Fruit Pizza

For dessert last night, I decided (or rather, was asked) to make fruit pizza. I had made one a week or so ago, but it was gone much too quickly for our liking. :) So this time I made two. 

And since we had an anniversary, I tweeked the rows of fruit just a wee bit. :)

High as the Heavens

     BOOK REVIEW:   A British nurse in WWI German-occupied Brussels, Evelyn Marche spends her days at the hospital and her nights working at a cafe.....or so it seems. Eve's most carefully guarded secret is that she also spends her nights carrying out dangerous missions as a spy for a Belgian resistance group.
      When a plane crashes as she's en route to a rendezvous, Eve is the first to reach the downed plane and is shocked to recognize the badly injured pilot as British RFC Captain Simon Forrester. She risks her life to conceal him from the Germans, but as the secrets between them grow and the danger mounts, can they still hope to make it out of Belgian alive?

      MY REVIEW:   This book tells the story of Eve Marche, a Red Cross nurse fighting for freedom while working among the Germans. She uses her job to collect intel for the Allies, but is hounded by a co-worker to report for the Germans. Add to all this the mysterious British pilot who crashes over her town. But wait, she knows this pilot! This launches a risky venture to save him from the Germans who want to imprison him as a spy. Little do they know, he is more than just a spy. He is....... ah, a surprise!
     I won't tell you who the pilot is, though it comes out early on in the book. When I read the cover, I missed the part about Eve knowing who the pilot was, so I was quite surprised to find out his identity while reading. This only made the story more interesting, I thought.
     Eve is battling memories from early in the war, when she and her family were forced to flee their home. As the story progresses, she finds the courage and faith she needs to share these memories and be free from their hold.
     As with all groups risking everything to pass intel on to one another, there are traitors around. And people who seem to know more than they should. How to tell if one is true or not? Involved or well-informed? Trustworthy or traitor? It all makes me quite content to have missed that era! :)
     This is not the first book Kate Bresslin has written. Her first is For Such a Time, set in 1944. Her second is Not by Sight, set in WWI. High as the Heavens is her third book.
   
   I received a copy of this book from BETHANY HOUSE per their blogger program. I was not required to write a positive review. 

Almost There

     BOOK REVIEW:   On the move....again? Wondering when you will "arrive"?    The impermanence of home tends to be one of life's most recurring surprises. Is it possible to build a permanent  sense of home in a rootless life? If home is where the heart is, what can we love that will quiet the restlessness within?
     Take heart. You aren't adrift after all. When our hope of home is rooted in an unchangeable God, we are not uprooted, lost, or made homeless by change. We become found ones on the move.

     MY REVIEW:   Bekah Defilice is the wife of a former marine, and this book tells of their lives during those years. The theme is most especially focused on making a home amidst all the moving.
     I love how Bekah tells of finding God and His mercy in the trials and joys of those years. It's almost as though she is discovering and pondering them as she tells them. For example:

• I wonder, too, if God doesn't use this sort of transience to draw us to Himself, if He doesn't occasionally wring out the things we don't want to give him, in order to expose all the ways we don't trust Him. 
• It seems to me that the good news of the gospel gets even better for those on the move, because God gave us family that traverses geography, a community of people that all call the same person Father. 
• And in between the cracks of our insufficient tries were prayers that banked on the hope that God, in His own mysterious sufficiency, could hold us together far better than we knew how to do ourselves. 

     She also finds many lessons in the challenges she faced. I would write some here, but they seem to be evading me. :(   Bother. 

     I really enjoyed reading about the life of a marine wife. Having to move every three or so years, husband leaving on deployments of six to twelve months, finally learning how to live independently only to learn how to share with a husband again, and many more. 

     I really enjoyed reading this book---it is only 168 pages, which makes it feel short and sweet with no time for it to get dry. And of course, the cover only adds to the effect. :) 

      I received a copy of this book from TYNDALE PUBLISHERS per their blogger program. I was not required to write a positive review. 

