture your entry when you use @litfuse. If you share it on Facebook or your blog, just email us and let us know (<a href="mailto:info@litfusegroup.com" style="color: #0000cc;" target="_blank">info@litfusegroup.com</a>). Easy. (All Litfuse bloggers who post a review are automatically entered and do NOT need to email us.)<u></u><u></u></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Not sure what to tweet/post? Here's an idea:<u></u><u></u></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-weight: bold;">TWEET THIS:</span></b> Safe From the Past by Patricia Mauro - inspiring tale of perseverance in the face of unimaginable hardships. <a href="http://ow.ly/5FQHA" style="color: #0000cc;" target="_blank">http://ow.ly/5FQHA</a> #litfuse<u></u><u></u></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-weight: bold;">FACEBOOK THIS</span></b>: Don’t miss Patricia Mauro’s Safe From the Past - inspiring, deeply personal tale of perseverance in the face of unimaginable hardships. <a href="http://ow.ly/5FQHA" style="color: #0000cc;" target="_blank">http://ow.ly/5FQHA</a>. Told in an open, honest voice with the deepest sincerity, the author's life story serves as a rousing inspiration to those with the desire to create a better life than the one they are currently living.</div></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">Leave a comment if you are interested in this book, or if you've maybe read another book about the same idea! I'd love to hear from you all. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">*And thank you Litfuse for giving me this book for reviewing purposes. </span><br />
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</span></div></span></span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04581111547348324601noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8532735721154808667.post-29393142763181970322011-08-03T14:08:00.000-07:002011-08-03T14:08:31.123-07:00What I See In My Mailbox TodayNeedless to say last month I completely failed in reading. I didn't even get to submit and posts for the "What I Should Have Read By Now Challenge" hosted by Gabriel from <a href="http://gabrielreads.blogspot.com/">Gabriel Reads</a>. Which I was so sad about because I had a lot of good choices this time round. I guess I'll just have to save them for this month :] Anyway moving on. Here is where I give my incredibly good excuse :]<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MIpvbAtPKAs/TjmzUrXzGdI/AAAAAAAAAk8/PbzkvlOvfak/s1600/sign.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="161" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MIpvbAtPKAs/TjmzUrXzGdI/AAAAAAAAAk8/PbzkvlOvfak/s320/sign.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9zuFp7SRPEY/TjmzYhZR6DI/AAAAAAAAAlA/Knx22YUy2vY/s1600/fun+col.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="190" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9zuFp7SRPEY/TjmzYhZR6DI/AAAAAAAAAlA/Knx22YUy2vY/s320/fun+col.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rMHrQzrVBIw/TjmznxdvVaI/AAAAAAAAAlE/ll9Pqw6hVk0/s1600/berries.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rMHrQzrVBIw/TjmznxdvVaI/AAAAAAAAAlE/ll9Pqw6hVk0/s320/berries.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QjWhBAsMh8U/TjmzpyKMyuI/AAAAAAAAAlI/DNINf3aH5Hw/s1600/bear.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QjWhBAsMh8U/TjmzpyKMyuI/AAAAAAAAAlI/DNINf3aH5Hw/s320/bear.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-v-q5K7vUBG0/TjmztIHBl5I/AAAAAAAAAlM/7ifAIvNq3js/s1600/vally.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-v-q5K7vUBG0/TjmztIHBl5I/AAAAAAAAAlM/7ifAIvNq3js/s320/vally.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-U2Mb0OQ4aV0/TjmzyYWMcII/AAAAAAAAAlQ/IQ4WdKMq9z0/s1600/water.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-U2Mb0OQ4aV0/TjmzyYWMcII/AAAAAAAAAlQ/IQ4WdKMq9z0/s320/water.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I went on a vacation to the mountains!!!!! And I went to the mountains because....</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3UzISW10RrI/Tjm0D-iT8QI/AAAAAAAAAlU/grzLLXIvEJ8/s1600/hawks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3UzISW10RrI/Tjm0D-iT8QI/AAAAAAAAAlU/grzLLXIvEJ8/s320/hawks.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0kK46BYvskc/Tjm0EcEogpI/AAAAAAAAAlY/feBTesNkPGM/s1600/hc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0kK46BYvskc/Tjm0EcEogpI/AAAAAAAAAlY/feBTesNkPGM/s320/hc.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-E5wW2VlN5sk/Tjm0FJkCDsI/AAAAAAAAAlc/FqY2MkR14co/s1600/awesome.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="204" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-E5wW2VlN5sk/Tjm0FJkCDsI/AAAAAAAAAlc/FqY2MkR14co/s320/awesome.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">My father has just returned from Japan!!!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">All very exciting and all very time consuming...as you can probably imagine. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img height="320" src="http://www.everythingmagic.co.uk/images/StressedFace.jpg" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">^This is what I looked like ^</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Not because I had anything to do...but because I thought I had stuff to do before he came home...and in all reality...I didn't. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">So I was really just making more work for myself. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">However, I am jumping right back on the bandwagon with reviews coming up of books I read while I was gone.