Behemoth by Jonathan C. Leicht

Behemoth is about two groups that are searching for what they believe to be current day dinosaur, battling with groups who don’t believe in their quest and want to keep it under wraps if they are successful.  It follows the two groups through the jungles of Africa, hot on the tail of the secretive creatures.  Many legends are told of the creatures by the natives, but are not taken seriously by the Western world, until these two groups go out hunting.

The book has a good story and some of the action is exciting.  It does go into “lecture mode” at several points in the book, which seemed like forced dialogue.  The problem seemed to be that the characters were never fully fleshed out.  One of the adventurers talks about his mentor who was a staunch evolutionist that changed to become a creationist.  It is not explained how this happened, and that mentor was one of the main explorers in the other group.  I felt like there might be some interesting stories to be told about them, but was left in the dark.  I felt like they told more of a back story about the missionary, which was great, but she wasn’t a main character.  I think I knew the most about her.  I think that the book had a good story line, but could have had more character development and it would have made the story more enjoyable.  I think this book would be good for middle school or high schoolers.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Redemption - by Bryan Clay with Joel Kirkpatrick

The decathlon is one of the most demanding events in track and field, and Bryan Clay is the reigning Olympic Gold Medalist.  This book is the story of his journey from a troubled youth in Hawaii, to dominating the Olympic Games in Beijing.  There were a lot of bumps along the way, but with his faith in God and surrounding himself with his family and trusted mentors, he succeeded in attaining gold.

Not knowing much about the decathlon, other than the Dan and Dave commercials, this book was an education in what all goes into the sport, and to professional track and field.  It takes a lot of determination and skill in multiple events.  He showed how by doing his best and putting his faith in God, he can accomplish things that he never thought were possible.  It would be interesting to learn more about his foundation and what he is doing with that, as it was only touched on in the epilogue.  Maybe he’ll write a follow up after London 2012.  It will be interesting to see if he can become the first decathlete to medal in three Olympic Games.  I would recommend this book to anyone, but think it might be best for those that have an interest in track and field.  It does focus a great deal on what he went through during training and events.  I found it interesting, but those that don’t care for track and field may not.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Simply Grilling by Jennifer Chandler

With the early Spring, this book comes out right on time to get outside and fire up the grill with some new grilling ideas.  The book is filled with grilling tip and recipes for meats, veggies, salads and sides.  It also has a section on desert ideas, with many of them also using the grill. 

I enjoyed the many different recipes in this book and look forward to getting outside and trying them out.  It had some traditional meat recipes, but also included some interesting marinades to spice up the traditional steak or burgers.  I’m hoping to grill more vegetables this year and this book gave me some good ideas on sweet potatoes, corn and asparagus.  The book gave good ideas for indoor grilling as well, and included a list of the equipment that you’ll need to get that great grill flavor.  It had a good mix of different types of foods to give everyone something to look forward to grilling.  This book will make a good companion to your grilling adventures.  I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys grilling and is looking for a few more recipes to try out his summer.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

The 13th Tribe by Robert Liparulo

This is an alternate view on the story of the golden calf and the lives of those that were punished because of it.  It’s take is that not only were they not allowed to enter the Promised Land, but they become immortal and are forced to spend their lives on Earth.  That is just the back-story to The 13^th Tribe.  It starts from there and brings it to modern times where Jagger, an ex-Army Ranger working security, is thrust into the mix on Mt. Sinai.  The Tribe is working on a plot to wreak havoc on a major city in their attempt to earn God’s favor.  Jagger and a mysterious helper are on their tails and will stop at nothing to prevent the disaster.

I was unsure whether or not I would enjoy this book.  I think that the story is a little “out there,” but that’s okay.  I think that it does focus on critical matters, like faith and works.  It uses the story to reinforce the fact that we are saved through grace by faith and that it isn’t about the works that we do.  I think a few examples of this would be Beth and Owen.  Beth tries to remind the Tribe of this.  Owen, while doing good works around the world, does it out of love and not with a thought that it will bring him salvation. 

I think the story had a lot of build up, and then ended fairly abruptly.  There were minor characters that were brought in at the end that I think could have been left out, but it didn’t take away from the story.  I enjoyed the book and think it would benefit from more in a series to give a little more background on each character.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

What a Son Needs from His Dad: How a Man Prepares His Sons for Life by Michael A. O'Donnell.

I think the goal of every parent is to give their kids the tools they need so that they can be normal people.  This book focuses on the relationship of a father to his son(s).  Each chapter goes into details on the subjects of working hard, having fun, friends, developing a relationship with Christ, being a good citizen and sexuality/marriage.  The author used passages from scripture and from other books to offer good ideas and stories to enhance his points in each chapter.

I think the thing that I realized most about this book, and from watching our kids, is that being a good example has got to be the most important part.  You can tell them all kinds of things that they should do, or ways that they should act, but if you don't back that up yourself, it's somewhat pointless.  That's kind of an eye opener and should be a constant reminder. 

For a parenting book, I enjoyed it.  It wasn’t a book that you burned through the pages because you couldn’t wait to get to the end, but I suppose that wasn’t the point.  It was meant to be a book to read and consider.  I would say that it was a success in that regard. 

I received this book from Bethany House as a part of their book review program. 

Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo with Lynn Vincent

Heaven is for Real is about the experiences of a 3yr old boy that went through a serious medical issue and the stories he told afterwards about heaven.  Colton Burpo seems like any normal young boy who likes animals, bugs, and good guys and bad guys and super heroes.  He gets very sick partially due to a misdiagnosis, and meets the ultimate super hero...Jesus.  The story goes on to tell of Colton's detailed description of heaven and the people he met there, including people from Biblical times and people from Colton's family history that he's never met, and how those experiences changed his family.

I know many people who have read this book and said how good it was, so I was anxious to read it.  I really enjoyed it as well.  I think the best thing about it was that it reminds us that it takes faith like a child.  I think too often we get wrapped up in theology and trying to decipher the "hidden" meanings of what the Bible says, when maybe it's as simple as how a child would describe it.  It also reminds us how little we really know about heaven and brings up questions asked in the book about the concept of time in heaven, what people will be like, and the end battle.  I'll say I was skeptical when I started the book, but I'm not sure how a 4yr old would be able to talk about the Trinity, Satan being cast into hell, and why Jesus had to die, unless his dad was just making it up, which I find hard to believe.  So, I choose to believe it, and I think it was good story that I would recommend to others

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Heroes & Villains of the Bible: Real Stories, actual Bible Text compiled by Tama Fortner

Heroes & Villains of the Bible: Real Stories, actual Bible Text compiled by Tama Fortner is a collection of most of the well known stories from the Bible.  Each story is either about a Hero or a Villain.  It uses actual text from the Bible to tell the stories of each individual.  The message of this book is to show how God works not only through the Heroes in the Bible, but also the Villains as well.  I think this book is appropriate for all ages, but may be better for older children who are able to read, as it is not full of pictures that smaller children can look at.

I did enjoy how the book was laid out, and wasn't expecting it to be over 300 pages long.  I was hoping for a book for small children with lots of pictures, but the pictures are only at the start of chapters showing the Hero or Villain.  The pictures seemed to be computer generated and s ome were more realistic than others.  Some just looked weird.  The message of the book was clear as stated above and was taken straight from the Bible.  I would recommend it to others, but again, I think it would be better for older children who could read it on their own.  There is a lot of material in this book, and might be good for bedtime reading with kids for the basic Bible stories.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://booksneeze®.com/> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”