     

   

Freedom's Price

     BOOK REVIEW:   Sometimes the hardest step to take is the first step forward.   When Englishwoman Catherine Haynes loses both her father and her home in 1856, she decided to cross the Atlantic to find her American mother's family in Louisiana. She enlists the help of Tom Worthington, a dashing Key West man who makes his living salvaging wrecked ships.
     When Catherine arrives at the plantation, she finds that her family has left it in the care of a manager---who's let it fall into disrepair. Torn between returning to Key West with Tom and beginning the hard work of restoring the plantation, Catherine soon finds herself snared in a plot to steal her inheritance. When an incredible secret comes to light, both she and Tom will face a choice: grip their dreams ever tighter or step forward in faith---even if it costs them everything.

     MY REVIEW:  This book is the third in Christine Johnson's Keys of Promise series. I didn't have a problem following the story, so apparently one needn't read the books in order.
      While I didn't dislike this book, it didn't make my favorites list or even my second favorites list. I think the main thing I didn't like was the character's stubbornness---each was too busy trying to reach their own personal goal that they didn't think ahead or of the other person or even of their own safety. 
     This book definitely has a strain of mystery, but I found it rather easy to figure out, which only made it annoying when the characters couldn't figure it out on their own.
     One point in it's favor, is Catherine's determination to help the children she finds as she embarks on her mission. She almost heedlessly helps them, putting their lives above hers.

   I received a copy of this book from REVELL per their blogger program. I was not required to write a positive review. 

The Lifestyle of a Watchman

     BOOK REVIEW:   What does it mean to be a "watchman on the wall"?   Join respected prophetic leader James W. Goll for a powerful, 21-day journey into the heart of being a watchman---a mature intercessor called to war, to be at the ready, alert to the presence and plan of God and confident of His will. With reflection questions, devotional prayers and practical applications, this book will help you move to the front lines of prayer. You will learn how to

• discern the spiritual atmosphere around you
• discover the strategies of God for specific times
• find your assignment
• pray more effectively for others and the nation
• understand how to intercede for current events
• partner with heaven and step boldly into your calling

Embark on this journey of faith, and become the strong sentinel that God created you to be!

     MY REVIEW:   This book is divided into 21 chapters for 21 days. Each chapter is centered on a different aspect of prayer. 

     One thing I especially like about this book is the amount of Bible verses found in the pages. I always like when authors draw their points from the Bible and then show us they did. 

     One illustration given early in the book is taking Christians united in prayer and comparing them to an orchestra---all parts working together to make a beautiful sound. Each on his own is lovely to hear, but all together they are infinitely better. 

     James W. Goll has written several books in addition to this one, a few of which are "The Prophetic Intercessor", "The Lifestyle of a Prophet", and "A Radical Faith". 

   I received a copy of this book from CHOSEN per their blogger program, and was not required to write a positive review. 

Under A Summer Sky

    BOOK REVIEW:   She's anticipating a quiet summer surrounded by beauty. She never expected a fresh chance of love. High school art teacher Nicole Anderson is looking forward to a relaxing summer in Savannah, house-sitting and managing an art gallery for a family friend. The house in luxurious in a way that only old money could make it, and the gallery promises interesting days in a gorgeous setting. Yet it isn't long before her ideal summer turns into more than she bargained for: a snooty gallery employee who's determined to force her out, a displaced adolescent roosting in the attic, and two of her childhood friends---who also happen to be brothers---vying for her attention.
     With the backdrop of a gorgeous historical city, incredible architecture, and even an alleged ghost or two, combined with the opportunity for romance. . .anything can happen.



     MY REVIEW:   Under A Summer Sky is the third book in Melody Carlson's "Follow Your Heart" series. I found it to be a little predictable and shallow. Nicole offers to run an art gallery and house sit for her mother's old friend, and just happens to run into the friend's son whom Nicole liked when she was younger. And of course, the younger brother whom she ignored is there as well and suddenly she likes him too.
     One thing I did like about the book was Nicole's love for teenagers. She taught art in school, and was obviously very close to her students. When a needy teen appears, Nicole is willing to devote time and energy to help her.
     Another thing I liked about the book was Nicole's response to her new co-worker. Rather than fighting with, she tries to befriend her.
   
I received a copy of this book from REVELL per their blogger program. I was not required to write a positive review.