To Light a Fire on the Earth - Robert Barron with John Allen, Jr.

Confession:  I love Bishop Barron!  I watch Pivotal Players, listen to Word on Fire podcasts, and have read a lot of his writings.  Even with all that I know and love about him, I learned more about him in this book.  The format of the book goes back and forth between Bishop Barron speaking in his own words and John Allen writing about him.  I've read some reviews from people who don't like the flow of it, but I really enjoyed it.  Allen says early on that Bishop Barron is quite humble and doesn't really like to talk about himself, so I imagine that is part of the reason why it's set up like that.

I learned a lot about Bishop Barron from this book - both about his life and more on his thoughts on so many different aspects of Catholicism, evangelization, and issues within the Church.

For someone who isn't as familiar with Bishop Barron, this is a treasure trove!  You will learn so much about someone that is so important to the Catholic church.  He has so much to teach us and I just wish I could sit and have coffee with him weekly. Since that probably isn't going to happen, I will  just have to settle for this great book, the podcasts, and all the wonderful books and shows he produces.

 Topics in the book:

The Barron story
Beauty
Goodness
Truth
Evangelization
Prayer and the supernatural
The Bible
Obstacles to the faith
Barron the Bishop
From ministry to movement

Pick up a copy of this book.  You won't be disappointed!

I received this book from Blogging for Books for an honest review.

The Invisible LIbrary

What a fun book!  The author has created an exciting world filled with loads of mythical creatures,  libraries,  spies, and books.  What is not to love?! I didn't realize it was a series when I started this book but now I'm hooked and will be reading the next one as soon as I can get it.  It's a great story, filled with interesting characters.

This is a perfect summer book.  Seriously, you should pick it up now and savor every page.

I would also like to note that if the Library is hiring, I would love to join.  You don't even have to pay me!!

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.
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A lovely culinary memoir

This is a really fun book!  It is all about the author and his life and love of cooking. His story is so captivating that the pages just fly by. If you only read one culinary memoir book this year, I suggest it be this one. A couple of warnings though - it will take over your life until you are done with it and you will morn the day that the story ends.  It is just a pure joy to read!

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

Transporting!

This book really is very different than the movie.  It is much better in my opinion.  The author transports the reader to Italy where the sun is always shining and the wine always flowing.  I think this book will be interesting to those that love travel, Italy, or fixing up houses.  It is a quick, easy, entertaining story that will be loved by most!

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

A letter with advice on every subject

This book is just lovely!  No matter what kind of problem you think of, there is a letter in this book filled with the perfect advice.  Henri kept up an amazing amount of correspondence during his life and his letters are just filled with love, acceptance, prayer, and advice.  I took it slow with this book, savoring a few letters at a time.  I feel that I will refer to this book frequently - when I'm have a problem and need advice or when I need to offer advice to a friend in trouble.  I highly recommend this book as it will fill you with love and faith and comfort.

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

The Green Ember series- S.D. Smith

The Green Ember is our favorite read aloud from this year.  And that is saying a lot.  We read tons of books together.  But there is something extra special about this one.  Heather and Picket are like old friends now. We refer to them  when a situation comes up and we need to be brave.  We repeat the oath to each other. This book is filled with adventure that will grab and keep your kids attention (and yours) throughout the entire story.  It is filled with love, friendship, beauty, truth, and goodness.  It really resonated with my family for many reasons - the characters have many chances to be brave, courageous, and make good, difficult choices. But another reason we love it is because these two characters have their entire world changed and they have to keep moving on and dealing with life as it comes at them. We have lived on three continents since my daughter was born seven years ago. We currently live in Africa. We know and deal with life changing moves and being put in situations which are entirely new to us. I love that we have this brilliant story that shows us how these two courageous rabbits handle big, scary events. This book is wonderful!!

And guess what?!!  There is going to be a second book!  

Ember Falls is in production right now!  And you can be a part of it.  Join this amazing author and support the kickstarter campaign.  There are so many wonderful items at each level that the hard part will be deciding which one to support.  Did I mention there are swords?  And necklaces?  And a gorgeous, hand-made coffee cup with rabbit ears?

To support and learn more about this awesome series, visit the Kickstarter campaign.

Little Paris Bookshop

This was a good book. It was not what I was originally expecting. I thought it would be more about books and less about the characters. But that is ok, because I ended up enjoying it for what it was. So what was it? A moving story about love and loss and grieving and finding yourself. The characters are all very human and relatable, intact with human faults and flaws.

One of my favorite parts is that there is a lot of discussions about food. And guess what?!! There are recipes frim the story in the back of the book!! So fun!!

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.


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