The Damascus Way Book Review.

Title: The Damascus Way.

Author: Davis Bunn and Janette Oke.

Genre: Christian, Historical Fiction, Biblical Retelling, Romance, Sequel.

Plot: Julia, the only daughter of wealthy merchant Jamal, has everything in life that money can buy. A wonderful palace to call home, fine clothes, plenty of food, servants to wait on her - yet she and her mother Helen live a very lonely existence between her father's visits. When Julia learns the secret why they are shunned, her world is thrown into chaos and only her new-found faith remains steady. A new depth and peace fills her as she embarks on a journey that will change her life in more ways than one, and lead her parents to salvation in Christ.

Meanwhile, Jacob, now a young man ready to take his place in the world, escorts an ill Alban to Jerusalem and leaves him in the care of the few remaining believers there. Taking charge of a secret commission for Jamal, Jacob searches for God's will in his life and hovers in indecision. Jamal, grateful to him and impressed by him, promotes Jacob and gives him another dangerous mission to fulfill. Unknown to Jamal, the believers also entrust Jacob with a secret mission, causing him to become a courier for the persecuted Christians scattered aboard - a dangerous task.

With Saul's persecution of the church increasing, the believers flee from Jerusalem while they still can. One of the last to flee, Abigail and her young daughter Dorcas leave with Alban and a caravan of other believers. Escorting them for the majority of their journey is Linux, once a Roman officer and now a strong faithful brother in the faith. Newly returned from a visit to his homeland, Linux sees the recent changes in the country and wonders with the others what will happen next. He is assigned command of the garrison near the village where Abigail takes up residence and quietly goes about making a change in the hearts of those he comes into contact with.

With several character stories all growing, intertwining and reaching toward the final epic climax, this book will hold your interest to the final page.

Likes/Dislikes: Beautifully written and populated with wonderful characters, some new and some old friends, this is a classic. It was well organized and flowed well between each character shift in viewpoint. I was quite satisfied with the conclusion to Linux's interesting life story, told over the span of the three books in this trilogy. I would have liked at least one more chapter or even just a paragraph on what happened to Jacob and Julia but with my imagination, it's fairly easy to figure out. All in all, I highly enjoyed this book!

Rating: PG-14 and up, mainly for reading level. Highly recommended to all audiences!

Date Report Written: March 24, 2012.

I received this book free from the publishers in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed in the above review are my own.

Fresh Brewed Life Book Review.

Title: Fresh Brewed Life.

Author: Nicole Johnson.

Genre: Christian, Nonfiction, Revision, Women.

Plot: This book, the revised and updated edition, sends an invitation to women to wake up and live again. With ten simple chapters {not counting the introduction and epilogue, of course}, and a continuing theme of coffee weaving through the written words, this is - if nothing else - a very creative and often entertaining look at life. Drawing upon her own life experiences, the author opens the bag of coffee beans and gives the reader the tools to wake up and experience life for themselves.

The ten chapters cover surrendering to God - always the first and most important step in matters relating to life yet it's often overlooked; journaling, the act of writing down one's thoughts and sorting them out on paper is very therapeutic and helps one to see the bigger picture sometimes; listening to one's longings {especially if one has a history of not doing so} is a good way to learn what it is one really wants; embracing one's beauty is important if one is in the habit of, well, doing the opposite; interviewing one's anger can teach one quite a few very surprising and informative things; savoring one's sexuality probably falls in alongside embracing one's beauty; celebrating one's friendships - a good idea and this chapter has plenty of good ideas on how to do just that; changing one's world is a daunting task to some but a grand challenge to others; enriching one's relationships, and enjoying one's freedom round out the list. Of all the chapters, I found the second one {on journals} to be the funnest, interviewing one's anger to be the most eye-opening, and the friendship chapter the most inspiring.

Likes/Dislikes: This book was obviously written for an older generation of already married women {ya know, the old good gals in the ten-to-twenty-year marriages and needing to re-awake to the life around them} but I still found some of the information helpful and interesting. The whole embracing one's beauty was a thought-provoking chapter though I personally never had to struggle much with that issue. All in all, a very good interesting book with light touches of humor that makes it all flow together very well. I enjoyed it.

