With over 10 million hits to their website TheRebelution.com, Alex and Brett Harris are leading the charge in a growing movement of Christian young people who are rebelling against the low expectations of their culture by choosing to “do hard things” for the glory of God.
Written when they were 18 years old, Do Hard Things is the Harris twins’ revolutionary message in its purest and most compelling form, giving readers a tangible glimpse of what is possible for teens who actively resist cultural lies that limit their potential. Combating the idea of adolescence as a vacation from responsibility, the authors weave together biblical insights, history, and modern examples to redefine the teen years as the launching pad of life and map a clear trajectory for long-term fulfillment and eternal impact.
Written by teens for teens, Do Hard Things is packed with humorous personal anecdotes, practical examples, and stories of real-life rebelutionaries in action. This rallying cry from the heart of revolution already in progress challenges the next generation to lay claim to a brighter future, starting today.
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I have a brand new copy of Do Hard Things to give away. If you would like to be entered into the drawing, just send me an email. Please put “do hard things” in the subject box so my spaminator won’t eat it! 
I will draw a winner next Monday, April 21 ~ entries will close at 12:00pm (noon) CST that day. Because this giveaway came with a postage-paid envelope from the publisher, the drawing is open to residents of the lower 48 contiguous US.
Family Squeeze by Phil Callaway
You’re in the “Middle Ages”–sandwiched between the “greatest generation” and the “gimme” generations, busily juggling both with no relief in sight. Children are driving, and parents are not. Money is tight and so are your favorite jeans. And things that never ached before are beginning to give you trouble! For every baby boomer who wonders if it’s possible to navigate the Middle Ages with grace and style, Phil Callaway offers plenty of hope and a little hilarity, too. Because there’s nothing like a smile to make wrinkles less noticeable.
Described as “Dave Barry with a message,” author, speaker, and television host Phil Callaway has written twenty books, many of them bestsellers and is a popular speaker at conferences, camps and marriage retreats, coaxing laughter and tears from audiences worldwide. Of his personal accomplishments he rates the following highest: shutting off the TV to listen to his children’s questions (twice), taking out the garbage without being told (once), and convincing his high school sweetheart Ramona to marry him (once).
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Trish’s Take
Phil Callaway has written a gem titled Family Squeeze. He relates stories from his own life, and answers questions other people have asked him, with a funny yet honest point of view.
I’m in those “Middle Ages” ~ sandwiched between aging parents who need care while raising teenagers and expecting my first grandchild from my grown daughter. Phil writes about situations that, if you have older parents and children who are still at home, you’ve probably experienced. He’s able to find the humor in life’s situations ~ and we all know laughter is good.
Family Squeeze won’t tell you how to solve all of your problems, or how to invest so you’ll have millions of dollars when you retire, or how to get your teenagers to listen to you. What it will do is help you to see the different situations in your life in a new light. You’ll find yourself chuckling ~ maybe even laughing ~ as you read what Phil has written about his own life, and compare them to experiences in your own life. You may even find the grace to not only laugh at an event that previously perturbed you, but to also forgive and move on. I love the way Phil constantly and consistently looks to God and His Word, and refers his readers to both.
Family Squeeze is a book worth reading. And on that note ~ I have a copy of Family Squeeze to give away! If you would like to be entered in the drawing for a free copy of Family Squeeze, just send me an email. I’ll draw a winner on Monday, March 30.
Due to rising postage costs (and the fact that I pay to send out a lot of these free books myself), this drawing is open to people in the lower 48 states of the US.
Summary: When a man turns up dead in a teddy bear costume, Ginger and the other ladies of the Bargain Hunters Network learn a lesson about trusting in God rather than in wealth as they try to solve the crime and clear one of their own.
Trish’s Take: Death of a Six-Foot Teddy Bear is the second installment of the Bargain Hunters Mystery series by Sharon Dunn. I read the first book of the series, Death of a Garage Sale Newbie, and knew I was in for a treat with the second book.