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">In other news, here are some books I got in the mail while I was gone:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img alt="Too Blessed to Be Stressed: Inspiration for Climbing Out of Life's Stress-Pool - Debora M. Coty - 1336449" src="http://www.familychristian.com/FCSMedia/ProductImages.ashx?prodid=152019&height=260&width=180" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img height="200" src="http://files.tyndale.com/thpdata/images--covers/119_w/978-1-58997-629-0.gif" width="137" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img height="200" src="http://var.book-lib.com/revenge-of-the-red-knight-aio-imagination-station-books.jpg" width="200" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HzPW2gSvcIc/TfQFOC9rk-I/AAAAAAAABII/5yZcx5Bc_6c/s1600/Fairer+Than+Morning.jpg" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img src="http://www.waterstones.com/wat/images/nbd/m/978074/595/9780745955469.jpg" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Let me know what you think! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04581111547348324601noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8532735721154808667.post-23075654548363275992011-07-17T15:41:00.000-07:002011-07-17T15:46:28.872-07:00Birthday Bash Giveaway Winners!!!Recently 4 people who are very close to me, and myself, have had birthdays. And to celebrate I threw a <a href="http://ridiculousreviewsbysavanah.blogspot.com/2011/06/birthday-bash-giveaway.html">giveaway</a>. And I'm now ready to announce the winners :] And yes I know it's past the date I said I would name the winners, but better late the never.<br />
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And the winners are (via Random.org...which btw...like a totally dummy, I could not figure out for the life of me, how to use this site...I thought I was going to have to draw a winner from out of a hat or something :] ):<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OqZaho3CfoQ/TiNiOsf6yAI/AAAAAAAAAgU/ZZ8FZpeW13Y/s1600/areluctant.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OqZaho3CfoQ/TiNiOsf6yAI/AAAAAAAAAgU/ZZ8FZpeW13Y/s320/areluctant.jpg" width="207" /></a></div><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-large;"> !!!!Charity U !!!! </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-large;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">is the winner of The Reluctant Queen by Joan Wolf</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gPsIVmdzuJQ/TiNj8fxmrmI/AAAAAAAAAgY/PHe-uv2BzAQ/s1600/bookthief.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gPsIVmdzuJQ/TiNj8fxmrmI/AAAAAAAAAgY/PHe-uv2BzAQ/s320/bookthief.jpg" width="210" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-large;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-large;"> !!!! Jane!!!!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-large;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> is the winner of The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">I will be emailing both soon to </span>receive<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> you addresses. Thanks for playing!!!</span><br />
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</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04581111547348324601noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8532735721154808667.post-62172035286035886382011-07-13T11:30:00.001-07:002011-07-13T11:30:58.505-07:00Giveaways!A giveaway is going on through Coffee, Books and Me. You should go check it out:<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><a border="0" href="http://www.blogger.com/%E2%80%9Chttp://www.coffeebooksandme.blogspot.com%22" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1142.photobucket.com/albums/n602/jennachristy/1.jpg" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04581111547348324601noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8532735721154808667.post-44956773640719003692011-07-11T03:17:00.000-07:002011-07-11T03:17:00.914-07:00Cover Crazy Okay...So who here likes the Narnia movie series?? I personally enjoyed the entertainment, but I don't think they measure up to the books, but any good fan would think the same. Maybe this cover crazy will convince you to become a fan??<br />
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When I was first given the series, I wanted nothing to do with them. My step father gave them to me. I only say that he's my step father because it's completely ironic that the man that doesn't even share my blood is the man that changed my life. This isn't to say that just by handing me a handful of books, he changed my life. But then again he did. Because they are the first books I remember absolutely falling in love with. The story, the tales, the honor and heroics, the love between family and the unimaginable adventure...way better than reading the 15 page, level 0, books that I use to read in third grade just to say I read something. So really my love of books was highly encouraged by both my mother and father, but my father was the one to fuel the love.<br />
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So anyway, back to him giving me the books. I have the series that he had when he was a boy. He was very young when he had to read them, they even have his horribly, scribbled name written in all of them. So needless to say, they're pretty beat up and worn. And they're not hard cover, awesome antique like books, they're paper back. Very low budget kind of books. Not the most appealing thing to a 10 year old. So they sat there, in a box when we moved and in the dust when we settled, for 4 years. I was 14 when I decided to read them. And what's even more funny is that I was in trouble when I decided to read them. I was sent to my room and told I wasn't allowed to do anything...seriously? Yeah. Well, of course I was mad and did something...but what was I to do? So I picked up a book and read and it just so happened that the book was called The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. And that is my earliest memory of being a book lover. And just to finish my tale, my parents found out that I was reading and just left me there. So I read all day long.<br />
