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Lyndie Blevins blogging from Sage-Texas where you can expect greater things to come

Book Reviews is the section of the Sage Record where you can find book reviews.

Lyndie Blevins

Locked On by Tom Clancy

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Book Title   Locked On

Book Author      Tom Clancy 

Publisher              Putnam

Pub. Year   2011

Pages      853

Genre      Fiction

My Rating   ♥♥♥♥♥

Ease of Read     Easy to read,  but long

ISBN     978-0-299-15741-8

 


I was attracted to this book because...
   Tom Clancy wrote, and it has all of my favorite Clancy characters, Jack Ryan, Sr., Jack Ryan, Jr., John Clarke, and Ding Chavez. 
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Is Jesus your EVERYTHING? a review of Mary DeMuth's Everything

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Book Title  Everything 
 What you give and what you gain to become like Jesus
Book Author      Mary DeMuth
Publisher              Thomas Nelson
Pub. Year  2012
Pages      198
Genre      Non-Fiction Spiritual Formation
My Rating  ♥♥♥♥♥ 
Ease of Read    Very easy, but it will challenge your thinking and spiritual awareness
 
 


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Who are you trusting? a book review of If I Can Do All Things Through Christ... Why Can't I Find My Car Keys?

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Book Title    If I Can Do All Things Through Christ... Why Can’t I Find My Car Keys?

Book Author       anthology

Publisher              Group

Pub. Year   2012

Pages      144

Genre      Devotional, Christian Life 

My Rating   ♥♥♥  

Ease of Read     Very Easy 

ISBN     978-0-7644-8849-8

 

 

I was attracted to this book because...

   Actually, I ran across it by accident, (a bad link). But the title is not only catches your attention, it is something I have mumbled to myself more than once in my life. 

 

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Lyndie Blevins

A Tool for Building Your Writing Business - Book Review for Business Tips and Taxes for Writers


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Book Title         Business Tips and Taxes For Writers 

Book Author      Carol Topp, CPA

 

Publisher          Media Angels 

Pub. Year         2012

Pages                127

Genre                Non-Fiction, Business, Writing

My Rating        ♥♥♥♥ 

Ease of Read   Straight forward  

ISBN    978-1-931941-22-8

 

I was attracted to this book because...

   In building my writing/publishing business, I am interested in all the information on the business side I can get. This book was recommended on an author website/blog. Unfortunately, I’m not sure which one. 

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How do you parent teenagers? Book Review - Mother of Pearl

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Book Title        Mother of Pearl 

 Book Author    Kellie Coates Gilbert

 Publisher         Abingdon Press

 Pub. Year         2012

 Pages              302

 Genre              Fiction, Christian, general 

 My Rating       ♥♥♥♥

 Ease of Read   fast paced story

 ISBN               978-1-4267-3343-7

I was attracted to this book because...

   A critique friend wrote this book. The book was finished before I joined the critique group. I am reading more Christian fiction, particularly contemporary fiction. I’m always looking for good books to read. 

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How to know Jesus Better- Review of Wonderful Names of Our Wonderful Lord

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     Book Title Wonderful Names of Our Wonderful Lord
Abridged Christian Classics
 
     Book Author      T. C. Horton & Charles Hurlburt
 
     Publisher          Barbour 
     Pub. Year     2010
     Pages         189
     Genre         devotional
     My Rating     ♥♥♥♥♥   
     Ease of Read     quick, easy reading
     ISBN         978-1-60260-856-6
 
I was attracted to this book by...
   the title in the grocery store. Learning more about the names of the Lord appealed to me. The short devotional were a perfect addition to my daily meditation period. 
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He has risen, indeed! We Have Seen the Lord!

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    Book Title           We Have seen the Lord!
                                The Passion and Resurrection of
                                                Jesus Christ
 
    Book Author      William Barclay
 
    Publisher          Westminster John Knox Press 
    Pub. Year          1998/1975
    Pages                123
    Genre                Devotional, Lent, Passion of
                                    Christ
    My Rating   ♥♥♥♥♥          
    Ease of Read      Thought provoking,    
                                     spiritually challenging
     ISBN                  0-664-25807-7


I was attracted to this book because...
   To tell the truth, I don’t remember exactly what brought me to this book. I was looking for something to read for Lent last year. 
   
This book was about...
   the last days of Jesus’ earthly ministry with supporting passages from the four Gospels and a small reflective commentary for the forty days of lent plus Easter and two days afterwards.  
 
Things I liked about this book...
   I liked being able to focus on the last days of Jesus using this as guide leading up to my celebration of Easter. I was challenged daily by the spiritual insights William Barclay provided in his commentary. This helped me move into a more intimate relationship with Jesus during this holy season. 
 
Why you should read this book...
   Barclay will challenge and remind you that you have seen the Lord, too. Our experience should insight us to the same degree of urgency and excitement of the disciples to proclaim, He has risen indeed! to the world.    
 
