David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell

This was not a very rewarding book for me to read.

The title grabbed me. We all love a story about a little guy beating the big guy. And he had some good stories in this book. He writes about a scrappy little team playing unconventional ball and beating the big team. He writes about M. L. King and the civil rights movement. Outnumbered they did not fight in the conventional way. He also relates the mistakes the British made in Northern Ireland. Thinking they had much greater resources, they didn't believe what the Irish thought about them would make any difference.

There is a whole aspect of his book I didn't think followed the title. One of the points he says he wants to make in this book is that giants aren't always what we think they are. Sometimes what we view as a strength is really a great weakness. Sometimes what we think is a great weakness is really a strength. As an example, he wrote extensively about class size. Smaller isn't always better. The same principle applies to prison time. There comes a point where increasing the prison time has the opposite effect intended. Another example was about the “disadvantage” of a learning disability. He gives several stories of people so “disadvantaged” yet were great successes.

Gladwell writes early in his book that the stories he tells will illustrate two ideas. Much of what we consider valuable in our world arises out of these kinds of David verses Goliath conflicts. And, we constantly misread and misinterpret these conflicts. Having read the book, I don't think he did that.

I have read others of Gladwell's books and liked them. This one is rather mediocre. Some of the stories seemed way to long and involved. With others I was never sure what they were supposed to illustrate. And several, I thought, had nothing to do with the title. I was expecting many more stories of the little guy going up against the big corporation, or something like that. Not to be.

Malcom Gladwell has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 1996. Prior to that he was a reporter at the Washington Post. He was born in England and lives in New York.

Little, Brown and Company, 320 pages.

I received a complimentary copy of this book through the B&B Media Group for the purpose of this review.

Ministering to Problem People in Your Church by Marshall Shelley

I've been in church all my life. I've been on church boards and been a ministry leader. And yes, I've experienced those problem people in the church. Dare I say I might have even been one? (I hope not!)

You know those people. On the outside they look just like everyone else in the congregation. They are charming and friendly. They see themselves as godly people. They feel strongly and they honestly believe they are right. But they are dragons, albeit well intentioned dragons. They leave hurt and strained relationships in their wake. They end up doing more harm than good.

Sometimes they are involved in a play for power. Sometimes the delight in pointing out problems, assuring others they are more spiritual. Sometimes they are a wet blanket, seeing the negative in everything. Maybe they post an anonymous complaint on the church's website. Maybe they are lavish givers but demand to control the use of those funds.

If you are a church pastor – what do you do? Shelley helps you identify and understand dragons. He has suggestions on how to deal with them (even when they may be right). The goal is to make disciples of them not destroy them. It's important to have this essential attitude: “When attacked by a dragon, do not become one.” (72)

He has included lots of stories. It is almost depressing, reading about how some pastors have been mistreated. But the stories give validity to the fact that the dragons exist and can be dealt with.

Pastors, read this book. It will help you to know that you are not alone. Probably every pastor has encountered dragons. If you want to sharpen your dragon taming skills and dragon proof your church, read this book.

Even if you are not a pastor, you would benefit from reading this book. I truly hope you don't see yourself in this book (as a dragon). If you do, you'll get an idea of the harm you might be causing.

Note: this book was previously published as Well-Intentioned Dragons in 1985. That this book has been reissued, well, I guess that means there are still dragons out there.

Marshall Shelley is a vice president of Christianity Today International and the author of several books. He has a journalism degree from Bethel University and an Mdiv from Denver Seminary. He and his family live in Illinois.

Bethany House, 208 pages.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher for the purpose of this review.

Tempest's Course by Lynette Sowell

Kelly Frost is a textile conservator. She's been invited to a Massachusetts coastal town to restore a 150-year-old Mariner's Compass quilt. But there is a catch. She has to stay in the old empty house where the quilt is stored. It is an old whaling captain's home that has been empty for half a century.

Kelly takes the job because she's afraid she'll get no other. She's made a terrible mistake and has been shut out of many avenues of her work, especially museums.

Tom Silva has been hired to be caretaker and restore the house's extensive grounds. He is dealing with the lingering effects of an accident while in the military and is having a difficult time adjusting to the change in his life.

This novel is a pretty good romance centering around the restoration of an old quilt that has been damaged by neglect and misuse. There is a great deal of tension between Kelly and Tom and there comes a point in the novel where it seems it would be impossible for the two to get together, even though they were made for each other. Both of them have issues. Kelly is a cast off child, being raised in foster homes. Tom has never been able to live up to his parents' expectations.

Kelly finds a journal in the house that helps reveal the story of the original home owners. It was interesting to read the parallels in the plot structure, the history of the whaling captain's wife and Kelly's own past experience.

