Review: Finding Your Way Back To God

I wish I could say my expectations were completely met for this book, Finding Your Way Back To God: 5 Awakenings To Your New Life, by Dave and Jon Ferguson.  I do love the premise - that God wants you in His life even more than you want Him in yours, and that you can do a simple "wager" and find Him in a more intimate way than ever before. I love that. I want that. And this book does offer up a single serving, simple way to do that: bet on God. Dare Him to make Himself real, if He is and if He cares. You've got options. You can follow the book's handy 30 Day Wager Guide in the back of the book, or you can just read the book and figure it out on your own along the way. Either way, you've got a journey ahead and it can be illuminating.

My hesitation with this book is that I simply could not get myself all that engaged with it, certainly not enough to sit down and take it in at once. I keep circling back to it, mildly intrigued but not interested enough to make the commitment, I guess. It could be my fault, perhaps a lack of spiritual fervor on my end, but I just haven't yet felt the passion I fully expected to feel.

My recommendation is this: buy the book. Try it out for yourself. You may have a totally different reaction than I did. What I plan to do, because I do like the idea behind it, is to give myself a couple of weeks and go at it again.

Maybe this time I'll really connect. I hope so, because if I'm gonna wager with anyone, I'd be really stoked to do it with the Big Guy.

Smoothie Yumminess! REVIEW of FERN GREEN'S GREEN SMOOTHIES

Fern Green does not disappoint! I just got her small, delightful Green Smoothies today and was so eager to read it, I sat right down and read it straight through. I am, at the moment, finishing a grocery list for tomorrow so I can get some of the yummy ingredients to make some of her smoothies, but I had on hand what I needed for the Avocado smoothie (parsley, cuke, dill, avocado and lemon) so I whipped that up. PERFECT! A little more savory than sweet, it had a tart tang that teased my tastebuds, and I felt great after drinking it.

This book gives some nuts and bolts practical info, like listing some benefits of smoothies and juices. It also gives great recipes for healthy juices but I don't have a juicer so I have to wait til I visit my sister to try those out. A bonus is the cool section on nut milks and tonics.

I give this book a hearty FIVE STARS!
I received this book from Blogging for Books for my honest review.
 

Shark Bait! A Review on Daymond John's The Power Of Broke

I love him! He truly is the "people's shark", and I like what this book is about. It's definitely motivating and speaks straight to the heart, getting right to the point: when you've lost everything and you've got nothing to lose, you get to go for broke because that's all you've got. Your broke-ness! Daymond puts it better:

"The power of broke is the half-court shot you fire up with time running out and the game on the line," he writes early in the book. I was fired up and really identifying both with him and with the many personal stories he includes of other people who were down and out before they became up and coming.

There are a couple of drawback for me, though, which pushed this from five stars down to three. First, I found the cover a bit boring and I didn't think the title was as powerful as it could have been. In fact, I looked right over this selection when I was picking out my next book to review. It was only when I happened to take a second look and see who wrote it that I finally found interest in it. I like the pic of Daymond John but it looks unimaginative and doesn't have any flair. The title, while apt, didn't stand out to me either.  Next, the book took a bit for me to get comfy in. When a book grabs me by the shoulders, tugs me into it, woos me so hard I don't want to stop reading (even for chocolate!), THAT'S when I fall in love with it. This book is sound, it's a powerful idea, I am going to read and re-read this book but it has more the feel of a solid old friend, not terribly exciting but right as rain and down to earth.

I was given this book for review by Blogging For Books, but the opinions in my review are my own.

FIVE WILD SUCCULENT STARS for SUCCULENT WILD LOVE by SARK and Dr. John Waddell

Just completed reading the new book by SARK (Susan Ariel Rainbow Kennedy) and her fiance Dr. John Waddell! As an avid fan of previous SARK books, I was really  looking forward to this one, and it did not disappoint!

From SARK's trademark colorful artwork and journal-style writing to the more traditional and steady input of Dr. Waddell, this book promises and delivers the best of both authors in terms of content and readability.

Offering six exciting habits for "feeling more love more often", SARK and Waddell share from their hearts and their own real-life love affair to connect with readers at varying stages of their relationships. Meaning, simply put, if you're happily married, unhappily married,  happily single, unhappily single, looking for love in all the wrong or right places, or coping with ending a relationship...THIS BOOK IS FOR YOU.

SARK says it best herself. "Succulent Wild Love is about the best of being single and the best of being in a relationship and how to create that every day. John introduced me to three principles that he lives, practices, and teaches, and now I do too. I introduced him to three processes I created to be able to live my wild succulent life and now he's practicing these also."

I liked an early anecdote they shared about one of the habits called Joyfull Sharing. Early in their relationship, John visited SARK and realized she had no shower facility. She enjoys baths. He likes showers. They came together, decided to install a shower head over the tub, and now sometimes he enjoys baths and sometimes she enjoys showers, and the end result is a win-win for them both!

This book opened my awareness to more than just "couple" love. It really hit home to about the way I love my daughters, my family, my friends and myself. I loved it, give it FIVE WILD SUCCULENT STARS!

By The Book: Brilliant Little Book: My Review of Marie Kondo's ...

By The Book: Brilliant Little Book: My Review of Marie Kondo's ...: "Life truly begins only after you have put your house in order." Thus begins the delightfully illustrated companion guide to au...

Brilliant Little Book: My Review of Marie Kondo's Spark Joy

"Life truly begins only after you have put your house in order." Thus begins the delightfully illustrated companion guide to author Marie Kondo's The Life-Changing Magic Of Tidying Up. I am at a decided disadvantage having not yet read the first book, and I will definitely get it as soon as I can brave the crowds at our local book nookery, but I did fall quite in love with this little compact volume.
Tiny, detailed drawings illustrate everything from how to fold plastic bags properly (fold the handles down and fold the bag up small!) to sweet ways to add spark to your storage. I like the illustrations, the clear, happy line drawings kept me smiling and lifted my heart enough to allow me to focus on the words. And her stories intrigued me throughout the book. Who could resist this little anecdote, for example?

Under a section titled "Things that spark joy soak up precious memories", Kondo describes a happy memory of a picnic and cherry blossom viewing lark with her mother and sister:

"...my mother had prepared a picnic lunch and my sister and I behaved like excited little girls. Unwrapping and opening the lunch box, we found nori-wrapped onigiri stuffed with pickled plum and grilled salmon, fried chicken, a sweet potato dish, and red and yellow cherry tomatoes. While the menu was limited, it was packed beautifully and obviously with a loving care that touched my heart. The sight of the neatly arrange contents activated the tidying freak in me, and I couldn't help comparing it to the perfect example of a well-organized drawer."

I highly recommend this book, though  I would suggest you read her first book, first, and then proceed onto this one. I give this book FIVE stars.

*I received this book courtesy of Blogging For Books in order to review it, but the opinion and review content are my personal impressions of the book.

By The Book: Super Foods, Super Book: Sue Quinn nails it!

By The Book: Super Foods, Super Book: Sue Quinn nails it!: This is my review of Sue Quinn's very informational book about those feisty little phytochemicals and nutrients we all need to get to...