Rating: PG-16 and up, mostly for content. Bear in mind that it is written for older women so if half the stuff doesn't apply to you or make much sense then don't worry about it.

Date Report Written: March 8, 2012.

I received this book free from the publishers in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed in the above review are my own.

Random Tag Thing. :)

Hey folks! Yes, I know I haven't been frequenting my own blog in awhile but hey, that's life. Sadly. :( Oh well. Anyways, I just learned that Ellie over at The Beggar Who Gives Alms tagged me and since it's a random tag thing and I love random things {I'm kinda random after all *grins*}, I figured I'd give it a go and have some fun with it. Ya ready? *rubs hands together* Here we go!

1) post these rules
2) you must post 11 random things about yourslef
3) answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post
4) create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer
5) go to their blog and tell them they've been tagged


11. We have about two-three feet of snow at my house right now. I'm loving it! *grins*


10. I love the snow and winter and the cold, and I can't stand the heat.


9. Pugs make all kinds of funny snorting sounds and have cute squished faces. *happy sigh*


8. I wanna get a pug puppy.


7. I'm hungry. Which is odd because I'm only hungry before a meal. *smiles*


6. My sarcastic humor has no limits. * ominous tone of voice* Muhahahaha!


5. I'll confess it; I'm bored.


4. My wisdom teeth are coming in and I don't like it. *frowns*


3. I've "taken a liking to" country music recently. Interesting new sound.


2. CHOCOLATE!!!!! Enough said.


1. I just reserved some more books from the library. Why'd I do that when I already have a bunch to read? *shakes head*

Alright, here are Ellie's questions for me.

1. Are you a fashion fan and if so, what are your favorite brands and designers?

Nah really; I do have a Vanes hoodie which I love. *happy smile*
2. What is your favorite thing to take pictures of? People? Landscapes? Macro shots?

*grins* I love taking pictures of the snow, the puppy I don't have yet, and my man. He hates getting his picture taken though. Oh well.
3. Do you play any instruments?

I play the pen. *smug grin*
4. Have you ever met a real ninja?

No; and the guy at choir practice doesn't count since he's actually a ninja-in-training-sorta-dude. *smiles*
5. What's your favorite smell?

Roses, chocolate, puppy breath, and um, yeah, I'm gonna stop right there.
6. Do you know any foreign languages?

Nah; I started to take Spanish in school, got sidetracked and forgot most of it, and I've now sorta taken a new interest in it. It really would be nice to understand what my man says to me in that particular language.
7. Did you know that wiriting these questions is easier than I thought?

Yeah, not surprising since randomness usually comes easily. *winks*
8. What do you think about Ghandi and his ideas on civil disobedience and nonviolence?

Who is Ghandi?
9. What's the last thing you ate?

The slightly overdone *takes deep breath* oatmeal-coconut-raisin-walnut-almond-miniature-chocolate-chip-bars. *grins*
10. Have you watched any interesting artistically expressive movies recently?

Eh, no. The last thing I watched was a random episode of Doctor Who that my mom put on before going to bed.
11. Why do you think here are 11 questions here, and do you like the number 10 better and 11 or do you really not care?

Probably because these usually have ten, twelve or twenty-five questions so whoever started this decided to shoot for a random original number. Then again, I don't really care too much. *winks*

Okay, and now my questions for the poor unfortunate victims whom I shall tag. Muhahahaha!

1. Cats or dogs?

2. What was the last book you read?

3. What's your favorite Dr. Seuss story?

4. Do you watch VeggieTales often?

5. How many books on are your TBR pile right now?

6. What's your favorite number?

7. What do you think the moon is made of?

8. Have you ever wanted to swim with dolphins?

9. What was the last fruit you ate?

10. What's your favorite kind of music?

11. Are you happy?

And the poor unfortunate victims to be tagged are:

Gabrielle over at her wonderful blog Legend of a Seamstress

Ruth over at her highly entertaining and charming blog Booktalk and More

Casey over at her fine blog Writing for Christ ~ The Audience of One

Ashley over at her creative blog The Epic Reader
Rachel over at her wonderful and delightful blog Inkpen Authoress
Kathleen over at her humorous blog The Messy Desk of Me

And remember folks, keep on blogging! God bless!