Book Review: The Grace Effect, by Larry Alex Taunton

The Grace Effect, by Larry Alex Taunton, is a fantastic journey through the author’s  family’s adoption experience, meanwhile sharing how the Christian belief of grace can affect society as a whole.

As an adoptive parent, I thoroughly enjoyed his account of their roller-coaster journey to adopt their daughter, Sasha. The corruption and trials they faced along the way was heart wrenching. It is amazing that corruption like that still exists so long after socialism officially ended in Ukraine.

At first I wasn’t sure how Taunton was going to tie their adoption experience in with his theme of the “power of one life can reverse the corruption of unbelief.” It was clear that Sasha was going to have a life changing experience, but it was unclear how that would have any effect in “reverse(ing) the corruption of unbelief.” The final chapter and epilogue neatly tied the theme in with the observations and opinions stated throughout the rest of the book.

I also enjoyed the timeliness of this book with the events happening around the nation known as “Occupy Wall Street.” Many of the “occupiers” hope for a more socialist government in the United States, distributing the wealth of “the one ” percent  to the masses while eliminating Christian values, somehow hoping it will solve the nation’s economic difficulties. This book gives proof that socialism would not make America a better place, but would induce poverty and suffering as seen in the post-Soviet countries of Eastern Europe.

My favorite quote of the book: Fascists think society’s problems are a question of race… Communists think it a question of economics, a class war. Seize private property and redistribute it equally and-voila!- utopia. Atheists think the problem is religion. Environmentalists blame industrialization. Democrats blame Republicans. Republicans blame Democrats. Everyone agrees that there is a problem, but efforts to identify the source of it are incomplete, misguided, or evil.” (pages 214-215)

This perfectly sums up the problems of our nation and the world. Our society would indeed collapse with the removal of “the grace effect” passed around by the vast number of Christians. I hope and pray that the results of the former Soviet Union never show up here in America, or it would cease to be the nation that it was intended to be.

disclosure: the publisher has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book through BookSneeze®.

Book Review: Lonestar Angel, by Colleen Coble

I fully enjoyed “Lonestar Angel,” by Colleen Coble. This book is a romantic mystery, an unusual combination that really works. I loved the character development and the mystery was truly difficult to figure out. The story of lost love and a lost child was believable and really kept the plot moving forward as you watch the two main characters, Eden and Clay, struggle with their emotions and realize their continued love for each other. The other characters all seem to have their own secrets, some of which you don’t discover until the very end. The story was not at all predictable, which is refreshing from most other novels that I’ve recently read. The end of the book is a surprise and the twists and turns the plot takes you on is quite an emotional roller coaster. I love the connections between the different characters that go back into the past but somehow drew everyone together again. The writing by Colleen was strong and the book was a pleasure to read. She obviously did her homework on legal issues as well as the location of the story. I love an author who pays attention to detail. I also enjoyed the subtle Christian undertone. Although the characters think and talk about God occasionally, I didn’t feel like the religious aspect of it overpowered the rest of the story. I also enjoyed how clean the language and relationships were in the book. Overall, a must read for anyone who enjoys a nice romance with a little mystery and adventure thrown in!

disclosure: the publisher has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book through BookSneeze®.

Book Review: Sherman, by Von Hassell and Breslin

The book, Sherman by Von Hassell and Breslin (part of The Generals series) was insightful and a good read. It gave a good synopsis of General Sherman’s life, and what made him the man he was.

Although at times the book was a little slow and dry, overall it was a quick read. I wish there had been more detail to most of the stories. Unless you are someone who knows a lot about the Civil War, you might find yourself just skimming the dates and places because there aren’t a lot of details about the individual battles or events. It would have been nice to have had more story-like information about the battles that Sherman was involved in.

I did enjoy learning about Sherman’s family life and a little bit about his personality. Again, maybe a little more detail there would have made the book a better read. Other biographies I have enjoyed previously were much longer, giving a lot more about the person. This was good for a short book.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys biographies, or who loves learning about history or war.  I look forward to reading more books in The Generals series.

disclosure: the publisher has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book through BookSneeze®.

Book Review: Be the People by Carol Swain



image from Amazon.com



As a conservative Christian myself, I was looking forward to sitting down and reading Be the People, by Carol Swain. Its subtitle reads: A call to reclaim America’s faith and promise. That is something I can definitely identify with.



But as I began reading it became clear that Ms. Swain’s opinions and ideas were extreme. She spends pages describing abortion procedures, an entire chapter bashing President Obama as a person- not his politics, and desperately tries to use scripture from the Bible to back her views on immigration.

As someone who believes that America could take a step back from the direction it’s headed, and take a look at many of these issues deeper, I feel like Ms. Swain is alienating those who might share some of her viewpoints. You don’t get people to change their minds on an issue by slamming them, telling them how wrong they are, or trying to disgust them or shame them.

The best way to try to change someone’s opinion about weighty matters, such as abortion, racism, and immigration, are to serve them, love them, and pray for them. You can’t “twist someone’s arm” to make them take your side.



Overall, the underlying ideas in the book are good: try to make America a better place; but the way she attempted to send this message is seriously flawed.

 disclaimer: the publisher has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book through BookSneeze®.

let's go!

So, since I love reading, and I read a lot, I guess it's time to start talking about the books I read, right?

Hopefully you can find some good books from this blog, and feel free to leave me a comment recommending a good book for me to read. I'm always looking for more!

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