Reviewed by Billy Burgess


Her older brother, Levi, refuses to join the church, and he decides to leave the Amish community. Their parents decide that it would be best off if they move away from Indiana. Marianna doesn’t want to leave her friends, her future beau and her brother. Her mother is expecting another child and Marianna has no other choice, but to travel with her family to Montana.

With letters, she keeps in touch with her friends and Levi. She soon learns that the move will bring her closer to God.

I have read dozens of books about the Amish, but Marianna Sommer is probably my favorite character. She is a sweet, innocent girl who wants to honor her family, but she is a constant reminder to her parents of that horrible night she was born. My first thought was Levi was your typical Amish fiction character who loses his faith and leaves the community, but there is more depth to him. Throughout the story are neat journal entries and letters written by Marianna that help the book standout from other Amish fiction out there today. Overall, I enjoyed reading Beside Still Waters, and look forward to reading more from Tricia Goyer.


Blog Tour Schedule: http://litfusegroup.com/blogtours/text/13199255


About Tricia:

Tricia Goyer is the author of twenty-six books including Songbird Under a German Moon, The Swiss Courier, and the mommy memoir, Blue Like Play Dough. She won Historical Novel of the Year in 2005 and 2006 from ACFW, and was honored with the Writer of the Year award from Mt. Hermon Writer's Conference in 2003. Tricia's book Life Interrupted was a finalist for the Gold Medallion in 2005. In addition to her novels, Tricia writes non-fiction books and magazine articles for publications like MomSense and Thriving Family. Tricia is a regular speaker at conventions and conferences, and has been a workshop presenter at the MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) International Conventions. She and her family make their home in Little Rock, Arkansas where they are part of the ministry of FamilyLife. Visit http://www.triciagoyer.com/ for more info.

*I would like to thank Houghton Mifflin and NetGalley for sending me a copy to review.

April Fools
BY: Riche Tankersley Cusick
PUBLISHED BY: Scholastic
PUBLISHED IN: 1990
ISBN: 0-590-43115-3
Pages: 218
Reviewed by Billy Burgess

Belinda, Frank and Hildy went joyriding on the night of April 1st. Frank flickered the headlights on and off for fun, or so they thought. They caused a terrible car accident that night. The other car blew up, so there was no hope of survival. Belinda and her friends left the scene of the crime. Two weeks go by, and Belinda no has a guilty conscience. Her friends tell her to just forget about it and get on with your life.

Wow! Tomorrow is the first of April, and my second year of blogging. Make sure you check out the April Fools Day Blog Hop I will be hosting on Friday.

Pages: 573

An angle of the Light, Azrael, makes his descend onto the earth, but in the form of a living-flesh body. There are scars on his back where his wings once were. Confused and naked on the street, he is confronted by young thugs. He quickly picks up their language and begs them for help. Azrael realizes that he had no other choice, but to defend himself and take one of the thugs clothes.

Azrael finds Celeste in a sleazy bar and tell her to come with him. Of course, she doesn’t want to go with a psycho. He eventually tells her who he is and that he is there to protect her from the evil forces that have been ruining her life. A horrible battle for control of the mortal realm is coming, and Celeste is now in the middle of it. The angel has one problem, the longer he stays in his half-human form, the more he becomes human. He starts to have desires, and is very attractive to Celeste. T

To same the human race, Celeste must show Azrael the dark world and addictions that she has been living in her entire life, or the forces of evil will take over.

There are many books written about fallen angels falling in love with humans, and a few movies too. When I signed up to review Surrender the Dark, I didn’t realize that it was about angels. I changed my mind after reading the intriguing prologue, as the Azrael leaves heaven and descends upon the Earth. Many heroines are clichéd, but Celeste is a bit of fresh air and realization. She is a strong willed women with many weaknesses. She was never looking for a knight in shining armor to rescue her from her bad lifestyle, until Azrael came into her life. I can easily see this as a blockbuster movie. I recommend Surrender the Dark to all urban fantasy fans.