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Now that you know my story behind the books, you will understand my reasoning for not being able to provide an accurate front cover of all the copies I own because they are so old. But I will take a picture when I can and post them. If I do find an accurate cover, I will let you know in my post. I will be using this series for the next 7 Cover Crazies and I will be posting them in the order I first read them (more on that later).<br />
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And so, without further adieu:<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"> This looks just like my version of the book, only mine is faded. This cover was never really appealing to me when I was younger. I suppose<i> </i>I never really gave it a chance. After reading the story, I've found that this a a great piece of art work, one of the best even to ever explain the story within. Some of the most obvious pieces of this cover are the wardrobe doors and the children. There are four children which are to represent the four children who enter the wardrobe: Peter (the oldest), Susan (the oldest girl), Edmund (the youngest boy) and Lucy (the youngest of them all). And then the wardrobe doors are (duh) the wardrobe doors, but a fist time reader wouldn't guess that. However I do believe that a first time reader would know that the doors were special because they are colored gold. You just don't see gold colored door everywhere. These doors lead to a forest full of snow. In the far back here is a gloomy looking castle and a full moon. Full moon always mean something bad is coming. At least that's the myth. Awesome job there on the artists part. </div><div style="text-align: center;">And then the stars all lined up nicely lead me to believe something was going to happen. You know how you always here of lined stars as a sign that something was coming or going to happen? And the children are walking right into it all. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Let me know what you think about the Narnia books. If you haven't read them, let me know what you think about their covers. Or just feel free to leave a comment. I love all comments :]</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04581111547348324601noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8532735721154808667.post-10576785162664222932011-07-09T08:05:00.001-07:002011-07-09T08:09:33.886-07:00Ligonier Ministries Likes Mail Boxes<div style="text-align: left;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Have you ever heard of Table Talk by Ligonier Ministries? It's a reformed Christian magazine. It's very small and chalk-full of info and sermons and daily readings and resources and stories. I seriously suggest subscribing. Especially if you don't understand Christians or have recently become reformed. Trust me. I know it's hard to understand us. We are a crazy, God loving bunch of people. :] I'm not saying this magazine was made specifically for people who wish to understand Christians, it was to help fellow Christians in their daily walk, but it's just a thought. And for those who just recently come to understand what reformed theology is, boy is this going to be a good resource for you. Just click here to subscribe: <u><a href="https://www.ligonier.org/tabletalk/subscribe/">Tabletalk</a></u></span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 22px; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/ligonier-public-media/store/product_variation_images/GOD06BP_200x1000.jpg?cbust=0d2905583062c4ef8fc8" width="229" /></span></div></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 22px; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; font: normal normal normal 13px/24px Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 9px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">"Christian women are under tremendous pressure these days:</span></div></div></div><ul style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 22px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 680px;"><li style="text-align: left;"><span class="dquo" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 22px;">Get a job, don’t waste your education.”</span></li>
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #f4f3ef; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px 3px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-left-radius: 3px 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px 3px; border-top-width: 0px; float: left; margin-bottom: 3px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 4px; padding-left: 6px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline; width: 670px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="dquo" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“</span>You’ll only be fulfilled if you succeed in your career.”</span></li>
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #f4f3ef; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px 3px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-left-radius: 3px 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px 3px; border-top-width: 0px; float: left; margin-bottom: 3px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 4px; padding-left: 6px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline; width: 670px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="dquo" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“</span>You need a new look, then you’ll be happy.”</span></li>
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #f4f3ef; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px 3px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-left-radius: 3px 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px 3px; border-top-width: 0px; float: left; margin-bottom: 3px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 4px; padding-left: 6px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline; width: 670px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="dquo" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“</span>We can’t afford to lose your income, you have to work.”</span></li>
