Gravel Road Musings

A Journey through the Treasures & Transforming Power of a Reading Life This has to count for one of the most unique and yet interesting books I have ever read.  I appreciate the faithful who take the time to read my book reviews. Basically, we are talking a book full of book reviews, which is quite fascinating.  Now I will admit that to read through over 20 books lists/book reviews back to back does get a bit exhausting, but that is no fault of the author at all. The book is meant to be read cover to cover or it is meant to be read in snippets based on where you are at in life and what you are looking to learn or what you need for the current situation. One of the things Sarah talk about is discernment in reading and she say this: "When I come to a dilemma of discernment, I often find that if I examine what the book produces in me - in my emotions, my imagination, my desires, my sense of what is real or true - I can quickly identify whether the book is one I want to ...

Reclaim Your Dream. Ignite Your Passion. Live Your Purpose. I am intrigued by this man, Tim Tebow. He seems unlike most athletes out there. Okay, now granted, I don't read about most athletes out there, so this is a completely unqualified comment and  may not have any truth in it.  But he still intrigues me. He is a relatively famous man and yet still seems so down to earth, so willing to converse with everybody and anybody and so committed to doing what he believes God wants him to do. He is committed to following his dreams and pursuing his passions, which is why he is playing baseball in the minor leagues right now. It's not for the money, it's because it's something he wanted to try and so he did. The theme of this book is to make the most of every moment. This is your day, make it count. Do something with it. Live it fully. He has written 12 chapters that showcase 12 areas where we need to make the day count. In relationships, say "I Love You" be...

This is the third book in Tracie's Golden Gate Secrets series.  This book takes place right after the great San Francisco earthquake and then the fires have destroyed the city. It continues to follow the lives of the three girls who met on the train while each one was bound for San Francisco, all for different reasons.  This book focuses a bit more on Kenzie and her journey to move beyond her past and her journey to learn to trust again. It's the typical historical fiction/romance. There are true players in the story that really lived in the time frame the book was written, but the main characters are, of course, fiction. I think what I really liked about this book was Tracie's portrayal of the compassion and kindness of the main character. At this point in the story, they were all fairly well off, one especially, but money was not their savior. They wanted to use their wealth for the betterment of mankind. They were willing to sacrifice their own comforts and do their ...

This is the second book in a series, I guess. They called the first book, Waves of Mercy the prequel, so however that works. Anyway, I do recommend reading the book first. You can read this one as a stand alone, I guess, but you won't get as much out of it. I had read the first book awhile ago and would have found it helpful to read again first to fully get the story again. But it's a good story. Anna was raised in a wealthy house, but had just found her real grandmother at the end of the first book. She wants to know more about God, to follow Him more faithfully, but her fiance is uninterested. Meanwhile, she has fallen in love with a young man who is studying to be a minister and not the least bit wealthy. And that is all I'm going to say about that so I don't give the story away anymore than I already have. What I really like about this book is Anna's determination to follow God and to love her adopted parents well. She is willing to sacrifice her own happi...

How to turn your overwhelming thoughts and feelings into your greatest allies. I want to preface this whole book review by saying I am not a psychologist or a psychiatrist or a counselor or even that great of a listener, though I'm trying to learn to be a listener, so I am not necessarily a good one to comment on some of the aspects of this book. So just keep that in mind as you read my thoughts. I am a little divided about this book. Some of it seemed strangely weird to me and some of it made sense. And some of those things were the same things. I think I could come across here as being very confused and there would be some truth there as well. The big focus of the book is taking a You-turn when anger or shame or fear or anxiety or any other unhealthy attribute raises its head. There are five parts of this process: focus, befriend, invite Jesus, unburden and integrate. I can definitely see the value of this process. While reading the book, when things would come up that I ...

So this book provides a classic example of why it's always good to read more than one book by an author. This is the second book by Jane that I have read. The first one, when I looked at my review, I wasn't that impressed by. This book I loved. I can't explain the difference. Both books were based on true events and followed the life of a real life person, but one I enjoyed and one didn't do much for me. Anyway, this is a memoir within a memoir of Carrie Adell Green Strahorn. She wrote a two volume memoir called "Fifteen thousand Miles by Stage." This is true. Jane took that memoir and created a fictional/true character. Basically she made her a bit more personable, trying to add in real thoughts and feelings. Carrie was very happy to remain in her happy lane as she liked to call it. And truthfully, while she saw some amazing things in her life, I don't know that there are many women who are blissfully content to be moved from location to location at...

If you have a young reader who loves to tell jokes, this would be the book for them. (Keep in mind that you might be subjected to hearing these jokes as well!!)  It's a fun little soft cover book that would slide into a book bag or even a purse for a child to read while out and about or waiting at a restaurant, etc. It's filled with all kinds of jokes, knock-knock jokes, backwards jokes, one-liners, puns and etc. Yes, some of them are lame, in my opinion, but I also found some of them hilarious. The next person could have the opposite reaction. Here are just a few examples: Teacher: Does anyone know who broke the sound barrier? Manny: Don't ask me. I'm no tattletale. My teacher told me to have a good day, so I went home. The main reason for a child's middle name --  So he can tell when he's really in trouble. The jokes were all clean, no bad words, which is a very nice thing. So you can relax and only worry about being driven a little crazy by a...