Risk is Right by John Piper

I admire John Piper and love his sermons.  He is challenging, counter-cultural, and very biblical.  He doesn't tell you what you want to hear and isn't a teacher who teaches prosperity is promised to every believer.  I appreciate his knowledge on the Bible and how he challenges believers to risk everything the sake of Christ. 

Culture says we should hoard and be comfortable.  The Bible says we will have what we need and if we don't have it, perhaps we don't need it.  I liked how he talked about the passage in Matthew 6:25, 31-33 and compared it to Romans 8:35.  I hear that passage in Matthew used a lot and out of context.  Many think that God will give them clothes and food galore, but that's not what it says.  I was glad Piper pointed out that He will give us "enough so that you can trust him and do his will." 

Another point I liked had to do with affliction.  Paul made affliction his slave and conquered it.  I had never quite heard it explained like this, but the whole section about affliction was beautiful.  You can't help but see the mercy of God even in affliction when you know that the enemy wants you to die in pity and denouncing Christ.  I found that section so encouraging and hope that I will always think of affliction in this manner and can even share it with others. 

Above all, Piper reminds us that we face risks everyday.  None of us know when our time will come to perish, but what we choose to do with our lives is up to us.  Will we take the risk for Christ and make our lives count or will we choose to waste our life--living for our fleshly desires.

______________

I received this book free from Crossway in exchange for my honest opinion of this book.

5 Days to a Clutter-Free House by Sandra Felton and Marsha Sims

As soon as I got this book, I couldn't wait to read it.  The cover made me want to get to work right away and simplify my house and make it look clean and fresh.  I have read many of Sandra Felton's books and have enjoyed all of her tips.  They are easy to incorporate and have kept me somewhat organized.  I had not heard of Marsha Sims, but am now intererested in learning more tips from her, too.

I like their idea on a team approach.  I think house cleaning would be so much more fun with friends.  I actually did use this tip when we were staging our house to move and it was easier to let go of things because they would remind me that I didn't need to keep it or that it wasn't as important as my emotional self thought it was.

I also enjoyed the section on resisting the excuses for keeping things.  I use many of those excuses and am trying to get better at it.  I did some of their plan this week, in very small chunks because of my little children, but I tried to challenge those excuses with their ideas.  It helped me realize I should just get rid of it.  It felt so good and freeing to be decluttering.

Since I probably won't have 5 consecutive rows to declutter my house, I decided to take it in small increments and do what I can each week.  I figure it still will get decluttered and I won't have missed time with my children.

The Manage Your Home chapter inspired me to label, label, label.  I went through and labeled all of the bins for my children and am hoping to continue that in many other rooms.  It was fun doing it with my son, too, because he's just now learning how to organize things and group things.  Hopefully it will also make it easier for him to pick his things up.  I still have a little more to do, but I think this tip alone is going to help me a lot.

___________________

I received this book free from Revell Publishers in exchange for my honest opinion of this book.

New Home for Lily by Mary Ann Kinsinger and Suzanne Woods Fisher

I think that the pictures on the covers of the first two books in this series are absolutely beautiful.  The little girl, who is on both the front and the back of this book is adorable and it just makes the book desired to be read.

I know I said it in my review about the first book in the series, but I can't wait to read these with my daughter when she gets just a little bit older.  They remind me so much of the Little House on the Prairie books and are definitely ones that will be read over and over with such fond memories, I believe.

This book picks up where the last left off.  Lily has now completed her move and is finding herself trying to make new friends, fit in with a new community, along with several other changes to their family life.  I thought it very interesting that when they moved communities, they also had to change dresses.  It kind of reminded me of the English way a little because Lily just didn't feel like she fit in with her other clothes from her last community.  I could relate to that, and I think every little girl could too, because we don't always feel like we fit in with our clothes.  I liked those little lessons that were throughout the book, whether they were intentional or not!

I am looking forward to Book 3 in this series, which I'm hoping comes out soon.  These are books that I hope to be one day reading to my grandchildren....a long time from now, of course!

_____________

I received this book free from Revell Publishers in exchange for my honest opinion of this book.

One Sunday by Carrie Gerlach Cecil

I absolutely love the style of this book.  It was refreshing because it read in a way that many of my latest books haven't.  It set it apart, in a sense. 

I liked the flashbacks and the honesty in which this book was written.  I enjoyed the humor and even the darkness that plagued Alice.  I can't relate to her life but I hurt for her.  I found her adventures and her thoughts in church hilarious.  It wasn't sacrilegious at all.  I thought it pretty well depicted what many non-believers feel about the church today. 

The only problem that I had with the book were the few instances that less-than-pleasant words were used, like "hell" and "d***."  I don't personally use those words and since reading Christian fiction is something I like to do because I don't have to censor what my eyes see or my ears hear, it was a little disappointing to me to find those words in there.  I completely understood the context and understand that she was a non-Christian, but they could easily have been left out and the meaning not change at all.  You still would have gotten the fact that Alice was a rough girl with a rough past.  Many people don't mind those kind of words in a book, but I just really like letting my guard down in reading, which is why I specifically chose to read Christian fiction.

