Book Review - Forgotten by Melody Carlson

Have you ever felt like you were forgotten? Or have you been homeless? Then you might want to read this novel by Melody Carlson.

Forgotten focuses on 17-year-old Adele. She has been through a lot in her life. She's had to mother her own single mom. Her mother has had a drug addiction and Adele thought that her mom had turned a corner on the problem. She was clean and moved the two of them closer to her new fantastic job. Things went great for a few weeks, until her mother started acting weird and one day simply disappeared with her new boyfriend.

Adele has to learn to function on her own. In the midst of all of this she has friends who are pretty well off, but she finds it hard to keep up the act much longer. Slowly things just begin to unravel to the point that Adele finds herself out on the streets. Will she find a way to survive in this cruel world? Does the girl have a fighting chance?

You're going to find yourself rooting for Adele in this incredible page-turner. It's easy to sympathize with her plight.

This is mostly aimed for teenagers, so do recommend it to any teenagers you know. It may help them see a new angle on things that they wouldn't have seen otherwise. Also, this is the first in a series so stay tuned to see what else Melody has in store!


this was provided to me by navpress in exchange for a review. that in no way affected my thoughts.

Book Review - Passport Through Darkness by Kimberly L. Smith

Passport To Darkness by Kimbery L. Smith is about her and her husband's incredible journeys and the lessons that she learned from them.

She thought that living the “good” life would give her everything she longed for. But boy was she wrong about that! She was called to something different. Something that would change her forever and put a lot of things into perspective. Like how good she has it in America and how it's okay to be imperfect. And the importance of communication, even if it is a lot of times you are going through the most painful things imaginable.

While reading this book you will probably experience a rush of emotions such as shock and sadness. Kimberly and her husband Milton at a certain point in their lives were called by God to do something more. And that journey took them through much more difficulty than they could ever have imagined. They moved most of their family out of the country to different foreign places, starting with Spain. There they encountered one of the worst things they'd ever experienced: a child was being abused by the director of the orphanage. They began working hard to prevent things like that from happening. While that man escaped out of the country, this is the event that set off their continual fight for the sake of the orphans. They learned all they could about human trafficking. They wanted to make a difference, but they didn't know how much it would change both of them. Milton couldn't continue to travel places and had to go back to the U.S. because of his diabetes.

Through all of that there was yet more to be done. Kimberly answered the call with much hesitation. She traveled to Sudan where she witnessed so many horrible things were happening and had some earth-shattering experiences.. Most of it was so horrifying that you couldn't believe it had actually happened. In the midst of all of this, Kimberly slides into heartache and depression and feelings of her own unworthiness, only for others to help her out of the pit so that she could continue the good work.

That's only the beginning of what you'll find in this book. But personally I have never read anything about human trafficking. Most of what I read in this book made my mouth drop open. It's so heart wrenching and almost leaves a person speechless and just wanting to cry thinking of all the orphans and the pain they constantly go through. As well as the women and even preteens that are raped repeatedly. It's just so baffling to hear about.

Reading this book will really open your eyes to what actually goes on in other countries. This is a book about real issues and real events. God is definitely evident in some of the stories in it. Please read this, it will for sure open your eyes onto what is happening out. It's a great book, not a happy one clearly, but it is very well written and contains so much to learn from. This book is definitely recommended for everyone to read.

what a week

oh boy so last week nothing ever went right. it was not a happy week. i just can't even say everything that happened. but the worst thing happened on thursday. i went to pick up the boy, it was dark and i didn't know where i was going. i went to go into this parking lot. and i ran into a cement little wall thing i couldn't see. then my car was making a noise.... i was upset, we were trying to get to community group for the first time in months.

in the end it will cost 600 dollars to fix it. i bent the whole front frame of my car. my poor dear talula. and broke the radiator. so thats fun. but maybe my headlights will get adjusted when its there.

leaving tonight to go to PA. kinda terrified. i just don't want to go period. apparently i have to be in the family picture. oi. i dunno i'm not totally happy about going at all but i guess it is what it is. i still need to do more packing. criminy. getting ready for the airport is exhausting. anyways. thats about it. i'll update later!

