Denise's bookshelf: all en-US Mon, 14 Aug 2023 08:27:25 -0700 60 Denise's bookshelf: all 144 41 https://www.goodreads.com/images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[Growing Slow: Lessons on Un-Hurrying Your Heart from an Accidental Farm Girl]]> 54287624 272 Jennifer Dukes Lee 0310360439 Denise 5 4.33 Growing Slow: Lessons on Un-Hurrying Your Heart from an Accidental Farm Girl
author: Jennifer Dukes Lee
name: Denise
average rating: 4.33
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2023/08/14
date added: 2023/08/14
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S0 appropo as I entered retirement and have read this along with the seasons of the past year.
]]> <![CDATA[Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers]]> 52891090 224 Dane C. Ortlund 1433566133 Denise 5 4.48 2020 Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers
author: Dane C. Ortlund
name: Denise
average rating: 4.48
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2023/02/17
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Took my breath away. Read this after my son died in January 2021.
]]> <![CDATA[Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy: Discovering the Grace of Lament]]> 40584233 Lament is how you live between the poles of a hard life and trusting God's goodness.

Lament is how we bring our sorrow to God--but it is a neglected dimension of the Christian life for many Christians today. We need to recover the practice of honest spiritual struggle that gives us permission to vocalize our pain and wrestle with our sorrow. Lament avoids trite answers and quick solutions, progressively moving us toward deeper worship and trust.

Exploring how the Bible--through the psalms of lament and the book of Lamentations--gives voice to our pain, this book invites us to grieve, struggle, and tap into the rich reservoir of grace and mercy God offers in the darkest moments of our lives.]]> 224 Mark Vroegop 1433561484 Denise 5 4.52 2019 Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy: Discovering the Grace of Lament
author: Mark Vroegop
name: Denise
average rating: 4.52
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2023/02/17
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Beautiful book of underappreciated and underutilized Christian discipline.
]]> <![CDATA[Someplace to Be Somebody: God's Story in the Life of Marshall Brandon]]> 58680158 240 Lisa Loraine Baker 1637970102 Denise 5 4.60 Someplace to Be Somebody: God's Story in the Life of Marshall Brandon
author: Lisa Loraine Baker
name: Denise
average rating: 4.60
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2022/04/18
date added: 2023/02/17
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A page turner. If you thought anyone was without hope, it would be Marshall. Real and raw. This man now personifies joy.
]]> <![CDATA[Live Not by Lies: A Manual for Christian Dissidents]]> 53438190 The New York Times bestselling author of The Benedict Option draws on the wisdom of Christian survivors of Soviet persecution to warn American Christians of approaching dangers.

For years, émigrés from the former Soviet bloc have been telling Rod Dreher they see telltale signs of "soft" totalitarianism cropping up in America—something more Brave New World than Nineteen Eighty-Four. Identity politics are beginning to encroach on every aspect of life. Civil liberties are increasingly seen as a threat to "safety". Progressives marginalize conservative, traditional Christians, and other dissenters. Technology and consumerism hasten the possibility of a corporate surveillance state. And the pandemic, having put millions out of work, leaves our country especially vulnerable to demagogic manipulation.

In Live Not By Lies, Dreher amplifies the alarm sounded by the brave men and women who fought totalitarianism. He explains how the totalitarianism facing us today is based less on overt violence and more on psychological manipulation. He tells the stories of modern-day dissidents--clergy, laity, martyrs, and confessors from the Soviet Union and the captive nations of Europe--who offer practical advice for how to identify and resist totalitarianism in our time. Following the model offered by a prophetic World War II-era pastor who prepared believers in his Eastern European to endure the coming of communism, Live Not By Lies teaches American Christians a method for resistance:
- SEE: Acknowledge the reality of the situation.
- JUDGE: Assess reality in the light of what we as Christians know to be true.
- ACT: Take action to protect truth.

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn famously said that one of the biggest mistakes people make is assuming totalitarianism can't happen in their country. Many American Christians are making that mistake today, sleepwalking through the erosion of our freedoms. Live Not By Lies will wake them and equip them for the long resistance.]]> 240 Rod Dreher 0593087399 Denise 5 4.31 2020 Live Not by Lies: A Manual for Christian Dissidents
author: Rod Dreher
name: Denise
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2022/04/15
date added: 2023/02/17
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Sobering. Every Christian must read!
]]> <![CDATA[A Hobbit, a Wardrobe, and a Great War: How J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis Rediscovered Faith, Friendship, and Heroism in the Cataclysm of 1914-18]]> 23647114 The untold story of how the First World War shaped the lives, faith, and writings of J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis

The First World War laid waste to a continent and permanently altered the political and religious landscape of the West. For a generation of men and women, it brought the end of innocence—and the end of faith. Yet for J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis, the Great War deepened their spiritual quest. Both men served as soldiers on the Western Front, survived the trenches, and used the experience of that conflict to ignite their Christian imagination. Had there been no Great War, there would have been no Hobbit, no Lord of the Rings, no Narnia, and perhaps no conversion to Christianity by C. S. Lewis.

Unlike a generation of young writers who lost faith in the God of the Bible, Tolkien and Lewis produced epic stories infused with the themes of guilt and grace, sorrow and consolation. Giving an unabashedly Christian vision of hope in a world tortured by doubt and disillusionment, the two writers created works that changed the course of literature and shaped the faith of millions. This is the first book to explore their work in light of the spiritual crisis sparked by the conflict.]]> 235 Joseph Loconte 0718021762 Denise 0 to-read 4.05 2015 A Hobbit, a Wardrobe, and a Great War: How J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis Rediscovered Faith, Friendship, and Heroism in the Cataclysm of 1914-18
author: Joseph Loconte
name: Denise
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/02/17
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[Thriving in Babylon: Why Hope, Humility, and Wisdom Matter in a Godless Culture]]> 17706873
Even in Babylon, God Is in Control 

In Thriving in Babylon, Larry Osborne explores the “adult” story of Daniel to help us not only survive – but actually thrive in an increasingly godless culture. Here Pastor Osborne looks at: -      Why panic and despair are never from God-      What true optimism looks like-      How humility disarms even our greatest of enemies-      Why respect causes even those who will have nothing to do with God to listen-      How wisdom can snatch victory out of the jaws of defeat For those who know Jesus and understand the full implications of the cross, the resurrection, and the promises of Jesus, everything changes – not only in us, but also in our world.
]]> 224 Larry Osborne 1434704211 Denise 0 currently-reading 4.25 2014 Thriving in Babylon: Why Hope, Humility, and Wisdom Matter in a Godless Culture
author: Larry Osborne
name: Denise
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/02/17
shelves: currently-reading
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]]> <![CDATA[Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole]]> 58734811 In her new masterpiece, the author of the bestselling phenomenon Quiet reveals the power of a bittersweet outlook on life, and why we’ve been so blind to its value.

With Quiet, Susan Cain urged our society to cultivate space for the undervalued, indispensable introverts among us, thereby revealing an untapped power hidden in plain sight. Now she employs the same mix of research, storytelling, and memoir to explore why we experience sorrow and longing, and the surprising lessons these states of mind teach us about creativity, compassion, leadership, spirituality, mortality, and love.

Bittersweetness is a tendency to states of longing, poignancy, and sorrow; an acute awareness of passing time; and a curiously piercing joy when beholding beauty. It recognizes that light and dark, birth and death—bitter and sweet—are forever paired. A song in a minor key, an elegiac poem, or even a touching television commercial all can bring us to this sublime, even holy, state of mind—and, ultimately, to greater kinship with our fellow humans.

