Title: The 21 Toughest Questions Your Kids Will Ask About Christianity & How to Answer Them Condifently
Author: Alex McFarland
Publisher: Tyndale House
Pages: 280
Publication Date: August 2013

Synopsis:

Ready or not, your child has questions!

Choose To Be Ready.

Not a theologian? Think again. When kids ask seemingly impossible-to-answer questions about evil, suffering, and the end of the world, every parent wants to respond with confidence. Author Alex McFarland can help you be prepared. In this book, he'll show you that

• how you answer is more important than what your answer,
• kids welcome the words "I don't know--let's find out,"
• most tough questions aren't as tough as they seem at first glance, and
• God's Word can be trusted to guide your children through their times of doubt.

The easy-to-follow discussion points, charts, and activity ideas will help you answer virtually any of the tough questions your children will ask about God, Jesus, the Trinity, or prayer.

If you've got kids, your going to get questions. This resource will help you be ready to prove the answers.

Review:

I have been looking for a book like this for a few months now. My kiddo is about to be 6 and has been asking a lot of questions, why did Jesus have to die? When can I get baptized? I will say, truthfully a few questions had me stumped. I would answer to the best of my ability, but I wasn't as confident as I should have been. Having read The 21 Toughest Questions Your Kids Will Ask About Christianity by Alex McFarland, I will say, it has offered me a lot of things to think about, and given me the direction I need to go to be able to speak confidently when it's needed on these subjects.

This book drew me in. While reading this book, I broke one of my reading rules, I highlighted, the pages. The pages now looks like a neon yellow, stripped zebras. I only highlight school books, and only when I wanted to remember the important things for a test...well, this was for a far more important subject.

Alex McFarland was able to present his book with humor and many personal stories on how this book came to be. I also enjoyed the quotes that were presented before each chapter. They were fitting. The chapters flowed together and they touched on some hard topics, even for some adults. However, the subjects were brought down to a level (not dumb-down by any means, I want to make that clear), so that a parent could discuss it with a child. It was very easy to understand what was being presented. Everything discussed in each chapter was also backed up by scripture. Not one or two verses, many, and they were brought from every portion of the Bible.

It was great to see/read about the comparisons between things of the Old Testament and the New Testament. How the time of Joseph and then of Moses was so important to the time of Jesus thousands of years later and that of the crucifixion. The Key Concept section with the Question Recap and the Hope Filled Answer was a nice addition to each chapter. It helped bring the chapter all together.

This is a Too Read!
5 out of 5


About the Author:
Alex McFarland is a leading Christian apologist and author. He has spent two decades training youth in a biblical worldview and has spoken throughout the U.S. and internationally.  Alex is frequently heard on radio and TV broadcasts presenting evidence for the Christian faith.  His STAND series of books are designed to help students grow in their understanding of scripture and spiritually thrive.  Visit his website: http://alexmcfarland.com/




Thank you to Tyndale House Publishers, I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for an honest opinion.

Title: Splitting Harriet
Author: Tamara Leigh
Publisher: Multnomah Books
Pages: 400
ISBN: 978-1-59052-928-7
Publication Date: November 20th, 2007

Synopsis:
Once upon a time, I was a rebel. And I have the tattoo to prove it.

Then there was the spiked hair–the shade of which changed monthly–“colorful” language that can’t be found in your everyday sixteen-count crayon box, a pack-a-day habit, less-than-modest wardrobe, and an obsession with guitar-trashing, drum-bashing music.

Did I mention I’m also a preacher’s kid? That’s right. And like the prodigal son after whom I modeled myself, I finally saw the error of my ways and returned to the fold.

Today my life is all about “lead me not into temptation.” When I’m not serving as Women’s Ministry Director at my father’s church, I’m working at Gloria’s Morning Café. I even have worthy goals, like saving enough money to buy the café, keep my Jelly Belly habit under control, and to never again hurt the people I love. No more parties. No more unsavory activities. And no more motorcycles! You’d think I was finally on the right track.

But since my dad’s replacement hired a hotshot church consultant to revive our “dying” church, things aren’t working out as planned. And now this “consultant” says I’m in need of a little reviving myself. Just who does this Maddox McCray think he is anyway? With his curly hair that could use a good clipping, tattoo that he makes no attempt to hide, and black leather pants, the man is downright dangerous. In fact, all that’s missing is a motorcycle. Or so I thought… But if he thinks he’s going to take me for a ride on that 1298cc machine of his, he can think again. Harriet Bisset is a reformed woman, and she’s going to stay that way. Even if it kills me!  

Review:
Splitting Harriet is such a unique book. It touches on a couple of tough subjects, but is made enjoyable by the fun writing style of Tamara Leigh. Splitting Harriet focuses on Harriet Bisset a 27 year old former rebellious PK (preachers kid) who seems to only to be able to live life in one extreme or the next. As a kid, she just wants to get away from the church and turns to cigarettes, alcohol, and inappropriate guys. As the reformed prodigal, she is determined to lead a quiet and orderly life amongst the elderly community who cares for her, and she in-turn cares for at church as head of women's ministry and as a waitress at a morning cafe'. In Harriet's opinion, it is either all or nothing, even when forgiven from the past by others and God.