<li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #f4f3ef; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px 3px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-left-radius: 3px 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px 3px; border-top-width: 0px; float: left; margin-bottom: 3px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 4px; padding-left: 6px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline; width: 670px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Even, “Mommy, don’t go.”</span></li>
</ul><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; font: normal normal normal 13px/24px Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 9px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">But is the world’s model for womanhood the best there is?</span></div></div></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; font: normal normal normal 13px/24px Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 9px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">In his study, <em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; display: inline; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">God’s High Calling for Women</em>, John MacArthur sorts out the New Testament’s encouraging instruction to women on their role, appearance, attitude, testimony, and contribution to the Lord’s work — the true path to fulfillment."</span></div></div></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; font: normal normal normal 13px/24px Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 9px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div></div></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; font: normal normal normal 13px/24px Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 9px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: inherit; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img height="320" src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/ligonier-public-media/store/product_variation_images/DAW01BP_200x1000.jpg?cbust=0d2905583062c4ef8fc8" width="197" /></span></div></div></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; font: normal normal normal 13px/24px Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 9px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div></div></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; font: normal normal normal 13px/24px Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 9px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="line-height: 22px; text-align: left;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">"Richard Dawkins is an author and pundit who sometimes writes about science, but most recently has published a book decrying religion in general and Christianity specifically. David Robertson, a pastor and author, read the book and was shocked into replying to it. But rather than producing a polemic or straight refutation of Dawkins’ text he decided to write Dawkins an open letter, posted on his church’s website. Then something unexpected happened.</span></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small; line-height: 22px;"><br />
</span></span></div></div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small; line-height: 22px;"></span></span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small; line-height: 22px;">Richard Dawkins posted the letter on his own website, and the response Robertson got from those who read it there inspired him to keep writing. In conversational, colloquial prose Robertson brings up questions and Christian angles on some of the issues in Dawkins’ book. Addressing what he calls “atheist myths”, the author uncovers Dawkins’ secular scientific bias without assenting to the false dichotomy between science and Christianity. A less in-depth study than some (such as <a href="http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/product?item_no=834464" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; cursor: pointer; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; display: inline; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Dawkins Delusion?</em></a> by Alister and Joanna McGrath) but more a personal and engaging invitation to Christians and non-Christians alike who have questions about these issues unanswered by Dawkins himself."</span></span></div></div><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; font: normal normal normal 13px/24px Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 9px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></div></div></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; font: normal normal normal 13px/24px Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 9px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Both books are based on subjects that I'm completely enthralled with right now and am quite opinionated on. The opinions and truths interest me. </span></span></div></div></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; font: normal normal normal 13px/24px Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 9px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></div></div></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; font: normal normal normal 13px/24px Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 9px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></div></div></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 13px; font: normal normal normal 13px/24px Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 9px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px;">The most recent Tabletalk is about Classic l</span>iterature<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px;">. I can't wait to read and post about it. If you've subscribed to this </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px;">magazine</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px;"> in the past let us know what you think. Or if you completely against everything that I'm reading, I'd be happy to hear from you too :] </span></span></span></div><div></div></div></div><ul style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 680px;"><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #f4f3ef; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-left-radius: 3px 3px; border-bottom-right-radius: 3px 3px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-left-radius: 3px 3px; border-top-right-radius: 3px 3px; border-top-width: 0px; float: left; margin-bottom: 3px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 4px; padding-left: 6px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 4px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 670px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div></li>