My friend De’Etta calls these books “cozy mysteries”. I think that’s a pretty good term to describe this type of book. It’s a wonderful book to have while you curl up in your favorite chair with a soft blanket and a warm cup of coffee or tea. The characters are charming and likable, and Sharon Dunn has done a remarkable job of making her charming and likable characters also insightful and intelligent. Just when you’re getting settled and start thinking the plot is becoming predictible, Sharon will throw in a twist, mix things up a bit, and add a little surprise or two that will grab your attention.
Death of a Six-Foot Teddy Bear is a great read ~ something to pull out on an afternoon where you want something fun and interesting to read, and you want to be entertained by the style of writing, the characters and the story itself. There are twists and turns to keep your attention, and trust me, the ending is NOT the predictible one you expect it to be! Definitely a good read ~ take it along the next time you go to your cabin, the beach, the swimming pool or want to curl up in your favorite chair and enjoy a good read for a while. You won’t be disappointed.
Sharon Dunn is the author of Death of a Garage Sale Newbie, book one in the Bargain Hunters Mysteries, and the Ruby Taylor mystery novels including Sassy Cinderella, which was voted Book of the Year by American Christian Fiction Writers. She earned a BA in television production and a master’s in history Sharon lives in Bozeman, Montana, with her husband of twenty years, three children, two cats, and lots of dust bunnies.
P.S. A quick note to Sharon: I’m quite envious that you live in Bozeman ~ I grew up in Billings, and Bozeman is where my husband and I plan to retire (in about 20 years). I’ll look you up! LOL
About the book:
Chill Out, Josey!
Russia? Not again. Josey’s finally living the good life – she’s got the man, the (almost-perfect) wedding, the two-story Cape-Cod house of her dreams. That is until her man drags her back to Moscow! Josey knows she has the guts to follow her own dreams across the world, but she’s not so sure she can play the perfect wife while her husband chases after his. Josey’s set on having the perfect life…even in a world without hot water, decent take-out and size-two leather fashion. But can she find the courage to tell her man the secret that will change their lives forever?
About the author:
I can’t help be amazed at the gifts God has delighted me with – a wonderful husband, four amazing children, and the opportunity to write for Him. I’ve been writing as long as I can remember – I won my first book writing contest in first grade! Over the years, writing has become, for me, a way to praise God and see Him at work in my life. Although I have a degree in Mass Communications from the University of MN, my real writing experience started when I penned the The Warren Report – a bi-monthly newsletter that detailed our ministry highlights. Living in Russia meant I never lacked for great material – and those experiences naturally spilled out first into devotionals and magazine articles and finally into my first published story, “Measure of a Man,” in the Tyndale/HeartQuest, Chance Encounters of the Heart anthology. I grew up in Wayzata, a suburb of Minneapolis, and became an avid camper from an early age. My favorite fir-lined spot is the north shore of Minnesota – it’s where I met my husband, honeymooned and dreamed of living. The north woods easily became the foundation for my first series, The Deep Haven series. Based on a little tourist town along the shores of Lake Superior. I have to admit – I’m terribly jealous of Mona, the heroine of my first full-length book, Happily Ever After, a Christy Award Finalist published in 2004 with Tyndale/Heartquest. Our family moved home from the mission field in June 2004 — and now we live in the beautiful town I’d always dreamed of! God has amazed me anew with His provision, and blessings — and allowed me a season when I can write full time for Him.
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Trish’s Take
Susan May Warren’s Chill Out, Josey! is the second book about Josey Berglund Anderson and Chase Anderson. I didn’t read the first book, but I caught on to the story quickly ~ it isn’t necessary to read the first book in this series to understand the characters, dynamics and basic storyline.
Chill Out, Josey! is a self-proclaimed “romance” published by Steeple Hill Books. I’ve not read any books published by this group before, but it appears that Christian romance is their forte’. If you’ve read my review blog for any time at all, you’ll know I’m not a romance book reader ~ Christian or not.