When Maddox McCray shows up, Harriet is thrown for a loop. Her order of life is thrown into chaos as he starts to help revitalize her dying church while trying to help keep everyone happy and avoiding the possible split of an unhappy church. Maddox not only upsets Harriet's work life, but also her personal life when she finds out that Maddox had a rebellious streak like she did, and he never gave up the motorcycle. So, she is bound and determined to believe, because he isn't clean cut and orderly, ready to follow tradition, he isn't reformed. Maddox is bound and determined to prove, that isn't the case.

Tamara Leigh was able to turn a topic that can usually be hard to stomach into a fun book, church politics. Sadly, yes, there can be politics in church and it can rip a church to shreds if not careful. I've seen it, but here, Splitting Harriet is focused on helping a church and making sure that they also help the people who are used to the old, transition to the new, so that they can reach more people with the love of Jesus. The book also focuses on trust, in many different forms. Having trust that the head minister is doing his best to help the church, trusting God with your life and growing into the person He wants you to be, not the person you think you should be, and trusting the people in your life.

This was a fun book and Harriet's quirks make it all the more enjoyable and real. I don't think I've ever read about another character that had such an intense addiction to Jelly Belly.

Too Read!
4 out of 5


About the Author: 
Tamara Leigh is the bestselling author of Perfecting Kate and Stealing Adda. Her first seven novels earned awards and became national bestsellers, but Tamara was dissatisfied that the stories were not God-honoring. In 2003 she determined to write books that more directly represented her faith. Tamara and her husband, David, live with their two young sons in Tennessee. 

For more information on Tamara Leigh, check out her website http://www.tamaraleigh.com/.

You can also purchase Splitting Harriet at ChristianBook, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble




Thank you to Blogging for Books and Multnomah Books, I received this book for free in exchange for an honest opinion. 

Title: Millie's Treasure
Author: Kathleen Y'Barbo
Publisher: Harvest House
Pages: 352
ISBN: 978-0-7369-5213-2
Publication Date: August 2013

Synopsis:

If I Drew You a Treasure Map, Could You Find the Way to My Heart?

Memphis 1890—Bookish heiress Millie Jean Cope is as clever as she is beautiful. Unfortunately, though adept at solving puzzles and cryptograms, she doesn’t realize her new fiancé isn’t who he claims to be, but instead is a charming scoundrel. The infamous Will Tucker is presenting himself as a British gentleman, Sir William Trueck, though in reality he is a crafty criminal looking for a hidden map to a secret treasure.

Pinkerton agent Kyle Russell has been on Tucker’s trail for years. At last Kyle believes he has Tucker cornered, but he is uncertain whether the lovely woman on the con man’s arm is an unsuspecting victim or willing accomplice. Finding reasons to spend time with Millie is easy. Keeping himself from falling in love with her is another issue entirely.

Review:
This was the first book by Kathleen Y'Barbo that I have read and it will not be my last.

Millie's Treasure was such an interesting and fun story. From the synopsis, I was expecting a man hunt, investigation type story, what I got was much more. There was science, history, pirate stories, and the lore of pirate's treasure. There was also a fun bonus, I don't want to call it steampunk, but the ideas kind of leans toward that direction. I will say the ideas mentioned were on the cusp of the inventing age. The Victorian era inventors is the best way to describe it.

Millie Cope is in the top 5 of favorite female characters that I have read about this year. She is smart, resourceful, hungers for knowledge, she is a crack shot, she doesn't bend under pressure, and she has a wonderful library! She hasn't had the charmed life, however. She lost her mother and two older sisters in a yellow fever epidemic. She is left with only her father. A father that doesn't approve of women learning and reading and keeping their minds occupied on someone other thing than their husbands, but that doesn't stop her from perusing her passions at any means necessary.

There is quite a bit that goes on in Millie's Treasure between Millie and Pinkerton Agent Kyle Russell, but it flows together wonderfully in to a thought provoking adventure. Millie and Kyle are on equal ground when it comes to science and solving puzzles, on paper or that of a questionable person. It was good to read a story, where the hero and heroine have a passion for knowledge and can exchange ideas which builds and leads you throughout the book.

I say it is Too Read!
5 out of 5

You can purchase Millie's Treasure at Amazon, ChristianBook, and Mardel.


About the Author:

Kathleen Y’Barbo is the author of over 40 novels with more than 1 million copies in print in the United States and abroad. A former literary publicist, she was recently nominated for a Career Achievement Award by Romantic Times magazine. A tenth-generation Texan, Kathleen has four grown children, seven bonus children, and her very own hero in combat boots. Find out more about Kathleen at http://www.kathleenybarbo.com/ .






Thank you to Harvest House, I received this book for free for an honest review.