Grace Notes

By Joe Kissack Published by WaterBrook Press, 2012 Let me begin by saying if you are squeamish, you may want to skip this book or be prepared to skip over parts of this book.   Joe Kissack's new book The Fourth Fisherman tells the true story of five Mexican fisherman who set out on a three day fishing expedition only to encounter problems which eventually lead to the death of two of the fisherman.  Of being stranded in the Pacific Ocean for nearly nine months with no supplies such as food and water. How did these three men survive?  What gave them the will to go on?   Simultaneously, Joe Kissack was facing his own ocean of problems. Although he was a fairly well off mover and shaker in the television industry, there was something missing in his life.  His life was beginning to crumble and fall apart.   The Fourth Fisherman combines the life and death story of the struggle of the Mexican fishermen with the life and spiritual struggles of Mr. Kissack.  I did enjoy

Path through the woods leading to my camp site. Friday night I spent the night in the woods, by myself except for my dog Duke.  I, the 'fraidy cat.  It was really dark out there.  The bugs were loud, and some lights kept going off -- bright enough to shine through the roof of my tent.  At first I thought it was a plane going overhead, but it was really fast.  Growing up on UFO stories, that was my next fleeting thought.  Yep!  Then I realized it was only lightening bugs, and a lot of them.  Wish I would have thought to try to photograph them.   Anyway, this was my first experience camping alone, and I wanted to do it somewhere safe. So I asked my parents if I could borrow their woods (unknown to them, if I got scared, I could make a five or ten minute run through the dark to their house!  Except they let me borrow their chuck wagon that has headlights, so the trip wouldn't have been so long or so bad).  Really, I wanted to make sure I was in a semi-familiar area whe

I am naturally curious.  I always want to know more.  What is around the corner, why something happened the way it did, that sort of thing.  It shouldn't be a surprise that I'm this way.  I have heard often enough that my mother used to try to get me to quit asking questions, while my grandfather told her to answer them -- how else was I going to learn? One evening not long ago and friend and I left Bible study, and he asked if I was in a hurry to get home or if I could just hang out for a while.  I drove because she doesn't like driving at night (neither do I!).  She pointed and asked if we could find out what was down that road?  Being naturally curious, I said sure!  It was dark and the way was lit only by a few street lights and the headlights of my car.  But we drove down the winding, rising and falling road, looking around, surprised we didn't know what was in this area of town.  I admired a small lake we crossed over, and the lights of homes shining in the l

Published by:  Thomas Nelson, 2012 Have you ever wondered what it would be like living in the times of the kings of the Bible?  What if you were of the house of Nebuchadnezzar?  Say, the daughter of the great king himself?  I love history, the actual life of history.  I always want to know more.  And Tracy L. Higley has certainly satisfied my curiosity and held my attention with this new book, Garden of Madness .  Garden of Madness is set at the end of the seven years of Nebuchadnezzar's banishment, when he roamed as a madman, as a beast, until he submitted to the one true God, the God of the Jews, Yahweh.  Nebuchadnezzar's youngest daughter Tiamat has just lost her husband (whom she was forced to marry to form a political alliance), the son of the imprisoned Jewish king Jehoichan.  Now she is faced with another impending forced marriage alliance to one of her mother's cousins, a prince of the Medes.  Unbeknownst to Tiamat, the mage Shadir is plotting his own ta

Published by:  Thomas Nelson, 2012 I have to admit that that I am an avid fan of Colleen Coble.  When I saw this book up for review, I knew it was what I would be reading next.  Ms. Coble did not disappoint!  Tidewater Inn is a good mixture of romance, mystery and morals. Libby Holladay is a driven woman who restores property to historical accuracy.  History and architecture, attention to details, a love of all things old is her life.  Tidewater Inn begins with Libby inspecting a property for renovations when she receives a phone call from her best friend and partner Nicole who has news about property on Hope Island, which she has been inspecting for a renovation project.  Nicole has uncovered surprising information about Libby's family -- Libby thought she had no one, but now she has a family.  Nicole tells Libby she has also inherited a substantial amount of property from her recently deceased father.  A few minutes later  Libby witnesses via video cam the kidnapping

What better way to celebrate the Fourth of July than reading about one of our American heroes?  Yesterday I posted a review on the book Fearless (by Eric Blehm), about the life of Navy Seal Adam Brown. Today I wanted to follow up with some further information, listed below: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_L8ca7AKEA&feature=player_embedded www.EricBlehm.com www.theadambrownlegacyfoundation.com www.nralifeofduty.tv/adambrown www.fearlessnavyseal.com Hope you get a chance to read the book Fearless !   Have a wonderful Fourth, and don't forget those who have fought or are fighting for our continued freedoms! Reese

Fearless By: Eric Blehm Published by WaterBrook Press Copyright 2012 I have heard about the book Fearless for a few months now, and even posted earlier that I had read the first chapter of the book, so I was very excited to find that WaterBrook Press was offering the book for review.  I read this book in two sittings, which really would have been one sitting if I didn't plan to get ready for a family reunion at my home over the weekend.  This book is just so good that it was very hard to put it down.  And like really great books, I did go through a few tissues, especially at the end.  I spent about twenty minutes during a drive with my teenagers yesterday excitedly re-telling stories from the book (with them listening wide-eyed). Fearless,  written by Eric Blehm, tells the life story of Adam Brown, a man who should go down in history as one of our American heroes. The book tells the good, the bad and the ugly in Adam's life, including a stint with drugs and a stay in