Love You Always - Review & Giveaway

Published - September 2017, Worthy Publishers
Author - Eileen Spinelli
Title - Love You Always
Format - hardcover
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About the book:
With sweet rhymes and simple pictures, children learn they are loved.

My thoughts:
This book was adorable! I think it's probably my favorite one I've read recently.

The illustrations are simple, yet beautiful. The rhymes are so sweet. I love the fact that it lets kids know they more than just mom and dad love them.

My best friend's daughters, ages 6 and 4, both sat down and read the book. Actually reading it. Yes, they needed help sounding out some of the words, but it was simple enough for the girls to read.

I highly recommend this book.

I received a copy for free from the publisher to review. My thoughts and opinions are my own.

Recommended to fans of picture books, parents of young children, teachers, anyone with a child in their life

Rating - 5 stars

Giveaway Time

It's been a long time since I hosted a giveaway here. The publisher will send one lucky winner a copy of the book.

To enter, just follow the instructions in the Giveaway box. 

Entry-Form

The Assault - A Review

Published - Bethany House, August 2017
Series - Harbingers Book 2
Authors - Bill Myers, Frank Peretti, Angela Hunt, Alton Gansky
Title - The Assault
Format - ebook, paper
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About the book (Goodreads):
Cycle 2 of the Harbingers series continues the story of four gifted strangers brought together to fight a growing darkness. 

In Bill Myers's "The Revealing," the team finds themselves in Rome trying to retrieve the mystical spear Hitler once owned--the very spear that pierced Christ's side. This task will take them from hidden chambers inside the Vatican to a mysterious seaside cave with powers they could never expect.

Frank Peretti's "Infestation" unleashes a microscopic evil on the world that deceives, blinds, kills, then spreads. The Harbingers team must confront a monster bent on seducing and destroying mankind.

In "Infiltration" by Angela Hunt, the team is wounded and barely holding together. Forced to split up, they realize their investigations have led them into dangerous waters.

Alton Gansky's "The Fog" unleashes a supernatural mist unlike any other. There are vicious things in the fog that kill whatever they find. One team member realizes that the ultimate sacrifice may have to be made.

My Thoughts:
This is book 2 in the series. It needs to be read in order!

Picking up immediately after the events in the first book, I was glad to see that the fast-paced style that was the first book returned with this one. I'll admit though, that it took me longer to read it than the first one, mainly because I wasn't in a reading mood. That said, once I got into the book, I found it hard to put down.

I love the way that each novella builds on the previous one. They are not separate stories that could stand on their own like so many novellas I've read do. The characters and the stories are so intertwined, that when switching from one story to the next, I sometimes didn't even notice that I'd switched.

I am really enjoying getting to know Brenda, the professor, Andi, and Tank. I love how they continue to grow and change.

Overall, I enjoyed this book.

I received a copy for free from the publisher to review. I was not required to like the book, only give my honest opinion. My thoughts and opinions are my own.

Recommended to fans of Frank Peretti, Bill Myers, suspense

Rating - 4 stars

Maverick and Me - A Review

Published - September 2017, Worthy Publishing
Author - Katherine Schwarzengger
Title - Maverick and Me
Format - hardcover
Find on Amazon

About the book:
When Maverick is found wet and shivering beside the road, all he wants is a forever home. This is his journey to find a forever home.

My thoughts:
I loved this book. I loved the way that the author encouraged fostering/adopting animals, specifically dogs.

Maverick was just adorable. I loved how he "helped" set up for the party that Scarlett was throwing for him.

The illustrations are beautiful, and really drive the story home. I read this book to my friend's daughters, the middle of whom loves dogs. It's a great story for all animal lovers or for anyone who just loves children's books.

I received a copy of the book from the publisher for free in exchange for an honest review. My thoughts and opinions are my own.

Recommended to fans of children's books, librarians, animal lovers

Rating - 5 stars

Saturday Scribbles Vol. 3.2

Hello my reader friends. It's been a long time since I wrote a Scribbles post.

Hurricane Harvey. That's a storm I don't think I'll forget anytime soon. You see, I've never liked storms. But this one, I was thinking it's just rain, I'll ride it out at home.

That was my plan. Then Friday August 25, 2017, my brother called me. He pretty much convinced me that I needed to go to Mom's. Because my parking lot floods. So I packed up Kiki and we went.

So the storm hit Rockport, near Corpus Christi. And the rain. Oh the rain. It started raining on Friday morning before it made landfall. It stopped some on Saturday, but then Saturday night came. And with it the rain. It wasn't just part of Houston being hit, it was all of it. The weather forecasters were say 30 or more inches before it was supposed to stop. So days of rain. Soon places that didn't flood were flooding.

I watched with mom as the water crept up to about halfway up the driveway and came within inches of coming in through the backdoor. This was early Sunday morning.  A miracle in itself is that my place had zero damaged, and this is with a parking lot that floods. We were blessed. But others weren't.

Just across the freeway from my apartment, the neighborhood was under water. My brother and sister-in-law had water in their home and evacuated first to the high school he teaches at and then to a hotel they'd booked. Friends from church had several feet of water in their homes. It was like that all over the area.

Then I watched something beautiful happen. While the rain still came down on Sunday, people were helping each other. I saw people with boats who didn't care if the person was male or female, what political party. It didn't matter about race or religion or sexual orientation. They helped. No questions asked, really. I have a friend who worked the shelter at Dobie High School feeding those who showed up while her husband was driving around picking up people who needed it. This continued into Monday and Tuesday. Shelters opened up across the city, and volunteers showed up. Then there was a problem of having too many volunteers, too much supplies. What a problem to have.

People in line to volunteer at the George R. Brown Convention Center shelter.

Then the rain stopped. At least in Houston. Total rainfall was over 50 inches, and the weather people had to invent a new color for rainfall.

Harvey moved on towards Louisiana, and continued to dump rain. And once again, people helped each other.

I 10 east near Winnie. This is the road.

I see on social media things saying #HoustonStrong  And #TexasStrong and that's what is happening. For a few days, my city didn't care about politics or the hate that surrounds so many. My city showed the world what it means to see past all barriers and to the heart. That everyone is important. My city will rebuild and will be stronger for it.

Now that the rains have stopped and some roads are becoming passable again, I still see people helping others. I know of several churches who have crews of volunteers assisting people with the ripping up of carpets and floors. Cutting sheetrock. Washing clothes. Feeding the crews. Offering cars. I've seen it all across the area, and not just the churches. But neighbors.

One of my brother's dearest friends set up a go fund me page to help my brother and sister-in-law with expenses.  If you want to help, consider them. Here's the link.