But bittersweetness is not, as we tend to think, just a momentary feeling or event. It’s also a way of being, a storied heritage. Our artistic and spiritual traditions—amplified by recent scientific and management research—teach us its power.

Cain shows how a bittersweet state of mind is the quiet force that helps us transcend our personal and collective pain. If we don’t acknowledge our own sorrows and longings, she says, we can end up inflicting them on others via abuse, domination, or neglect. But if we realize that all humans know—or will know—loss and suffering, we can turn toward each other. And we can learn to transform our own pain into creativity, transcendence, and connection.

At a time of profound discord and personal anxiety, Bittersweet brings us together in deep and unexpected ways.]]> 310 Susan Cain 0451499786 Denise 4 3.95 2022 Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole
author: Susan Cain
name: Denise
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2022/06/26
date added: 2023/02/17
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]]> <![CDATA[A Grace Disguised: How the Soul Grows through Loss]]> 246843
Loss came suddenly for Jerry Sittser. In an instant, a tragic car accident claimed three generations of his family: his mother, his wife, and his young daughter. While most of us will not experience such a catastrophic loss in our lifetime, all of us will taste it. And we can, if we choose, know as well the grace that transforms it. A Grace Disguised plumbs the depths of sorrow, whether due to illness, divorce, or the loss of someone we love. The circumstances are not important; what we do with those circumstances is. In coming to the end of ourselves, we can come to the beginning of a new life one marked by spiritual depth, joy, compassion, and a deeper appreciation of simple blessings.]]> 224 Jerry Sittser 0310258952 Denise 5 4.51 1995 A Grace Disguised: How the Soul Grows through Loss
author: Jerry Sittser
name: Denise
average rating: 4.51
book published: 1995
rating: 5
read at: 2023/02/17
date added: 2023/02/17
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]]> We Were the Lucky Ones 30267929
As one sibling is forced into exile, another attempts to flee the continent, while others struggle to escape certain death, either by working grueling hours on empty stomachs in the factories of the ghetto or by hiding as gentiles in plain sight. Driven by an unwavering will to survive and by the fear that they may never see one another again, the Kurcs must rely on hope, ingenuity, and inner strength to persevere.

An extraordinary, propulsive novel, We Were the Lucky Ones demonstrates how in the face of the twentieth century’s darkest moment, the human spirit can endure and even thrive.]]> 403 Georgia Hunter 0399563083 Denise 5 4.39 2017 We Were the Lucky Ones
author: Georgia Hunter
name: Denise
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at: 2018/06/24
date added: 2018/06/24
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This story of a compilation of stories is a real page-turner. It's not what I expected. After finishing the book, reading the supplemental prologues, I am honored to have discovered the treasure of this story worth telling!
]]> <![CDATA[Every Body Matters: Strengthening Your Body to Strengthen Your Soul]]> 12611536 256 Gary L. Thomas 0310412250 Denise 5 4.22 2011 Every Body Matters: Strengthening Your Body to Strengthen Your Soul
author: Gary L. Thomas
name: Denise
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at: 2018/05/14
date added: 2018/05/14
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]]> <![CDATA[Awe: Why It Matters for Everything We Think, Say, and Do]]> 24346211 208 Paul David Tripp 1433547074 Denise 5 4.17 2015 Awe: Why It Matters for Everything We Think, Say, and Do
author: Paul David Tripp
name: Denise
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2017/07/09
date added: 2017/07/09
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]]> <![CDATA[A Shelter in the Time of Storm: Meditations on God and Trouble]]> 6066573 160 Paul David Tripp 1433505983 Denise 5 4.39 2009 A Shelter in the Time of Storm: Meditations on God and Trouble
author: Paul David Tripp
name: Denise
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2009
rating: 5
read at: 2017/07/02
date added: 2017/07/02
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]]> <![CDATA[Lost in the Middle: Midlife and the Grace of God]]> 791159 350 0972304681 Denise 5 4.30 2004 Lost in the Middle: Midlife and the Grace of God
author: Paul David Tripp M.DIV. D.Min.
name: Denise
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2004
rating: 5
read at: 2017/05/20
date added: 2017/05/20
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Once again, Paul David Tripp is dead on! This book caused me to really think about what am I putting my energy, treasures, and time into...as well as my zeal and affection. You can't read it and live like you never ingested these truths. So good!
]]> <![CDATA[Dreamland: The True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic]]> 22529381
With the same dramatic drive of El Narco and Methland, Sam Quinones weaves together two classic tales of American capitalism: The stories of young men in Mexico, independent of the drug cartels, in search of their own American Dream via the fast and enormous profits of trafficking cheap black-tar heroin to America’s rural and suburban addicts; and that of Purdue Pharma in Stamford, Connecticut, determined to corner the market on pain with its new and expensive miracle drug, Oxycontin; extremely addictive in its own right. Quinones illuminates just how these two stories fit together as cause and effect: hooked on costly Oxycontin, American addicts were lured to much cheaper black tar heroin and its powerful and dangerous long-lasting high. Embroiled alongside the suppliers and buyers are DEA agents, local, small-town sheriffs, and the US attorney from eastern Virginia whose case against Purdue Pharma and Oxycontin made him an enemy of the Bush-era Justice Department, ultimately stalling and destroying his career in public service.

Dreamland is a scathing and incendiary account of drug culture and addiction spreading to every part of the American landscape.]]> 384 Sam Quinones 1620402505 Denise 5 This is a MUST read! 4.21 2015 Dreamland: The True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic
author: Sam Quinones
name: Denise
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2017/04/15
date added: 2017/04/15
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This is a MUST read!
]]> <![CDATA[Boundaries: When to Say Yes, How to Say No to Take Control of Your Life]]> 525488 --Gail Hudson ]]> 320 Henry Cloud 0310247454 Denise 4 4.20 1992 Boundaries: When to Say Yes, How to Say No to Take Control of Your Life
author: Henry Cloud
name: Denise
average rating: 4.20
book published: 1992
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2017/03/21
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead]]> 13588356 Researcher and thought leader Dr. Brené Brown offers a powerful new vision that encourages us to dare greatly: to embrace vulnerability and imperfection, to live wholeheartedly, and to courageously engage in our lives.

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; . . . who at best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.” —Theodore Roosevelt

Every day we experience the uncertainty, risks, and emotional exposure that define what it means to be vulnerable, or to dare greatly. Whether the arena is a new relationship, an important meeting, our creative process, or a difficult family conversation, we must find the courage to walk into vulnerability and engage with our whole hearts.

