I Was Blind (Dating), But Now I See: My Misadventures in Dating, Waiting, and Stumbling into Love...

::Goodreads Summary::
Eight setups. Eight awkward dates. Eight things God tried to teach her along the way. (Some of which she’s still trying to figure out.)
Stephanie Rische was starting to feel invisible. All around her, her friends were getting married, and she found herself decidedly alone. Stephanie couldn’t help but wonder if there was something broken in her—was she not pretty enough? Not fun enough? Not date-able enough (whatever that meant)? So she started praying in earnest for God to bring the right man into her life. And instead, He brought her matchmakers. Eight of them, to be precise.

Beloved blogger Stephanie Rische debuts with this charming, vulnerable, and (who are we kidding?) often mortifying true story of a girl who tried really hard to find someone to fall in love with—even when she mostly just ended up falling flat on her face. But amid the most cringe worthy setups and awkward encounters, Stephanie found God’s grace and love meeting her there in ways she never could have imagined—once she opened her eyes to see.


::My Thoughts::
This is such a great book! It is also so much more than just stories of blind dating. This is a book that anyone can benefit from. Whether you are single or married there are great lessons within the pages of this book.
I have always been intrigued by memoirs, and this book held my interest with no problem. I was pulled right in, and felt like I was right there beside Stephanie every step of the way!
Stephanie not only is on a journey to find a true man whose beliefs match her own, but not settle for anything less than she deserves. Despite her times where she felt lonely, hopeless, or just wanted to give up she held fast to her faith and left it in God's hands. I highly commend her for holding onto her belief even through tough times, and not giving in even though she struggled with it.
Stephanie knew what she wanted, and did not give up until she found it!
This book is about community, friendship, faith, love, family, and so much more.
This book has a bit of everything happiness, laughter, suspense, sadness, faith, gratitude, etc. There is just so much you will feel taking this journey through reading.
The author holds nothing back which is amazing when you are reading a book. Every reader wants to know it all! It makes you feel as if you are close friends with the author. I definitely felt that way. I love that she even went so far as to talk about moles, personal insecurities, etc. 
As a married woman myself I believe I now understand my single friends a bit more. Not only that but I value my marriage even more than before. I also was able to see so much more of God's love, and learned some valuable lessons through this story.
I believe for single women out there it can also shed hope and renew faith.
I definitely recommend this book.


My Rating::: 5/5 Stars
Goodreads Rating::: 4.56/5 
Amazon Rating::: 5/5 Stars
Barnes & Noble Rating::: 5/5 Stars


Find this book in paperback, on kindle, or on nook.


::Product Details::

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Tyndale Momentum (January 1, 2016)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1496404815
• ISBN-13: 978-1496404817

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Tyndale House in exchange for my unbiased review. All opinions expressed are solely my own.

It Was Me All Along ~ Book Review

📖About the book📖

A heartbreakingly honest, endearing memoir of incredible weight loss by a young food blogger who battles body image issues and overcomes food addiction to find self-acceptance.

All her life, Andie Mitchell had eaten lustily and mindlessly. Food was her babysitter, her best friend, her confidant, and it provided a refuge from her fractured family. But when she stepped on the scale on her twentieth birthday and it registered a shocking 268 pounds, she knew she had to change the way she thought about food and herself; that her life was at stake.
It Was Me All Along takes Andie from working class Boston to the romantic streets of Rome, from morbidly obese to half her size, from seeking comfort in anything that came cream-filled and two-to-a-pack to finding balance in exquisite (but modest) bowls of handmade pasta. This story is about much more than a woman who loves food and abhors her body. It is about someone who made changes when her situation seemed too far gone and how she discovered balance in an off-kilter world. More than anything, though, it is the story of her finding beauty in acceptance and learning to love all parts of herself.