I found this book funny, cute and an easy read. I sat down with a cup of coffee and sped through the story ~ and I have to admit, while I did roll my eyes more than a few times at Josey and Chase’s unbelievable inability to communicate with each other, I didn’t throw the book down half way through. The first-person narrative (of Josey) was entertaining ~ I found myself chuckling frequently.
So, if you enjoy the Christian romance genre, and you’re looking for something cute, funny, light and easy to read, Chill Out, Josey! may fit the bill. It didn’t convert me to a romance novel reader, but it did entertain me enough that I will recommend it.
You can visit Susan’s website ~ http://www.susanmaywarren.com/ ~ or her blog ~ http://susanmaywarren.typepad.com/scribbles/ . She has a newsletter you can sign up to receive.
Susan is hosting a contest at http://www.susanmaywarren.com/joseycontest.html ~ just enter your funniest/craziest/most embarrassing pregnancy story for a chance to win a Chill Out, Mom Spa Basket! (see the contest page for details)
This week, theChristian Fiction Blog Allianceis introducing
Bluegrass Peril(Steeple Hill December 4, 2007)byVirginia Smith
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Virginia Smith left her job as a corporate director to become a full time writer and speaker in the summer of 2005. Since then she has contracted eight novels and numerous articles and short stories.
She writes contemporary humorous novels for the Christian market, including her debut, Just As I Am (Kregel Publications, March 2006) and her new release, Murder by Mushroom (Steeple Hill, August 2007). Her short fiction has been anthologized, and her articles have been published in a variety of Christian magazines.
An energetic speaker, Virginia loves to exemplify God’s truth by comparing real-life situations to well-known works of fiction, such as her popular talk, “Biblical Truths in Star Trek.”
ABOUT THE BOOK:
WHO KILLED HER BOSS?
Local police had tagged single mom Becky Dennison as their prime suspect. But she’d only been in the wrong place at the wrong time…admittedly, with her boss’s lifeless body. Sure it looked bad, but Becky had no motive for killing…even if she had opportunity.
When the director of the retirement farm for thoroughbred champions is murdered, Becky Dennison teams up with the handsome manager of a neighboring horse farm, Scott Lewis, to find her boss’s killer. Soon the amateur dectived are hot on the trail of the murderer…even as their feelings for each other deepen.
The amateur sleuths uncover a trail of clues that lead them into the intricate society of Kentucky’s elite thoroughbred breeding industry. They soon find themselves surrounded by the mint julep set – jealous southern belles and intensely competitive horse breeders – in a high-stakes game of danger, money, and that famous southern pride.
And for Becky and Scott, this race on the Kentucky tracks has the greatest stakes of all: life or death!
Romantic Times awarded Bluegrass Peril
* * * * FOUR STARS! * * * *
Finding Father Christmas by Robin Jones Gunn is a novella about a young woman who sets out to find her father. Miranda grew up without a father, but all along she has “believed” in him. Using the few clues her mother left when she died, Miranda tracks her possible father to Carlton Heath, a small town in England. There she is welcomed by local inhabitants of the town ~ but they have no idea why Miranda has traveled to Carlton Heath. Nonetheless, the strangers invite Miranda to become a part of their Christmas celebrations.
Miranda reluctantly accepts the hospitality of the town, finding herself attending a play and a cast party, then being invited to stay at the home of one of the town’s families. As her time in Carlton Heath lengthens, Miranda finds subtle clues as to who her father may be. But what she discovers could potentially be devastating to those very people who have welcomed her, a complete stranger, into their home and warmly included her in their Christmas Eve and Christmas Day traditions.
Robin Jones Gunn has written a heartwarming tale of a young lady whose search for her earthly father leads to something much larger than she ever imagined. Finding Father Christmas is an affectionate and touching story.
The winners of the For Parents Only drawing are:
Kristen from Ohio
Amy @ In Pursuit of Proverbs 31
I will be emailing each of you ladies. Thanks to everyone who entered! Check back often as I have frequent giveaways ~ you could be the next giveaway winner!
