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Making Waves – Revell Blog Tour

Posted by html404 on September 12, 2010
in Books

Faith and Family Reviews received the following product in exchange for writing a review. While we consider it a privilege to receive free products to review, our reviews are our honest opinion and thoughts of the product.

Making Waves

When spunky Marguerite Westing discovers that her family will summer at Lake Manawa in 1895, she couldn’t be more thrilled. It is the perfect way to escape her agonizingly boring suitor, Roger Gordon. It’s also where she stumbles upon two new loves: sailing, and sailing instructor Trip Andrews.

But this summer of fun turns to turmoil as her father’s secret threatens to ruin the family forever. Will free-spirited Marguerite marry Roger to save her father’s name and fortune? Or will she follow her heart–even if it means abandoning the family she loves?

Our Review

Making Waves is a book about family relationships – the joys and challenges. I enjoyed reading of Marguerite’s struggles with certain individuals in her life. Her father’s secret grieved me, but I admired Marguerite’s loyalty to her family and her desire to help.

Marguerite is probably like many of us who have been afraid to confront someone, especially a someone with a stronger personality, with our real thoughts and feelings about a very serious and important subject. In order for a relationship to flourish the people involved have to be upfront and honest, not in a hurtful way, even though the truth sometimes does hurt.

Marguerite is a character who also teaches the reader the consequences of lying. Lying, like many other sins, damages relationships. Better to be honest and establish trustworthiness than risk never being trusted again.

I think most people could relate to something in Marguerite and learn from her character’s mistakes. I could relate more to Trip Andrews and his struggle to trust than I could to Marguerite. I found this book entertaining and wondered from one page to the next what Marguerite would do next.

Making Waves may be purchased through Revell or major book retailers for $14.99.

About the Author

Lorna Seilstad is a history buff, antique collector, and freelance graphic designer. A former high school English and journalism teacher, she has won several online writing awards and is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers. She lives in and draws her setting from Iowa. This is her first novel.

“Available September 2010 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.”

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Bitten by the Business Bug – A Book Review

Posted by html404 on September 1, 2010
in Books, Education

I received the following book in exchange for writing a review. While I consider it a privilege to receive free products to review, my review is my honest opinion and thoughts of the book.

Bitten by the business bug cover

Jason O’Neill was one of the people to respond to our Back to School Product Guide with a pitch about his Pencil Bugs and new book, Bitten by the Business Bug. He generously offered to giveaway a copy of his book to our readers, which is our current giveaway. The book was written by Jason, who is a teen entrepreneur. It is filled with common sense tips for business and life, all from Jason’s own experience.

I had hoped to have this review posted earlier but a certain little “Sir Eats Alot” (our two-week-old son) arrived earlier than anticipated and threw us off our posting and reviewing schedule. Bitten by the Business Bug is a must read for parents and their kids, whether you are interested in business or not. Jason is an inspiration. I am having my daughters read his book. Right now my oldest daughter is working her way through it and is about half way done. I will have her post her review, as well as her sisters’, so you get different perspective from them.

Schools do not teach entrepreneurship or thinking outside the box. That’s why my husband and I are interested in books like Jason’s to help fill in the gaps of our children’s education with supplemental material.

Bitten by the Business Bug is a close look at a young entrepreneur’s adventure into business ownership, the opportunities that have come with that ownership and the lessons learned. These opportunities and lessons have taught Jason so much more than he would ever learn in school alone. He and his parents have been wise in keeping school first, being a normal kid second and business third. In doing so this has allowed Jason to be a kid, but even more than that has taught him that just because he is a kid doesn’t have to limit what he can accomplish. Jason has big aspirations for Pencil Bugs and it will be interesting to see all that Jason will do in the future.

Pencil Bugs

Jason is a philanthropist at heart. Since the advent of Pencil Bugs has given portion of his earnings a to kids in need, whether that is helping kids in foster care or sick children in the hospital. From donations to gift bags, Jason has helped meet the needs of children in his community.

I think both parents and children will learn much from Jason. I know I did and hope my children do too.

Visit www.PencilBugs.com for more information about Jason, his book and business.

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A Book Review of Mom’s Survival Guide: Save Time, Money, and Your Sanity

Posted by Bobbie Gould on August 22, 2010
in Books

I received the following product in exchange for writing a review. While I consider it a privilege to receive free products to review, my review is my honest opinion and thoughts of the product.

