max on life review

Spent the night reading Max Lucado's new book "Max on Life".  I received this book from Booksneeze.  This book is a collection of questions to Max about God and Christ from various people over the years.  He answers the questions with Scriptural back-up, Christian-thought, and some opinion.  All answers are about a page long and are set up in categories.  I didn't read it straight through, I read sections that were interesting first, then thumbed through reading all the questions and the answers that I wanted to know or know what he thought.  I think it would get boring reading it straight, I liked reading what peaked my interest first, then carried on.
First of all, the man is brilliant.  I am not a huge fan of his books.  I read some, not others.  It's a catch and miss.  I am a loyal follower of his daily texts.   http://www.maxlucado.com/articles/category/daily_text/  You can get them texted to you, but I just look them up daily on this site.  This book handles both the easy questions that everyone should know the answer to, and the hard ones.  The questions about homosexuality, suicide, God's love, End of times, you know, the biggies.  He uses scriptual based evidence to back up his answers.  Though not completely in love with it, It is very interesting and will be used to go back to to defend myself when in a religious argument because he has already done the research.  How cool is that?  Did I mention he is brilliant?

heart of ice review

I received Heart of Ice by Lis Wiehl and April Henry from Booksneeze.  This is a Triple Threat Novel.  Triple Threat Novels are books by Lis Wiehl about Nicole (FBI agent), Cassidy (Crime reporter), and Allison (prosecutor), a group of women who went to high school together and now solve crime.  Kinda like Nancy Drew and her two side kicks, only older and racier.  This particular novel is about Elizabeth, a sociopath, and her adventures before she gets caught by the Triple Threat.  The three are looking for a killer and have no idea that the killer (Elizabeth) is right under their noses.  Three heads are better than one, or so they say, and when they unite, Elizabeth, well you'll have to read it for yourself.
Lately I have been reading these "christian crime novels" and might I say I really like them.  Pretty much crime is crime and so it makes these novels not much different from your run-of-the-mill crime novels.  However, there is a bit of Christianity thrown in to keep you on your toes.  A little something extra.  You should defintely give the genre a try.  Even the non-Christian will enjoy a different approach from the whodunnits of the literary world.

the corruptible review

I received The Corruptible, by Mark Mynheir, from www.waterbrookmultnomah.com/bloggingforbooks .  This is book is a Ray Quinn Mystery series.  The book follows Ray Quinn, an alcoholic private detective who walks with a cane and his sidekick Crevis.  The have been hired by a powerful company to find damaging stolen information.  During the search the thief in question comes up murdered throwing a wrench in the whole case. 
This book is part of a series; and tho I haven't read any other Quinn books, it wasn't necessary to have read any others to follow The Corruptible.  There were several references to incidents in past books, but enough background info was given that I could still follow.  Actually it made me want to read more the series.  Quinn is hilarious, intelligent, and a bit of a smart ass.  He also has a lot of "issues" and a dark streak.  I loved this guy and will probably be reading more of him.

got hope?

just came back from iowa last night.  that is one long, boring trip.  if you are thinking of going and don't have a medical issue that needs to be solved at Iowa University, skip the trip.  On the other hand, if you know a little girl who is 8 and has basilar invagination then by all means, see the country.  We went originally to sit with the family during her 12 hour surgery, but God intervened and she was finished when we got there almost 5 hours early.  That makes everything, surgery and recovery so much better.  Like her dad says, "thank you Good Sir Above".  Medically she is doing great, but trauma and anxiety levels are through the roof.  Trauma is a very powerful thing.  It can change everything. 
I was a little apprehensive about going at first.  Everytime I read her (mom's) blog I have flashbacks.  Sometimes they are flashes, sometimes they almost knock me down.  At 7:15 when she was due for surgery, I thought "now she is handing over her child".  It still almost kills me.  I can not only remember handing over mine (three times) I can feel it.  I am scared, terrified actually.  That is the worst thing anyone can ever do.  Hand over that child knowing they are more than likely going to die.  Luckily both kids beat the statistics, but I didn't know that at the time.  I felt sick after leaving the hospital the day of the Iowa girl's surgery.  I couldn't seem to shake it.  Next day was much better.  For me anyway.  Iowa girl is still in pain and still has a long road. Her parents.  Long road too.  I wish I could say that my personal hospital traumas made me stronger and better, but not really.  I am broken.  One little flash of memory and I am a mess.   I think the Iowa trip actually did me good.  I can read the updates and feel comfortable.  I mean, I certainly wish she wasn't in pain, I wish her neck had magically healed itself, I wish a lot of things, but I think of it as her and not me.  Which is where my attention should be.  On HER healing.  Because she is the one who needs it.  I can pray for her with all that I have with nothing else in my mind.