As I began reading through JOY FOR ALL SEASONS by Carol McLeod, I quickly began to wonder if there was anything in this amazing devotional that I wouldn't underline and/or highlight?! It was as if McLeod had been living MY life, reading my mind, and feeling every single thing I was feeling!!! What that proves to me is that the Holy Spirit is in this fantastic devotional.
I am truly honored to have been given the wonderful opportunity to read through JOY FOR ALL SEASONS prior to its release date. I do not take that honor lightly. I want you to know that I am saying it's a super-great devotional because I'm receiving anything special from Carol McLeod or her ministry, Just Joy; I'm saying that JOY FOR ALL SEASONS is a must-read because I mean it.
Once I receive my official book copy at the beginning of September, I have every intention of taking the time to read this awesome devotional as it was meant to be read and absorbed, one week at a time.
http://www.justjoyministries.com/
[book:Joy for All Seasons: 52 Weekly Devotions|29885481]
WITH LOVE FROM THE INSIDE by my new favoritist author, Angela Pisel--and my new best friend--is better than a 5-star book. Wow. I haven't cried this hard over a work of fiction since Snape died!! This may be Angela's first published novel, but it clearly demonstrates her amazing writing ability--her awesome storytelling skills. Wow.
I had the wonderful joy of meeting Anglea at Barnes & Nobel in Hickory, NC the evening of the release of WITH LOVE FROM THE INSIDE, Tuesday, August 9. My counselor had told me about the release of Angela's book and suggested that I might like to meet Angela, especially since she's from Hickory and is a writer--and I am, too. (I just don't have anything published beyond my blogs.) So I ordered her book from Amazon, put the date on my calendar, and waited anxiously to meet a local author.
I was so excited about meeting Angela, I was there--with my friend--at 4:30 even though she wasn't scheduled to be there until 7:00! I even got a front row seat!!! Angela shared some facts and statistics and other interesting information about her book and then she read a few passages--both of which were really intriguing. The irony is that when I read the 2nd passage myself just a day later, even though Angela had read it the night before at her reading, I bawled like a baby--as if I'd never heard that section!
And I didn't stop crying throughout the whole book. In fact, I kinda-sorta cried the first 3/4 of the book, but from about page 250 on, I cried non-stop. By the end of the book, I was sobbing so hard, I couldn't see the words on the page through my tears. I had to stop and allow myself a good five-minute crying-fest where I went through about 10 Kleenex.
Don't let the tears keep you from reading WITH LOVE FROM THE INSIDE. The tears were because this is an AMAZING story. Part of the reason why we love stories such as HARRY POTTER as much as we do is because of the tears we shed over beloved characters; it's the same with Angela's book. I CARED about the characters in this book. They became REAL to me. I want, so desperately, to hold both Sophie and Grace--and Thomas and Max and Roni and others--in my arms and let them know how powerfully their story has affected me.
I can't help thinking about Roni just a little more than other fairly minor/background characters. I want to know Roni's whole story. I may have to explore some more about this amazing woman on death row--even though she's a work of fiction. Angela did say that many of her characters in this book are based on real people, so I'd love to hear more about the real woman Roni is based on, as well as more about Roni herself.
I hope and pray that WITH LOVE FROM THE INSIDE by Angela Pisel becomes a top ten best-selling novel and that it stays in the top ten until hundreds of thousands of millions of people read it. I also hope that Angela Pisel will allow me to be one of her groupies and to "stalk" her--but in a good way....if she can agree with me that there is a "good" way to stalk someone!!!! ;)
For the first time in my life, I didn't just read my Bible, I R.E.A.D. my Bible. I have come to the conclusion that I would like to be able to spend all day every day reading and studying my Bible. I have always known that the Bible is the LIVING Word of God, that it is a LAMP to my feet and a LIGHT to my path, but this year, in reading my Bible, I experienced the LIVING Word of God rather than just read it. And I am changed for it. God is doing a work in me and I hope and pray that I stay true to Him.
Hebrews 4:12, New Living Translation (NLT)
12 For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.
New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
I don't want you to get the impression that since I have given
Brenda Ueland's IF YOU WANT TO WRITE only 3 stars that I didn't like her book or feel that it's worth reading. I did like it and I do feel that it is a valuable book to read, especially those who want to write--and even for those who don't want to write.
