My Imaginary Jesus by Matt Mikalatos

This book is surprising in many ways. I think the quote on the cover of the book (my version of the book anyway) "Think Monty Python meets C.S. Lewis" (Relevant Magazine) is quite accurate. There were many times I was laughing hysterically in the book and other times I had tears coming down my face. I also don't think I have seen the name "Jesus" written so many times in one book.

Those are my initial reactions to the book but the heart of the book is fantastic. I think Mr. Mikalatos gets his point across in a humorous yet powerful way. The ridiculousness of all the different Jesuses really made a point to me and I can see how most of us create our own image of who He is in some way or another. It definitely made me think about how we view Jesus and our life circumstances can change our viewpoint of who He is. Yet He is the unchanging one, we are the one who changes who we think He is based on our circumstances. I really enjoyed this book but you have to be able to handle humor and satire. If you can't, I could see how this may be an annoying book that you wouldn't get.

There is also a reading guide in the back and I thoroughly enjoyed the author's notes that go along with some of the questions. This is completely worth the read. I highly recommend this book.

I recieved this book free from Tyndale Publishers in exchange for my review.

Not this Time by Vicki Hinze

Not This Time is book number 3 in the Crossroads Crisis series. I haven't read the first 2 books in this series so there were events and characters that I was slightly confused on but the author does a good job of giving just enough information on those characters. I thought this book was well done. The plot and character development was great. I was engaged in the story the whole time. The only negative I would say is there are so many characters its hard to keep track of them all but that would probably be eliminated if I would have started with book 1. I enjoyed the developing emotion between Beth and Joe and all in all I thought this was a great read.
I received this book free from waterbrook Multnomah in exchange for my review.

Eye of the Sword by Karyn Henley

Eye of the Sword in the second book in the Angelaeon Circle. As I started to read this book I had to remember back to the first book Breath of Angel and was glad there was a character list in the front of the book. I really enjoyed this second book I think it was well done and a great fantasy read. I enjoyed the character development of Trevin and his coming of age story. The Angels are fascinating and I like how they all have different abilities and positions inside the angel realm. I will say that I think this book is better than the first book as the first one seemed a little choppy and hard to follow at times. I am looking forward to the next book as I think this is the beginning of a great series.

I received this book free from blogging for books in exchange for my review.

The Canary List by Sigmund Brouwer

This was a very interesting story about how evil could infiltrate the Vatican and the Catholic Church in general. I appreciated the true facts that were incorporated into the story along with the various quotes and further reading given in the back. I liked that the story was told from the viewpoint of a complete skeptic about God but he was drawn into this whole spiritual battle which he did not believe in. I enjoyed to various characters that were apart of the story. Even the minor roll character of Nanna was completely lovable.  I personally think the ending was brilliant. It brought full circle the whole point of presenting the two quotes in the beginning. The first being Eph. 6:12 acknowledging we have a bigger battle going on. The second being C.S. Lewis saying people are either completely fascinated by the existence of demons or don't believe in them at all and both are very dangerous. The whole book seemed to deal with each ends of the spectrum and the end presented both viewpoints. For me, it made this book go from a 4 star story to a definite 5 star.

I received this book free from blogging for books in exchange for my review.

The Grace Effect by Larry Alex Taunton

First of all, I thought it was a great book and I loved reading Sascha's story. I was drawn into the emotions of what it must have been like to go through the frustrations of dealing with such a corrupt country. I appreciated the history provided to better understand where Russia and the Ukraine are coming from and it truly is a sad story. I though Mr. Taunton did a great job showing us how grace can change people. At some points I was having trouble connecting the two but separately I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I enjoyed the interaction between him and Christopher Hitchens as well as the viewpoints of other athiests around the world. I think this story is well worth the read.

I received this book free from booksneeze.com in exchange for my review

Mercy Come Morning

Mercy Come Morning is a tale of Krista who has always had a strained relationship with her mother. Now her mother is on her death bed and Krista comes to say her good byes and seek healing and forgiveness. It was a touching story and I certainly can see how this would be a great read for someone who has a parent suffering from Alzheimer's. There is a lot of pain and frustration for the person suffering the Alzheimers as well as the children who endure with the parents. Ms. Bergren does a great job describing these characters and you feel drawn to them. I was glad to see the healing and forgiveness in the end.
I received this book for free from blogging for books in exchange for my review.

Dreams of Joy by Lisa See

I so enjoy Lisa See's books I was quite excited her new book was out. This is the follow up to Shanghai girls which I read probably 2 years ago so as I was reading this book I had to stretch my memory quite a bit. I thought this book was so fascinating. I loved learning about life in the farming communes during the Great Leap Forward in China. The communes worked so well in the beginning. It's so sad to see how the corrupt leaders were hoarding food for themselves as the workers were just dying on the side of the road from starvation. If they would have let the farmers do their job the way they know how the great famine could have been prevented. I enjoyed reading from the perspective of both Joy and Pearl since they had such different upbringings. I highly recommend this book.