</ul>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04581111547348324601noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8532735721154808667.post-69243324510184313452011-07-05T20:26:00.000-07:002011-07-05T20:26:20.745-07:00Best Pictures That Could Ever Be Taken For Book Lovers...<div style="text-align: center;"><img height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ygcXID08Egk/Tg7wb3Q3jnI/AAAAAAAAAqs/wnjHS0v5l0Y/s320/54102531_yUjk4Rk3_c.jpg" width="225" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">So true. And sad :[ </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><img height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4I08PzsfM5o/Tg7xJwSggAI/AAAAAAAAAqw/szMlVmo8aGk/s320/53879405_ZDeNr8rE_c.jpg" width="238" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">I think I'll review one of his books. I absolutely love them. I haven't found even one that I'm not totally in love with (figurative of course). </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IMpl_ZGOV6Q/Tg7wbAnS2EI/AAAAAAAAAqo/uNFi0ifvQiw/s640/54056612_NII0E9wS_c.jpg" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">I will be painting my stairs like this when I have my own house. And I really hope my husband will be okay with it :]</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><img height="240" src="http://ny-image0.etsy.com/il_fullxfull.145702804.jpg" width="320" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Cupcake toppers...is this going too far?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><img height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_BIWWMX8ft6U/S98tBPop4VI/AAAAAAAAAC4/Z1uqj5u7_ik/s320/bookartliz.jpg" width="244" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">awesome tree or book lovers nightmare.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">I will confess that I once tore a book up for the sake of art. But don't worry. It was a horrible book. It was called :How To Increase Your Popularity Through The Art of Being Social...and it was for free so I actually felt like I was doing the world a favor :] </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">What are you reading this weekend?? </div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04581111547348324601noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8532735721154808667.post-75954938822930253352011-07-04T18:57:00.000-07:002011-07-05T17:16:52.457-07:00Happy Independence Day...<div style="text-align: center;"><img height="180" src="http://cruciald.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/idpreview.jpg" width="320" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Happy Independence Day!!! </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Hope you all are enjoying the fireworks as much as I am and have. :] And the music...and everyone dressed up in red white and blue and stars and stripes...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Just a reminder the giveaway is still going on until the 14th. Spread the word. </div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04581111547348324601noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8532735721154808667.post-1854581947711508522011-07-01T11:36:00.000-07:002011-07-01T11:38:16.531-07:00What I've Been Reading<div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></div><br />
Oh my...well. Lately I've been so busy. For the last three week I've been helping, along with my family, my grandmother because she just went through surgery recently for a quadruple bypass. I can't believe I spelled that all right the first time. Can you believe that??<br />
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Wow :]<br />
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Anyway, I thought I'd just give you all an update on what I've been reading lately.<br />
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</a><a href="http://alienterritory.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/lewis-perelandra.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
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A sharp, sophisticated fantasy dealing with an old problem-temptation-in a new world-Perelandra. The newest planet in C.S. Lewis's celebrated space world, Perelandra (the planet Venus), has been invaded by the devil's agent in the shape of an English physicist, Dr. Weston. Evil joins battle with good, represented by Ransom the philologist, as Perelandra and it's Queen and Lady Mother face the choice between ascending to perfection or following an older world to corruption.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://mandaberry.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/the-book-thief.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://mandaberry.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/the-book-thief.jpg" width="207" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 7px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">It’s just a small story really, about among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist-fighter, and quite a lot of thievery. . . .</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 7px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Set during World War II in Germany, Markus Zusak’s groundbreaking new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement before he is marched to Dachau.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 7px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">This is an unforgettable story about the ability of books to feed the soul.</span></div><br />
