Book Review: "The Truth Of The Matter" by Andrew Klavan

I recieved this book from Booksneeze.com to review. Over all it is a very good juvenile fiction book. I would say it would most appeal to a 11-13 year old boy. I think that for someone on an upper reading level would find the dialouge a little shallow.

This book is the third in a series of adventures of our hero, Charlie West. It is set in present times or just in the future. Charlie has found himself without the memory of a year of his life. During that time, he has been convicted of murder, sent to prison, broken out of prison, and is being chased by two sets of unknown government type groups. As you can tell from just this vauge list of events, this is an action packed book series.

Even though I had not read the first two books in this series, I found that the back story was filled in very well. Therefore, if you pick up any one of this group you will be entertained. This book is from a Christian publisher and does have Christian themes. It is not over the top with pushing God onto non-believers. It does show how Charlie's faith gets him through some really tough spots. It does not have bad language in the book. This was a nice perk. I liked how the author conveyed emotions with out falling back on potty-mouth dialoge.

This is a good action/adventure book for young teens. Those that like spy novels will really find something to like in this book.

Book Review: A Year with God By R.P. Nettelhorst

I just got a copy of "A Year with God" by R.P. Nettelhorst from Booksneeze.com and I can hardly wait to use it on a daily basis. Needless to say, I'm not going to wait a full year to review this book for you all.

I've spent a while browsing through the book. I really like how the devotionals are broken up into different topics. The topics include hope and fear, love and hate, perseverance and quitting, faith and doubt, loyalty and betrayal, companionship and isolation, mercy and judgment, forgiveness and anger, joy and sadness, and finally peace and conflict. It seems like a very thourough list to me.

Each days devotional begins with a passage of scripture. All of the scriptures used are from the Old Testament. Below the passages the author breaks down the passage and what it can mean for our lives today. Out of the devotionals that I've read, I've found the author very insightful and uplifting.

Another aspect of the book that I liked was that it was listed as "Day 1" etc.. instead of "January 1." I always felt pressured with the calender type devotionals. LOL!! I guess that is just my OCD coming out.

Would I recommend this book? If you are looking for a devotional that focuses on the Old Testament, then a resounding "YES" could be heard from me. It is concise and insightful. I'm excited to use this book over the coming year.

Book Review: A Century Turns: New Hopes, New Fears (Hardcover)

I was given the book "A Century Turns: New Hopes, New Fears" by William J. Bennett to review by Booksneeze.com. This is not the type of book that I would normally pick up to read on my own. I usually stick to the fiction section. If I do venture into the non-fiction, I stick pretty close to the self-help type stuff. Needless to say, I wasn't super hyped to read this one.



Low and behold, I was pleasantly surprised at how enjoyable this book is to read. It is a history of the recent past. The years 1988-2008 were talked about in this book. I found myself lost in the memory of the events described in the story. It gave me a deeper understanding of the events that happened during my early adulthood.



It is a non-biased look at events. I didn't find any "bash the other guy" type tactics. He did give personal behind the scene looks at people that he knows. This enabled me to get a better feel for the person being talked about at the time. Instead of just letting me rely on the liberal news for my opinion of a person.

I would think that anyone that likes to read non-fiction history based books will LOVE this one. If this avowed non-fiction disliker (hater is such a harsh word) found it an enjoyable read that speaks volumes.

"Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief" Review

Spoiler Alert!!

We went to see "Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief" today. We studied mythology before we went to the movie and then I had each child review the film. They also needed to look-up a couple of gods when we go home. The kids reviews are as follows. Be aware that there may be spoilers in each of them.

Review: 14 y/o son

I personally thought that the movie was quite good. There are some exceptions to this though. A large portion of the book was missing in the movie. It took much longer for Percy to finally realize that Poseidon was his father in the book. Whole characters were missing! This was quite disappointing to me. I also pictured Grover as a much more cowardly individual.

You could definitely tell that this movie was directed by the same person who did the Harry Potter films. Though there were flaws, I still enjoyed this movie. At points, my knuckles were white with anticipation as I gripped my seat. The inclusion of "Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" got a chuckle from me. I did not expect the lightning thief to be who he was.

I honestly believe that this movie should have been rated PG-13. I recommend this movie as it is action-packed and for the whole family.

Review: 10 y/o daughter

I thought that since I did not read the book I got more enjoyment out of it. I also thought that it was action-packed and funny. I loved all the places they went and all the ways they tried to get the pearls. I also liked how the team stuck together. As a final statement, if I had a choice between a TV show about the stories (myths) and this movie, I would pick the movie.

