Category: Christian Nonfiction

Have you ever stopped to think what God has “designed” for your life? Do you truly believe God has a “design” for YOUR life? Scripture tells us in Jeremiah 29:11 that God has a plan for our lives. In Tracy Steel’s book “A Redesigned Life,” she uses a unique approach to reassure the reader that God does indeed have a “design” for your life and mine. She provides relevant personal examples, as well as experiences shared with her by others. Most importantly, she references Scripture to make her approach to life’s design more credible. Her book is very thought provoking and reassuring. God does have a “design” for all of us if we will yield to His will. I found Tracy Steel’s book very encouraging and helpful in my Christian walk.

Disclaimer:  I received a free copy of this book in order to provide an honest review.

I am always excited to read a book by a North Carolina author.  When I first signed up to receive a free copy of this book in order to review it, I did not know that Niki Hardy was a North Carolina author or that she is a part of a ministry that I really like called Proverbs 31 Ministries.  However, I was excited to read this book because even though I am not currently going through a hard time I know that I am not immune to hard times.  I figured that I could always learn something from this book that would help me when those hard times happen.  One of the things that this book provides that I am excited about is called “The Thriver Manifesto”.  The author starts this at the beginning of the book at the end of the first chapter and then builds on it at the end of the rest of the chapters.  She also nicely makes it available to freely download along with some other resources to help you “breathe again” when you are going through struggles.  Another thing that I love about this book is how honest the author is about her situations in life that were so hard for her.  She does not sugar coat them or downplay them to make it seem like she had it all under control.  Finally, I really like that she writes it like she is writing a letter to a friend instead of some stranger she will probably never meet.  I can honestly say that I would recommend this book to anyone who is going through difficult times and even someone who currently isn’t but that one day will because we all will go through hard times in life.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in order to give an honest review.

“Shift Your Thinking for a Deeper Faith: 99 ways to strengthen your relationship with God, others and yourself” by Dean Del Sesto is the first book I have encountered by this author. I thought it would be a good read because I can also use help in strengthening my relationship with my Lord and Savior. First of, I have to say I like that in his introduction the author mentions that this book is not meant to be read like say you would read a fiction novel. Fast and ready to find out if the lovebirds get together or the criminal is caught or if by chance there is going to be a sequel in which the first book just leaves you hanging. It is to read slow and with purpose. As the subtitle mentions, the there are 99 ways mentioned in the book which make up 99 chapters. The best part about that is that each chapter is short and therefore doesn’t take long to read. This goes well with the fact that Dean Del Sesto mentions that it can be read out of order as well. Each chapter also has a question at the end in order to get you thinking about the main idea of the chapter in relation to your own life and situation. I will definitely be using the book as a reference and something to refer back to time again because I don’t know about you but I don’t always learn a lesson the first time.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in order to give an honest review.

“Back Roads to Belonging” was my first book I’ve read by Kristen Strong so I was not sure what to expect but I did have high hopes based on the title and cover that it was going to be a good one. I really like how she puts a little summary of sorts at the end of the chapter called “Belong Blessing”.  The “Belong Blessing” to me felt like a friend was giving me some good advice as well as praying for me in a way.  I also could relate to the author’s feelings of not belonging and the explanations she told herself as to why she didn’t feel she belonged in certain cases.  I liked the personal stories she put in.  I really felt like I was reading a book written a friend instead of someone that I don’t know.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of the book to write an honest review.

This was another book that I was really looking forward to reading.  I have to say I was not disappointed with this book at all.  The book is broken into several chapters in which the author talks about the different areas in our life where we can use intercessory prayer.  However, before she talks about where we can use it, she goes into why it is important for us to practice it as well as why God even wants us to pray in the first place.  One of my favorite things that Linda Evans Shepherd includes in this book that I have not seen or read anywhere before is about “prayer giftings”.  She even includes an extensive list of them in the book.  While I am not sure at the moment which ones apply to me, I love that I have the list to go back to while I mull it over.  I also really like that she includes scripture, sample prayers, and a prayer at the end of the chapters.  I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a good reference on praying.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in order to write an honest review.