Showing posts with label ebook. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ebook. Show all posts

Tuesday

What God is Doing: Old Testament Object Lessons for Kids - Book Review

Disclaimer:
There is an affiliate link on this blogpost.


I was very excited when I saw that this book was being written.



Then I was even more excited when I was given the opportunity to review a free copy from the author Anne Marie Gosnell

Anne Marie blogs at Future Flying Saucers  and I had dropped in to her blog on and off during the last few years so I was somewhat familiar with her work.


I'm often happy to see new materials for Children's Work but also I'm often disappointed because they are very costly and because they are just so apparently appealing to look at but when you get down to reading and reading and reading everything that is written for each lesson they are not as appealing at all.


As a Kids Church leader for more than 40 years I have always been on the lookout for new materials that are kid friendly and teacher friendly as it does make a difference if both sides involved are really hooked by the products for the best reasons.


For me as a teacher, mother and grandmother those reasons have always been good solid Bible teaching in a way that is easy for me to work with and to encourage others to work with.  I need to know that it is not difficult to get materials to follow someone's lesson plan or to remember just how to make these materials fit in with the Bible Truth I'm teaching.

For the children the products we use need to be entertaining without distracting from the lesson and relevant so that it is the Bible message they go out remembering rather than just the visuals or fun time they have had.




Teachers for Sunday School and Kid's Church etc. are usually people who want to teach the Bible Truths but do not have days and days to read and prepare for each lesson they teach.

We need good, brief, to the point, easy to follow lessons that we know we will actually feel competent about doing with our children.
We do not want to find that the materials we are expected to use will involve us spending hours in shops trying to find.

This book is definitely in the former category and not the latter.

Here we have a product that is easy to follow, not complicated to put into practice and will certainly entertain but throughout it the Word of God is obviously at the centre and there will be no doubt that the children are pointed towards what God is doing in the Old Testament and therefore also to what Jesus has done for us all.

Looking for more info?
Then head on over to  What God is Doing: Old Testament Object Lessons for Kids


Oh and did I forget to mention there are beautiful posters to accompany 
each of the
25 Object Lessons.  



I can envisage this book being used to form the main part of a Children's Church lesson, or a Sunday School lesson or as the Bible Truth for Messy Church or a Kid's Craft Day.

AND

I can also envisage using this book with my grandchildren in the years to come.



Interested in purchasing?

Then head on over to






Disclaimer:
I received a free copy of this ebook, however this review has been written not because I was obliged to do so but because  I know I will use this book with my grandchildren as well as with children from church.
Also if buying on Amazon I get a little commission but that does not mean any extra expense to you.




The Cry - Book Review



Firstly I want to say that I did not receive a free book or ebook of this novel  "The Cry" from the publishers as is sometimes the case for my reviews.


I saw "The Cry"  originally on Amazon and the kindle version was a really good price.







I was intrigued
  • by the cover and 
  • by the title and
  • by the description
and that is something that rarely happens to me.





So from my opinion


            Is it worth reading or not?


Yes it is!  If you like mystery novels and families.



(UPDATE on 18/10/18:
THIS BOOK HAS BEEN MADE INTO A SERIES FOR TV so I am eager to watch it too.)



Happy that ebooks are available almost instantly I downloaded it from the cloud into my kindle and my kindle app for the ipad and was ready to read but of course I didn't get to it straight away because too many other things had been going on in my life so it had to wait a few days.


Well we were getting ready to go on holiday!


But when we did get away on holiday -



I was hooked from the very start of this novel!








Perhaps because of the fact that we have travelled a lot and I'm always so careful about having all my liquids in my checking luggage as opposed to my husband who having travelled for his work for many, many, many years still always has that little clear plastic bag to bring out of his carry on as he goes through security even when he has a bag checked in.



I was actually hooked when I saw this original cover picture on Amazon.






Here you are your first hint to the incident that starts off the narration of this novel.


I just needed to know what had happened and why.



It is always refreshing to read something that is different and to me that is exactly what this book was. There were things I didn't like about the people and the relationships and the events; but without these this book would not have been the different one I so much enjoyed.


Perhaps another reason I was hooked is that we were travelling when I started reading it and also I love babies and mysteries. Normally I am not keen on sad stories because I don't want to waste time on something that will depress me and would much rather be amused, uplifted or challenged to solve a mystery but this time I wanted to read on through the sadness because



I wanted to know the "why?"



I wanted to know the "why?" when I read this novel



The Cry can be found at Amazon at the link below




 Kindle  &  Paperback





Saturday

The Temporary Detective - Book Review



I need to state clearly to start with that I was not given a free copy of this book to read in return for my review.

I did not need to request this as I was able to get the ebook on Amazon for free.