It was interesting to learn a bit about quilt restoration. I wish there had been more detail. While I appreciated the novel's characters, I didn't like Kelly very much. Yes, she had a tough childhood, but it didn't appear that she had risen above it. I wish she would have been a stronger character.

I am taking part in a blog tour and you can see other reviews here.

You can purchase a copy here.

Lynette Sowell is the award winning author of five novels and six novellas. She was voted one of the favorite new authors by Heartsong Presents book club readers. She was also a finalist in ACFW's 2010 Carol Awards. When she is not writing her novels she edits medical reports and writes for the Copperas Cove Leader-Press. She and her husband live in Texas. Join her on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lynettesowellauthor.

Abingdon Press, 240 pages.

I received a complimentary copy of this book through Litfuse Publicity Group for the purpose of this review.

I Will be Found by You by Francis Frangipane

I have not read a book on spirituality this penetrating in a long time. “I believe,” Frangipane writes, “that the real goal of Christianity is not to create a religion about God but that we would actually know Him...” (ix,x)

That is how he starts his book on seeking God. Frangipane believes that pursuing God is the secret to a fulfilled life. The highest form of seeking God is not when we do it because we need something from Him but when we seek Him for Himself. This might mean forsaking television and the Internet. It may mean setting aside hours, yes hours, each day.

Frangipane writes that when we seek God, He will come. He deals with the possibility of spiritual warfare and the hindrances that will occur. He explores the necessity of setting priorities and breaking our passivity. He reminds us of the essential role of worship. He writes about honesty as the root of humility, the essential characteristic leading to prayer and an increasing access to God.

I'm a life long Christian and I found this section particularly interesting. “Ultimately we will discover that study and church attendance are but forms that have little satisfaction in and of themselves. These activities must become what the Lord has ordained them to be: means through which we seek and find God.” (79) He reminds us that we often content ourselves with a religion about Christ, with studying facts about God. He draws a revealing parallel, comparing reading about sunrises to actually experiencing one.

If your heart longs to know God, if you are willing to choose to live for one purpose – to give pleasure to God – this book is for you. If you have come to the place of realizing that bringing gratification to the heart of God, not self gratification, is the key to lasting happiness, this book is for you.

One might think that reading a book about being called to such a devoted life of knowing and pleasing God would be depressing. But it is not. Yes, it is a challenging book but it is also a freeing one. Frangipane encourages us to love God in whatever state we find ourselves. That is remarkably freeing. Wherever you are in your Christian walk, this book will help you understand what it means to seek God and live a truly fulfilled life.

Note: some fifteen of the twenty five chapters in this is from material previously published.

Francis Frangipane is the author of numerous books and is the founding director of In Christ's Image Training, an online ministry school. You can find out more about the author and his ministry at www.frangipane.org.

Passio (Charisma House Book Group), 195 pages.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for the purpose of this review.

All God's Children by Anna Schmidt

This is a well crafted historical novel of World War II.

Beth is an American living in Germany, helping her aunt and uncle take care of their child. Beth finds herself in a fragile state when Germany declares war on the United States. In a move of compassion, she gives her papers to a Jewish friend who is trying to escape. The two young women look enough alike that the Jew is able to leave the country.

But that leaves Beth without papers. The tension increases when an old student of her uncle's rents an attic room to be close to his medical studies. Josef seems like a good man but he is a doctor in the Nazi army and his father is a high ranking Nazi official. Beth likes the man but is he there to spy on the family?

Anna writes in the Author's Note that much of this novel is based on historical events. We read about the White Rose, a group spreading leaflets calling for resistance to the Nazis. We also read about one of the death camps, Sobibor, and what happened there. Anna has deftly created fictional characters to play out the drama surrounding real places and events. Another great aspect of the novel is that Beth and her family are Quakers. It was very interesting to read about their practice of worship and their beliefs about war.

This rewarding novel leaves us waiting for more of the story. As Anna notes, one would not know the fate of friends and relatives who disappeared (whether by escape or arrest) during the war. So we are set up for sequels to finish the story.

I highly recommend this well crafted historical novel of World War II in Germany.

Go here to watch a book trailer and to find out more about the historical facts upon which the novel is based.

Anna Schmidt is the author of over twenty novels. She has received the Romantic Times' Reviewer's Choice Award and was a finalist for the RITA award for romantic fiction. She lives in Wisconsin and winters in Florida. Find out more about her and her books at www.booksbyanna.com.

Barbour, 318 pages.

I received a complimentary copy of this book through the Book Group Network for the purpose of this review.

Life Stinks...And Then You Die by Bob Hostetler

If you've lived very long you know life is not all fun and games. Life can be good, but it can also be full of heartbreak.

Hostetler believes the book of Ecclesiastes can change your life. You know, that book in the Bible we all shy away from – the book that is unrelentingly realistic and asks hard questions.

