Friendship for Grown-Ups by Lisa Welchel

Friendship for Grown-Ups by Lisa Welchel

Of course I was originally drawn to this book because it is written by an actress from one of my favorite 80’s t.v. shows, The Facts of Life. Lisa Welchel is best known for playing “Blair”, the rich, spoiled, self obsessed one of the girls. However, it quickly becomes clear that Lisa Welchel is not much like the character she played on t.v. In fact, Lisa is obviously extremely self aware and striving to be and do all that God has planned for her. I personally have not seen a book that so specifically addresses the topic of making and strengthening adult female relationships. After reading this book, I am left wondering why this topic is not explored more than it is, especially in the Christian community. Lisa takes a disarmingly raw and honest look at female friendships, what makes them work, and how to strengthen them. She bares the ups and downs of her own struggle with building friendships. The examples she gives of both good and bad relationships in her own life is at times emotional and I applaud her willingness to be so open about them. She analyses her friendships to help the reader be able to do the same. For example, Lisa spends much time on what it means to have a “safe” friend, and what experiences she has had when a friend she thought was safe turns out to be less than. She explains not only why safe friends are important to have, but also how to be one yourself. I think this is a rare gem of a book, especially if you struggle with connecting on a deeper level with the female friends in your life. Best of all, this book is extremely applicable in that Lisa includes both an appendix with a list of “practical steps for developing and growing friendships”, and “conversation prompts” to help take frienships to the next level of intimacy. Disclosure: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255

If I Could Ask God Anything by Kathryn Slattery

This is an easy to use and scripturally sound resource for answering kids questions about God, Jesus, the Bible, and more. So many topics are covered, and the text is broken down in such a way that one can easily locate each subject. There are a couple hundred questions that are addressed, some very simple, some more complex. What I really like about this particular book is that it is a tool that a parent, grandparent, Sunday school teacher, etc could use with a wide range of children. There are many questions included that I could see a very young child asking, such as “what did Jesus look like” and “how did Jesus walk on water?” Maybe even better, though, is the fact that there are many questions that even a much older child or teen might inquire about, such as “what does the word catholic mean in the Apostles’ Creed?”, and “if the gospels are all about Jesus, why are they different?”. There are even answers in this book that I didn’t know, such as the explanation of why the use of X-mas instead of Christmas was not considered at all disrespectful by the early Christians. The one thing I don’t love about this book is the cover. It is great if you are looking for a book to answer the questions of a young child, but as I said, one of my favorite things about this book is it’s usability with older kids and teens. However, if I were to try to show my 13 year old son a passage out of this book that I think would really help answer questions he might have, he would be very turned off by the cover, (looks like a children’s book), and any helpful information would probably be discredited as a result. Maybe the author will eventually take some of the more complex questions/answers from this text and offer them in a book geared toward older kids. I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

Will the World End in 2012? By Raymond C. Hundley

I must say the topic of this book is not one I have been highly interested in and in fact is a subject that I have often rolled my eyes at when brought up in conversation. I have had people ask me recently if I think the world is going to end in 2012, and as I am not especially familiar with the argument behind this reasoning, I thought this book might be worthwhile. It was not at all what I expected, which was a Christians perspective on why the end of the world in 2012 topic is nonsense. That is not at all where the author goes here. While the author is in fact a Christian, he strives to explore the topic mostly on the basis of fact and reasoning. The book is laid out with a chapter devoted to the 10 most “popular” end of the world views, where they come from, and how much actual evidence supports each. An example of two of the topics discussed are the abrupt end of the famed Mayan calendar and what it really means for the end of the world, as well as the possibility of super storms that could cause such destruction life as we know it would end. I must say I don’t know enough about any of these topics to say if the author covers each fairly or in depth. However, it seems that each is well researched and fairly evaluated. The conclusion the author gives on several of the chapter topics left me very surprised. Ultimately, the author concludes that regardless of when the world ends, there are things we can do to ensure that we face the end of our lives with confidence, peace, and joy rather than with fear and dread. If you are interested in this topic as a Christian I think this book would be informative, but I think this could be especially useful as a reading resource for any non-believer you may know who is interested in, or fearful of, the question “will the world end in 2012?”.