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<a href="http://www.mobipocket.com/eBooks/cover_remote/ID5630/coverThePictureofDorianGray.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.mobipocket.com/eBooks/cover_remote/ID5630/coverThePictureofDorianGray.jpg" width="213" /></a><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Oscar Wilde brings his enormous gifts for astute social observation and sparkling prose to <i style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The Picture of Dorian Gray</i>, his dreamlike story of a young man who sells his soul for eternal youth and beauty. This dandy, who remains forever unchanged—petulant, hedonistic, vain, and amoral—while a painting of him ages and grows increasingly hideous with the years, has been horrifying, enchanting, obsessing, even corrupting readers for more than a hundred years.</span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 7px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Taking the reader in and out of London drawing rooms, to the heights of aestheticism, and to the depths of decadence, <i style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The Picture of Dorian Gray</i> is not only a melodrama about moral corruption. Laced with bon mots and vivid depictions of upper-class refinement, it is also a fascinating look at the milieu of Wilde’s fin-de-siècle world and a manifesto of the creed “Art for Art’s Sake.”</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 7px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The ever-quotable Wilde, who once delighted London with his scintillating plays, scandalized readers with this, his only novel. Upon publication, Dorian was condemned as dangerous, poisonous, stupid, vulgar, and immoral, and Wilde as a “driveling pedant.” The novel, in fact, was used against Wilde at his much-publicized trials for “gross indecency,” which led to his imprisonment and exile on the European continent. Even so, <i style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The Picture of Dorian Gray</i> firmly established Wilde as one of the great voices of the Aesthetic movement, and endures as a classic that is as timeless as its hero.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 7px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Camille Cauti, Ph.D., is an editor and literary critic who lives in New York City. She is a specialist in the Catholic conversion trend among members of the avant-garde in London in the 1890s.</span></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs50/f/2009/331/3/9/The_Picture_of_Dorian_Gray_by_spyders.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs50/f/2009/331/3/9/The_Picture_of_Dorian_Gray_by_spyders.jpg" width="229" /></a></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Here's where I pause to say: I love this book!!!!! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">^^^And this Picture ^^^</div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Okay...Moving on....</div><br />
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</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Godly and Righteous, Peevish and Perverse presents an extraordinary and motley collection of literary and real life characters sharing a common role and a common status, yet capable of every human strength and foible.</span><br />
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<div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; margin-top: 7px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><img height="320" src="http://www.thealmightyguru.com/Reviews/WrinkleInTime/Images/ASwiftlyTiltingPlanet2.jpg" width="206" /></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 7px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">It is November. When Meg comes home from school, Charles Wallace tells her he saw dragons in the twin’s vegetable garden. That night Meg, Calvin and C.W. go to the vegetable garden to meet the Teacher (Blajeny) who explains that what they are seeing isn’t a dragon at all, but a cherubim named Proginoskes. It turns out that C.W. is ill and that Blajeny and Proginoskes are there to make him well – by making him well, they will keep the balance of the universe in check and save it from the evil Echthros.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 7px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Meg, Calvin and Mr. Jenkins (grade school principal) must travel inside C.W. to have this battle and save Charles’ life as well as the balance of the universe.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 7px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