In Daring Greatly, Dr. Brown challenges everything we think we know about vulnerability. Based on twelve years of research, she argues that vulnerability is not weakness, but rather our clearest path to courage, engagement, and meaningful connection. The book that Dr. Brown’s many fans have been waiting for, Daring Greatly will spark a new spirit of truth—and trust—in our organizations, families, schools, and communities.]]> 287 Brené Brown 1592407331 Denise 5 4.29 2012 Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead
author: Brené Brown
name: Denise
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2012
rating: 5
read at: 2016/02/20
date added: 2017/03/14
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]]> <![CDATA[The Broken Way: A Daring Path into the Abundant Life]]> 27840581 288 Ann Voskamp 0310318580 Denise 5 4.19 2016 The Broken Way: A Daring Path into the Abundant Life
author: Ann Voskamp
name: Denise
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at: 2017/02/27
date added: 2017/02/27
shelves:
review:
This is a life-changing book...like Ann's "One Thousand Gifts"...it is destined to become a classic that I will revisit again and again. Ann has a very unique writing style that I am comfortable with, but if you're not, push through it. The whole is greater than the sum of its chapters.
]]> <![CDATA[New Morning Mercies: A Daily Gospel Devotional]]> 19353106 384 Paul David Tripp 1433541386 Denise 5 4.52 2014 New Morning Mercies: A Daily Gospel Devotional
author: Paul David Tripp
name: Denise
average rating: 4.52
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2017/02/05
date added: 2017/02/05
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Lead . . . for God's Sake!: A Parable for Finding the Heart of Leadership]]> 13114303 The lives of an intensely-driven basketball coach, an ultra-successful CEO, and an unassuming janitor all intersect in this captivating parable about leadership, relationships, and the pursuit of success. An unforgettable story packed with profound truths, LEAD . . . for God’s Sake! will challenge you to think deeply about who you are as a leader, what success means to you, and why you do what you do. Whether you’re leading a business, a team, or your own family, this book is the first and most important step to becoming the leader you were meant to be.]]> 256 Todd G. Gongwer 1414370555 Denise 4 4.27 2010 Lead . . . for God's Sake!: A Parable for Finding the Heart of Leadership
author: Todd G. Gongwer
name: Denise
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at: 2016/10/10
date added: 2016/10/10
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]]> <![CDATA[The Soul of Shame: Retelling the Stories We Believe About Ourselves]]> 24043208 Hearts Minds Bookstore's Best Books
Outreach Magazine's Resources of the Year We're all infected with a spiritual disease. Its name is shame. Whether we realize it or not, shame affects every aspect of our personal lives and vocational endeavors. It seeks to destroy our identity in Christ, replacing it with a damaged version of ourselves that results in unhealed pain and brokenness. But God is telling a different story for your life. Psychiatrist Curt Thompson unpacks the soul of shame, revealing its ubiquitous nature and neurobiological roots. He also provides the theological and practical tools necessary to dismantle shame, based on years of researching its damaging effects and counseling people to overcome those wounds. Thompson's expertise and compassion will help you identify your own pains and struggles and find freedom from the lifelong negative messages that bind you. Rewrite the story of your life and embrace healing and wholeness as you discover and defeat shame's insidious agenda.]]> 206 Curt Thompson 0830844333 Denise 5 4.31 2015 The Soul of Shame: Retelling the Stories We Believe About Ourselves
author: Curt Thompson
name: Denise
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2016/07/14
date added: 2016/09/03
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself]]> 10127008
The relentless pursuit of high self-esteem has become a virtual religion—and a tyrannical one at that. Our ultracompetitive culture tells us we need to be constantly above average to feel good about ourselves, but there is always someone more attractive, successful, or intelligent than we are. And even when we do manage to grab hold of high self-esteem for a brief moment, we can't seem to keep it. Our sense of self-worth goes up and down like a ping-pong ball, rising and falling in lockstep with our latest success or failure.

Fortunately, there is an alternative to self-esteem that many experts believe is a better and more effective path to happiness: self-compassion. The research of Dr. Kristin Neff and other leading psychologists indicates that people who are compassionate toward their failings and imperfections experience greater well-being than those who repeatedly judge themselves. The feelings of security and self-worth provided by self-compassion are also highly stable, kicking in precisely when self-esteem falls down. This book powerfully demonstrates why it's so important to be self-compassionate and give yourself the same caring support you'd give to a good friend.

This groundbreaking work will show you how to let go of debilitating self-criticism and finally learn to be kind to yourself. Using solid empirical research, personal stories, practical exercises, and humor, Dr. Neff—the world's foremost expert on self-compassion—explains how to heal destructive emotional patterns so that you can be healthier, happier, and more effective. Engaging, highly readable, and eminently accessible, this book has the power to change your life.]]> 320 Kristin Neff 0061733512 Denise 4 4.10 2011 Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself
author: Kristin Neff
name: Denise
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2016/09/03
date added: 2016/09/03
shelves:
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This book is very helpful at looking at life in a different way. It astounds me that our default is always self-criticism, judgment, comparing, and thinking we would be living in nirvana "if only." While Neff points out a lot associated with Buddhism, which I take with a grain of salt, it is consistent with my Christian faith. I can only be self-compassionate and self-appreciating because I am a daughter of the King of kings and loved by the God of creation. Worthwhile reading.
]]> <![CDATA[Rising Strong: The Reckoning. The Rumble. The Revolution]]> 23317538
It is the rise from falling that Brown takes as her subject in Rising Strong. As a grounded theory researcher, Brown has listened as a range of people—from leaders in Fortune 500 companies and the military to artists, couples in long-term relationships, teachers, and parents—shared their stories of being brave, falling, and getting back up. She asked herself, What do these people with strong and loving relationships, leaders nurturing creativity, artists pushing innovation, and clergy walking with people through faith and mystery have in common? The answer was clear: They recognize the power of emotion and they’re not afraid to lean in to discomfort.

Walking into our stories of hurt can feel dangerous. But the process of regaining our footing in the midst of struggle is where our courage is tested and our values are forged. Our stories of struggle can be big ones, like the loss of a job or the end of a relationship, or smaller ones, like a conflict with a friend or colleague. Regardless of magnitude or circumstance, the rising strong process is the same: We reckon with our emotions and get curious about what we’re feeling; we rumble with our stories until we get to a place of truth; and we live this process, every day, until it becomes a practice and creates nothing short of a revolution in our lives. Rising strong after a fall is how we cultivate wholeheartedness. It’s the process, Brown writes, that teaches us the most about who we are.]]> 336 Brené Brown 0812995821 Denise 5 4.24 2015 Rising Strong: The Reckoning. The Rumble. The Revolution
author: Brené Brown
name: Denise
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2016/04/24
date added: 2016/04/24
shelves:
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Life-changing if put into practice...all backed by research from someone in my profession..social work! Not for the faint of heart!
]]> <![CDATA[Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus: A Devout Muslim Encounters Christianity]]> 18289396 304 Nabeel Qureshi 0310515025 Denise 5 4.57 2014 Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus: A Devout Muslim Encounters Christianity
author: Nabeel Qureshi
name: Denise
average rating: 4.57
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2016/02/28
date added: 2016/02/28
shelves:
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Devoured this book! Very very educational about the Islamic worldview and how culture and tradition are formidable barriers to Muslims to consider any other alternative. You struggle with Nabeel Qureshi as he defends his lifelong beliefs. He is also lighthearted and appears very likable. It is quite an adventure.
]]> <![CDATA[Whiter Than Snow: Meditations on Sin and Mercy]]> 3630181
Sin and grace-these are the two themes of our lives. We all blow it and we all need to start over again. In Psalm 51, David tells his story of moral failure, personal awareness, grief, confession, repentance, commitment, and hope. And because David's story is every believer's story, Psalm 51 is every believer's psalm. It tells how we, as broken sinners, can be brutally honest with God and yet stand before him without fear.