📖My Thoughts📖

This is a very raw, in your face, uplifting memoir. I am so happy I got the chance to review it.
It is unusual to find such an honest book. Andrea takes us through her weight loss journey from beginning to end. You get the good and the bad, happy and sad, and everything in between. A book that doesn't just talk about diets or losing weight but rather delves into the more complex areas of it.
And it shows readers, who may also be on the weight loss path, there is definitely hope if you just stick with it. Set realistic goals, take baby steps, want to change, and realize it isn't going to be easy nor instant.
I love that the author takes us from her early childhood, through parental issues, through relationships, and is just real about it all. It makes her much more relatable and you feel as if you are right there with her. This is definitely an intense book. While I loved it, I did find myself irritated during some points. I felt as if Andie had a lot handed to her and often took those things for granted. Such as plastic surgery, business opportunities, etc. When those things were brought up throughout the book there seemed to be little emotion from the author. However, it didn't irritate me enough to distract from my enjoyment of the book overall.
Eating disorders are a very real issue, especially in this day and age when so much is put on body image. Honest memoirs like this are great for those who struggle because it can bring hope, and possibly even change.
I give this book a five star rating and highly recommend it.


::Get your copy today::
Print   Kindle   Nook   Audible 



::Product Details::
Publisher: Clarkson Potter
Publication date: January 6, 2015
Language: English
Book length: 240
ISBN-10: 0770433243
ISBN-13: 978-0770433246



Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book, as a Blogging for Books member, in exchange for my unbiased review. All opinions expressed are solely ny own.

Their Name Is Today - Reclaiming Childhood in a Hostile World

The title couldn't be more perfect for this book in this day and age. In today's world it is violent, unpredictable, and can be damaging for our children. One of the main problems is how parents handle their children in this world. Rather than teach many parents are just letting their children go. Children, teens, etc., are just allowed to do as they please with little or no regard from their parents. There is hardly any guidance or structure anymore. Sadly, love, seems also to be absent. It's a heart-breaking thought and yet a true reality.
What parents don't realize is now more than ever our children need our love, strength, teaching, and guidance. This world we live in is not an easy one, and rather than ignore it we need to recognize and overcome.
Life can get so hectic that we often realize what the most precious and important things are in life. Our ultimate treasures, our children. Our children need our time, attention, love, and respect. They are little people and they want what we all want with love and respect.
This book is something that any parent, grandparent, family member, teacher, etc., should read at least once. It includes countless wonderful advice on raising, loving, and respecting our children. From limiting TV time to dealing with difficult children this is a handy tool to read over and over again.
I highly recommend it, and even if you don't agree with some of the advice/answers in this book you will still be glad you read it. I believe there's something for everyone within these pages.




::From the back of the book::
There’s hope for childhood. Despite a perfect storm of hostile forces that are robbing children of a healthy childhood, courageous parents and teachers who know what’s best for children are turning the tide. Johann Christoph Arnold, whose books on education, parenting, and relationships have helped more than a million readers through life’s challenges, draws on the stories and voices of parents and educators on the ground, and a wealth of personal experience. He surveys the drastic changes in the lives of children, but also the groundswell of grassroots advocacy and action that he believes will lead to the triumph of common sense and time-tested wisdom. Arnold takes on technology, standardized testing, overstimulation, academic pressure, marketing to children, over-diagnosis and much more, calling on everyone who loves children to combat these threats to childhood and find creative ways to help children flourish. Every parent, teacher, and childcare provider has the power to make a difference, by giving children time to play, access to nature, and personal attention, and most of all, by defending their right to remain children.




::Product Details::

Paperback: 189 pages

Publisher: Plough Publishing House (September 22, 2014)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0874866308

ISBN-13: 978-0874866308

　

::Purchase this book::

Kindle     Paperback     Nook

　




::About the author::
People have come to expect sound advice from Johann Christoph Arnold, an award-winning author with over 1.3 million copies of his books in print in more than 20 languages.

A noted speaker and writer on marriage, parenting, and end-of-life issues, Arnold is a senior pastor of the Bruderhof, a movement of Christian communities. With his wife, Verena, he has counseled thousands of individuals and families over the last forty years. His books include Their Name Is Today, Why Forgive?, Rich in Years, Seeking Peace, Cries from the Heart, Be Not Afraid, and Why Children Matter.

Arnold's message has been shaped by encounters with great peacemakers such as Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Teresa, César Chavez, and John Paul II. Together with paralyzed police officer Steven McDonald, Arnold started the Breaking the Cycle program, working with students at hundreds of public high schools to promote reconciliation through forgiveness. This work has also brought him to conflict zones from Northern Ireland to Rwanda to the Middle East. Closer to home, he serves as chaplain for the local sheriff's department.