Review: E-Book: Molly’s Money-Saving Digest—January 2010

Let's just start by saying, "WOW!" This e-book has a ton of information. It is delightfully put together and a real joy to read.

Here is the link to The Old Schoolhouse Store where you can purchase this great little e-book.
http://www.theoldschoolhousestore.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=334_418&products_id=13847

I have been familiar with Molly Green for a while now by reading the blog at econobusters.com. This e-book like the blog is just full of really useful information on how to be frugal but not "cheap".

This booklet contains great recipes that look really easy to make. They don't have weird ingredients that you would never really have in your pantry. They don't have weird flavor pairings that you know your kids would take one look at and ask for a bowl of cereal. Come on, you know it has happened! It has a weeks worth of dinner recipes so you can change things up without even having to think that hard. This is nice!

I really liked the article about home-made pie crusts. This is something that I've always thought would be just to hard for this city girl to accomplish. I wouldn't want to try it and have my darling husband say "it's not like my grandma's. You could just save time by buying those frozen kind." In other words, "this stinks. Go back to store bought." Well, the gang at Econobusters has made pie crust look super duper easy. I can not wait to try it out.

The e-book also has several printables for budgeting. They all look great and are VERY practical. I really like the one for the clothing inventory. I had never thought of writing down what clothes the kids had in the closet and what they need all on one page before. This is great to keep in the car so when you run into those can't pass up sales, you know what you really do need to buy and what is just a duplication.

There are a few frugal & easy craft projects included. I really mean EASY. I am sorta craft challenged and these look like I can make them and they would turn out pretty darn cute. If you are a family member and you end up buying this e-book don't be shocked when Christmas time comes around (wink, wink).

The last thing I want to comment on is the Kids Corner section. There is a craft for younger kids but there is also a teaching section over getting a checking account. I thought that it was really well written and very applicable to homeschooling. As the mother of a 14 year-old, this put information in an easy to read and easy to learn format. Sometimes, no matter how mom or dad phrase things, it's just better to learn things from another person or source.

At $4.95, I feel that this is well worth the money. It will be a reference that I'm sure I'll go back to again and again.

Review: Help, Lord, I’m Getting Ready to Start Homeschooling My High Schooler!

Today I'm going to review the e-book "Help, Lord, I’m Getting Ready to Start Homeschooling My High Schooler!" from The Old Schoolhouse Magazine. Here is the link to the store's purchase page.

http://www.theoldschoolhousestore.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=334_418&products_id=12107

This e-book was very inspirational for me to read. It contains the stories of several families and their journey through high school. Each story illustrates how different each and every family is that homeschools. It made me stop and think that everyone, even myself, really does have the ability to educate their children. It tells the story of families in many, many different situations. I feel that there is going to be, at least, one story that makes you think, "that's just like us!"

Although I have had no doubts about keeping my kids home though graduation, it is nice to hear success stories from other families. I think that everyone has those days when they think, "Am I messing things up for my kids?" or "Are they missing out on something by not going to "real" school?" Reading these true life accounts is like a pat on the back. It re-enforces the confidence and gives a large dose of encouragement.

Who do I think should purchase this product? I think that, for sure, anyone who doubts their ability to see their children's education through to high school and still feels called to do it. It shows that you don't have to be "super teacher" to get the job done right. I also think the product is a good fit for those parents that just need a fresh look on why they got themselves into the "mess" of educating their kids. It really made me feel good about the decision to educate my kids.

Homeschooling is for every household member

We are now into our eighth month of homeschooling. I can't believe that we are almost done with a whole year of school. Time really has flown by. We, each, have learned so much this year that it astounds me.

We no longer get the "I wish I were in public school" or "I hate homeschool" statements anymore. We often hear "I really like homeschool" or "I can't imaging having "real" school anymore." These statements are such a joy to hear. It is just like we read about before starting this journey. It takes several months for the kids to get used to the new, more independent, type of school work. Once they get used to it, they can't imaging having to move along at someone else's pace.

Each member of our family has grown so much over the year. Steve is learning guitar, I am learning crochet, Drake is learning drums, & Jilly is learning more art techniques. We have grown closer as a family, also. We understand each other better and usually are more patient with each other than we were before starting this adventure.

I am so thankful that we started this journey. I now only wish that we had started it earlier.