Melissa

This was exactly what I was looking for, a quick, yet detailed introduction to hormones. It's not exactly light reading, but it isn't overloaded with medical jargon either, although there is some, to be sure.
I noticed my library has other books in this “little introduction” series and now that I've read this one, I believe I'll give some of the others a try!

Stella had lots of great and interesting insights about his spiritual journey, things that I feel I've learned along the way too! I think if I would have read this book a few years ago, it would have blown my mind, but reading it now was pretty much Stella preaching to the choir.
He did give me some new things ponder, mainly views of “evil” and what morality has to do with our relationship with God.

I didn't quite get the last chapter, about the purpose/necessity of the church as an institution/organization. There wasn't really anything radically different or insightful mentioned at all. It made me think that he's still working through this area of spiritual life, perhaps? I have a feeling he will feel differently about that last chapter in a few more years. Maybe, maybe not. We'll see.

I bought this book for my daughter, but ended up stealing it and reading it myself. Don't worry, I gave it back. :)
This book is a great inspiration for any young aspiring artist.

Kristina's story is interesting and inspiring, and I love the way she “shares” her book with the reader and invites them to start creating within its pages right away!

If you have a creative young soul in your life, or if you ARE one, get this book! It's fun!

Ok, so I wanted to like this book more. And I still think it's worth reading. But definitely not all in one sitting. Each chapter tends to be very repetitive, with the same “moral to the story” just a slightly different anecdote. It's almost as if she took all her blog posts and pasted them together into a book. As a book in and of itself, it doesn't really measure up.

But, if you look at it as more of a devotional type of thing, and only read a chapter a month, I think you could get a lot more out of it. It would serve as a great reminder to put down the distractions and focus on the people in your life that matter. But reading it all at once is just too redundant.

Still, the message she wants to convey; that people (especially your kids) are more important than a heavy to-do list and all the electronic distractions we have nowadays, is worth considering.

Yep, that's right, I gave this book 5 stars, which I reserve for my very favorite stories. This book is now one of my must read children's books, I'll look forward to reading it again and again to my kiddos. The life-lessons taught in this book are great. I'd love to go into further detail, but I don't want to give anything away.
Beautiful story, wonderful creativity, and a great fantasy adventure book!

My daughter bought this book with her Christmas money, so I decided to read it first to see if it was any good. It was a cute, simple story that encourages kindness and looking for opportunities to help others. I like books that promote that kind of behavior! The main character, Cassie is even kind to a rude little girl, which I find refreshing.

I read this aloud to my daughter, and we all fell in love with it. This book is another example of a book I would have never picked up if it wasn't for being a part of the homeschool curriculum we use. It was delightful to step back in time to a different country and see what it was like to live as a child at the end of the 19th century. Siri and Erik were such great little kids to get to know, full of zest, compassion, integrity, cleverness, and diligence. And it was a joy to experience the excitement of uncovering Viking treasures with their family!

After reading the Shack, I couldn't wait to see what this one was about. I have to admit, I was disappointed. I'm trying to put my finger on exactly what it is about this book that made it not my favorite, and I think it's probably a couple of things. One, I think the author was trying to make too many points at once. Two, I think there were some weird moments in the story that were supposed to make it feel more light, playful, casual, whatever, and those moments just ended up being more awkward and weird instead.
Don't get me wrong, there were a few helpful points to learn from the book. Like what happens to us when we think of ourselves and shut others out. The imagery used in the story I think illustrated that point well. And, there were a few gems of lines that I found wise and valuable, like when Tony is talking to Jack about self-image and the soul:
“Tony you are a root,” Jack said, interrupting his spiral, “and only God knows what the flower will be. Don't get lost castigating yourself for being a root. Without the root, the flower can never be. The flower is an expression of what now appears so lowly and unimportant, a waste.”

But, I think the thing that really made this book a 2 star for me, was that I couldn't find that one thread, the one that you hold onto until the end, and as long as you hold onto that thread, the story can go anywhere, because you've caught the main thing. I still don't know what the MAIN thing was in this book.

As for reading it yourself, who knows, maybe you'll find the thread that I couldn't and it will all make sense, and then you can explain it to me. But as for right now, I think there was great potential for this book to address some very important spiritual issues, and unfortunately, I think it fell short.

Another great book by Jim Palmer. I feel I have traveled down a very similar path and it was refreshing to find that others are on this path too. If you are finding the religious institutions, traditions, etc. are weighing you down and confusing you about who God really is, this book will give you the courage to be free of those things and experience God in a real way.