He goes through the book, chapter by chapter and finds advice for life. Here are a few of his observations: Live life with brutal honesty. Trust God with your honest feelings. Don't pursue pleasure and prosperity. Don't lose yourself in your work. Please God. Don't let injustice overwhelm you. Don't let popularity deceive you. Money can't buy happiness. You don't know everything. Live life with the end in mind.

Hostetler gleans practical wisdom from Ecclesiastes. For example, regarding knowledge and wisdom, he suggests:
Seek God wholeheartedly
Ask God for wisdom
Follow godly counsel
Study to acquire wisdom
Hang out with wise people

I really like his humor. Here is one of his chapter titles: Life Is Like A Box Of Chocolates: It Can Be Sweet, But It Can Make You Sick, Too.

Hostetler concludes each chapter with a prayer to help apply and internalize the chapter content. There is also an extensive, twenty page, Group Study Guide at the back of the book. This would be a great book for personal or group study.

While this book would be useful for any age, I think career age people would benefit from it the most. Hostetler uses lots of examples from television programs and movies I've never seen. Young people may go to more movies and watch more television than I.

I have to admit, I have avoided reading and studying Ecclesiastes. I've always considered it perplexing. Now I see it offers a new perspective and a plan for living life well, despite all that's wrong with the world and us.

Bob Hostetler is a writer, editor, and speaker from southwestern Ohio. He has written thirty-two books and has won two Gold Medallion Awards, four Ohio Associated Press awards, and an Amy Foundation Award. He is a co-founder of Cobblestone Community Church in Oxford.

Leafwood Publishers, 240 pages.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for the purpose of this review.

The Christmas Quilt by Vannetta Chapman

Annie is living a full and happy life as Christmas nears. Trained as a nurse, she helps her husband tend to the community's minor medical needs. She sometimes helps the midwife as well. Most days she takes the buggy to her brother's home as her sister-in-law, Leah, was due to deliver their first child just before Christmas. Annie is busy making a crib quilt for the expected newborn.

But Annie may not get the quilt finished in time as Leah experiences some trouble with her pregnancy and must go to a Philadelphia hospital.

This story is very character oriented. Leah and her husband have been having a bit of a rough time and we see how the birth draws them together. We also get to know Annie better as she prepares for her own motherhood.

This is a fine Amish Christmas story. It was interesting to read about what happens in the community when there is a medical emergency that is beyond the ability of the herbalist or midwife. It was heartening to see how the community came alongside the couple to help with the medical expenses. The whole story is wrapped around the making of quilts so readers who like Amish tales or the making of quilts will like this novel.

Vannetta Chapman has published over one hundred articles in Christian family magazines and has written five books about the Amish. She has received over two dozen awards from Romance Writers of America chapter groups. She and her husband live in the hill country of Texas. You can find out more about her at www.vannettachapman.com.

Abingdon Press, 235 pages. You can buy a copy here.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for the purpose of this review.

A Forest of Doors by L. A. Muse

This is an encouraging personal account of an abandoned child who finally found healing and restoration.

Lynnann's story reads like a nightmare. When she was five and six, her father was in Viet Nam and her mother brought home “uncles” who stayed the night. Sometimes her mother would be gone for days and Lynnann would have to take care of her four siblings. Sometimes the kids would have to stay in the car while their mother spent the evening in a bar.

Her father returned from Viet Nam but life was no better. There were fights and shortly he left. They moved to Maine and there was more of the same from her mother. Then her mother signed papers releasing three of the children to a children's home. About a year later their mother took them back for a while. But she left again and when the food and clean clothes ran out the social worker returned. Three of the five children would be adopted but Lynnann and "Sissy” were off to the children's home again.

Lynnann and Sissy were eventually taken in by a foster family, a Christian family. But Lynann's troubles were not over as she was molested by a man from her school. Although Lynnann became a Christian during this time, she she was unstable and ran away from her foster family.

She made her way to an uncle who connected her with her father in California. But life there was not good and poor choices haunted her. She got pregnant, went through two marriages, cut off all contact with her birth family, and made suicide attempts.

She finally turned to God and began her healing.

This is quite a story. Lynnann experienced repeated abandonment by her family and was molested as a teen. When she ultimately turned to God, people came alongside her, befriended her and helped her through her healing. It was encouraging to read how she reconnected with her birth siblings and pursued a productive life. This is a good book showing the strength of the human spirit and the faithfulness of God.

Go to the book website to read an excerpt, watch a book trailer, buy the book, and find out more about it and the author.

L. A. Muse devotes much of her time as a Court Appointed Special Advocate for children. She currently lives in Edmond, California.

Innovo Publishing, 97 pages.

I received a complimentary copy of this book through the B&B Media Group for the purpose of this review.