Whiter Than Snow unpacks this powerful little psalm in fifty-two meditations, reminding readers that by God's grace there is mercy for every wrong and grace for every new beginning. Designed for busy believers, these brief and engaging meditations are made practical by the reflection questions that conclude each chapter.]]> 160 Paul David Tripp 1433502305 Denise 5 4.40 2008 Whiter Than Snow: Meditations on Sin and Mercy
author: Paul David Tripp
name: Denise
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2008
rating: 5
read at: 2016/02/28
date added: 2016/02/28
shelves:
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A powerful and convicting devotional that focuses on Psalm 51. Tripp provides through this Psalm a mirror that shows unmistakably that the desperately needed rescue we have is for God to rescue us from ourselves. Encouraging and challenging, Tripp leads us to conclude that those of us who have been redeemed by Christ should be the most celebratory folks on earth.
]]> The Gifts of Imperfection 7015403 New York Times best seller, Dr. Brené Brown, a research professor and thought leader on vulnerability, courage, worthiness, and shame, shares ten guideposts on the power of Wholehearted living—a way of engaging with the world from a place of worthiness.]]> 137 Brené Brown 159285849X Denise 5 4.25 2010 The Gifts of Imperfection
author: Brené Brown
name: Denise
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2010
rating: 5
read at: 2013/06/03
date added: 2016/02/21
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]]> <![CDATA[The Hardest Peace: Expecting Grace in the Midst of Life's Hard]]> 20820619
Kara Tippetts knows the ordinary days of mothering four kids, the joy of watching her children grow ... and the devestating reality of stage-four cancer. In The Hardest Peace , Kara doesn't offer answers for when living is hard, but she asks us to join her in moving away from fear and control and toward peace and grace. Most of all, she draws us back to the God who is with us, in the mundane and the suffering, and who shapes even our pain into beauty. Winner of the 2015 Christian Book Award® in the Inspiration category.]]> 192 Kara Tippetts 0781412153 Denise 5 4.40 2014 The Hardest Peace: Expecting Grace in the Midst of Life's Hard
author: Kara Tippetts
name: Denise
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2016/02/21
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[Special Children, Challenged Parents: The Struggles and Rewards of Raising a Child with a Disability, Revised Edition]]> 1850374 320 Robert A. Naseef 1557665354 Denise 5 4.24 1997 Special Children, Challenged Parents: The Struggles and Rewards of Raising a Child with a Disability, Revised Edition
author: Robert A. Naseef
name: Denise
average rating: 4.24
book published: 1997
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2016/02/21
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[The Greatest Gift: Unwrapping the Full Love Story of Christmas]]> 17714302 263 Ann Voskamp 1414387083 Denise 5 4.31 2013 The Greatest Gift: Unwrapping the Full Love Story of Christmas
author: Ann Voskamp
name: Denise
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2013
rating: 5
read at: 2015/12/25
date added: 2016/01/09
shelves:
review:
Highly recommend if you want an amazing, meaningful Christmas.
]]> <![CDATA[Epicenter: Why Current Rumblings in the Middle East Will Change Your Future]]> 390163
Drawing on his experience in Washington, his own exclusive interviews with world leaders, and his astute political acumen, Joel makes sense of the events surrounding the Middle East. He connects information in a way that will make you understand and really care about the world's most important events and how they impact your life―from gas prices to your bank account.

Epicenter is Epicenter will answer questions ]]> 312 Joel C. Rosenberg 1414311354 Denise 0 4.19 2006 Epicenter: Why Current Rumblings in the Middle East Will Change Your Future
author: Joel C. Rosenberg
name: Denise
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2006
rating: 0
read at: 2016/01/09
date added: 2016/01/09
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[Distracted: The Erosion of Attention and the Coming Dark Age]]> 2602456 330 Maggie Jackson 1591026237 Denise 0 3.18 2008 Distracted: The Erosion of Attention and the Coming Dark Age
author: Maggie Jackson
name: Denise
average rating: 3.18
book published: 2008
rating: 0
read at: 2016/01/09
date added: 2016/01/09
shelves:
review:
I was trying to finish this, but I got distracted!!!! HAHAHAHA
]]> <![CDATA[Idol Lies: Facing the Truth About Our Deepest Desires]]> 18918903 274 Dee Brestin Denise 5 4.24 2012 Idol Lies: Facing the Truth About Our Deepest Desires
author: Dee Brestin
name: Denise
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2012
rating: 5
read at: 2014/08/03
date added: 2014/12/07
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]]> Yearning for Normal 19703339 I got him some pants for modesty, covering his burnt waist and buttocks.
I remembered a little from nursing school about burns, so I tried to get him to lie down on a quilt since I knew he was in danger of going into shock.

This heartbreaking journey will take Susan Busch and her son, Mike, through hospitals, backyards, schoolrooms, psychiatric wards, a court room, a burn unit, and the corridors of Susan's own heart. But beyond the struggles of adjusting to life with this deletion, there is a tale of humanity, with all its sorrow, love, and hope. This story is not just for the parents of children with 22q.11 Deletion syndrome, but for their friends, neighbors, doctors, nurses, teachers, speech therapists, social workers, police officers, paramedics, firefighters, ministers, and whoever else likes a good story.]]> 328 Susan Ellison Busch Denise 5 5.00 2013 Yearning for Normal
author: Susan Ellison Busch
name: Denise
average rating: 5.00
book published: 2013
rating: 5
read at: 2014/01/23
date added: 2014/11/24
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]]> <![CDATA[The Tale of the Devil: The Biography of Devil Anse Hatfield]]> 501995 320 Coleman Hatfield 0972486712 Denise 4 3.72 2003 The Tale of the Devil: The Biography of Devil Anse Hatfield
author: Coleman Hatfield
name: Denise
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2003
rating: 4
read at: 2014/03/07
date added: 2014/05/29
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]]> <![CDATA[Introverts in the Church: Finding Our Place in an Extroverted Culture]]> 6752622 222 Adam S. McHugh 0830837027 Denise 5 3.97 2009 Introverts in the Church: Finding Our Place in an Extroverted Culture
author: Adam S. McHugh
name: Denise
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2009
rating: 5
read at: 2013/01/12
date added: 2014/02/06
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]]> <![CDATA[A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life]]> 1999475 Full of beautiful, heart-wrenching, and hilarious stories, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years details one man's opportunity to edit his life as if he were a character in a movie.

Years after writing his best-selling memoir, Donald Miller went into a funk and spent months sleeping in and avoiding his publisher. One story had ended, and Don was unsure how to start another.

But he gets rescued by two movie producers who want to make a movie based on his memoir. When they start fictionalizing Don's life for film--changing a meandering memoir into a structured narrative--the real-life Don starts a journey to edit his actual life into a better story. A Million Miles in a Thousand Years details that journey and challenges readers to reconsider what they strive for in life. It shows how to get a second chance at life the first time around.

]]> 255 Donald Miller 0785213066 Denise 5 love Donald Miller anyway...but this book was life changing viewing life as story and about the Person who is writing my story. His self-deprecating humor, his honesty, and casual, conversational writing style makes this book not only insightful, but a pleasure to read.]]> 4.12 2009 A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life
author: Donald Miller
name: Denise
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2009
rating: 5
read at: 2014/01/03
date added: 2014/01/03
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review:
So love Donald Miller anyway...but this book was life changing viewing life as story and about the Person who is writing my story. His self-deprecating humor, his honesty, and casual, conversational writing style makes this book not only insightful, but a pleasure to read.
]]> <![CDATA[All Is Grace: A Ragamuffin Memoir]]> 10894332 240 Brennan Manning 1434764184 Denise 5 Powerful...so powerful. 4.28 2011 All Is Grace: A Ragamuffin Memoir
author: Brennan Manning
name: Denise
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at: 2013/12/14
date added: 2013/12/14
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Powerful...so powerful.
]]> <![CDATA[Born Fighting: How the Scots-Irish Shaped America]]> 223428
Born Fighting is the first book to chronicle the full journey of this remarkable cultural group, and the profound, but unrecognized, role it has played in the shaping of America. Written with the storytelling verve that has earned his works such acclaim as “captivating . . . unforgettable” (the Wall Street Journal on Lost Soliders ), Scots-Irishman James Webb, Vietnam combat veteran and former Naval Secretary, traces the history of his people, beginning nearly two thousand years ago at Hadrian’s Wall, when the nation of Scotland was formed north of the Wall through armed conflict in contrast to England’s formation to the south through commerce and trade. Webb recounts the Scots’ odyssey—their clashes with the English in Scotland and then in Ulster, their retreat from one war-ravaged land to another. Through engrossing chronicles of the challenges the Scots-Irish faced, Webb vividly portrays how they developed the qualities that helped settle the American frontier and define the American character.

