Books, Books, and More Books (My Favorite Things)

One of the best benefits of being in the writing community is that writers need readers to read their books and then promote them online. This gives me access to free books, sometimes before they are released for public consumption. As a book lover, I find that pure bliss.

Today I’m sharing with you two outstanding books that are being released within the next week. They are currently available for pre-order via Amazon and any other major bookseller. This week’s books have very strong topics that could be triggering for some readers. I’ll discuss in depth here what these books are about and why they are important to read.

All my books this month have very strong themes and aren’t light and fluffy beach reads. I need to add a few more in to my reading for next month. I hope you will enjoy these books as much as I have.

*This post does have affiliate links for Amazon. If you use my links to buy something from Amazon I will receive a small rebate at no extra cost to you.

Love, Me Too: Finding A Happy And Fulfilling Life After Sexual Abuse by Leta Greene

Sexual abuse is not something anyone wants to read about. You might even wonder at my reading it and reviewing it here. This book is SO much more and the topic is handled with great delicacy. This book addresses not only sexual abuse, but victims and trauma survivors of any kind will find helpful words here. She shows us how she was able to find healing afterwards from a Christian perspective.

This book is also a great resource for parents on how to teach your child to avoid traps that might lead to sexual abuse and I think as parents we all want that information. Actually we NEED that information.

Some of my favorite quotes in the book-

“Just like our superheroes, you don’t just fight for you, you fight for the world, for you world and the world of girls, boys, women, and other victims who haven’t yet found their power to over come.”

“…some of you reading this are angry with God. You may not like Him very much, you may feel that He really screwed up and that He really let you down. I get that because I have felt that way. In fact, I have told Him off several times, and with strong language, hateful feelings and not in a respectful tone. God can take it.”

“Even God can say He is sorry. He even apologizes that we didn’t understand in Jeremiah 42:10 He says, “for I repent me of the evil that I have done to you.”

“It’s funny how we may be severely depressed and when someone says, “How are you?” we’re like “Good, thanks, how are you?” I think it’s healthy to tell people that we’re struggling…”

“The world has rarely treated happiness as a state worthy of serious respect, and yet, if we see someone who, in spite of life’s adversities, is happy a good deal of the time, we should recognize that we are looking at spiritual achievement- and one worth aspiring to.”

“Because God is clear in my mind, I can give Him things. I say, “This is too heavy. I’ve opened it up. I’ve looked at the pieces. I understand it. I’m just going to keep the lesson, this small part that will help me fight for others. But the ugly feelings of anger and depression, I’ve walked through those, and I understand that I could stay there forever. But I want to be happy, so I’m giving this box to you.”

“God never shames us. Even when that woman is taken in adultery, he doesn’t shame her.”

“We can choose to innocent by what we choose to participate in but being ignorant removes your ability to build defenses.”

Leta Greene is a makeup artist, international speaker and author of the book How To Embrace Your Inner Hotness

Carried: How One Mother’s Trust In God Helped Her Through The Unthinkable by Michelle Schmidt and Angie Taylor

Have you heard of the preforming group The Piano Guys? You might remember in 2016 when one of their daughters, Annie, was missing in Oregon and later was discovered dead through misadventure while hiking alone. This is her Mother’s account of her journey through this experience and how  the lessons she had been taught by God throughout her life, had prepared her to be able to deal with this terrible tragedy. Here are some highlights-

“I’ve come to believe that if I truly want to rend the veil and hear God’s voice more, I need to grow in appreciation for Him. I need to grow in my understanding of Him. As I’ve sought to do so, my closeness to Him grows stronger and stronger.”

She mentions that the first time she drove into the Columbia, River Gorge to start the search for Annie, she said to herself that she understood why her daughter loved it so much here. It was beautiful! She heard her daughter reply. But the only way for that to happen is if Annie was dead. She talks about how that conversation with her daughter comforted her and guided her through the weeks ahead.

Thousands of people helped in the search for Annie. Be it the physical search, spreading the word online, praying and fasting, and in many other ways. One of the most beautiful things she talks about is how so many people regardless of religion were drawn by God to help them and put in their path just when they needed them. Their ability to trust God with this has been honed by many years of experiences trying to hear his voice and trust him.

Could you submit to God the loss of your child if it was his will? We would all like to think we could submit to God. But could we actually do it. Michelle chronicles her time working towards that as she prayed over another of her children who was fighting for his life.

“The more our knowledge increases of Them and Their reality, Their loving kindness and Their omnipotence, the more ability we have to obtain Their help in the things we are struggling through on this earth. That is why Shadrach, Meshach, and Abend-nego could tell King Nebuchadnezzar, when he was threatening to through them into the fire,.. “Our God will deliver us.”… They knew in whom they trusted. They knew their God and their Deliver, Jesus Christ. And I believe that when you know Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, you know you can trust Them. If They let you burn, or if They let your child die, you can trust that it was either Their will, for a purpose that you cannot see at the time, or that They will bless you that all things will work together for your good.”

This book made me cry repeatedly. But they were happy tears. They were tears of feeling the Lord’s gracious spirit. This is one woman’s testimony of how she was able to go through one of the most horrific times of her life, and still trust God, still believe.

Michelle Schmidt is Mother to Annie, a full time SAHM and has a Bachelors in English. Angie Taylor  (Michelle’s Sister), is a mother, has an English Degree, and is the author of Fiction and Non-Fiction books such as Twists In Time.

Currently Reading

Not Quite White Losing and Finding Race in America by Sharmila Sen

This book is about a Indian (from India) woman who emigrated to the U.S. and how she doesn’t quite fit any of the designations for race. She isn’t Black, White or Asian. When she is filling out those questionnaires, what should she self report as?

I’m just starting into this one, but it looks good. If you want to know what I end up thinking about it I’ll be posting it on Goodreads.Want to know what else I have been reading lately? Check out my Goodreads bookshelf.

27 thoughts on “Books, Books, and More Books (My Favorite Things)

  1. Recommendations for books are always great. I have just got back into reading and whilst I am favouring chick lit at the moment, I will bear these in mind for when I fancy something a bit deeper. Thanks for sharing with #TriumphantTales, do come back next week!

  2. These books sound amazing! Especially the one you are starting on race. I have been trying to expand my understanding of privilege and those different from me. laurensparks.net

    1. I really enjoyed the book on race. If you are trying to expand your horizons in that way you should also take a look at my blog post about Modesty from last week. There’s an excellent book I talk about in there written by a woman from Saudi Arabia.

  3. Thank you for these reviews Calleen, they sound like good reads. The Lord was the only one who carried me & continues to carry me daily through the loss of my daughter, son & late husband.
    Yes, He can be trusted. 😀
    Blossoms,
    Jennifer

  4. Some really interesting reads here – I love that you have booked harder hitting books for this selection. Thanks for linking up to #coolmumclub

      1. Did I share the same post again? I have a system so that I don’t do that but sometimes I forget on Tuesday because my Tuesday post goes live much earlier.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.