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</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 7px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">In this companion to the Newbery Award winner <i style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">A Wrinkle in Time </i>and <i style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">A Wind in the Door</i>, fifteen-year-old Charles Wallace and the unicorn Gaudior undertake a perilous journey through time in a desperate attempt to stop the destruction of the world by the mad dictator Madog Branzillo. They are not alone in their quest. Charles Wallace's sister, Meg—grown and expecting her first child, but still able to enter her brother's thoughts and emotions by "kything"—goes with him in spirit. Charles Wallace must face the ultimate test of his faith and his will as he is sent within four people from another time, there to search for a way to avert the tragedy threatening them all.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 7px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">If you haven't guessed yet, I'm ma huge fan of </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Madeleine L'Engle. One of my favorite quotes from her is :</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">"</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">"I do not think that I will ever reach a stage when I will say, "This is what I believe. Finished." What I believe is alive ... and open to growth"</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"> </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">"A book comes and says, 'Write me." </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">"If a book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children."</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">Yeah, she's a pretty awesome writer. I'd encourage all to read her books. I don't want to say she reminds me of C.S. Lewis because she's totally her own writer, but in the way that she writes. Everything she writes means something. None of it is just "fill in work". It's a painting and every piece is meant to show or say something. It's amazing really. </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Leave me a comment telling me which ones you want reviews on, or which ones you've already read, or anything! I love comments :] </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Thanks for stopping by! </span><br />
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Love,<br />
Nonnie<br />
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</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04581111547348324601noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8532735721154808667.post-88279716248516859672011-06-29T13:45:00.000-07:002011-08-03T11:46:10.774-07:00When Life is Hard by James MacDonald<div style="text-align: center;"><img height="320" src="http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0PDoX8NcwtO9XEAe9yjzbkF/SIG=13770dr7t/EXP=1309401997/**http%3a//www.fbclongview.com/files/fbclongview/When%2520Life%2520is%2520Hard/2116.gif" width="211" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN"><span lang="EN"><strong><span style="font-family: inherit;">Back Cover:</span></strong></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN"><span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In the midst of the storm it's tough to remember when you first heard thunder. Some years ago my wife and I sailed into a series of trials that increased from gentle breezes to a Category 5 hurricane. At the time I wondered what God's purpose could possibly be in <i>making life so hard</i>. </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN"><span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: inherit;">How do we make sense of suffering? All I knew was that I had to find out. I needed help and I needed it fast, so I searched God's Word, not as an academic exercise, but as a desperate soul crying out for help.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN"><span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What He gave me during those weeks has changed my life, and you now hold the written record of it in your hands. Of life has been hard for you, you're in the right place. I'm eager to share with you what God revealed to me through His Word...</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN"><span lang="EN"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN"><span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: inherit;">- Dr. James MacDonald </span></span></span></div><span lang="EN"><span lang="EN"><br />
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<div style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN"><span lang="EN"><strong><span style="font-family: inherit;">My Thoughts:</span></strong></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN"><span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: inherit;">When I first started to read this book I knew that I was probably going to laugh through most of it. Not because what he (MacDonald) was saying was humorous in a way of ignorance, but because he found a way to say truthful things in a way that was somewhat sarcastic. Which to me, always makes me feel comfortable. Because I'm a sarcastic person:] Which is odd for me, because I also take everything literally. Yes, I am difficult. But that is not what this post is about. </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN"><span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Anyway, there where a lot of different ideas and thoughts written in this book that I agreed with and then there were a few that I completely disagreed with. Here's what you should know before reading:</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN"><span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The first thing that caught my attention in a bad way was a very small comment on page 82 about people asking him (Mr. James MacDonald is a pastor) frivolous questions like "Should I move to Topeka, Kansas?". </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN"><span lang="EN"><br />
