Dinner - Changing the Game by Melissa Clark

 I've  had a lot of cookbooks in my lifetime, yet not many have excited me as  much as Dinner by Melissa Clark. I would make most of these recipes in this thick volume. Last night I made the Farro Salad featured on page 284 (this is a serious cookbook, coming in at 385 pages full of recipes) and was pleasantly surprised at the refreshing flavors I never would have imagined on my own.

This book is divided into sections:
Chicken
Meat: Pork, Beef, Lamb, Duck & Turkey
The Grind
Fish & Seafood
Eggs
Pasta & Noodles (swoon!)
Tofu
Beans, Legumes & Vegetable Dinners
Rice, Farro, Quinoa and other Grains
Pizzas & Pies
Soups
Salads that Mean It
Dips, Spreads, and Go-Withs

This is the only cookbook you need to buy this year. Beautiful pictures and incredible delights throughout. I can't wait to create more healthy meals from this book.

This book provided for review by Blogging for Books

Home at Last by Deborah Raney

 Home at Last is the final installment in the Chicory Inn series and is my least favorite of them all. This book fell a little flat for me and, though I read the whole way through, I found it hard to stay interested and ended up skipping several pages throughout. The storyline was a little too current events for me and felt forced. I enjoyed the rest of the series immensely. This volume introduces us to Shayla and Link's love story. It was nice to catch up with the rest of the family and there were some scenes that made me giggle. Overall it is worth reading to say farewell to the family that we've fallen in love with over time.


About the book:

Why did their differences matter so much?

Link Whitman has settled into the role of bachelor without ever intending to. Now he's stuck in a dead-end job and, as the next Whitman wedding fast approaches, he is the last one standing. The pressure from his sisters' efforts to play matchmaker is getting hard to bear as Link pulls extra shifts at work, and helps his parents at the Chicory Inn.

All her life, Shayla Michaels has felt as if she straddled two worlds. Her mother's white family labeled her African American father with names Shayla didn't repeat in polite-well, in any company. Her father's family disapproved as well, though they eventually embraced Shayla as their own. After the death of her mother, and her brother Jerry's incarceration, life has left Shayla's father bitter, her niece, Portia, an orphan, and Shayla responsible for them all. She knows God loves them all, but why couldn't people accept each other for what was on the inside? For their hearts?

Everything changes one icy morning when a child runs into the street and Link nearly hits her with his pickup. Soon he is falling in love with the little girl's aunt, Shayla, the beautiful woman who runs Coffee's On, the bakery in Langhorne. Can Shayla and Link overcome society's view of their differences and find true love? Is there hope of changing the sometimes-ugly world around them into something better for them all?

About the author:

Deborah Raney's novels have won numerous awards including the RITA, National Readers' Choice Award, HOLT Medallion, the Carol Award, and have three times been Christy Award finalists. She and her husband, Ken Raney have traded small-town life in Kansas-the setting of many of Deb's novels-for life in the city of Wichita.

Find out more about Deborah at http://deborahraney.com.

This book provided for review by Litfuse

Finding Healing by Adessa Holden

Finding Healing by Adessa Holden is the story of one family who overcame abuse and found the way to healing. The lifelong quest for freedom, forgiveness, and learning the art of healing through discussion and journaling is one the author details to help others live a victorious life while overcoming past hurts. This book is raw with emotion and vulnerability and has the potential to loosen chains of bondage in the lives of believers and non-believers. Adessa urges the reader to first grow close to the Lord and then to allow His Holy Spirit to reveal the hidden areas that need to change.
"If you hear the Holy Spirit calling you answer His call with a resounding yes. Give Him the freedom to play an active role in your life," is just one truth I found in this book. "Spending time with Jesus....is like physical therapy for our hearts and minds," is another.
If you've suffered abuse of any kind I urge you to read this book and allow the Lord to begin the healing process in you.

About the Author:

Adessa Holden is a graduate of the University of Valley Forge and an ordained minister with the Assemblies of God. She is the founder and editor of A Wellrounded Woman Ministries and the co-founder of For a Single Purpose Ministries.

Adessa became a born-again Christian at the age of 5, and was raised by a godly Mom who taught her and her brother that there was no greater purpose in life than following Jesus. When asked about herself she’ll tell you, “I a single gal, a woman’s minister, a sister and a daughter. I love to laugh and spend time with friends. I’ll eat anything chocolate. I love music, and I’m a bit of a cleaning freak. It my absolute honor and privilege to serve Jesus Christ and women through this ministry.”

Adessa Holden can be contacted at Adessa@awellroundedwoman.com or adessa@forasinglepurpose.com, where she welcomes any questions, comments,or requests for speaking engagements.

You can purchase this book here

When God Made You by Matthew Paul Turner

 When God Made You by Matthew Paul Turner is a delightful story in prose. The pages are filled with the vibrant artwork of David Catrow and go along well with the words. This book will remind your child that God knew them before He made them and that He made them just the way He wanted them to be. A sweet story with a simple truth. God made you and nothing about your life is a mistake.

This book provided for review by Blogging for Books