Born Fighting shows that the Scots-Irish were 40 percent of the Revolutionary War army; they included the pioneers Daniel Boone, Lewis and Clark, Davy Crockett, and Sam Houston; they were the writers Edgar Allan Poe and Mark Twain; and they have given America numerous great military leaders, including Stonewall Jackson, Ulysses S. Grant, Audie Murphy, and George S. Patton, as well as most of the soldiers of the Confederacy (only 5 percent of whom owned slaves, and who fought against what they viewed as an invading army). It illustrates how the Scots-Irish redefined American politics, creating the populist movement and giving the country a dozen presidents, including Andrew Jackson, Teddy Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton. And it explores how the Scots-Irish culture of isolation, hard luck, stubbornness, and mistrust of the nation’s elite formed and still dominates blue-collar America, the military services, the Bible Belt, and country music.

Both a distinguished work of cultural history and a human drama that speaks straight to the heart of contemporary America, Born Fighting reintroduces America to its most powerful, patriotic, and individualistic cultural group—one too often ignored or taken for granted.]]> 384 James Webb 0767916891 Denise 5 3.79 2004 Born Fighting: How the Scots-Irish Shaped America
author: James Webb
name: Denise
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2004
rating: 5
read at: 2013/10/06
date added: 2013/10/06
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This is a book everyone interested in their Scots-Irish heritage should read. It is a non-fiction piece of work with a structure similar to a novel. It validates a lot of what I have always felt/believed, particularly about the generalization of WASP's and how the Scots-Irish history and culture is definitely contradictory than this over-generalization of white America. It also explains a lot about myself...a lot to embrace...particularly my own individualism and willingness to fight for a principled belief and not retreat. Fabulous work...taking three decades of the author's research.
]]> <![CDATA[The Digital Invasion: How Technology Is Shaping You And Your Relationships]]> 16234351 240 Archibald D. Hart 0801015294 Denise 5 4.00 2013 The Digital Invasion: How Technology Is Shaping You And Your Relationships
author: Archibald D. Hart
name: Denise
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2013
rating: 5
read at: 2013/07/29
date added: 2013/07/29
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A book every Christian who participates in our digital world should read! Thought provoking...kind of puts it out there what we don't want to admit.
]]> <![CDATA[Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality]]> 7214 Librarian's note: See alternate cover edition of ISBN 0785263705 here.

"I never liked jazz music because jazz music doesn't resolve. I used to not like God because God didn't resolve. But that was before any of this happened." ―Donald Miller

In Donald Miller's early years, he was vaguely familiar with a distant God. But when he came to know Jesus Christ, he pursued the Christian life with great zeal. Within a few years he had a successful ministry that ultimately left him feeling empty, burned out, and, once again, far away from God. In this intimate, soul-searching account, Miller describes his remarkable journey back to a culturally relevant, infinitely loving God.

For anyone wondering if the Christian faith is still relevant in a postmodern culture.

For anyone thirsting for a genuine encounter with a God who is real.

For anyone yearning for a renewed sense of passion in  life.

Blue Like Jazz is a fresh and original perspective on life, love, and redemption.

]]> 243 Donald Miller 0785263705 Denise 5 3.90 2003 Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality
author: Donald Miller
name: Denise
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2003
rating: 5
read at: 2013/07/17
date added: 2013/07/17
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]]> <![CDATA[The Writing Diet: Write Yourself Right-Size]]> 189291 256 Julia Cameron 1585425710 Denise 3 3.43 2007 The Writing Diet: Write Yourself Right-Size
author: Julia Cameron
name: Denise
average rating: 3.43
book published: 2007
rating: 3
read at: 2013/04/08
date added: 2013/04/08
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]]> <![CDATA[Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking]]> 8520610 The book that started the Quiet Revolution

At least one-third of the people we know are introverts. They are the ones who prefer listening to speaking; who innovate and create but dislike self-promotion; who favor working on their own over working in teams. It is to introverts—Rosa Parks, Chopin, Dr. Seuss, Steve Wozniak—that we owe many of the great contributions to society. 

In Quiet, Susan Cain argues that we dramatically undervalue introverts and shows how much we lose in doing so. She charts the rise of the Extrovert Ideal throughout the twentieth century and explores how deeply it has come to permeate our culture. She also introduces us to successful introverts—from a witty, high-octane public speaker who recharges in solitude after his talks, to a record-breaking salesman who quietly taps into the power of questions. Passionately argued, superbly researched, and filled with indelible stories of real people, Quiet has the power to permanently change how we see introverts and, equally important, how they see themselves.

Now with Extra Libris material, including a reader’s guide and bonus content.]]> 333 Susan Cain 0307352145 Denise 5 4.07 2012 Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking
author: Susan Cain
name: Denise
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2012
rating: 5
read at: 2013/04/07
date added: 2013/04/07
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]]> <![CDATA[I Will Carry You: The Sacred Dance of Grief and Joy]]> 7172323 I Will Carry You tells the powerful story of a parent losing her child, interwoven with the biblical story of Lazarus to help those who mourn to still have hope—to find grace and peace in the sacred dance of grief and joy.]]> 224 Angie Smith 080546428X Denise 4 4.44 2010 I Will Carry You: The Sacred Dance of Grief and Joy
author: Angie Smith
name: Denise
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2010
rating: 4
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]]> Succulent Wild Woman 164836
I explore love, sexuality, romance, money, fat, fear and creativity. It's a little bit like reading my diary -- with permission. Succulence is powerFull! and so are we as women.]]> 184 SARK 068483376X Denise 5 4.15 1997 Succulent Wild Woman
author: SARK
name: Denise
average rating: 4.15
book published: 1997
rating: 5
read at:
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]]> <![CDATA[I Could Do Anything If I Only Knew What It Was: How to Discover What You Really Want and How to Get It]]> 192832
“For those who want to find their passion . . . a step-by-step guide for restructuring one’s life so that it has meaning, direction, and joy.”—Ellen Kreidman, author of Light His Fire and Light Her Fire

If you suspect there could be more to life than what you’re getting, if you always knew you could do anything —if you only knew what it was—this extraordinary book is about to prove you right. No matter what your age, no matter how “unattainable” your dreams, you can create and live a life you love.
 
I Could Do Anything If Only I Knew What It Was reveals how you can recapture “long lost” goals, overcome the blocks that inhibit your success, decide what you want to be, and live your dreams forever. You will learn:
 
• What to do if you never chose to be what you are.
• How to get off the fast track—and on to the right track.
• First aid techniques for paralyzing chronic negativity.
• How to regroup when you've lost your big dream.
• To stop waiting for luck—and start creating it.
 
A life without direction is a life without passion. I Could Do Anything If Only I Knew What It Was guides you not to another unsatisfying job but to a richly rewarding career rooted in your heart’s desire.]]> 322 Barbara Sher 0440505003 Denise 4 3.78 1994 I Could Do Anything If I Only Knew What It Was: How to Discover What You Really Want and How to Get It
author: Barbara Sher
name: Denise
average rating: 3.78
book published: 1994
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[Codependent No More: How to Stop Controlling Others and Start Caring for Yourself]]> 720298 The cultural phenomenon that has helped heal millions of readers, this modern classic holds the key to understanding codependency and unlocking its hold on your life.