What keeps it from being a 4 or even 5-star book, to me, is that Ueland does exactly what she tells her reader NOT to do: she forgets her audience. She has a LOT of great specifics about writing to share--especially the fact that we should write from our hearts, what we love or are passionate about and quit worrying about doing it "right" or what the so-called critics tell us is good writing--but she could have said it all in a short essay rather than an almost 180-page text. Granted, the margins are huge, which means that the book could possibly be about 50 pages if the margins weren't so wide.
I did highlight a lot of the book and I am very glad I read it. I just wish Ueland had chosen to KISS--keep it simple silly.
If I could give Jimmy Wayne's WALK TO BEAUTIFUL more than 5 stars, I so would! This amazing, beautiful memoir is a MUST READ. It is so inspirational, powerful, moving, and just plain BEAutiful.
I am embarrassed to admit that I've had this book in my possession since some time in April. WALK TO BEAUTIFUL was chosen to be our Interdisciplinary Read (IR) for the 2016-2017 school year at Catawba Valley Community College in Hickory, NC, so I was given a free copy of the book to read to decide whether or not I would participate in the upcoming IR. I have not participated in recent years, so I was not very excited about this new book. One reason why I had not participated in the IR in recent years was because, in all honesty, I simply did not like the books that have been chosen. Last year's book was good, but I did not feel that it was a good choice for our students.
So I let WALK TO BEAUTIFUL sit on my desk until the end of the semester, grumbling meekly whenever someone on the IR committee would remind me to read it about how I'd get to it....eventually. Once the Spring semester was over, I did bring the book home with me, but I put it on a shelf with the intention of reading it--not so much.
I just did not have high hopes for this book being any good or being one that would be of any value to our students.
I have no idea what made me finally pick it up and start to read it except to say that I highly respect several of the folks on the IR committee and I knew that if they recommended the book, it might not be too bad. From the first sentence, I was hooked. As I began reading, I had NO idea who Jimmy Wayne was--is. I had never heard of him, and I actually like country music, believe it or not.
I am now officially a Jimmy Wayne Groupie! I am pretty sure that he will be visiting our campus at some time over the course of this upcoming year and I promise you that I will do everything in my power to be part of the team that welcomes him to CVCC and who gets his autograph and a twofie (selfie with two people--I like it) taken with him!!!
WALK TO BEAUTIFUL is nothing like what you'd expect from a country music star, but I promise you that it is WORTH reading. Jimmy is honest and open about his story; he does not hide behind his fame and pretend that he is something that he isn't. His vulnerability in his story makes me want to hug him so hard that he will forever feel me hugging him.
I cannot say enough wonderful things about WALK TO BEAUTIFUL by Jimmy Wayne. I will be using it in my classes this upcoming school year at CVCC; I can hardly wait to introduce this amazing book to almost 100 students!!!!
Rowling just can do no wrong when it comes to writing under her own name. VERY GOOD LIVES is the commencement speech she gave at the Harvard Graduation in, I think, 2008. If you've heard it, watched it, or read it, you already know how very inspiring she is. It is her humility and understanding of REAL LIFE that makes her one of the greatest writers of the 21st Century, not just the fact that she has written THE GREATEST series of the 21st century. I love that she knows and understands that failing is not failure, but an opportunity to learn--for growth--and for knowing what Rock Bottom is truly like. We as a culture get so caught up in wanting, no--NEEDING to be successful at everything we do, the first time we do it that we cower in fear of ever doing anything at all. But when you're at Rock Bottom and you have nothing left to lose because the only direction possible is up, the choice of moving forward is [finally] easier.
I'd watched Rowling's speech on youtube back when it was first available, so I was very aware of the incredibleness of her physical presence. As a reader, though, I also like being able to come back to her speech in its very black and whiteness to "hear" her voice again and again and again. Reading it makes it more real for me and helps me remember it better than just listening to it.
All I have to say is that I may not read Rowling's novels that she writes under pen names (or I may), but I am pretty positive that I will always read whatever is in print under her name J. K. Rowling.
LOVE.
