I reviewed the new updated 3rd edition Queen Bees and Wannabes: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends, and the New Realities of Girl World by Rosalind Wiseman.

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I was somewhat disappointed with the general attitude that the terrible issues addressed in the book are inevitable with preteen and teen girls.

I don’t believe that.

The book offers some good advice for parents to navigate raising a teen. I agree that relationships build trust and that is the goal, but the author limits parental boundaries in the name of trust, using negative words like “spying.”

It’s my job as a parent to use any means necessary to protect them. Computers in my house have passwords and filters installed and I monitor usage. I have open discussions with my children about social media and websites and the online world.

The book describes “Girl World” like it’s a foreign country or distant planet and parents can never possibly fully understand with its nuances and land mines.

The majority of the situations and role playing and quotes from “real” girls come across like shallow articles in girls’ and women’s magazines. They’re unrealistic and don’t quite make it to the point of offering much actual advice.

It offers advice for parents to “check their baggage” which is sometimes wise. Two of my children are extroverted, opposite my personality and they don’t have the same experiences with peers that I did. I actually learn a lot from them. They’re all great kids and do a great job interacting with others in a healthy way.

The advice for bullying is too light and doesn’t seem to address the real danger. Most children and teens (and even many adults) cannot address bullying issues reasonably and rationally. I’ve too often found little assistance from authorities like parents and school officials or theatre directors when dealing with bullies.

I think most of the issues with children and parents can be addressed with mutual respect. This begins when children are babies and toddlers. Trust is built on the give and take of learning healthy independence in a safe environment. By the time they are teens, parents should address the physical, emotional, and psychological changes taking place in a loving, respectful way.

The book comes across as a script for clueless parents, those so out of touch with popular culture and modern times that they have all but lost their kids to the world.

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

This is a delightful story for the whole family during the Advent season.

What to Expect from Ishtar’s Odyssey

The Story

My children often beg to read more than one chapter each evening.

You will love making Ishtar’s Odyssey a part of your Advent tradition.

Luther and Katharina: A Novel of Love and Rebellion by Jody Hedlund
A perfect time of year to read about the founder of the Reformation, Martin Luther, and his lovely bride, Katharina von Bora.

I love historical fiction. I’m not a huge fan of romance novels.

My Review:

This book did not disappoint. There was much more history than romance. The few scenes of romantic love were not embarrassing for me to read. I wouldn’t feel strange letting my 15-year-old daughter read this to get a feel for the historical setting and social times.

I appreciate the awkward relationship that a commoner like Martin Luther felt around the noble-born Katharina von Bora. The author well portrays the hostilities and friction of the peasant class and nobles, especially the German princes. Luther’s contemporaries are brought to life as the reader faces the reality of violence, death, the atrocities of the Catholic Church, nobility, and peasant uprisings.

This era was a time of social and religious turmoil. Interesting to review how Lutheranism played a part in ending feudalism after the Thirty Years’ War.

I love how it all intermingles with the love story of Martin Luther and Katharina von Bora at the center.

It was a shock to her that she had to work after leaving a nun’s life. We follow her dismay at her failed expectations as all her fellow nuns are married off and begin new lives but God has something special in store for her – Martin Luther himself!

I long for an entire book series to fill in the gaps before Martin met Katharina and about their later lives together.

The reader’s guide at the end of the book offers thirteen thought-provoking questions to explore with a reading club or friends and family.

I plan to have my daughter read this book to get a better understanding of Martin Luther as a man as well as the religious and historical figure we know him to be.

About the Book:

She was a nun of noble birth. He, a heretic, a reformer…an outlaw of the Holy Roman Empire.

In the 16th century, nun Katharina von Bora’s fate fell no further than the Abbey. Until she read the writings of Martin Luther.

His sweeping Catholic church reformation—condemning a cloistered life and promoting the goodness of marriage—awakened her desire for everything she’d been forbidden. Including Martin Luther himself.

Despite the fact that the attraction and tension between them is undeniable, Luther holds fast to his convictions and remains isolated, refusing to risk anyone’s life but his own. And Katharina longs for love, but is strong-willed. She clings proudly to her class distinction, pining for nobility over the heart of a reformer. They couldn’t be more different.

But as the world comes tumbling down around them, and with Luther’s threatened life a constant strain, these unlikely allies forge an unexpected bond of understanding, support and love.

Together, they will alter the religious landscape forever.

About the Author:

Jody Hedlund is a CBA best-selling author of ten books. Her first novel, The Preacher’s Bride, won the Reader’s Choice Award as part of the RWA Faith, Hope, and Love contest. Hedlund revels in bringing forgotten historic women to life and can usually be found with a book, a cup of coffee, and a piece of chocolate. She lives in Midland, Michigan, with her husband and five children. Jody comes from a strong Lutheran background, having both a father and uncle as Lutheran ministers. She attended Lutheran middle and high school.

Purchase Luther and Katharina: Available in Hardback, Paperback, or Kindle for only $9.99

400 pages, published by WaterBrook Press.

I received this eBook from Blogging for Books for this review.