Melody Beattie’s compassionate and insightful look into codependency—the concept of losing oneself in the name of helping another—has guided millions of readers toward the understanding that they are powerless to change anyone but themselves and that caring for the self is where healing begins.

Is someone else’s problem your problem? If, like so many others, you’ve lost sight of your own life in the drama of tending to a loved one’s self-destructive behavior, you may be codependent—and you may find yourself in this book. With personal reflections, exercises, and instructive stories drawn from Beattie’s own life and the lives of those she’s counseled, Codependent No More helps you break old patterns and maintain healthy boundaries, and offers a clear and achievable path to healing, hope, freedom, and happiness.

This revised edition includes an all-new chapter on trauma and anxiety—subjects Beattie has long felt necessary to address within the context of codependency—making it even more relevant today than it was when it first entered the national conversation over thirty-five years ago.]]> 276 Melody Beattie 0894864025 Denise 5 4.12 1986 Codependent No More: How to Stop Controlling Others and Start Caring for Yourself
author: Melody Beattie
name: Denise
average rating: 4.12
book published: 1986
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[In the Grip of Grace: You Can't Fall Beyond His Love]]> 281520
Life is full of fumbles and stumbles. Fraught with opportunities to make mistakes, occasions to feel guilty, and the drive to "do it yourself." The pressure to be self-sufficient is high, but it isn't the life God offers.

The way of the world will direct you to try harder and work smarter so that you can take care of yourself and even make yourself successful. But the way of the cross will point toward the place where you stop striving ... stop pushing ... stop every self-initiated effort -- so that you can fall into the boundless, liberating, refreshing grace of God!

Just imagine being love-driven instead of self-propelled. Imagine abandoning your life to Jesus instead of trying to save yourself. Can you imagine exchanging your fears for that peace that passes understanding? Being relaxed and free instead of stressed-out and anxious? If you can imagine enjoying God instead of trying to repay him, then you can imagine grace.

So go ahead! Jump off the cliff of self-sufficiency. Leap out of legalism. Walk off the pier of guilt and condemnation. That's the only way you'll land in the strong arms of the Father who loves you ... the Father who catches you -- every time -- in the grip of his grace.]]> 235 Max Lucado 084995424X Denise 4 4.27 1996 In the Grip of Grace: You Can't Fall Beyond His Love
author: Max Lucado
name: Denise
average rating: 4.27
book published: 1996
rating: 4
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]]> Joni: An Unforgettable Story 124524 205 Joni Eareckson Tada 0310240018 Denise 4 4.25 1976 Joni: An Unforgettable Story
author: Joni Eareckson Tada
name: Denise
average rating: 4.25
book published: 1976
rating: 4
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]]> Through Gates of Splendor 56634 Through Gates of Splendor is the true story of five young missionaries who were savagely killed while trying to establish communication with the Auca Indians of Ecuador. The story is told through the eyes of Elisabeth Elliot, the wife of one of the young men who was killed.]]> 274 Elisabeth Elliot 0842371516 Denise 5 4.36 1957 Through Gates of Splendor
author: Elisabeth Elliot
name: Denise
average rating: 4.36
book published: 1957
rating: 5
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]]> A Grief Observed 49221
Written in longhand in notebooks that Lewis found in his home, A Grief Observed probes the "mad midnight moments" of Lewis's mourning and loss, moments in which he questioned what he had previously believed about life and death, marriage, and even God. Indecision and self-pity assailed Lewis. "We are under the harrow and can't escape," he writes. "I know that the thing I want is exactly the thing I can never get. The old life, the jokes, the drinks, the arguments, the lovemaking, the tiny, heartbreaking commonplace." Writing A Grief Observed as "a defense against total collapse, a safety valve," he came to recognize that "bereavement is a universal and integral part of our experience of love."

Lewis writes his statement of faith with precision, humor, and grace. Yet neither is Lewis reluctant to confess his continuing doubts and his awareness of his own human frailty. This is precisely the quality which suggests that A Grief Observed may become "among the great devotional books of our age."]]> 76 C.S. Lewis Denise 5 4.18 1961 A Grief Observed
author: C.S. Lewis
name: Denise
average rating: 4.18
book published: 1961
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here for?]]> 56495
Designed to be read in 42 days, each chapter provides a daily meditation and practical steps to help you discover and live out your purpose, starting with exploring three of life's most pressing questions:

The Question of Existence: Why am I alive?
The Question of Significance: Does my life matter?
The Question of Purpose: What on earth am I here for?

The book also includes links to 3-minute video introductions and a 30- to 40-minute audio Bible study message for each chapter. Plus questions for further study and additional resources.]]> 336 Rick Warren 0310276993 Denise 4 3.98 2002 The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here for?
author: Rick Warren
name: Denise
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2002
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[To See Your Face Again (Savannah Quartet, #2)]]> 572716 With a compelling mix of historical personalities and fictional characters, Eugenia Price paints a vivid portrait of the Old South that has enchanted tens of millions of readers worldwide. To See Your Face Again, the second book in the Savannah Quartet, continues the story of the Browning and Mackay families with the attention to detail, sympathy for humanity, and intimate family history that are Eugenia Prices' hallmarks.

Natalie Browning was a spoiled belle of sixteen when she met the man of her dreams aboard the steamship Pulaski. Burke Latimer, only eight years her senior, was a self-made man with no time for a pretty child. Then a night of terror ended the voyage and Burke discovered another Natalie. But the night that brought him love also wreaked disaster on his fortune, and Burke was forced to ask Natalie to wait until he could make a home worthy of her. Life had never denied Natalie before. Her need to be with Burke drove her to follow him to Georgia's back country, hoping to show him she was ready to be his bride. Could she grow up before she lost the love of her life forever?
]]> 512 Eugenia Price 0312962339 Denise 5 4.29 1985 To See Your Face Again (Savannah Quartet, #2)
author: Eugenia Price
name: Denise
average rating: 4.29
book published: 1985
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[Savannah (Savannah Quartet, #1)]]> 572728 Few writers have earned a place in readers' hearts as dear as Eugenia Price. Her novels entice us into a vanished world, peopled by characters who immediacy makes their joy, sorrow, heartbreak, and soaring love something we can share and savor. Eugenia Price chose Savannah, Georgia as one of the most fascinating cities of the South, as the setting of a quartet of novels that follow the fortunes of the city and families that gave it life.

Orphaned Mark Browning was only twenty when he renounced his father's fortune and sailed to Savannah, his mother's birthplace...and the home of two remarkable women. The first is Eliza McQueen Mackay, his mentor's beautiful wife, whom Mark loves with a deep, pure love that can never be spoken. The other is lovely young Caroline Cameron, whose life is blighted by a secret that has tormented her grandparents for half a century--a secret that affects Mark more closely than he imagines. Desiring one woman, loved by another Mark must confront the ghosts of a previous generation, and face the evil smoldering hate, before he can truly call Savannah his home.
]]> 608 Eugenia Price 0312962320 Denise 5 4.18 1983 Savannah (Savannah Quartet, #1)
author: Eugenia Price
name: Denise
average rating: 4.18
book published: 1983
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[Stranger in Savannah (Savannah Quartet, #4)]]> 572746
The Brownings: Mark Browning's unwavering faith in the Union sparks a battle of conscience that threatens all that he holds dear...and challenges the loyalty of his headstrong daughter, Natalie.

