My Review of "Cookie Love"

There are so many cookbooks out there.  So why another cookbook?

Mindy Segal's Cookie Love is a book written by a professional for everyday cooks.  Segal is Chicago's most iconic pastry chef, and Cookie Love is her first book.  It's a perfectly lovely book -- with all sorts of mouth-watering pictures -- but it's also a useful book for every kitchen, in bringing what is perhaps the greatest dessert food to every table:  Cookies.

The book is divided into chapters based on different cookie types (bar cookies, shortbread, etc) -- kind of a choose your own cookie-plate adventure.  The range and variety of cookies is truly impressive, and it's what stood out when I first flipped through the book.  The recipes are universally appealing -- they are cookies after all.  These are the kind of recipes that get me hyped up to get in the kitchen and bake.  And while it would be so easy to pick a few recipes and run off cooking, I don't actually know where to begin ... or where to stop.

That's because the recipes are the greatest part of the book.  They give you insight into how to prepare from the first steps until the final product.

I received a free copy of this book as part of the Blogging for Books program in exchange for my honest review here.

My Review of "Setting Limits with Your Strong-Willed Teen"

Disruptive misbehavior, constant power struggles, manipulative or aggressive behavior -- the challenges facing parents and teachers of strong-willed teens can seem overwhelming at times.  So Robert McKenzie has given us another treasure -- continuing in the tradition of his Setting Limits for Your Strong-Willed Child -- in the new Setting Limits with Your Strong Willed Teen.  This book offers the best advice for adults who care for teens, maneuvering between the twin tragedies of permissiveness and punishment.  Moving beyond the traditional methods to practices that focus the caring energies in meaningful and productive ways.

Mackenzie gives readers plenty of actual scenarios, of typical infractions, and how to handle them.  Which makes Setting Limits with Your Strong Willed Teen absolutely essential reading.

I received a free copy of this book as part of the Blogging for Books program in exchange for my honest review here.

My Review of "Bringing Heaven to Earth"

Having grown up in the church, I heard, sang and even prayed a lot about "going to heaven."  The idea was that I wasn't a citizen of the world, but was a pilgrim destined for more because of my faith in Jesus.  We talked about heaven, we prayed about heaven, and we sang about heaven.  So when I finally decided that I wasn't sure I wanted to remain a Christian because of all that "other-world" language, the idea of heaven and hell became the primary reason I would cite why I wasn't sure I wanted to remain a Christian.

After having read Josh Ross' and Jonathan Storment's Bringing Heaven to Earth:  You Don't Have to Wait for Eternity to Life the Good News, I know I'm not alone.

Bringing Heaven to Earth is a masterful book that explores what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ in the world God created, and how Jesus restores a vision of heaven and earth reunited.

Make no doubt about it, though, it's a challenging book, because it addresses so many myths we Christians typically believe, only because we've been taught them in our culture.  When we turn to Scripture, we find those myths obliterated by the truth of Jesus himself.

So this is a book I simply can't recommend too often. 

I received a free copy of this book as part of the Blogging for Books program in exchange for my honest review here.

Jonathan Storment