Born in Britain in 1940 to German refugees, Arnold spent his boyhood years in South America, where his parents found asylum during the war; he immigrated to the United States in 1955. He and his wife have eight children, 44 grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. They live in upstate New York.

To learn more visit www.plough.com



　

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Handlebar Publishing in exchange for my unbiased review. All opinions expressed are solely my own.

Get to know more about Middlemarch and George Elliot...a well written biography

::My Thoughts::
I was quite disappointed upon reading My Life in Middlemarch by Rebecca Mead. I did finish the whole book giving it the benefit of the doubt. I was quite bored reading it though. Some parts were interesting, but mostly the allure didn't last long.
This isn't as much of a memoir/autobiography of Rebecca Mead as it promises. From what I read of the blurbs and summary is I thought it would be about how reading Middlemarch throughout Mead's life she would explain how it shaped her. Instead this is mostly a biography of famous historical author George Eliot aka Mary Ann Evans. Mead writes many observations on Eliot's real life mostly going over what Eliot wrote in her journal as Mary Ann Evan's (Eliots real name), Eliot's books, what Mead has learned of Eliot through the years through research, etc.
This book is mostly made up of observations and thoughts on Eliot, her books and the characters that lie therein.
I was hoping for more substance into HOW Middlemarch shaped Mead's life. Various incidences and not just thoughts on the book itself. Mead gives a few tidbits here and there to how she related to Middlemarch at various points in her life, and how she compares herself to Eliot. But they are few and far between. When she does speak on her own life it is without the passion that she uses to speak on Eliot's life.
I did appreciate Mead's intelligent analysis on Middlemarch by George Eliot. When it comes to books, especially historical it is very interesting to wonder what the author's life was like. How the author put their own family, friends, and even themselves into their famous works. That is mostly what Mead talks about in the book comparing Middlemarch to the actual life of George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans). It is very easy for most of us readers to identify with books we read. Often books we read affects our lives especially the more profound ones.
If you have read Middlemarch by George Eliot I do recommend this book. It gives more insight into George Eliot in a way that is more personal compared to a study book or such. Mead definitely knows her history when it comes to George Eliot which was a great bonus.
However, if you are looking for a good memoir that gives tons of information on someone's personal life this may not be the book for you. There are tidbits here and there like I said, but nothing substantial in which I think this book should be defined as an autobiography. A Biography is more fitting since this gives more information on George Eliot than Rebecca Mead.


::Interested in this book for::   Kindle   Nook   Hardcover   Paperback   MP3 CD   Audible


::Product Details::

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Crown (January 28, 2014)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307984761
• ISBN-13: 978-0307984760

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book as a blogging for books member in exchange for my unbiased review. All opinions expressed are solely my own.

Our Southern Breeze book review

Paperback: 326 pages
Publisher: Third Chapter Press (December 14, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0983012962
ISBN-13: 978-0983012962

In this beautifully written memoir by Daphene Jones we learn all about her triumphs, down moments, heart aches, trials and tribulations, etc. It is definitely a bare all book and you will find yourself feeling almost every emotion imaginable when reading this book. It tells all about how her fraternal twin Deborah Hall affected her life, and how she was led to God.
I was riveted by this book. It was written so well, and I just didn't want to put it down. I love how Daphene tells all about her depression, her life as a twin, failed marriages, up and down career, etc. And the fact that through all her trials and tribulations she never gave up on her family, her twin, her older sister, or herself.
It was so encouraging, and even though I found myself so mad during many parts of the story at many of the people mentioned you can see unfold right in front of you how God changed bad situations to good later in life.
Daphene and Deborah are true proofs of what forgiveness and love is all about, no matter how long it took each of them to uncover that fact themselves. The fact that each of them endured what they did throughout their lives together and separate and was still able to love their family, stand by them, and care for them is just something amazing. After experiencing all kinds of abuse that is just unimaginable by a troubled father they rose above it, forgave and still respected their father in many ways.
Daphene seemed like she was always kind of the black sheep. Having an older sister that liked neither one of the twins and having a twin who clearly rooted herself in another world leaving Daphene behind, Daphene was left to find her own way. In doing so she made some bad decisions, experienced tearful depression, but still the twins were brought back together later in life by God. By being brought back together they were each able to strengthen not only themselves, but their personal relationship with God. And the transformation and events that occur in Daphene's life as a result is just so uplifting. It's definitely a book you want to read and I highly recommend it!