The Mackays: the elderly matriarch, Miss Eliza, is Mark's only ally in a city divided within itself.

The Stileses: Their lives are forever changed as the legacies of the past clash with an uncertain future.]]> 755 Eugenia Price 0385230699 Denise 5 4.31 1989 Stranger in Savannah (Savannah Quartet, #4)
author: Eugenia Price
name: Denise
average rating: 4.31
book published: 1989
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[Before the Darkness Falls (Savannah Quartet, #3)]]> 572727 552 Eugenia Price 0515105384 Denise 5 4.27 1987 Before the Darkness Falls (Savannah Quartet, #3)
author: Eugenia Price
name: Denise
average rating: 4.27
book published: 1987
rating: 5
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]]> Man's Search for Meaning 4069 Man's Search for Meaning has become one of the most influential books in America; it continues to inspire us all to find significance in the very act of living.]]> 165 Viktor E. Frankl 080701429X Denise 5 4.38 1946 Man's Search for Meaning
author: Viktor E. Frankl
name: Denise
average rating: 4.38
book published: 1946
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[Darkness Visible: A Memoir of Madness]]> 249042
"Compelling ... Harrowing ... a vivid portrait of a debilitating disorder ... It offers the solace of a shared experience."— The New York Times

A work of great personal courage and a literary tour de force, this bestseller is Styron's true account of his experience of crippling depression. Styron is perhaps the first writer to convey the full terror of depression's psychic landscape, as well as the illuminating path to recovery.]]> 84 William Styron 0679736395 Denise 4 4.01 1990 Darkness Visible: A Memoir of Madness
author: William Styron
name: Denise
average rating: 4.01
book published: 1990
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[North and South (North and South, #1)]]> 159178 812 John Jakes 0451200810 Denise 5 4.20 1982 North and South (North and South, #1)
author: John Jakes
name: Denise
average rating: 4.20
book published: 1982
rating: 5
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]]> The Crucible 17250
Written in 1953, The Crucible is a mirror Miller uses to reflect the anti-communist hysteria inspired by Senator Joseph McCarthy's "witch-hunts" in the United States. Within the text itself, Miller contemplates the parallels, writing, "Political opposition... is given an inhumane overlay, which then justifies the abrogation of all normally applied customs of civilized behavior. A political policy is equated with moral right, and opposition to it with diabolical malevolence."]]> 143 Arthur Miller 0142437336 Denise 5 3.61 1953 The Crucible
author: Arthur Miller
name: Denise
average rating: 3.61
book published: 1953
rating: 5
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]]> The Year of Magical Thinking 7815 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER • A landmark work about grief, love, and survival from one of America’s most iconic writers

One of The New York Times’s 100 Best Books of the 21st Century • One of The Guardian’s 100 Best Books of the 21st Century

Joan Didion delivers a searing portrait of a marriage and a life – in good times and bad – that will speak to anyone who has ever loved and lost a husband or wife or child. In a work of electric honesty and passion, Didion explores how we all, somehow, will ourselves to survive. “An utterly shattering portrait of loss and grief.” –The New York Times

Several days before Christmas 2003, John Gregory Dunne and Joan Didion saw their only daughter, Quintana Roo, fall ill with septic shock. She was put into an induced coma and placed on life support. Days later, the Dunnes were sitting down to dinner after visiting their daughter in the hospital when John suffered a fatal heart attack. In that one moment, their partnership of forty years came to an end.

This powerful narrative is Didion's “attempt to make sense of the weeks and then months that cut loose any fixed idea I ever had about death, about illness…about marriage and children and memory…about the shallowness of sanity, about life itself.”

“Didion has transformed grief into literature.” —The Guardian]]> 227 Joan Didion 1400078431 Denise 3 3.93 2005 The Year of Magical Thinking
author: Joan Didion
name: Denise
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2005
rating: 3
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]]> <![CDATA[Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life]]> 121732 Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life is a partial autobiography describing Lewis' conversion to Christianity. The book overall contains less detail concerning specific events than typical autobiographies. This is because his purpose in writing wasn't primarily historical. His aim was to identify & describe the events surrounding his accidental discovery of & consequent search for the phenomenon he labelled "Joy". This word was the best translation he could make of the German idea of Sehnsucht, longing. That isn't to say the book is devoid of information about his life. He recounts his early years with a measure of amusement sometimes mixed with pain.

However, while he does describe his life, the principal theme of the book is Joy as he defined it. This Joy was a longing so intense for something so good & so high up it couldn't be explained with words. He's struck with "stabs of joy" throughout life. He finally finds what it's for at the end. He writes about his experiences at Malvern College in 1913, aged 15. Though he described the school as "a very furnace of impure loves" he defended the practice as being "the only chink left thru which something spontaneous & uncalculating could creep in." The book's last two chapters cover the end of his search as he moves from atheism to theism & then from theism to Christianity. He ultimately discovers the true nature & purpose of Joy & its place in his own life.

The book isn't connected with his unexpected marriage in later life to Joy Gresham. The marriage occurred long after the period described, though not long after the book was published. His friends were quick to notice the coincidence, remarking he'd really been "Surprised by Joy". "Surprised by Joy" is also an allusion to Wordsworth's poem, "Surprised by Joy-Impatient As The Wind", relating an incident when Wordsworth forgot the death of his beloved daughter.]]> 185 C.S. Lewis 0006280838 Denise 5 4.06 1955 Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life
author: C.S. Lewis
name: Denise
average rating: 4.06
book published: 1955
rating: 5
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]]> Gift from the Sea 77295
With great wisdom and insight Lindbergh describes the shifting shapes of relationships and marriage, presenting a vision of life as it is lived in an enduring and evolving partnership. A groundbreaking, best-selling work when it was originally published in 1955, Gift from the Sea continues to be discovered by new generations of readers. With a new introduction by Lindbergh’s daughter Reeve, this fiftieth-anniversary edition will give those who are revisiting the book and those who are coming upon it for the first time fresh insight into the life of this remarkable woman.

The sea and the beach are elements that have been woven throughout Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s life. She spent her childhood summers with her family on a Maine island. After her marriage to Charles Lindbergh in 1929, she accompanied him on his survey flights around the North Atlantic to launch the first transoceanic airlines. The Lindberghs eventually established a permanent home on the Connecticut coast, where they lived quietly, wrote books and raised their family.

After the children left home for lives of their own, the Lindberghs traveled extensively to Africa and the Pacific for environmental research.]]> 130 Anne Morrow Lindbergh 0394724550 Denise 5 4.13 1955 Gift from the Sea
author: Anne Morrow Lindbergh
name: Denise
average rating: 4.13
book published: 1955
rating: 5
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]]> The Last Lecture 2318271
When Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon, was asked to give such a lecture, he didn't have to imagine it as his last, since he had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer. But the lecture he gave, 'Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams', wasn't about dying. It was about the importance of overcoming obstacles, of enabling the dreams of others, of seizing every moment (because time is all you have and you may find one day that you have less than you think). It was a summation of everything Randy had come to believe. It was about living.

