5 books on my future reading list

I'M NO Angel

I actually just started reading this book and I'm touched so far by Kylie's courage to write it. Kylie is 23 years old and has a beautiful story to tell.

She was once a Victoria Secret model, now she strives to be a Proverbs 31 woman.

In her book she shares how God has been working in her life and how He is slowly but surely changing her.

I'm really looking forward to reading more.

Here's a little about the book from Amazon:

"In December 2011, 21-year-old Victoria’s Secret Runway Angel Kylie Bisutti stunned the fashion industry when she chose faith over fame and fortune and made the switch from supermodel to role model.

In I’m No Angel, Kylie shares her story—from her early years struggling to make it big in the cut-throat world of modeling, her “big break” winning the Victoria’s Secret Runway Angel competition, and the disillusionment and spiritual warfare that followed, to the moment she realized that she could no longer reconcile her career with her Christian beliefs, surrendered her life to God, and dedicated her life to preaching a message of modesty and inner beauty.

Along the way, Kylie talks about her personal struggles with inadequacy, low self-esteem, and her near-constant quest for approval in a world where you can never be thin enough, pretty enough, or sexy enough. She helps readers understand that true beauty lies within and that real fulfillment comes from knowing, loving, and serving Christ."

                                                                          

Jonathan Edwards: On True Christianity

This is one of five books in a series on the thoughts and teachings of Jonathan Edwards.

I really enjoyed the other four and I'm excited to read this one as well.

Jonathan Edwards was a puritan pastor who loved the Lord. I personally have found great inspiration from his writings.

If you would like to know more about him you can read my thoughts HERE on one of the other books in the series called, 'Jonathan Edwards, Lover of God'

A little on the book from Amazon:

"What is a true Christian? What is the church? Though these are fundamental questions they often go unanswered in our current evangelical context. Far too many pastors and thinkers celebrate the trappings of faith and the mere benefits of Christianity, ignoring the biblical testimony on true conversion that shouts from countless texts from Scripture.

This has fed an age-old problem: nominal Christianity. Though Edwards is sometimes presented as a scourge, a mean-hearted parson who lived to belt out thunderous damnations, a careful study of the historical record and of Edwards' writings shows that he was in fact a Christian man devoted to the cultivation of true and saving faith in a spiritually fickle people he tenaciously loved."

The Dancing Master 

I've always wanted to learn how to dance.

It looks like so much fun. It was something I wasn't allowed to do growing up and I remember once being scolded by an older babysitter when I was caught watching performers roller skating to music! She thought I was watching dancing.

Well this book is by one of my favorite Christian fiction authors and its about dancing!

Here's Amazons description of the book:

"Finding himself the man of the family, London dancing master Alec Valcourt moves his mother and sister to remote Devonshire, hoping to start over. But he is stunned to learn the village matriarch has prohibited all dancing, for reasons buried deep in her past.

Alec finds an unlikely ally in the matriarch's daughter. Though he's initially wary of Julia Midwinter's reckless flirtation, he comes to realize her bold exterior disguises a vulnerable soul--and hidden sorrows of her own.

Julia is quickly attracted to the handsome dancing master--a man her mother would never approve of--but she cannot imagine why Mr. Valcourt would leave London, or why he evades questions about his past. With Alec's help, can Julia uncover old secrets and restore life to her somber village...and to her mother's tattered heart?"

Road trip to Redemption 

This sounds like a really moving story. I read about it on another blog and right away added it to my TBR list.

I think this will be an encouraging book for all of us who have or are raising children.

Amazon says here of the book:

"Brad Mathias thought everything in his family was fine. A busy, contented dad, he had vaguely noticed that Bethany, his middle child, had become withdrawn and moody, but he assumed it was part of being a “teen” and didn’t look any deeper. 

Until the night God spoke clearly to Brad and his wife: Ask her to reveal what she has hidden. They did—and learned the secret Bethany had been carrying, one that rocked their family to the core. In a desperate attempt to reach their daughter and to reconnect as a family, Brad and his wife piled everyone into the car and embarked on a wild, crazy, seven-thousand-mile, what-are-we-thinking trip across the country. 

As they drove, they realized how far apart they’d drifted, found unexpected blessings along the way—and journeyed together from pain and loss to recovery and redemption. In this book, Brad shares stories from the road about God’s grace, gives practical tips on what he learned about reconnecting as a family, invites you to consider your own epic journey as a mother or father, and calls you to trust wholeheartedly in the amazing love God has for your kids"

Pearl in the Sand

I love the story of Rahab,  a story of God's love and redemption. A story that is part of His great plan.

It's also a story of forgiveness, acceptance and how God changes a harlot, to a woman crowned a daughter of the King.

I also read a great review on this book and can't wait to read it!

Here's a bit from Amazon:

"Can a Canaanite harlot who has made her livelihood by looking desirable to men make a fitting wife for one of the leaders of Israel? 

Shockingly, the Bible's answer is yes. 

Pearl in the Sand tells Rahab's untold story. Rahab lives in a wall; her house is built into the defensive walls of the City of Jericho. Other walls surround her as well- walls of fear, rejection, unworthiness. A woman with a wrecked past; a man of success, of faith...of pride; a marriage only God would conceive! Through the heartaches of a stormy relationship, Rahab and Salmone learn the true source of one another's worth and find healing in God."