Here is a bit of a description taken from the back of the book::
As the fraternal twin of Deborah (Short) Hall (from Same Kind of Different as Me), I knew her like no one else could. And the inspiring story I share in Our Southern Breeze is like no other story that could be told: From growing up forever in transition as our family moved from one Texas oil camp to another, to cheating in school to try to win the approval of my parents...from facing all kinds of abuse of a troubled father as a child, to the disappointment of a failed marriage as an adult...from the deep pit of depression to suicide attempts, my life was a series of bad situations, poor choices, and worse consequences. My sister saw this, and after years of estrangement, held out a hand for me to hold...once again. It was at the Anaheim Vineyard conference in 1990 that God, through the words of a man, promised to send a southern breeze over Deborah and me. Neither of us could have ever imagined what that would look like and how many people would eventually be touched by it.

This book is an honest proof to everyone that no matter what hardships you experience in life, no matter how many obstacles present themselves right in your path, and no matter how bitter or depressed you may become; God can work in mysterious ways. He will never forget about you and even when you think He has, He is just waiting right there for you to accept Him in your heart.

To learn more about this book and the author visit this website: http://oursouthernbreeze.com/

This book is available in:  Print   Kindle   Nook



Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book as a member of BookCrash in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

When Someone You Love Is Suffering From a Chronic Illness Virtual Book Tour

Glad you could join me today! Today I am participating in the Virtual Book Tour through Nurture Your Books to promote Tamara McClintock Greenberg's book When Someone You Love Has a Chronic Illness.

::My Thoughts::
It can be emotionally, psychologically, and even physically draining when someone you love is diagnosed with a chronic illness. I have been through it 3 major times myself.
My grandmother suffered from cancer and died right before I hit my teen years, my mother in law suffered from cancer and passed away a couple years ago, and now my mother has been diagnosed with cervical cancer and Lupis. It's very taxing on us and we all take different approaches to dealing with our grief and concern. Some of us pray, some push the thoughts away and try to forget about it, and some of us do everything we can to learn about the illness and try to encourage our loved ones to fight it. But the one thing remains that we all have in common: our loved ones still have the illness so it really doesn't change a thing.
The author writes in a very understanding, easy to understand, engaging way. I felt as if I was sitting at the kitchen table sharing a cup of tea with her talking about things. She talks about how to deal with doctors, coping with a loved one's pain, dealing with loss, talking about illness, getting support, addressing denial, post traumatic stress disorder, living longer, among many other topics.
This book was a bit difficult for me to read at times because it doesn't sugar coat anything. Sometimes when we are told the nitty gritty it scares us, but instead of scaring me this book helped me deal with many topics I have struggled with.
When your loved ones are going through an illness your emotions often go misunderstood by others and sometimes yourself. This is a perfect book to help deal with that. We can't change a chronic illness no matter how much we may want to try. What we can do is deal with it as it comes, and support our loved ones.
The author teaches how to care for yourself as well as caring for your loved ones.
Considering that the author, Tamara McClintock Greenburg, is a licensed clinical psychologist makes me trust her insight all the more.
I recommend this book to anyone who has a loved one suffering from a chronic illness. Even the strongest of us who think we need no help or insight on subjects such as this can use a little extra wisdom on the subject. There is even a coping checklist at the end of each chapter which I found to be very helpful.

Published by: Cedar Fort Publishing
Publication Date: February 2012
Recommended Age: Any
Format(s): eBook, Trade Paperback
ISBN 13: 9781599559391
Number of pages: 176

Purchase this book @ Barnes & Noble,  Amazon.com,  Amazon.co.uk,  Amazon.ca







To check out the other blog tour links and read their thoughts you can click here






Visit the author's website to learn more
You can also follow Tamara McClintock Greenberg on Facebook, Twitter, PsychCentral, The Huffington Post, and Psychology Today.










Disclaimer: I received this book from Nurture Your Books in exchange for review. I was not compensated for this review and all opinions expressed are solely my own.