James--Mercy Triumphs by Beth Moore (UPDATED)

James Mercy Triumphs by Beth Moore is such a great in-depth Bible study on the book of James that I was sorry to see it end. Beth’s older daughter, Melissa, also had some interesting articles included from an historical standpoint based on research she did.

 I learned so much more about James, the author of this book, than I had known before and accepted Beth’s challenge to memorize the entire book of James, which I completed on April 23, 2012.  Whew! 

This is a very practical study because the topics in the book of James are still relevant today: Patience, temptation, rich and poor, favoritism, judgment, controlling the tongue, wisdom,, our relationship with God, how to treat others, prayer. This study is fantastic! I really can’t say enough good about it. There are DVD’s that go with this that I enjoyed too because of some funny stories she shares from her experience to make her points. In particular, I especially liked hearing about her camping trip with the birds and the hair brush story at the airport. That is one I don’t think I’ll soon forget.

Other Beth Moore Studies I did were: Fruit of the Spirit, Daniel, which were good too. I highly recommend this to anyone looking for a challenge who likes a good Bible study.

Related Post:  I Did It--Challenge Completed Ahead of Time (Check out this link to see the methods I used to memorize the entire book of James)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments.

Happy Reading! During March we are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs to the American Cancer Society.

Tuesday Teasers: "Catch Me" and "The List"

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should  Be Reading. Anyone can play along, so I thought  I  would play for fun! Just do the following

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on  that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away!   You don’t  want  to  ruin the  book for others!)
• Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can  add the book to their TBR  Lists  if they  like your teaser.   

Karen's:

Four days from now, I'm expecting to be murdered. I've read that you're one of the best homicide detectives in the city, so I'd like you to handle the investigation.

From page 36 of Catch Me by Lisa Gardner.

Gerard's:

"Do me a favor. Write UGLY as big as you can across my forehead."

From page 47 of The List by Siobhan Vivian.

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during April to Paralyzed Veterans of America.

"Catch Me" by Lisa Gardner is her Best Yet! (UPDATED)

I LOVED Catch Me by Lisa Gardner a lot! Okay, here is the deal on this book.  You have two best friends and they both die on the same day in back-to-back years.  Now that date is coming up and you know that you are next.  What would you do?  It doesn't get any better than this!  WOW!  This a definitely a page turner with a fantastic ending.  It has to be her best book yet!  Read and enjoy,
(Gerard's review)-5 stars

Karen's review (5 stars):
Oh wow is all I kept saying through this book, especially the last quarter of it!  This is an interesting book about child abuse with the unusual angle of showing the later results of it.  I really liked this book a lot because the plot drew me in quick.  D.D. Warren finds that her recent pedophile shooting is connected with another one.  As she leaves the crime scene, she sees a woman, Charlene, lurking by her car and chases her down.   Charlene explains that on the 21st, four days away, she will be murdered and would like D.D. to handle the investigation because she is a good detective.  Charlene's two best friends from childhood were murdered last year and the year before on the 21st so Charlene thinks she'll be next.  What would you do if you knew you were going to die in just a few days?  Charlene is a 9-1-1 dispatcher who tries to get prepared by taking up running, boxing and shooting.

It seems as though a vigilante  is out to rid Boston of the pedophiles when another one is shot down in cold blood--this time a 16-yr-old boy.  I found it very interesting how the author showed how older kids find their targets through gaming websites and that more and more older kids are taking advantage of younger kids based on information she got when interviewing an internet safety expert.  I thought I had it figured out before the detectives did and then when the one detective presented my theory, I thought for sure I was right but found out I wasn't.

This book really made me think.  Is one criminal worse than another?  Is it okay to take the law into your own hands to protect the innocent?  It also gave me a better understanding of how people's pasts can really mess up their lives.  This would be a real good book for a book club.  I found myself wanting to discuss it with someone as I was reading it!  I highly recommend this one!

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during April to Paralyzed Veterans of America.

"The Scent of Rain and Lightning" by Nancy Pickard

"The Scent of Rain and Lightning" is a murder mystery that takes place in Kansas.  When one of the sons of a wealthy and influential family is killed and his wife missing, their 3-yr.-old daughter goes to live with her grandparents, Hugh Senior and Annabelle.  The family immediately suspects one of their young ranch hands, Billy Crosby, a wife beater and an alcoholic.  Billy is sent to prison for murder but the body of the victim's wife was not found and no one really knows what happened to her (until the very end of the book).  When Billy gets out thanks to his son becoming a lawyer and getting his sentence commuted due to an improper investigation 23 years later, most of the town is not very happy.  

This book is about family, betrayal, revenge and marriage.  I enjoyed this book very much but almost didn't read it because of the sex scene that it starts off with.  I thought the whole book was going to be that way, but it isn't.  I felt sad about several good people getting killed and it had me guessing throughout the book as to who the real murderer was.  I thought it was a good read and had a hard time putting it down.  I recommend it if you like a good murder mystery and books about families.
(Karen's review)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during April to Paralyzed Veterans of America.

"Promises to Keep" by Ann Tatlock UPDATED)

Promises to Keep by Ann Tatlock is about a little girl’s dream of her parents getting back together even though her mother took off with her children to keep them safe.  Alan Anthony, the father is an alcoholic that was abusive to his family, but convinces his daughter, Rosalind, that he has changed and is going to come back and make everything better.  When the mother and kids move out on their own to a small town, the house they are surprised to find Tillie, the old lady who built the house, sitting on their porch reading their paper.  Tillie had been put into a nursing home when she broke her hip and her son sold her house.  After her hip healed, Tillie left the nursing home because she was determined to live out “her” days in her house.  Because the mother has to work and needs someone to watch the youngest daughter, she lets Tillie move in with them.  I liked this subplot because it was humorous. 

Promises to Keep is well-written and kept my interest all the way through by making me wonder if the father really had changed—it gives great insight into human nature.  This is the first book I’ve read by this author, but look forward to reading more of her books.  There are discussion questions in the back of the book which make this a good Christian fiction book club read.
(Karen's review)

Gerard read this too:
This is a really nice story about two little girls, one black, one white, who want to have their fathers in their lives again.  It kept my interest for sure.  Although somewhat predictable, it's a good story and well worth your time.  It goes fast!

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during April to Paralyzed Veterans of America.