I had the opportunity to review Redbook’s Mom’s Survival Guide: Save Time, Money, and Your Sanity. It was different than I expected. Not that I can put my expectations into words or anything, it just wasn’t what I expected that’s all.

Redbook’s Survival Guide is designed in such a way that you can quickly reference a problem or question by flipping through the red tabbed pages to find what they say about a particular issue or problem. Say for instance your child is experiencing headaches, you could then flip the pages to health and find headaches listed.

To be really honest, I did not think that this book was helpful to me. It is not a survival guide, it is more of a reference book for mom’s with older children. However I did learn a couple of new things. The first, I always thought the hottest summer hours were between 10:00am-2:00pm, but this book extends the hours to 4:00pm. Then I learned that many children experience headaches. I didn’t know that, nor did my doctor’s office tell me this when we questioned them about the headaches our children have experienced, which disappointed me. I also learned a few more reasons that our children could be experiencing headaches and will now watch for those things.

Overall, most of the things covered in this book are covered in other covered in most other parenting books I’ve read or it is common sense. It is more for first time parents. It would not be helpful for veteran parents.

Redbook’s Mom’s Survival Guide retails for $16.95 and may be purchased at any major bookstore.

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Suzanne Woods Fisher’s Amish Proverbs Blog Tour

Posted by html404 on August 19, 2010
in Books, Contests

Suzanne’s Amish Proverbs just hit the shelves. To celebrate she’s giving away a KINDLE and throwing a party! Let the fun begin. See below for info and links.

Find out more about the book, Suzanne and the blog tour here.

Enter Suzanne Woods Fisher’s Simple Wisdom KINDLE Giveaway!

One Grand Prize winner will receive a Kindle preloaded with Suzanne Woods Fisher titles. The Prize Pack (valued at over $205.00) includes:

* A brand new KINDLE, Free 3G, 6″, Latest Generation

* Amish Peace by Suzanne Woods Fisher

* The Choice by Suzanne Woods Fisher

To enter, simply click on the icons below to fill out the entry form, then tell 5 or more friends about the contest.

Oh, and enter soon! Winner will be announced on September 1st.

Join Suzanne for a Wrap-up Party on September 1st!

She’ll be announcing the winner of the Simple Wisdom KINDLE Giveaway, chatting with readers, and giving away copies of Amish Proverbs and The Choice! Be sure to join us on Wednesday , September 1st at 8PM EST at Suzanne’s Author Page

Be sure to check out the blog tour here or purchase a copy of Amish Proverbs: Words of Wisdom from the Simple Life!

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Garden Tuesday! – Idiot’s Guide to Raising Chickens

Posted by html404 on July 27, 2010
in Books, Gardening, Health & Garden Tuesday

This post was originally written for and published at AlternativeConsumer.com. I received the following product in exchange for writing a review. While I consider it a privilege to receive free products to review, my review is my honest opinion and thoughts of the product.

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I received the following product in exchange for writing a review. While I consider it a privilege to receive free products to review, my review is my honest opinion and thoughts of the product.

{No comments}

Review: The Seeker – A Revell Book Tour

Posted by html404 on July 25, 2010
in Books

I received the following product in exchange for writing a review. While I consider it a privilege to receive free products to review, my review is my honest opinion and thoughts of the product.

The Seeker

The Seeker by Ann Gabhart is a story of a jilted young woman who joins a Shaker community to escape her own struggles while the country is on the brink of Civil War. The story is set during the 1860s, the main character Charlotte Vance is a pampered Southern woman with a mind of her own. Thinking she knows what she wants, her fiance throws her for a loop when he joins the Shakers, which is a religious group that does not allow marriage. This leaves Charlotte spinning for her barrings. Then her father brings home a new wife, surprising and hurting Charlotte even more.

Circumstances leave Charlotte little choice as her household is in a turmoil of changes and the civil war about to begin, to do some quick thinking to get her life back to the order she desires so badly. Little does she realize how her decisions will ultimately change the course of her life.

I learned a lot about the Shakers reading this novel. They had some interesting beliefs, but they definitely loved one another and were a community that helped not only their own but others that were a part of the greater community in which they lived.

There were some surprising events in the book, but it was a heart warming story with heart wrenching details of a country ravaged by the war during the 1860’s. Included was an unexpected love story between a young woman, her Savior and a man she never expected to be reunited with.