The message of the book is still wonderful and the storyline grips you to make it quite hard to put the book down.  I do look forward to reading more by Carrie Gerlach Cecil.

-------------

I received this book free from Howard Publishers in exchange for my honest opinion of this book.

The Dilemma of Charlotte Farrow by Olivia Newport

I liked everything about this book.  I had read the first book and forgotten some of it, but as soon as I saw the Ferris wheel on the the cover, I immediately remembered the story from the first book in this series.  You don't have to have read the first book in the series to understand this one because this book focuses on a totally different character.  Charlotte, who is Lucy Banning's house maid and mostly tends to the needs of Lucy, has a baby and only Lucy knows about this baby, Henry.  The story highlights Charlotte and Henry and her husband, along with a coachman, Archie, who has eyes for Charlotte.

With the setting of Chicago, you get to have a glimpse into the higher society life, but that glimpse is coming now through the eyes of the maids and servants.  The first book in the series tended to focus on Lucy and the life of the higher society. 

I love that the World's Columbian exposition of 1893 is brought into the story again.  I found it fascinating to hear the different opinions of the Ferris wheel and it made me think about how much faith it took to get on that ride.  We just jump on it now without even thinking about it, but at that time, it was a major deal.  I appreciated the history behind this book and the exposition.

I really look forward to seeing what the next book in this series is going to be in this series, The Avenue of Dreams.  I'm having a hard time guessing who the story will focus on, but I know it will be just as well-written as all of her books are.

_____________

I received this book free from Revell Publishers in exchange for my honest opinion of this book.

The Tutor's Daughter by Julie Klassen

This cover is probably one of the most beautiful covers I have seen.  I knew right away, without even opening the book, that it would involve a beautiful estate overlooking water.  It set in my mind the picture I was to think of when the estate was mentioned.  I immediately could see this beautiful, breathtaking place that was almost indescribable in words.

I liked how the twists came even in the first chapter.  When Emma's father would go missing for long periods of times, she thought it was to visit her mother's plot in the cemetery.  I'll admit that I thought that, too.  However, that was really the reason why he was away from the house so much.  Once I understood the reason, I saw that they both needed to go away.

I'll also admit that I thought from the beginning that Phillip seemed like a good person for her to end up with.  I mean, they were friends before he graduated and left their school, so why not pick up and continue that relationship.  I appreciated the twists on this relationship, too.

I have read almost all of Julie Klassen's books and she writes with such beauty.  She creates vivid word pictures so that you can easily envision yourself at that place at that specific time.  She does a lot of research in her books and you can tell.  She is not only telling a story, but telling a story of a real time in history.  I think, for that reason, that is why most of her books tend to be a bit longer.  I've come to appreciate that about her.
________________
I received this book free from Bethany House and Litfuse Publicity Group in exchange for my honest opinion of this book.  For more opinions of this book, go to http://litfusegroup.com/author/JKlassen.

Love Finds You in Glacier Bay Alaska by Tricia Goyer & Ocieanna Fleiss

I feel like I've just returned from a trip to the most beautiful, solitary place in Alaska....at least in my mind, I have.  I can easily picture Bud's and the quaint little coffee shop.  I can see very vividly the plane crash and the historical museum.  I felt like I was the one learning of the love story between Ellie and Clay.  I did thoroughly love the story of Ginny and Brett.  With all of the nice things people said about Brett, I liked him from the beginning and thought Danny was just using Ginny.

I have always wanted to travel to Alaska, and thanks to this book, I now long to go to Glacier Point.  It sounds beautiful from their descriptions and if it looks anything near like what the cover of this book is, it has to be something that you stand in awe of.  The cover is absolutely beautiful, in my opinion.

My favorite part of this book has to be the story within the story.  I really enjoyed the second story of Ellie and Clay.  It was such a neat idea to include love letters to each other and to include other letters of correspondence.  I came to look forward to each time the letters appeared again and had a hard time not skipping to read the next letter!

Written by two wonderful authors, you cannot tell at all where one author starts and the other finishes.  Their communication for this book had to have been very intense and I like how their descriptions include some of their own thoughts about when they visited this area.  It made this book very personable, I think.

To view other opinions of this book, please go to http://litfusegroup.com/author/Tgoyer .

___________________

Tricia Goyer is the award winning author of over thirty books including Beside Still Waters, Remembering You, and the mommy memoir, Blue Like Play Dough. Tricia is a regular speaker at conventions and conferences and is the host of Living Inspired. She and her family make their home in Little Rock, Arkansas where they are part of the ministry of FamilyLife.

Find out more about Tricia at http://triciagoyer.com.

Ocieanna Fleiss is a published author and editor. She lives with her husband and their four children in the Seattle area.

Find out more about Ocieanna at http://ocieanna.com/.

_______________________

You can buy this book at http://ow.ly/gQiNn.______________

I received this book free from Litfuse Publicity Group and Summerside Press in exchange for my honest opinion of this book.