Outlive Your Life by Max Lucado

I was provided this book for free from the Thomas  Nelson Publishing Company. This is the second book I read by Max Lucado. What I like about his books are while they are Christian, it doesn’t come off as too preachy and judgemental. The books are breezy and not too deep, so if you are looking for something scholarly, this isn’t it.

The book is about ordinary people, your average Joes and Janes in the bible and the World.  Lucado talks about how schmucky the apostles were, but also how they were used to get the message out despite their flaws. Jesus picked  fishermen, tax men , and hillbillies who were ill-tempered, egotistical, clumsy , not college-educated to talk to the world. Sounds like some of the people around you?  Maybe it was more effective that way

Lucado spends some time talking about the Acts ( New Testament) and the beginning of the church ( back when churches were in people’s houses).  The church stressed hospitality as almost a requirement. Max Lucado relates hospitality to the word healing and maybe it is.

I liked the story about Nicholas Winton who helped Jewish children escape  Hitler from Czechoslovakia to England by train. He saved 669 lives. He received a ring from the survivors quoting the Talmud : Save one life,Save the world.

 I wasn’t a fan of the chapter “Do Good Quietly”, not because it tells you not to brag about giving charity; it was more about the story of what happened to Ananias and Sapphira (Acts) , ok they lied but really did they have to die for it? That sounds really overdone.

In my opinion, go ahead and read this for light reading, but not if you are looking for more.

The Falling Away by T.L. Hines

This a book review for a book provided by booksneeze.com

The main character , Dylan Runs Ahead is a Crow Indian who instead of running ahead runs away. He runs away from the Reservation, from reality , and soon from a pissed off drug dealer.  Dylan cannot face the reservation because he feels guilty about not picking up his sister  Joni who ends up disappearing. Now he haves conversations in his head with her. Dylan used to be in Iraq on the EOD team , which explodes or defuse roadside bombs. Which brings about his painkiller addiction, his leg was blown up and his friend was killed during a botched defusing.  His painkiller addiction brings him into a whole lotta trouble and he ends up running away and into the hands of the evil HIVE. The HIVE is on the outside an earth friendly hippie commune that sells organic products, but which is really a front for an evil man named Li who using drones to “infect” people with negativity. The Falling Away is a group of people with weird problems such as embedding metal into their skin, germaphobes, and other addictions who use their problems as a coping mechanism . Quinn is a homeless female who’s been abandoned by her crazy mother, she copes with her problem through embedding metal into her skin. She comes across a germaphobe who helps her and inducts her into The Falling Away. The Falling Away is supposed to be a reference to the end times. Their main objective is to keep the chosen from being turned into the HIVE. Dylan has always been told he was chosen, in his running away from drug dealers, the past, and Quinn; he runs into the Hive and Li. I won’t tell you the rest, you have to read the book to find out what happens.

I was not a big fan of this book due to its religious tones and it reminded me of another end times book series. It was also slightly boring.

Let’s do Lunch by Roger Troy Wilson

I am reviewing this book provided Thomas Nelson Publishing/ Booksneeze. Yes, this a diet book.  What this book doesn’t promote is exercise and eating sugary foods. I have a problem with any book saying exercise isn’t needed. I do like that the book promotes eating fruits, lean proteins, and vegetables.  According to Roger Troy Wilson he lost more than 100 pounds using this diet when all others fail. He did this by eating huge amounts of fruit, which jumpstart the metabolism. I have heard that in other books, so I believe that is a good suggestion. One caveat emptor to large amounts of  fruit-eating is possible diarrhea and stomach cramps. He also promotes lean proteins and eggs, but is not a fan of dairy. He promotes having a big protein meal for lunch, instead of dinner. This makes sense because imagine all that heavy food stuck in your stomach before you sleep, instant conversion to fat. If you like beans, you’ll love this diet, Roger Troy Wilson adds them to soups, burgers, and to lunches. This is a good idea because beans are full of protein and fiber which fills you up.  He also suggests Beano .  This diet is not low carb is the sense of never having pasta again, but instead it promotes corn thins instead of processed foods like bread and rice.  Potatoes are off the menu, instead there is a recipe for butter bean “potato cakes:. What about pizza? nope, sorry but you can have the “Pizza Soup”.  Burgers are made better with the addition of adding turkey or ground chicken and mashed beans. Roger says it’s ok to use ketchup and other condiments. This diet is also gluten-free and probably can be made into vegan or vegetarian .  I will be trying this diet, maybe with a few modifications. There is also a website to visit http://www.letsdolunch.com  .  I suggest anyone to try this diet at least a month and see if they have lost weight and are full to contact me and let me know.