In this book, Randy Pausch has combined the humour, inspiration, and intelligence that made his lecture such a phenomenon and given it an indelible form. It is a book that will be shared for generations to come.]]> 206 Randy Pausch 1401323251 Denise 4 4.25 2008 The Last Lecture
author: Randy Pausch
name: Denise
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2008
rating: 4
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date added: 2013/01/17
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]]> A Beautiful Mind 13912 The Absent-Minded Professor, or Ralph Nader, said to have had his own key to the library as an undergraduate. Or the "Phantom of Fine Hall," a figure many students had seen shuffling around the corridors of the math and physics building wearing purple sneakers and writing numerology treatises on the blackboards. The Phantom was John Nash, one of the most brilliant mathematicians of his generation, who had spiraled into schizophrenia in the 1950s. His most important work had been in game theory, which by the 1980s was underpinning a large part of economics. When the Nobel Prize committee began debating a prize for game theory, Nash's name inevitably came up—only to be dismissed, since the prize clearly could not go to a madman. But in 1994 Nash, in remission from schizophrenia, shared the Nobel Prize in economics for work done some 45 years previously.

Economist and journalist Sylvia Nasar has written a biography of Nash that looks at all sides of his life. She gives an intelligent, understandable exposition of his mathematical ideas and a picture of schizophrenia that is evocative but decidedly unromantic. Her story of the machinations behind Nash's Nobel is fascinating and one of very few such accounts available in print (the CIA could learn a thing or two from the Nobel committees).]]> 461 Sylvia Nasar 0571212921 Denise 5 4.14 1998 A Beautiful Mind
author: Sylvia Nasar
name: Denise
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1998
rating: 5
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date added: 2013/01/17
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]]> Night 1617 Night is the terrifying record of Elie Wiesel's memories of the death of his family, the death of his own innocence, and his despair as a deeply observant Jew confronting the absolute evil of man. This new translation by his wife and most frequent translator, Marion Wiesel, corrects important details and presents the most accurate rendering in English of Elie Wiesel's testimony to what happened in the camps and of his unforgettable message that this horror must simply never be allowed to happen again.]]> 120 Elie Wiesel 0374500010 Denise 5 4.38 1956 Night
author: Elie Wiesel
name: Denise
average rating: 4.38
book published: 1956
rating: 5
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date added: 2013/01/17
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]]> <![CDATA[The Hiding Place: The Triumphant True Story of Corrie Ten Boom]]> 561909
For thirty-five years Corrie's dramatic life story, full of timeless virtues, has prepared readers to face their own futures with faith, relying on God's love to overcome, heal, and restore. Now releasing in a thirty-fifth anniversary edition for a new generation of readers, The Hiding Place tells the riveting story of how a middle-aged Dutch watchmaker became a heroine of the Resistance, a survivor of Hitler's death camps, and one of the most remarkable evangelists of the twentieth century.]]> 242 Corrie ten Boom 0553256696 Denise 4 4.47 1971 The Hiding Place: The Triumphant True Story of Corrie Ten Boom
author: Corrie ten Boom
name: Denise
average rating: 4.47
book published: 1971
rating: 4
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date added: 2013/01/17
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]]> <![CDATA[Thinking in Pictures: The Making of the Movie Matewan]]> 103409 336 John Sayles 0306812665 Denise 5 4.20 1987 Thinking in Pictures: The Making of the Movie Matewan
author: John Sayles
name: Denise
average rating: 4.20
book published: 1987
rating: 5
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date added: 2012/09/09
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]]> <![CDATA[Zen of Seeing: Seeing/Drawing as Meditation]]> 228765
Seeing/Drawing is spiritual discipline, a "Zen method" admirably suited to the active temperament, and a way of contemplation by which all things are made new, by which the world is freshly experienced at each moment.]]> 160 Frederick Franck 0394719689 Denise 0 4.08 1973 Zen of Seeing: Seeing/Drawing as Meditation
author: Frederick Franck
name: Denise
average rating: 4.08
book published: 1973
rating: 0
read at: 2012/04/29
date added: 2012/05/04
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]]> <![CDATA[A Grace Disguised: How the Soul Grows Through Loss]]> 9840875 0 Jerry Sittser 0310319447 Denise 5 5.00 1995 A Grace Disguised: How the Soul Grows Through Loss
author: Jerry Sittser
name: Denise
average rating: 5.00
book published: 1995
rating: 5
read at: 2012/02/03
date added: 2012/02/03
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]]> <![CDATA[One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are]]> 8592946
In One Thousand Gifts, Ann invites you to embrace everyday blessings and embark on the transformative spiritual discipline of chronicling God's gifts. It s only in this expressing of gratitude for the life we already have, we discover the life we've always wanted, a life we can take, give thanks for, and break for others. We come to feel and know the impossible right down in our bones: we are wildly loved by God.

Let Ann's beautiful, heart-aching stories of the everyday give you a way of seeing that opens your eyes to ordinary amazing grace, a way of being present to God that makes you deeply happy, and a way of living that is finally fully alive. Come live the best dare of all!]]> 232 Ann Voskamp 0310321913 Denise 5 4.01 2011 One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are
author: Ann Voskamp
name: Denise
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at: 2012/01/28
date added: 2012/01/28
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]]> <![CDATA[At Home in the Heart of Appalachia: A Memoir]]> 489444
At once a poignant memoir and a tribute to America's most misunderstood region, At Home in the Heart of Appalachia describes a lush land of voluptuous summers, woodsmoke winters, and breathtaking autumns and springs. John O'Brien sees through the myths about Appalachia to its people and the mountain culture that has sustained them. And he takes to task naïve missionaries and rapacious industrialists who are the real source of much of the region's woe as well as its lingering hillbilly stereotypes. Finally, and profoundly, he comes to terms with the atavistic demons that haunt the relations between Appalachian fathers and sons.]]> 320 John O'Brien 0385721390 Denise 5 3.78 2001 At Home in the Heart of Appalachia: A Memoir
author: John O'Brien
name: Denise
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2001
rating: 5
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date added: 2011/10/10
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]]> The Ragamuffin Gospel 173526
Many believers feel stunted in their Christian growth. We beat ourselves up over our failures and, in the process, pull away from God because we subconsciously believe He tallies our defects and hangs His head in disappointment. In this newly repackaged edition--now with full appendix, study questions, and the author's own epilogue, ""Ragamuffin" Ten Years Later," Brennan Manning reminds us that nothing could be further from the truth. The Father beckons us to Himself with a "furious love" that burns brightly and constantly. Only when we truly embrace God's grace can we bask in the joy of a gospel that enfolds the most needy of His flock--the "ragamuffins."

Are you bedraggled, beat-up, burnt-out?

Most of us believe in God's grace--in theory. But somehow we can't seem to apply it in our daily lives. We continue to see Him as a small-minded bookkeeper, tallying our failures and successes on a score sheet.

Yet God gives us His grace, willingly, no matter what we've done. We come to Him as ragamuffins--dirty, bedraggled, and beat-up. And when we sit at His feet, He smiles upon us, the chosen objects of His "furious love."

Brennan Manning 's now-classic meditation on grace and what it takes to access it--simple honesty--has changed thousands of lives. Now with a Ragamuffin's thirty-day spiritual journey guide, it will change yours, too.]]> 240 Brennan Manning 1576737160 Denise 5 The Ragamuffin Gospel, Manning's first book, is destined to endure as a classic.]]> 4.18 1990 The Ragamuffin Gospel
author: Brennan Manning
name: Denise
average rating: 4.18
book published: 1990
rating: 5
read at: 2008/01/01
date added: 2011/09/23
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This book is not a fast read because of its richness, you want to savor every word and ponder every point. I have read this several times and continue to pull it out and gain fresh insights each time. It is compounded when you have heard Brennan in person...a slight, unassuming man, a former Franciscan priest. His memoir comes out in October and he has greatly declined physically since I heard him in Erie, PA three years ago, but remains mentally sharp. The Ragamuffin Gospel, Manning's first book, is destined to endure as a classic.
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