Book Review: Call of a Coward

Call of a Coward: The God of Moses and the Middle-Class Housewife by Marcia Moston
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The book Call of a Coward: The God of Moses and the Middle-Class Housewife by Marcia Moston was an excellent book.  I read it in an evening because I enjoyed it so much!  The book details Marcia, her husband Bob, and their daughter Lily's call to serve the people of a small village in Guatemala.  It begins in their comfortable life in New Jersey and follows their struggle to follow the call to missions, their time there, and their return home.  I lived in Central America in Honduras (right next door to Guatemala) for several years and the author's stories really struck home with me even though the timing was much different as well as the fact that they were in an extremely rural area and I lived in one of the two largest cities in HN. Despite these differences, so much made me laugh and remember experiences in my own journey. The author has an easy, humorous writing style and does an excellent job of relating her experiences and struggles.  I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to see the world outside of our small bubble and especially to anyone considering moving to Central America as a peek at both the difficulties and the joys.  Though she definitely doesn't push missions as necessary for every Christian, it made me want to think about missions in my family's future.  Again, this is a great, short read that will make you laugh, be grateful for the little things, and maybe even shed a tear or two.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.


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Book Review: Serpent of Moses and Almost Amish

Almost Amish by Kathryn Cushman
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This book had an interesting premise but the writing just didn't grab me. The characters seemed rather extreme and many things that happened seemed unrealistic. For example, the character of Susan is always grumpy, a super perfectionist, and completely blind to what is happening in her life. Yet somehow, Gary is attracted to her? There are also inconsistencies with the supposed filming. At certain times they are so worried about what the cameras will film and other times it seems that no one is filming. And again with Susan: she is embarrassed to be I front of Gary in her pajamas but not worried about the rest of the country on tv? There were just too many little quirky inconsistencies for me. It did definitely do its job of making me think about how I'm using my time and about what is important to me. If you generally enjoy Christian fiction and aren't too picky,  you will probably enjoy this book.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.


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Serpent of Moses by Don Hoesel
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was an enjoyable archaological mystery following Jack as he finds an historical artifact and is subsequently kidnapped by others after the same artifact!  The story tells of his journey through the aftermath of his find and also follows two other sets of characters, his girlfriend and her brother and a ex-CIA friend as the attempt to follow in his footsteps in order to help their missing friend.  It is a well written, wholesome adventure, and while it is a "Christian" book, the faith aspects are not overwhelming so would  be excellent for any adventure reader, including non-Christians and younger readers. The character's faith definitely influences his decisions at the end in a somewhat surprising conclusion. I did not realize until later that this is the sequel to another novel, Elisha's Bones, though it is quite obvious through the novel that some rather large events had occured before, and they do influence the progression of the novel.  However the author does an excellent job of sharing what is necessary without retelling too much. I was satisfied with this book (didn't feel like I missed out) and yet am interested in reading the first book to get more of the story. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys adventure and mystery without all the unnecessary violence and language of mainstream novels.

I recieved a copy of this book from the publisher for my honest review.


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Book Review: Your Heart's Desire and Building Family Ties

Your Heart's Desire: 14 Truths That Will Forever Change the Way You Love and Are Loved by Sheri Rose Shepherd
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Your Heart's Desire by Sheri Rose Shepherd was an excellent book for Women at any point in their relationship. She discusses different themes of marriage and married life including a chapter on raising your son to be a man of God. Each chapter includes a related bible verse, a love letter "from our groom", a prayer, questions for small group discussion and a QR code that links to the authors thoughts on a related question. I really appreciated the author's writing style as she shared the ideas of the chapter intermingled with stories and examples from her own marriage and from the bible. She honestly shares from her own panful experiences. The ideas in the book really spoke to me personally as she discusses how we should respond when we aren't  happy with our husband's leadership and/or actions and how. We can lift up and support them instead of tearing them down. I also liked that at the end of the book she shares "chapter highlights to hold on to" and summarizes very briefly the main point of each chapter. I think this is an excellent book for married women as well as for singles as they prepare for their future relationship.


I received this book from the publisher in return for my honest review.


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Faithful Families:  Building Family Ties with Faith, Love, & Laughter by Dave  Stone

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Building Family Ties with Faith, Love and Laughter by Dave Stone is another excellent book. This one focuses on helping your family to become a strong, joyful example of Christ in our family life. It's another book with simple useful tips that we all need reminded of along with real life examples from his on family. He discusses being joyful as a family, serving, filling your home with laughter, loyalty, etc. I really appreciated his chapter on loyalty, on teaching the family that what happens at home stays at home and that we should have each others backs. It's so easy to over-share with friends and laugh at our siblings (or parents!) instead of keeping it in the family and supporting and watching out for each other. I would recommend this book as one parents should keep handy and refer to frequently!

I received this book from the publisher in return for my honest review.

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