</span></span></div><span lang="EN"><span lang="EN"><i><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"God's will is God's Word. People ask me frequently what God's will is for their life. 'Is it God's will for me to move to Topeka, Kansas?' Trust me on this: He doesn't care. He will still be able to do what He's doing here even if you're in Kansas and He will use you wherever you are if you're obedient to His word.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">God's will for you is to keep your commitments.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">God's will is for you is to be a person of integrity.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">God's will is for you to be a hard worker. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">God's will is for you to be a person of truth and sincerity and commitment to His way.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">That's God's will. " (82)</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div></i><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In my opinion, he never should have answered the question with a "God's will for you is (fill in the blank)". Simply because, Dr. James MacDonald does not know what God's will is for your life or for my life or for anybody else’s life but his own. The bible says that God may even choose to harden the hearts of some. Meaning, God may choose some to go to Heaven and then choose others to go to hell. And just in case you think I'm pulling this from the sky, take a look at these passages:</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><strong><span style="font-family: inherit;">John 15:16</span></strong></div><div style="text-align: left;"><em><span style="font-family: inherit;">You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.</span></em></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><strong><span style="font-family: inherit;">Romans 8:29</span></strong></div><div style="text-align: left;"><em><span style="font-family: inherit;">For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.</span></em></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><strong><span style="font-family: inherit;">2 Thessalonians 2:11-12</span></strong></div><div style="text-align: left;"><em><span style="font-family: inherit;">God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:</span></em><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.</span></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">These passages clearly state that, ONE: God chooses us, TWO: He can choose you also to go to hell and THREE: who He chooses to go to heaven or hell does not have anything to do with what you have or have not done. And there are more, but you probably are bored by now. And if that's the case, Stop Reading This. And skip to the section called read this. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This being said, there is no way for Mr. MacDonald to know the will of God for you. Simply because you and I have no way of knowing weather or not that man walking on the street is chosen by God or that woman who sits three pews ahead of you. You just don't know. However, you can know the will of God for yourself, and you are the only one to know the will of God for yourself. If you listen.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Another thing that bothered me about this short little excerpt was when Mr. MacDonald said that God doesn't care if you move to Topeka Kansas. That isn't true. God does care. He always cares. He cares enough to notice a bird being sold, or to count the hairs on your head...trust me...He cares very much about weather or not you move to Topeka, Kansas. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I will say though, that I think what Mr. MacDonald is trying to say is that he, as a pastor and mentor and confidant, cannot help people with those kinds of issues. Those are between them (the people moving) and God, not between Pastor MacDonald and whoever. Because again, Mr. MacDonald doesn't know the will of God for you. So he isn't able to tell you if that is or isn't the will of God in your life. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The last thing that I noticed, and there may be more (these are just the ones that I actually noticed), is that Mr. MacDonald's advice was not all times...the best. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">i.e. "If you're not sure how to love, have a party. Invite people over." (86)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I can think of a thousand more effective was to learn what love is. Try, being in a consistently working family. And I don't mean working like mom is a nurse, dads a cop and brother a sister are never seen because they have their own jobs. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Try, serving in your community. It's both humbling and the surest way to know what selflessly loving means. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Try anything, anything at all before you try throwing a party. Because I know, being a hostess before myself, even on the smallest scale...masks are so easy to put on if you know it'll all end soon. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Other than that, I liked his thoughts on suffering on page 77. Wonderful stuff there. I also like that you can read this book with a group or just by your self. Versatile books like that make me eager to read. I don't know why they just do. You know...sometimes you have to get a separate study on the book to do a group thing. I don't know. I just like books that are all in one like this. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I also liked that he used his own personal reflection. Being able to see a leader fall or trip up and then be able to admit that he made a mistake and is now teaching from his own experiences...that's just a really great characteristic for a leader. I personally, look for those things. Not for them to wallow in their dirt, but to be able to teach from they're own point of view. This is not me saying, please tell me Mr. I-was-once-a-rapist what you believe about God. I don't mean that at all. But I like to be able to connect with those who are teaching. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I give this book 3 out of 5 stars.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;">And thanks to Moody Publishers with providing me with a free copy of When Life Is Hard by James MacDonald for reviewing purposes. </span></div></span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04581111547348324601noreply@blogger.com6