The Beauty of Broken by Elisa Morgan

This is the author’s personal account about the brokenness of her family of origin and her own family, with the point being that every person is broken, and therefore every family is broken. There is no such thing as the perfect family because people are flawed. Elisa Morgan details the actions and reactions of herself, her father, mother, sister and brother in their relationships from the time she was young through the present, as well as the details of how she met and married her husband and the challenges they have faced with their two adopted children. God and the Bible are central to the author’s perspective and help her to maintain her balance throughout her life. Elisa Morgan demonstrates how a godly perspective is foundational to growing through life’s blows. There was much in this book to identify with and be encouraged by. The author used Scripture effectively. I would recommend this book to anyone who thinks family life should yield a profitable return on investment, who thinks that if you just do things correctly, everything should turn out well. God did not promise that, and the author proves her case that from the beginning, families have not delivered on that false premise. God does, however, provide the tools to weather the storms, and this book does a good job of exploring that subject. I received this book for free in exchange for my unbiased review through the Thomas Nelson BookSneeze Program.

Intentional Walk by Rob Rains

This book, subtitled “An Inside Look at the Faith that Drives the St. Louis Cardinals,” spends 16 chapters on individual players and their faith journeys. This book looks at the faith of individual players, not at the team as a whole. It touches on the effects players have on each other but gives you little sense of the collective impact on the organization, the media, or the public. Unfortunately, the chapters are written in such a way that the more you read, the more formulaic the chapters seem. Rather than integrating stories together, each chapter gives a snapshot of the player through two lenses—with regard to sports and to a walk with God--as a youngster, a young adult and then a St. Louis Cardinal. At times, it seems as if you are reading the same chapter repeatedly with changes in only minor details, such as names. This book would be interesting to a Cardinals fan who is curious about the faith journey of individual players. To anyone else, it will be too long and repetitious. I received this book for free in exchange for my unbiased review through the Thomas Nelson BookSneeze Program.

Resurrection Year by Sheridan Voysey

This book, subtitled “Turning Broken Dreams Into New Beginnings”, describes the journey of the author and his wife through heartbreaking infertility, deciding to turn a corner, and establishing a new life, including new jobs and a move to Great Britain. Particularly insightful is the narrative about the author’s heart processes as he makes these major transitions. Of great value is reading about the honest relationship between the spouses and God; rarely is such a glimpse into someone else’s mind, heart and soul given as this book does. The author’s faith has deep biblical roots, which is reflected in how and what he thinks and how he processes his experiences. The book was extremely interesting, challenging and inspiring, as you can’t help but put yourself in his shoes and wonder what might help you in times of such great heartache. It is well written, and I would recommend it to others. I received this book for free in exchange for my unbiased review through the Thomas Nelson BookSneeze Program.

Unglued Devotional by Lysa TerKeurst

This book of 60 devotionals aims to help you change by having you analyze yourself. The author intends that you spend a lot of time—aided by her many stories—evaluating your behavior, thoughts, and feelings with a goal toward improving your attitude, perspective and relationships. Each devotional has a verse, a Thought for the Day, and a narrative about what difference walking with God can make in every area of life. Most ask questions that encourage to reflect about yourself deeply. Each ends with a short, honest prayer. This book will be helpful to those who want to examine themselves in light of God’s Word, wanting to make changes to become more like Christ. I received this book for free in exchange for my unbiased review through the Thomas Nelson BookSneeze Program.

The Anger Workbook by Les Carter and Frank Minirth This excellent book helps one identify anger in its many forms, trace its needs, motivating emotions and take steps to reduce and conquer it. It is accessible, using checklists to analyze and numbered blanks to delineate personal examples. The four parts of this book are Identifying Your Anger, Anger Thrives on Unmet Needs, How Other Emotions Create Anger, and Applying New Insights about Anger Reduction. This book was interesting, challenging and enlightening. It was thought provoking and insightful. The material was presented simply and cohesively, conveying biblical truth accurately. I would recommend this book to everyone. Unless we have faced our anger head on, we likely do not realize how much it permeates our lives. The Anger Workbook is extremely well written, with tremendous instruction and insight. I received this book for free in exchange for my unbiased review through the Thomas Nelson BookSneeze Program.

Simple Secrets to a Happy Life by Luci Swindoll

Each of the 50 “secrets” has three pages devoted to it. Most of the author’s topics are common sense, such as be on time, keep your word, value the things you have, think before you say it, and live an attitude of gratitude. A few are biblical, such as honoring your parents, taking Jesus with you everywhere, read your Bible every day. This is not a book most would read to learn but rather to be reminded. Its message is simple and straightforward. It is not one of Luci Swindoll’s best works as there is little here that is new, but if you wonder to yourself, “How am I doing?”, this book might well help you answer that question. I received this book for free in exchange for my unbiased review through the Thomas Nelson BookSneeze Program.

constantly craving by Marilyn Meberg

Marilyn Meberg says people have craved more since the Garden of Eden. We want more from romance, marriage, and friendship; we want more happiness, time, meaning and purpose. The answer to our craving, says Marilyn, is God—His purposes and His ways.

This book did an adequate job of presenting God as the answer to life’s desires and pursuits. The author presented biblical truth well. The message, however, did not seem fresh or different from other books written by Marilyn Meberg or from numerous other authors, which was disappointing.

I would recommend this to someone new to walking with God, as it was pretty basic stuff. If that description does not fit you, I would skip this particular book. It’s not as good as some of Marilyn’s other works.

I received this book for free in exchange for my unbiased review through the Thomas Nelson BookSneeze Program.