Blog
As a homeschooling veteran, I review middle-grade stories to help parents, librarians, and teachers choose good books.
Look for author news here too!
Book of Days by James L. Rubart, a review
Cameron Vaux has lost both his father and his wife, Jessie. Now he fears he’s losing his mind, the same way his father’s mind went, one memory at a time. He latches onto an idea mentioned by both his father and Jessie: God’s book holding all memories. Problem is, Cameron doesn’t believe in God.
Football, a metaphor for the Christian life
In my small group studying Romans, we grappled with Romans Chapter 7, where the Apostle Paul describes his struggle with sin. He switches from past tense to present tense and launches into a confession: “For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. …I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.”
Hunger Games books 2 and 3: discussion for Christians
I’ve had a chance now to read Catching Fire and Mockingjay, books 2 and 3 in Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games trilogy.
There are questions you could ask your children, to help them consider the works from a Christian point of view.
Aslan is on the move
You may not be aware of it, but there are a lot of miracles going on now, many more in this past decade than in the previous one. They are happening all over the world. If you’re interested, take a look at this video by Randy Clark, a healing evangelist.
Against the wind
Biosphere 2 is massive and interesting, but it was the discussion of one seemingly insignificant tree that got my attention. Just a twenty-plus-year-old tree, growing under glass. The tour guide alerted our attention to the bracing on its limbs.
The Hunger Games movie
My friend Jim Tudor watched the Hunger Games movie with no expectation. Here’s his take on the movie:
The Hunger Games, a review
Katniss Everdeen, a 16-year-old living in America some time in the future when it has devolved into a cruel empire, loves her little sister more than anything. So when that little sister is chosen for the Hunger Games, Katniss doesn’t hesitate. She takes the sister’s place. She finds herself fighting 23 other teens to the death in a high-tech arena, for viewing pleasure in the ultimate reality show. Only one person can win, and that winner gets plenty of income for life, unlike everyone else in the conquered territories–who is starving or nearly starving.
Free E-book: a tale of untouchables in India
Our featured free ebook today is The Faith of Ashish, a tale of India by Kay Marshall Strom. Published by Christian publisher Abingdon Press, it has gathered 4.5 stars on 11 reviews at Amazon, and 4 stars with 29 raters at Goodreads. It’s the first book in a series.
God rejoices over you with singing
A key scripture in my novel, Winds of Wyoming, is Zephaniah 3:17: “The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.”
Hosea Chapter 11: a window into the mind of God
I was thumbing through my Bible at devotional time and my eye fell on Hosea Chapter 11. Reading it, I was brought to tears by this shimmering glimpse into the mind of God.
Free ebook: a Christian novel of the old West
Our featured free ebook today is Ruby, a historical novel by Lauraine Snelling, published in 2003 by Bethany House. Forty-nine Amazon reviewers give it a composite of four stars out of five. It’s published on Kindle.
Lessons from Fiction by Ada Brownell
Ever been amazed at how a person born in an author’s imagination becomes as real as your next-door neighbor? Novelists’ characters often seem to live and breathe, and many of them miraculously generate faith in the hearts of those affected by their stories—although readers know it’s fiction..