That was however a few years ago (even though I only read it last month) and at the time of writing this review it is available for £1.99 but if interested keep an eye and it could well be offered free again.








AMAZON Book Description

Phones, light typing…and murder. 

Think breaking into show business is hard? Try landing a temp job without office skills. That’s the challenge facing aspiring actress Isobel Spice when she arrives in New York City, fresh out of college and deficient in PowerPoint. After being rejected by seven temp agencies for her lack of experience, Isobel sweet-talks recruiter James Cooke into letting her cover a last-minute vacancy at a bank. New to his own job, and recently sober, James takes a chance on Isobel, despite his suspicion that she’s a trouble-magnet. His misgivings are borne out by lunchtime, when she stumbles across a dead secretary in a bathroom stall. With her fingerprints on the murder weapon, Isobel sets out to prove her innocence by investigating the crime herself. While learning to juggle phone lines and auditions, she discovers an untapped talent for detective work—a qualification few other office temps, let alone actresses, can claim.



This is the first of three books (so far) in the Isobel Spice Mysteries

Author Joanne Sydney Lessner




My Opinion


A great title and a very enjoyable read

The title is definitely related to the story which I so often lament about not being the case in books these days.

Now I am not saying that this is a "whodunit" in the league of Agatha Christie but I enjoyed the easy reading style the novel was written in and the main characters were definitely believable.  The plot may not be the most intricate or serious but then I like humour in any book.

I started it in the hairdressers and finished it in the hairdressers - although not on the same day.  It was an easy book to grab and read a few chapters at a time and keep up with the story.

I would almost go as far as to say it was a Cosy Mystery but then some people may decide not to read it and that would be a pity.

As for the next two in the series I will watch for them to be free and grab them too - in fact might just get them if they come down to 99p.

I think you can tell from that last statement that I probably have too many ebooks waiting in my kindle for me to get round to reading.


Pin this for the future











Monday

The Trial of Dr Kate - Book Review












The Trial of Dr. Kate  

by  Michael E. Glasscock  III     



SYNOPSIS:
A doctor who can’t remember her crime. 
A reporter fighting for the story of her life. 
Two women at a crossroads in a town that never forgets. 

In the summer of 1952, Lillian Johnson was found dead in her home, slumped in the wheelchair that had become her cage due to multiple sclerosis. An overdose of barbiturate had triggered a heart attack, but the scene was not quite right. It looked as though someone other than Lillian herself had injected the fatal dose. 

Dr. Kate Marlow, Lillian’s physician and best friend, now sits in the Round Rock city jail. The only country doctor for miles, Kate cannot remember her whereabouts at the time of Lillian’s death and the small Tennessee town buzzes with judgment. 

As Dr. Kate’s trial approaches, another woman is determined to uncover the truth about the night of Lillian’s death. Memphis reporter Shenandoah Coleman grew up in Round Rock on the wrong side of the tracks, but unlike the rest of her unsavory clan, escaped her destiny. Now, back in the town she grew up in, she’ll have to turn every stone to keep Kate from a guilty verdict. 
The Trial of Dr. Kate is the second novel in a four-part series from Michael E. Glasscock III that explores the intricate social cloth of Round Rock, Tennessee. Though each story stands alone, readers who enjoyed Glasscock’s first Round Rock tale, Little Joe, will delight in the cameo appearances in this one. 







Having read the first book in this series and reviewed it on this blog, I was looking forward to the opportunity of reading this second one and thankful for the ebook copy received from the publishers to be able to read and review it; but unfortunately did not find it to be as interesting or as captivating.

The characters were not as well developed and although there were relationships being formed throughout the novel this book did not seem to be as full of story and life as it's predecessor.  Cameo appearances were mentioned in the synopsis but I can only remember one.  As for the reporter "fighting for the story of her life"; well we hardly hear of her writing the story and things are really made very easy for her to gain access to everyone in the town for info on her story of the trial and very little mention is made of the other story she is writing.

Having received the book free I did finish it but there were several breaks away from it.  The ending was disappointing as it seemed to be rushed and then the added epilogue gave the impression that the author had felt that whole thing needed some closure.  

I actually was not that interested in what would have happened to the characters after the book ended because of not having felt the closeness to the characters that I had in the first story.








The Trial of Dr. Kate  by  Michael E. Glasscock  III     http://www.michaeleglasscockiii.com/

Book 2 in the Round Rock Series
Published by Greenleaf Book Group Press
Released in Oct 2013



Have you read this or any others in the series?

I would love to know if you agreed or disagreed with my view of this one.





Disclaimer:
I would like to state here that although I did receive a free copy of the ebook this review is completely my own opinion of the book and was not written to any deadline for the publishers.