The Road Trip

I recently received a copy of The Road Trip by Jo Lynn Crozier from Net Galley for an honest review. Liz goes on a road trip with God. He takes her to many fantastical locations where she interacts with a variety of whimsical characters. Upon departure of each location, she realizes she is receiving a treasure chest of valuable and practical spiritual life lessons.

Have you read passages in the Bible but not really understood what they meant? I know I have. This book helps you to see by the way of short stories what God wants you to know. Liz learns many life lessons via a sidecar to help us from having to learn them the hard way. This is a funny easy to relate to book that I highly recommend.

Love Lifted Me

I received a copy of Love Lifted Me by Sara Evans with Rachel Hauck from NetGalley for an honest review. When I picked this book I thought it was an autobiography of Sara Evans, but come to find out it's written by the singer. Come to find out Sara has written a few books with Rachel Hauck. It's very well written and an easy read that keep me wanting to find out what happens next. Reading this makes me wonder if I could be as strong as Jade and if I could handle as much as she does in a single year.

Jade never knew happily-ever-after would be this messy, loud...delicious.

Jade Benson embraces unexpected motherhood when her husband Max gains custody of his young son. As she and Max work out their newly formed family, an invitation to coach Texas high school football sends them on a journey. Then a stranger reveals a painful secret, and Jade faces her hardest challenge yet. When she surrenders her heart to God and to her husband, Jade descovers the joy of love lifting her above her fears.

The Puppy That Came for Christmas

I received a copy of The Puppy That Came for Christmas by Megan Rix from Net Galley for an honest review.

All Megan Rix wanted was a baby. Yet month after month, Megan's dreams were dashed. Would her life ever feel complete? Megan and her husband, Ian, found a surprising answer when they began training golden retriever pups to become service dogs for people with disabilities.

Meg and her husband Ian desperately wanted to have children, but after undergoing many tests and trials decided to be foster parents to puppies for Helper Dogs. Helper Dogs trains dogs to be helpers for people with physical problems who have trouble taking care of themselves. The dogs are taken care of as puppies by foster parents who start the training and are then moved on to advanced training. Meg and Ian foster 2 puppies (Emma and Freddy) before realizing they'd love to have their own forever puppy. They make several lasting friendships with other foster parents with Helper Dogs.
This is a wonderful book for anyone who has longed for a child or any animal lover.

George Washington Carver

I received a copy of George Washington Carver Christian Encounters Series by John Perry from Booksneeze for an honest review. A generation of 20th century Americans knew him as a gentle, stoop-shouldered old black man who loved plants and discovered more than a hundred uses for the humble peanut. George Washington Carver goes beyond the public image to chronicle the adventures of one of history's most inspiring and remarkable men.

George Washington Carver was born a slave. After his mother was kidnapped during the Civil War, his former owners raised him as their own child. He was the first black graduate of Iowa State, and turned down a salary from Thomas Edison higher than the U.S. President to stay at the struggling Tuskegee Institute, where he taught and encouraged poor black students for nearly half a century.

Carver was an award-winning painter and acclaimed botanist who saw God the Creator in all of nature. The more he learned about the world, the more convinced he was that everything in it was a gift from the Almighty, that all people were equal in His sight, and that the way to gain respect from his fellow man was not to demand it, but earn it.

I've heard a little about George Washington Carver but didn't really know very much about this amazing man. He seemed to be one of the smartest people of his time but also was very demanding of his school. I'm amazed by how many applications he found for the peanut and sweet potatoe and how easy he was dismissed by those around him.

A Marriage Carol

I received a copy of A Marriage Carol by Chris Fabry and Gary Chapman from Net Galley for an honest review. Jake and Marlee, a typical couple, are about to call it quits. Over time they have drifted apart; the sparks are dead. Marlee is convinced she married the wrong man and Jake feels tied down to the wrong woman. Jake is distant and tired of being controlled while Marlee is tired of being the only one trying to save their marriage.

They go to bed Christmas Eve, in seperate rooms, each rationalizing...life is too short to be miserable...love shouldn't hurt like this...their marriage must end for the happiness to return.

But their lives are about to take a turn. The ghosts of Marriage Past, Marriage Present, and Marriage Future reveal to Jake and Marlee how past chioces, present realities, and their potential future might look if they don't change their "stories".

Jake and Marlee experience a Christmas gift that will radically change their thinking and cause them to look at marriage not for what they can get out of it but for what God can do in and through their marriage.

This book made me think about my marriage. I'd say I have a good marriage but can it be better? This book makes me think that any marriage can be better than it is now. This is a good quick read for anyone in a relationship.

It Is Dangerous to Be Right When the Government is Wrong

I recieved the Kindle version of It is Dangerous to Be Right When the Government is Wrong - The Case for Personal Freedom by Andrew Napolitano from Booksneeze for an honest review. Judge Andrew P. Napolitano examines the concept the government hates and fears the most: Freedom. The United States of America was born out of a bloody revolt against tyranny. Yet almost from its inception, the government here has suppressed liberty. In his sixth book on the Constitution and human freedom, Judge Andrew P. Napolitano asks: Where does freedom come from? How can government in America exercise power that the people have not given to it? What forces have collaborated to destroy personal freedom?

In this back-to-basics on freedom, Judge Napolitano addresses hard questions:

Do we still have a Constitution?

What are the limits to government power in a free society?

Why does the government attack, rather than defend, our rights?

If our rights are inalienable, how can the government take them away?

Do we really own private property?

I picked this book because I don't consider myself to be very knowledgable when it comes to the government. I had not heard of Judge Andrew Napolitano before. He is very knowledgeable about the government and how they are trying to steal our personal freedoms without us even realizing the extent of it.

I didn't enjoy this book. Napolitano writes in a way that I don't enjoy reading. The book is full of very useful information but is a dry read.

One Click

I received a copy of One Click Jeff Bezos and the Rise of Amazon.com by Richard L. Brandt from NetGalley for an honest review. Amazon's business model is deceptively simple: Make online shopping so easy and convenient that customers won't think twice. It can almost be summed up by the button on every page: "Buy now with one click".
Why has Amazon been so successful? Much of it has to do with Jeff Bezos, the CEO and founder, whose unique combination of character traits and business strategy have driven Amazon to the top of the online retail world.
Richard Brandt charts Bezo's rise from computer nerd to world-changing entrepreneur. His success can be credited to his forward-looking insights and ruthless business sense.
I was disappointed with this book. It has more negative than positive in it. It seems that Brandt was out to show what has gone wrong for Amazon more than what they've done right to get to where they are.