The Secret of Hummingbird Cake by Celeste Fletcher McHale

This book is not what I expected.  It deals with unfaithfulness, death, friendships, forgiveness and healing.  It is a book about "growing up" in a marriage.  The main character learns to face herself, her weaknesses, her flaws instead of blaming her husband for all that she views as wrong in the marriage.  Along the way both husband and wife make mistakes that bear consequences that hurt their marriage.  At the same time the main character's friend discovers she has cancer.  This leads to more soul searching.  It was a hard read for me because I disagreed with so much of what the characters did to each other.  But I can see how this book could be helpful to couples in a similar situation.

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

Hannah's Choice by Jan Drexler

If you think you've read all there is to know about Amish life - think again!  This book is rich is historical facts during the 1840s with a personal insight into an Amish family's dilemmas.  You'll learn about the Amish, Mennonite and Dunkards.  There is romantic intrigue as Hannah and her sister Liesbet fall in love with men outside of their faith and hide it from their parents.  The story contains the travails of their mother's deep grief over losing 3 young children and the consequences her troubled soul has on the rest of the family.  Their father staunch and very rigid in his religious beliefs battles the war between love for his children and keeping the faith.  The family is faced with many hard decisions including whether to leave the only home they've known or find a new Amish settlement further west.  Hannah faces personal decisions of settling with a safe, secure future with an Amish man or following her heart to love a Mennonite man who risks his life to aid runaway slaves.

Cats in Paris by Won-Sun Jang

This adult coloring book does have the flavor of Paris from it's charming cover to the "bonjour"back cover!  Inside you will find delightful kitties of all types.  Explore historical places with these cats.  Also visit cats lounging on cushions, wandering through butterfly gardens and surveying their domain atop a pile of suitcases.  Other cats proudly peruse book stores or bags of cat food.  You'll find cats on stamps, listed by types, playing with yarn, snuggling in a basket, wearing champion ribbons and leaving paw prints on the pages.  This book is perfect for a cat lover or lover of Paris or French culture.

I receive this book free from the publishers in exchange for my honest review.

Whatever is Lovely (A Coloring Book for Reflection and Worship) by Waterbrook Press

As adult coloring books become the rage, Whatever is Lovely, comes as a fresh breath of air.  This truly is a worship book.  The drawings are intricate in detail yet simple enough to be enjoyable to color.  Each page has a focus verse with designs to compliment the message.  On the reverse side of the coloring page is the full verse, whether scripture, a book reference or quote.  These words are inspirational, comforting, soothing, thought-provoking and wise.  There is variety in the types of pictures to color.  The pages are thick and not see through.  This makes them suitable for crayons, colored pencils or markers.  This is a high quality adult coloring book to be shared happily with others.

The Mountain Midwife by Laurie Alice Eakes

This book is truly uncommonly good!  It's a marvelous read about historic midwifery and a modern midwife.  I could not put this book down.  I instantly liked Ashley and felt drawn into her relationship with her patients.  This book is a good blend of intrigue/mystery, spiritual advice woven into the dialogue between characters and tender romance.  I was impressed with how the author was able to get across some very deep spiritual truths but in a natural way not contrived.  This is how Christian story telling should be done!  Pick up this book and take a little trip into the Appalachian mountains and learn not only a bit about the culture there but a lot about love, forgiveness and how being perfect is highly overrated when God's grace appears.

The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning

If you don't believe in being saved 100% by grace hold on to your hats.  Maybe this book isn't for you but then again I think this book is exactly for you!  Manning has a sharp, no-nonsense approach to the most wonderful news of all.  God loves you exactly as you are.  You don't have to do a thing to earn His love or favor.  He has given all to save you and He is pursuing you with his "furious love" as Manning so artfully phrases it.  In the pages of this book you will meet a God who is far different from what a lot of us have grown up with.  This God wants to save you.  This God wants to make you whole.  This God offers a forgiveness that transforms us for our own sake not to make us worthy of His love.  Please take note of that last point.  His forgiveness transforms you...You will not remain the same.  This God's love is bigger than anything you could ever imagine.  This God's love is enough.  Period.  End of story.

The Girl From The Train by Irma Joubert

An addictive tale of the healing power of thankfulness and love told through the eyes of a young girl who lost everything and yet gained all.  The story starts on a train bound for a concentration camp and ends up with the heroine in South Africa.  Without spoiling the story I can say that Gretchen’s path is not the expected one.  You will be surprised, delighted, in anguish, crushed with grief and buoyed by hope, disgusted by prejudice, humbled by forgiveness and astonished at the leaps of faith and raw power that surges through a soul in love.  You won’t want to miss this book!

I received this book free from the publishers and was not required to write a positive review.