The Minor Protection Act by Jodi Cowles
It is December 1st, time for the FIRST Day Blog Tour! (Join our alliance! Click the button!) The FIRST day of every month we will feature an author and his/her latest book’s FIRST chapter!
This month’s feature author is:
and her book:
The Minor Protection Act
Musterion (December 1, 2005)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Jodi Cowles caught the travel bug when her parents took her on her first international flight at six months of age. Since then she’s been in over 30 countries. Along the way she’s gotten locked out of her cabin on an all night train to Kiev, helped deliver a baby in Indonesia, taught English in South Korea, gone spelunking in Guam, hiked the Golan Heights and laid bricks in Zimbabwe. Her interest in politics stems from hunting Easter eggs on the south lawn of the White House as a child. For her 30th birthday she ran the LA Marathon and promised to get serious about publishing. Jodi resides in Boise, Idaho and this is her first novel.
AND NOW…THE FIRST CHAPTER:
If the politically correct set was searching for a poster couple, they would need to look no further than Erik and Roselyn Jessup. In college they lit up doobies while attending passionate speeches about legalizing marijuana and freeing Tibet. Erik was even arrested once for helping break into an animal research center. Roselyn bailed him out. After five years of dating they decided to tie the knot. Seven years later, after Roselyn had enough time to get established in her career, she gave birth to their pride and joy, Jayla Lynn Jessup.
Both had satisfying full-time jobs that left them only enough time to pour themselves into Jayla. They attended every event at school, even if it meant working overtime and paying the after school program for a few extra hours. When Jayla made the principal’s list or won a spelling bee, they were cheering, and filming, from the front row.
Jayla began junior high at a brand new school with a brand new curriculum. It was being called “progressive” in the papers; the first program of its kind implemented in California with plans for a nationwide rollout over the next 10 years. Praise poured in from around the country, applauding the straight talk about sexuality and focus on tolerance.
Erik and Roselyn were thrilled to have their daughter in this groundbreaking program. Granted, it took several phone calls to district authorities to accomplish the transfer and Roselyn had to drive an extra 30 minutes each morning to drop off Jayla, but it was quite a coup to brag about in their circle of friends.
Jayla turned 13 two years into junior high. For her birthday she told her parents she wanted to order pizza and hang around the house – there was something she needed to tell them. Over pepperoni and Coke, Jayla calmly informed them that she’d been discussing it with her friends and teachers and had decided she was gay.
Though she had never had a girlfriend, or a boyfriend for that matter, Erik and Roselyn were quick to affirm her decision and let her know she had their full support. Roselyn applauded her daughter’s honest, courageous move and told Jayla how proud she was. Erik was also supportive and went so far as to tease Jayla about her best friend Sara.
There weren’t too many lesbians in her junior high and Jayla had a pretty average experience, but she attracted attention when she entered high school wearing the rainbow buttons specially purchased by her mother. Soon she was 15 and seriously involved with Carla, the 17-year-old senior who was President of the Gay Pride Club. When Erik and Roselyn saw the relationship deepening they sat Jayla down and had a heart to heart “sex talk,” encouraging her to be responsible and safe, and only to have sex if she was truly in love.
She was. However, when the year ended Carla left for college on the east coast and broke off the relationship in a letter.
Jayla was heartbroken. Erik and Roselyn were quick to comfort, as any loving parents of a shattered teenager, but their answers seemed hollow to Jayla, their comfort cold. At 16 she began dabbling in drugs – a first for her.
By the time her senior year began the family bond that was once so strong had disintegrated to the degree that she seldom spoke to her parents unless it was to strike out in anger. She had not entered into another dating relationship, as much as they encouraged her in that direction. Rather, she seemed withdrawn from the world and spent endless hours either locked in her room or suspiciously absent. Finally, Roselyn had enough and took her to a doctor who prescribed an anti-depressant for teenagers that had just been released on the market.
