Primal - Mark Batterson

Simplicity that explodes the mind.

As was true with Mark Batterson's previous book Wild Goose Chase, I found myself needing to camp out in each chapter in order to honestly assess my life.

Primal cuts to the quick.

Sir Dalton and the Shadow Heart

Clever. As I ponder back over this book, I'm struck by how truly clever it is! I confess that this is the first of Chuck Black’s books that I’ve read. And in choosing this as the first, I was jumping into the third book in a series, which made the style of storytelling take some getting used to. It’s compelling. Sir Dalton is young and in training for his future. We see the misperceptions of his youth regarding some of the people around him. He’s put himself on quite a high horse, but post-training he hits some Reality neck-deep and head-on. While some aspects of his Christian allegory pull the reader out of the story in an attempt to hit the message home, it's the deeper journey and struggles of the main character that I found surprised me in the end.

Dalton faces very real and life-threatening adversaries. He's not your typical storybook hero in that we see him face his greatest adversary in his personal struggle with doubt. Also unique in this telling of the story, there's no magic switch that is flipped "explaining" his overcoming the doubt; instead, we see a wiser soul walk beside him and encourage and guide him in overcoming.

While I'm not the target audience of this book, I'm intrigue by the series and anxious to read the next book!
-LMS

Book Summary: Sir Dalton, a knight in training, seems to have everything going for him. Young, well-liked, and a natural leader, he has earned the respect and admiration of his fellow knights, and especially the beautiful Lady Brynn. But something is amiss at the training camp. Their new trainer is popular but lacks the passion to inspire them to true service to the King and the Prince. Besides this, the knights are too busy enjoying a season of good times to be concerned with a disturbing report that many of their fellow Knights have mysteriously vanished. When Sir Dalton is sent on a mission, he encounters strange attacks, especially when he is alone. As his commitment wanes, the attacks grow in intensity until he is captured by Lord Drox, a massive Shadow Warrior. Bruised and beaten, Dalton refuses to submit to evil and initiates a daring escape with only one of two outcomes—life or death. But what will become of the hundreds of knights he’ll leave behind? In a kingdom of peril, Dalton thinks he is on his own, but two faithful friends have not abandoned him, and neither has a strange old hermit who seems to know much about the Prince. But can Dalton face the evil Shadow Warrior again and survive?

Young adults will be inspired to strengthen their faith along with Sir Dalton, as they follow his exciting and action-packed journey to overcome his doubts and renew his commitment to the King and the Prince in this third installment of Chuck Black’s popular Knights of Arrethtrae series.

About the Author: Chuck Black traveled with the Air Force as a communications engineer and F-16 fighter pilot and began a career as a product design engineer. Chuck and his wife, Andrea, homeschool their six children and have a family music ministry that travels throughout the region. He is the author of nine novels, has been published in The Old Schoolhouse e-zine, and has received praise from parents across the country for his unique approach to telling biblical truths. Chuck and his family live in Williston, North Dakota.

North! Or Be Eaten - Blog Tour!

Peterson's Igiby family is in full adventure in North! Or Be Eaten. After creating an intricate world and laying out the myriad of background details in On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness, we pick up right where we were left off with Janner, Tink, and Leeli in their uncle's tree house.

The adventure is just beginning.

It's easy to forget the band of travelers is three young children with their mother and two older men. They are all quick on their feet and determined to re-find a normal life at the end of their journey. The moment-to-moment happenings make you wonder how you'd survive! The Fangs continue to track them as they dodge the many creatures of Skree, including the toothy cows!

Just when you think you might know a little more than they know, the story takes a distinct turn in an unexpected direction. They are pushed to their limits. It's impossible to know the friends from the foes, and the secret history or gifts of each traveler will stretch your imagination.

Though the musical storytelling of Andrew Peterson has long been a cherished favorite of mine, I was a bit skeptical of the songwriter-turned-author. He has proven his ability to write a whole world in his mind and introduce us, the unsuspecting reader, in the middle of that world mid-stream, and yet unfold his whole world a bit at a time along the journey. Well-done, my friend.

I have to confess that when I received my copy of his new book I had to quickly go and read the first book in the Wingfeather Saga, which I had loaned out and never read. Now having finished them both in short order, I can't wait for there to be more!

-Laura M. Sanders

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Book Summary:

Janner, Tink, and Leeli Igiby thought they were normal children with normal lives and a normal past. But now they know they’re really the Lost Jewels of Anniera, heirs to a legendary kingdom across the sea, and suddenly everyone wants to kill them.

Their escape brings readers to the very brink of Fingap Falls, over the Stony Mountains, and across the Ice Prairies, while villains galore try to stop the Igibys permanently. Fearsome toothy cows and horned hounds return, along with new dangers: a mad man running a fork factory, a den of rockroaches, and majestic talking sea dragons.

Andrew Peterson’s lovable characters create what FantasyBookCritic.com says made Book One “one of the best fantasy novels in a very long time,” and Book Two contains even more thrills, exploring “themes universal in nature, ranging from the classic good versus evil, to the importance of family, and burdens of responsibility.”

Andrew Peterson is the author of On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness, Book One in the Wingfeather Saga, and The Ballad of Matthew’s Begats. He’s also the critically-acclaimed singer-songwriter and recording artist of ten albums, including Resurrection Letters II. He and his wife, Jamie, live with their two sons and one daughter in a little house they call The Warren near Nashville, Tennessee. Visit his websites: www.andrew-peterson.com and www.rabbitroom.com

Top Ten: Favorite Books

He may be a complete stranger, but he’s my blogging friend.
Pete D recently posted a top ten list of topics to make a top ten list about. Which makes me laugh….brilliant.
Julie, Pete’s daughter, and a fellow lover of The Game posted her top ten favorite books; we shared one.
So I thought I’d take a minute and make a list myself.
Here is my top ten, in no particular order, and just off the top of my head (meaning it may be different tomorrow):

1. The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence
2. Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster
3. Your God is Too Safe or The Rest of God by Mark Buchanan
4. A Time to Kill by John Grisham
5. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
6. A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
7. Harry Potter and ____________ (all 7 books) by J.K. Rowling
8. The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning
9. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
10. The History of Love by Nicole Krauss

How about you?

3 Big Questions for a Frantic Family

Flailing. Floundering.

Sometimes life seems to have more purpose than others. I don't generally ask the big "why" questions, but I do ask God "what now?" Seriously. What now?

Which direction?

A dear friend introduced me to an author of Business Management books, Patrick Lencioni. To my surprise, one of my favorite of his books so far is The Three Big Questions for a Frantic Family. I know, you're thinking, "that doesn't seem like a business management book."

Well, it takes some simplifying of business management principles and applies them organizing and structuring home and family.

And, again, I know what you're thinking "Um, don't you live by yourself?" Yeah, imagine how sad it is to be frantic managing the life of one.

We'll see if applying these principles to a life of one puts me on a manageable track for incorporating others into my life...

North or Be Eaten - COMING SOON!

Andrew Peterson is releasing the next book in the series. Pop over to his blog about it in The Rabbit Room if you want to get the book and be on the blog tour!

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11 days in and I'm already an addict!

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