Beside Still Waters: Author Interview

check out this interview of tricia goyer! she wrote beside still waters. great book also check that out in april!

Book Review - Words by Ginny Yttrup

Have you ever been at a loss for words? Or felt like you just couldn't say something? It would be horrible not to be able to express how you feel. But that is what ten year old Kaylee Wren deals with. She hasn't been able to talk because of events that have traumatized her beyond belief. Her mother left her in search of drugs most likely. But what was worse was the man she left her daughter with. This man that was put in control of Kaylee was not someone you should entrust your children with and abusive in more ways than one.

 He scares Kaylee, but she just reads words from the dictionary her mother left behind (while he isn't looking) and keeps them all in her head. And when he is gone, she goes off into the woods to her secret place, a lovely redwood tree that she calls her own

Then there is Sierra, an artist in her thirties. She seems okay but deep down she's not. She lives with shame from when she was young such as the drugs which led to the destruction of her life. She also lost a daughter at birth because of them. Now on the anniversary of her daughter Annie's death she loses control of her emotions. But God begins to take control of Sierra's path as she learns to trust.

Now here is where it gets interesting! Kaylee is at her safe place in the forest. Sierra shows up, clearly upset about everything. Little did either of them know what a bond they would come to have and what else would transpire through it. It's honestly an amazing novel. One that you just can't put down.

This is a great debut for Ginny Yttrup. Her style of writing is super appealing. It's not an artificially sweet story, it's REAL. It conveys every little emotion in the words and happenings as it switches back and forth between Kaylee and Sierra's stories. I really loved this novel. It was amazing to read and experience their lives. I hope you'll take a chance to read it.

Thank you to B&H publishing for sending me a copy for review!

Check out Code of Justice!

Hey all! i just wanted to let you know of this new book out by Liz Johnson. She writes amazing books. i hope you'll check it out. i will have a review up sometime in the near future! 

"Follow the drugs."

Her sister's last words shake FBI agent Heather Sloan to the core. They also convince her that the helicopter crash only Heather survived wasn't an accident. Sheriff's deputy Jeremy Latham is assigned the case—he's the only one who can help Heather find the person responsible. If she can convince him they should work together. As they dig for the truth, they learn to trust and care for each other. Will they lose it all when the killer targets Heather? She's willing to risk her life to find her sister's killer—but her code of justice could cost her the chance to win Jeremy's love.

About the Author:

            Liz Johnson grew up reading Christian fiction, and always dreamed of being part of the publishing industry. After graduating from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff with a degree in public relations, she set out to fulfill her dream. In 2006 she got her wish when she accepted a publicity position at a major trade book publisher. While working in the industry, she decided to pursue her other dream—becoming an author. Along the way to having her novels published, she completed the Christian Writers Guild apprentice course and wrote articles for several magazines.
            Liz makes her home in Nashville, TN, where she enjoys theater, exploring the local music scene, and making frequent trips to Arizona to dote on her two nephews and three nieces. She loves stories of true love with happy endings. Keep up with Liz's adventures in writing at www.lizjohnsonbooks.com.

new look!

well i changed up my blog look. it seems more cheery now i like it. i didn't make it though. found the template on a site. pretty good stuff.

speaking of change, I've dubbed this as the year of change. lately that change has been blogging a lot more recently. its kinda crazy but i do miss it. so there i press forward with my blogging habits.

change is hard though,  i am usually not fond of it. it takes me a long time to process things a lot of times. and even just the will to change in some part of your life is hard. its a rough road. and I'm definitely experiencing that on all sides.

with my relationship with the boy. trusting things will change and be okay is hard. i guess sometimes i tend to be super pessimistic. so getting out of that way of thinking is really hard for me.

also there is change in the children's ministry where i volunteer. also very hard. we are now doing a lesson with 2 year olds. that's hard in itself. but some kids are more difficult than others. its just really stressful.

i guess sometimes just embracing change is stressful in general. that's all i got for now.