By Christmas the medication seemed to be working. Jayla was coming around, spending more time at home. She seemed calmer and more at peace. They were even beginning to talk about college. But New Year’s morning they found her dead, her anti-depressant bottle and a quart of vodka laying empty in the trash and a mass of journals and letters scattered around her in the bed.
Erik and Roselyn were devastated. Jayla had been their whole life. They dove into the letters and journals, trying to make sense of it all. What they found only served to inflame their anger. Some boy named Nick had been telling their daughter that she was a sinner, quoting Bible verses that said her sexual preference was an abomination before God. Jayla’s journal was full of self-loathing, page after page about her relationship with Carla, page after page of rambling, agonizing pain. Why was she made like this if homosexuality was a sin? Why would her parents have supported her if it were an abomination? Why had she listened to the seventh grade teacher who told her experimentation was the best way to determine her sexuality? What was wrong with her?
They could hardly stand to finish it but they read every word. In the end their grief found relief, as it so often does, in bitterness and hatred. The day after Jayla’s funeral, attended by hundreds of students from Jayla’s school, Erik and Roselyn met with the District Attorney. A year later, bitterness not yet assuaged, they went to see a lawyer. In the culture of America, where there is rarely tragedy unaccompanied by litigation, they found a willing law firm. Someone would pay.
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Trish’s Take
Wow ~ this book held my interest from the very first page. The storyline is intriguing ~ the idea of a family being sued for their beliefs, and the American government trying to outlaw Christianity?! Our knee-jerk reaction may be one of disbelief, “No way. Not in America!” ~ but Jodi really put forth a compelling, plausible scenario.
This story is in-depth and fast-paced. If you enjoy books that take a possible modern-day situation and make it seem real, you’ll love this one. I know I did!
P.S. Jodi, thanks so much for the signed copy!
This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Allianceis introducingAURALIA’S COLORS
(WaterBrook Press September 4, 2007)
by
Jeffrey Overstreet
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Jeffrey Overstreet lives in two worlds. By day, he writes about movies at LookingCloser.org and in notable publications like Christianity Today, Paste, and Image.
His adventures in cinema are chronicled in his book Through a Screen Darkly. By night, he composes new stories found in fictional worlds of his own. Living in Shoreline, Washington, with his wife, Anne, a poet, he is a senior staff writer for Response Magazine at Seattle Pacific University.
Auralia’s Colors is his first novel. He is now hard at work on many new stories, including three more strands of The Auralia Thread.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
As a baby, she was found in a footprint.
As a girl, she was raised by thieves in a wilderness where savages lurk.
As a young woman, she will risk her life to save the world with the only secret she knows.
When thieves find an abandoned child lying in a monster’s footprint, they have no idea that their wilderness discovery will change the course of history.
Cloaked in mystery, Auralia grows up among criminals outside the walls of House Abascar, where vicious beastmen lurk in shadow. There, she discovers an unsettling–and forbidden–talent for crafting colors that enchant all who behold them, including Abascar’s hard-hearted king, an exiled wizard, and a prince who keeps dangerous secrets.
Auralia’s gift opens doors from the palace to the dungeons, setting the stage for violent and miraculous change in the great houses of the Expanse.
Auralia’s Colors weaves literary fantasy together with poetic prose, a suspenseful plot, adrenaline-rush action, and unpredictable characters sure to enthrall ambitious imaginations.
Visit the Website especially created for the book, Auralia’s Colors. On the site, you can read the first chapter and listen to jeffrey’s introduction of the book, plus a lit more!
PRAISE
“Film critic and author Overstreet (Through a Screen Darkly) offers a powerful myth for his first foray into fiction. Overstreet’s writing is precise and beautiful, and the story is masterfully told. Readers will be hungry for the next installment.”
–Publishers Weekly
“Through word, image, and color Jeffrey Overstreet has crafted a work of art. From first to final page this original fantasy is sure to draw readers in. Auralia’s Colors sparkles.”