As controversial as slavery was and is, I always love the stories that portray a love and devotion between the owners and their slaves, even those who have been freed. I like to think of it as a picture of God’s love for us when we are entrenched in our mire of sin. He’s forgiven us so much and continues to do so over and over again.

“Available July 2010 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.”

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Garden Tuesday: Our First Growing Season

Posted by html404 on July 20, 2010
in Gardening, Health & Garden Tuesday

Garden Pictures 039

I have been a contributing writer at The Alternative Consumer for nearly a year now, but have contributed less in the last seven months due to other commitments. The editors are very gracious though and continue to allow me to contribute as I have time to do so.

This week I had a book review to send them of a book I read for their site, so I wrote up a summary of our first growing season too in order that their readers could be kept up-to-date on our farming experience too. So I thought I’d share it with all of you for Garden Tuesday.

You can check out the article here or visit the link below:

http://www.alternativeconsumer.com/2010/07/20/organic-farming-our-first-growing-season/

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Book Review of Courting Morrow Little – A Revell Blog Tour

Posted by html404 on July 18, 2010
in Books

I received the following product in exchange for writing a review. While I consider it a privilege to receive free products to review, my review is my honest opinion and thoughts of the product.

Courting Morrow Little

Courting Morrow Little was an intriguing novel based in the frontier time. I really liked the story line, as tragic as that time period was with the unrest between the Native American Indians and the settlers. The main character, Morrow Little, was no stranger to tragedy either.

The story touched on many issues prevalent in that time period. However, the issue that stood out to me most was Morrow’s struggle to deal with the past and move on from her own personal tragedy to embrace her future.

I really enjoyed Morrow’s love story and how the author intertwined it with her personal conflict. It was interesting how Morrow learned who her real friends were, but yet it corresponded with how we all realize at some point or another who our true friends are and who are not. Life lessons often come with some hurtful knocks along the way. True friends need to be treasured because they are hard to come by and need to be nurtured to some degree to keep the bonds close. Other friendships will come and go.

This was another riveting story that I stayed up late to read.

“Available July 2010 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.”

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Touching the Clouds Blog Tour

Posted by html404 on July 16, 2010
in Books

I received the following product in exchange for writing a review. While I consider it a privilege to receive free products to review, my review is my honest opinion and thoughts of the product.

Touching the Clouds

Touching the Clouds was written by Bonnie Leon. It is story based in Alaska. The main character is Kate, who is a female pilot. She has an independent spirit, yet I detected that she was “escaping” more than she was searching for adventure as a bush pilot. One of her co-characters, Paul, seems to have the same escape mechanism.

I think many of us can relate to that because how often do we just wish to run away from our problems or circumstances when things aren’t going the way we want or think they should? I know I can. The thing is God doesn’t want us to just “escape”, He desires us to know who He is amidst our difficulty. He wants us to know that His thoughts of us have not changed just because our feelings and circumstances have.

Through events and circumstances, Paul and Kate learn not only how to trust themselves again, but also the Lord. It was a good read.

“Available July 2010 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.”

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Book Review of The Food Allergy Mama’s Baking Book

Posted by html404 on July 16, 2010
in Books

I received the following book in exchange for writing a review. While I consider it a privilege to receive free products to review, my review is my honest opinion and thoughts of the book.

fambb

When I read this book I was rather surprised that this was not yet another cook- book filled with un-healthy recipes but rather that even though this is a baking cook-book it had some relativity healthy recipes that looked delicious!

I thought that I would share some of the Food Allergy Mama’s story:

I am a mother of four young children in suburban Chicago. My second child, John, was diagnosed at age one with severe dairy, egg, peanut, tree nut and legume allergy. He also is asthmatic, so the likelihood of a life threatening reaction from food is increased. I spent a few years learning the ins and outs of food labels, ingredient and product information, and most importantly, how to cook and bake for not only my son, but for the rest of my family as well. t has become my life’s purpose to raise awareness and increase funding for food allergy research. I am passionate about not only keeping my son safe, but alive. A food allergy diagnosis is scary; it is the fear of the unknown that keeps us moms of food allergic children awake at night.

The Food Allergy Mama’s Baking Book is a wonderful guide for any mom with children that have food allergy’s this cook-book has recipes for severe dairy, egg, peanut, tree nut and legume allergys. It has recipes from muffins, to cakes, to goodies, and more!

To order The Food Allergy Mama’s Baking Book you may order it here for $19.95 plus S+H.

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