I was offered Keepers of the Covenant by Lynn Austin for review from Litfuse Publicity Group. This is my honest opinion.

I love how the book opens with Haman. I thought the story would be just another Esther tale, but oh, was I wrong! Lynn Austin is a masterful storyteller – one of my favorite Christian authors, with such compelling historical fiction.

The prophet Ezra is brought to life, as a real man, husband, father, shepherd, and teacher. His struggles are real and he is an example to all followers to pray and seek God for guidance and follow the Biblical teachings uncompromisingly. Woven in this masterful story is a Bible lesson so clear and unmistakable that I cried as it unraveled as it revealed where I need healing and how I have failed and what I need to change to reconcile myself with God.

God’s people face bleak times and they question how they’ve sinned and how they can reconcile with God. This stood out to me: “It’s the highest form of praise to keep believing that God is good even when it doesn’t seem that way.”

The Jews in this book echo the sentiment I hear from many Christians today: “Surely this [Bible teaching] was for a different time, a different set of circumstances…”

And as a teacher and mother, these comments cut me to the quick: I “can’t expect others to obey God’s law if [I] don’t obey it…Why study it if [we’re] not going to live it?” Indeed.

Ezra’s relationship with his wife, Devorah, is a lovely example of a godly marriage. She is respectful but influential and guides her husband to do what is right. She is intelligent and thoughtful and strong.

I see myself in many of the characters in this book. Lost and alone and feeling guilty and unworthy and unvalued. I love the little theme of God’s law and teachings are for everyone, not just Jews.

Austin consistently has me on the edge of my seat with several plot conflicts, following multiple characters, and rooting for those characters to succeed and live out God’s plan.

About the book:

The Old Testament Comes to Thrilling Life in the Latest from Lynn Austin

In one life-changing moment, the lives of the Jewish exiles in Babylon are thrown into confusion and despair when a decree arrives from the king’s palace in Susa. It calls for the annihilation of every Jewish man, woman, and child throughout the empire on the thirteenth day of Adar, in less than one year. Ezra, a quiet Jewish scholar and teacher, is suddenly called upon to lead the community as they seek God for a reason for this catastrophe. When a second decree arrives, authorizing them to fight back, Ezra is thrust into the role of military leader as they defend themselves against their enemies.

When the battles come to an end, Ezra’s brother Jude is dead and Ezra is required by the Law he so diligently studies to marry Jude’s widow, Devorah, and provide an heir. Fatherhood changes Ezra, and he asks God to make a way for him and the other exiles to leave Babylon for good and return to Jerusalem. His prayers are answered and the exiles move to Judea to revitalize worship at the temple—but the fight to keep God’s Law is never easy. As more and more of his community are tempted, a new battle emerges . . . this one for the survival of God’s covenant and the souls of His chosen faithful.

About the Author:

Bestselling author Lynn Austin has sold more than one million copies of her books worldwide. She is an eight-time Christy Award winner for her historical novels, as well as a popular speaker at retreats and conventions. Lynn and her husband have raised three children and live near Chicago.

Liz and I are excited to review Annie Downs’ new book, Let’s All Be Brave: Living Life with Everything You Have by Zondervan.

When I first opened it, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I haven’t read any of Annie’s other two books, so I didn’t know her writing style at all. I was pleasantly surprised and this is certainly a book God wanted me to read – to help with my own issues and to minister to my daughters. And son too!

An extraordinary call to action for women…it’s Annie’s first book geared towards adults…but that insecure teen girl who lives inside all of us adult women who still struggle with self-esteem and confidence issues. It’s for us. Ahem.

A series of witty essays revolving around quirky themes, such as: soccer, Dale Murphy, missions, college, family, cereal. I feel like I’m sitting in a coffee shop or comfy living room chatting away about life. The “dialogue” strips away fears and helps encourage readers to live bravely, for God, for others…to step outside oneself and LIVE – fully and abundantly. Without fear.

I love how Annie speaks from her heart to mine. My daughter read the book too, in a matter of hours, and felt uplifted and encouraged. She’s thirteen, and going through those difficult and tumultuous times of feeling invincible and worthless, sometimes all at once. This is a great conversation-starting book.

This is a must-read for all young women. It’s an easy read, moving along quickly with short essays written in coffee shops around Nashville. And I love all the references to my native state of Georgia. Go Dale Murphy!

Annie F. Downs is an author and speaker based in Nashville, Tennessee. Flawed but funny, she uses her writing to highlight the everyday goodness of a real and present God.

Annie is the author of Let’s All Be Brave, a book for men and women about the power we each have to make a difference on this planet. She also has two books for teens: Perfectly Unique, a spiritual growth book for high school and college girls, and Speak Love, a challenge to women on how to use their words to make a difference in the world.

By weaving together personal stories, humor, and Scripture, she invites those reading to experience fulfilled lives with a God who made them on purpose and loves them deeply. You can learn more about her books here.

While she loves writing- books, blogs, articles, thank-you notes- Annie also enjoys traveling around the world speaking to young women, college students, and adults.You can learn more about her speaking events here.

Annie is a huge fan of bands with banjos, glitter, her community of friends, boiled peanuts, and football games.