-–Janet Lee Carey, award-winning author of The Beast of
Noor and Dragon’s Keep
“Jeffrey Overstreet’s first fantasy, Auralia’s Colors, and its heroine’s cloak of wonders take their power from a vision of art that is auroral, looking to the return of beauty, and that intends to restore spirit and and mystery to the world. The book achieves its ends by the creation of a rich, complex universe and a series of dramatic, explosive events.”
-–Marly Youmans, author of Ingledove and The
Curse of the Raven Mocker
- Shaunti Feldhahn is known for unlocking the mysteries of relationships for men and women. Now she turns to a parent’s relationship with a child, particularly a child of the opposite sex. Drawing on the results of a nationwide survey of kids and teenagers, she explores questions such as:
What do moms need to understand about the “tough and tender” boy who values respect over love?
What do dads need to understand about their daughter’s need for affirmation?
What are the six biggest pet peeves teens have about their parents?
Understanding the answers to these and other important questions can help parents make the holidays a time of celebration and unity, not strife and friction.
For Parents Only offers a unique look into a child’s mind and frees readers to communicate in healthier ways as they discover that understanding their kids may not be as complicated as they think.
Shaunti Feldhahn is the author of For Women Only and numerous other books, with sales totaling nearly one million copies. A nationally syndicated newspaper columnist and public speaker, Feldhahn earned her master’s degree at Harvard University. She and her husband, Jeff, have two young children.
Lisa A. Rice is the associate editor of Christian Living magazine, the mother of two teenage girls, and a screenwriter and producer.
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Trish’s Take
I’m not one who usually recommends parenting books. There are so many reasons why I don’t recommend parenting books that I won’t even go into them now ~ it would take me days to list them all.
For Parents Only has received glowing reviews and recommendations by well-known “experts” such as Les & Leslie Parrott, Dennis Raney, Lisa Welchel, and Jim Daly (the president of Focus on the Family). Shaunti Feldhahn and Lisa Rice, the authors of For Parents Only, did a LOT of one-on-one research, going straight to the source ~ teenagers themselves. Their questions to teens, and their interpretations of the teens’ answers to those questions are interesting.
The authors offer practical advice for communicating with your teen effectively, as well as insight into how teens these days think. They interviewed and surveyed over 1,000 teenagers while putting together the information they share ~ the efforts and research they put into this book are monumental and laudable.
The only thing about this book that I have an issue with is the noticable lack of biblical, foundational Scriptural support for the advice that is given. I can’t say that I found any of their methods unbiblical ~ but this book is written from the point of view of psychology, “the study of man,” rather than a biblical stand point of the study of God and what He tells us in His Word.
While I won’t say you shouldn’t read this book, I will advise you to read it with caution. Take into account the rare mention of God, His Word, and Scriptural support. If you’re having a very difficult time communicating with your teen, For Parents Only may very well give you a new understanding of how your teen thinks. It may also help you with your listening skills. You may even have an “Ah-ha!” moment or two while reading this book. Lots and lots of teens were interviewed, and they were asked very indepth questions. What may surprise you is the openness, honesty, and truthfulness of the teens when answering some very probing questions. I do believe that is all well and good. There’s nothing wrong with trying to understand where your kid is coming from. The only caution I would give you is that while you may learn some great skills and insights from this book, you need to make sure you compare what is written here to what is written in the Word of God. He is our source of all things ~ even the ability to understand or communicate well with our teenagers!
Post Script: Thank you to Liz Johnson and Multnomah Books for giving me the opportunity to read and review For Parents Only.
I have 2 brand new copies of For Parents Only to give away. Thank you again to Liz Johnson and Multnomah Books for providing the books for this giveaway, as well as the envelopes and postage to send the books to their new owners!
If you would like a free copy of For Parents Only, simply send me an email. On Tuesday, December 4, I will draw from a hat the names of 2 winners from the emails I receive between now and then.
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Virginia Smith left her job as a corporate director to become a full time writer and speaker in the summer of 2005. Since then she has contracted eight novels and numerous articles and short stories.