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Fearless by Max Lucado

  I am reviewing this book for Booksneeze.com.  The cover of “Fearless” shows a cute boy of about eight jumping into a huge lake joyfully and not scrambling. If that was me, I would be moving like a freak ;afraid of drowning.  How would you react to the giant lake called life in front of you? I am not a Christian and I have never heard of Max Lucado, nor read any of his other books. The point of this book is not letting fear paralyze you. 
 

  As a non-christian , I found this book to be full of good examples. Mr. Lucado uses real life examples and from the bible to point out how fear causes more problems than anything. As a preacher, Max Lucado doesn’t overkill you with massive amounts of gospel. I prefer his non-aggressive preachiness.

  Jesus is used as the main example of calmness. Asleep during a hurricane on a boat, while the apostles are screaming. Relaxed and not worried about how he is going to feed 100 or so people with some fish and bread. Even Jesus had his moments of doubt and fear, right before his death. Caring and patient when being doubted.

  One tidbit Lucado shared that stuck with me was the story of how fear imagined killed men, women , and children in England during World War 2 . They heard an air strike, it wasn’t real. In their fear, many people panicked and started pushing . This resulted in many people being crushed.  How many times a day are you inundated with bad news and threats of war and fear? Read this book to take a break from the barrage of negativity.

Blue Bloods ( book one)by Melissa De La Cruz

Melissa de la Cruz’s first book aptly named for the Blue Blood series brings you into the exclusivity of snotty, rich private school teens who happen to be vampires.  Another vampire book , you might say? This book involves murder, angels, vampires, and blood. Three different kinds of blood: Red for humans, Blue for vampires, and Silver for vampires who kill vampires. To get to the meat of the story ; you have to go back to Plymouth and Roanoke in the 1600’s. Remembering the past for the new vampires starts at 15 . These teens are reincarnated vampires who are vulnerable to death until 21.  How is the Croatan related to the Silver blood? Is Michael Force the Silver Blood killing off the teens? Who is Schuyler? You’ll find out if you read the book. One caveat emptor is the over emphasis on what people are wearing, it tends to bore. I found this an easy two-day read and give it a C.

Lead Like Ike

    The first book I will review is “Lead like Ike: ten business strategies from the CEO of D-day” by Geoff Loftus. This book was given to me to review by booksneeze.com  http://www.booksneeze.com/reviews/blogger/14293.  This is a Thomas Nelson published book.

   Imagine being at the war table with Eisenhower seeing his decisions and inexperience at being thrown into a mass construction and confusion of one of the biggest wars and not having war experience? Eisenhower did it . This book gives historical fact and modern-day examples for the basis of Geoff Loftus’ CEO pointers.  Interesting at times, but also tended to drag a bit at times’ to be honest I found it a bit boring.  Geoff Loftus’  goes through “Sledgehammer”, “Operation Torch” , “Overlord”, and of course, “D-day” with precision and how to put Eisenhower’s strategies into usage for the modern business. I like how Loftus put a glossary of military terms and the key players info in the index which helps any who do not know the intricacies of World War 2.  Loftus makes sure to point out the difficulties Ike faced and how he was doubted by Churchill; dealing with annoying French in Africa and beyond, plus having to help bail out Stalin’s Russia.

I would suggest this bookl for those in management who want to inspire their employees and also for military buffs.

Hello Book Nerds!

I will be posting and reviewing books on this blog. If a cookbook, I will talk about the recipes I tried or didn’t…maybe like Julie & Julia.  Sometimes, I will express opinions that may be controversial; deal with it. It’s my website.