This book lived up to the back cover copy...
  William Barclay has delightfully intertwined passages from the Gospels with his beautiful prose to walk one more time through Jesus’ last days. You will be engaged and refreshed.  
 
Learn more about William Barclay



 

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Lyndie Blevins

Are you holding on to regret? Reading Letting Go will help - a book review

Cover of Letting Go Book Title   Letting Go

Book Author      Linda Godsey

 

Publisher              Gateway Create

Pub. Year   2012

Pages      76

Genre      devotional

My Rating ♥♥♥♥   

Ease of Read     very easy  

ISBN     978-4675-1648-8







 

I was attracted to this book because...

   It was recommend on a blog I follow. I was intrigue to learn know more about regret. 

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Do you need some encouragement for your writing? Book Review - Writing for Your Soul


Cover of Writing for the Soul  Book Title  Writing For The Soul
Instruction and Advice  from an Extraordinary
                                      Writing Life
 
  Book Author       Jerry B. Jenkins
 
  Publisher              Writers DIgest Books
  Pub. Year  2006
  Pages      240
  Genre      Writing Refenece
  My Rating                 ♥♥♥♥♥   
  Ease of Read      Easy to read, but challenging if you are a  
                                           writer
  ISBN    978-1-58297-417-0
 





I was attracted to this book because...
   Jerry Jenkins and the Left Behind books taught me there was a place for Christian writers in today’s market. I was going to his writing conference when I bought the book. 
 
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Book Review - The Innocents Abroad

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Book Title     The Innocents Abroad
Book Author  Mark Twain
Publisher       Readers Digest
Pub. Year      1869
Pages           432
Genre           Travel 
My Rating      ♥♥♥♥♥
Ease of Read  Moderately easy 
ISBN             08957733920
 
 
I was attracted to this book because...
 
   I need to research traveling by ship in 1867. This book was the perfect answer to learn about traveling in Europe in this time period, as well as an idea of writing in the time period. Matt Twain went on a Grand Tour of Europe and the Holy Lands in 1867. This book met all my research needs. 
 
This book was about...
   Mark Twain had an opportunity to take a Grand Tour of Europe and the Holy Lands on the Quaker City with 64 other Americans. The voyage took about six months. He relates the experience of the trip in his own words. He sent newspaper reports throughout the voyage. As cholera was rampant in many places they visited, they often experienced quarantines in many ports lasting various time periods. Some were over nights and others where they were completely blocked from entering and had to move on. When the time period was short, Twain was always in the group which managed to go into town anyway. 
 
   As humor often does, Twain’s approach to classical art, historical locations and sacred art and places, revealed a great amount of truth lacking in writing that respects the traditions of these objects.   
 
   Spoiler Alert: There is absolutely no political correctness in this book. (Makes you wonder what Mark Twain would do today.) If you are Muslim, Catholic, Mormon, well not Protestant,  French, Russian, well not American, American Indian, Police, and other groups I didn’t pick up on, and a member of Congress, read this book with caution. 
 
Things I liked about this book...
   I confess. I have the same sense of humor as Mark Twain. So I enjoyed the way he documented the trip, his fellow travelers and the places they visited. He often drew parallels to locations he visited to places in America. I found this very helpful. He used Lake Tahoe several times. I know the first time I visited Lake Tahoe in the dead of winter, I thought it has to be the most incredible place on earth. I found the comparisons  of other localities on point. It also helped me have a better understand the size of the landscape he was describing. 
   If you replace gas lights with electric lights and horses/carriages with mini-vans, you would think you were reading about a trip today. (Although it would be interesting to see the Holy Lands on donkey/horseback. 
  If I get a chance to go back to Europe and visit the Holy Lands, I’m taking this book with me. 
 
Why you should read this book...
   This is considered the best travel book ever written. According to Leslie Fiedler, who wrote the afterward in the Readers Digest Edition, “it became an instant best seller (.429)”... “and for a long time it outsold all of Twain’s other books, including The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. (p. 430)” 
   The prose can be wonderful. After one draw on a Turkish narghile pipe, he writes, “For the next five minutes I smoke at every pore, like a frame house that is on fire on the inside.” (p. 240)
   Recently, I’ve read some posts on how memoirs an be a great way to break into consideration as a serious writer. This book took Mark Twain from a ‘newspaperman’ into a professional writer in Twain’s mind, as well as the general public. 
   In the Afterward, Fiedler says this is the book where Samuel Clements found his voice as Mark Twain. As a writer, it is worth the read to see that voice develop. 
 
This book lived up to the back cover copy...
  Actually, I have this book on my Kindle and I got my hard copy from Half-Price Books, so I don’t have a back cover. It did live up to what I read on the internet and to the comments in the Afterward by Leslie Fiedler. If your copy has the Afterward, I would recommend reading it first.  
 
Contact the Author ...



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Where We Are Located

Lyndie Blevins

P.O. Box 381029
Duncanville, Tx 75138
LyndieBlevins@guidingwind.com