*I would like to thank Pocket Books for sending me a copy to review.

When did you become interested in storytelling?

My father and grandmother were great wits and storytellers, so I grew up surrounded by wonderful Southern stories. I have loved the art of storytelling as long as I can remember.

Are there any stories/tales that did not make it into your book?

An anecdote entitled "English as a Second Language" did not make the cut. The gist is on occasion my husband has been known to confuse the English language. My husband and I were in France on a tour with another couple. The tour guide was putting us onto buses according to our native language. The guide asked us if we spoke English to which our friend quipped, "Three of us do!" That was the morning my husband ordered a croton for breakfast. Imagine his dismay when the waiter served him a plant instead of a croissant! I soon discovered the apple does not fall far from the tree. At Christmas, I asked my son to attend the cantata at church. As we were seated and the singing began, he turned to me and said, "I thought it was a covered dish!"

What types of books do you read?

I love anything Southern-especially Southern humor. I love the Classics. I love English authors. I love historical fiction and a good love story is always a treat.

What well-known writers do you admire most?

My most loved book is A Tale of Two Cities-I love all of Charles Dickens' works. My other favorite English author is Daphne du Maurier. William Faulkner, Taylor Caldwell, and John Steinbeck are all favorites. Pat Conroy is my favorite modern day author. The Prince of Tides is one of my favorite books. I have read and loved all of Pat Conroy's books. He is a master of words and descriptions. You can sense and feel his settings and his characters become a part of you. Anne Rivers Siddons has especially strong women characters. As a Southern humorist, Fannie Flagg can not be beat.

What is the most difficult part of writing?

Writing down oral stories is very difficult. You tend to write like you talk and it often comes out confusing and opaque. There is an art to telling stories and an art to conveying those stories in the written word.

Do you find it hard to balance your writing with your personal life?

This is my first book and marketing a book is extremely time-consuming in addition to finding time to continue writing. When Miss Hildreth Wore Brown came out, the scheduling was a little overwhelming. I decided quickly I wanted this to be a fun experience and am now doing a better job of balancing my writing and personal life.

Do you have any other works in progress?

Though I do have some ideas bouncing around in my head, my main goal right now is marketing Miss Hildreth.

Do you have a bog, website, or links to share?

My website is http://www.oliviadebellebyrd.com/

You can read an excerpt, see my coming events, email me, and order the book. A new exciting event is my April Blog Tour! You can follow it on my website. I love to interact with my readers, so feel free to email me.

EFT for Procrastination
BY: Gloria Arenson, MFT

You have to think positive thought if you want to achieve your goals. For ex., Tell yourself I can do this, and I can be a better person. Through out the book are true stories on normal everyday people who struggle with procrastination. They struggle to accomplish goals and making the proper changes in life. They took the EFT, aka emotional acupuncture, and have made successful changes.

I never heard about Emotional Freedom Techniques before reviewing this book. Techniques are about tapping on certain parts of your body, like under nose, under eye, etc., to step into the energy that flows through your body. I tried this, and honestly, I just didn’t get it. Maybe it takes lots of practice, but I can’t see this ever working on a person. I can understand repeating the positive phrases during the EFT, but can’t a person just close their eyes and repeat the phrases to calm their nerves down.

I enjoyed most the chapters that Gloria Arenson wrote herself and the stories she shared about others. Despite the fact that I didn’t care for the EFT, I still think that a person can get a lot out of reading the book.

*I would like to thank Energy Psychology Press for sending me a copy to review.

Are you sensitive to your own feelings? These is one of the questions the author wants you to ask yourself to help you overcome your fears and doubts. She recommend using the using the EFT, Emotional Freedom Techniques, method founded by Gary Craig.

I personally, have never heard about Emotional Freedom Techniques before reviewing these books. Techniques are about tapping on certain parts of your body, like under nose, under eye, etc., to step into the energy that flows through your body. I tried this, and honestly, I just didn’t get it. Maybe it takes lots of practice, but I can’t see this ever working on a person. I can understand repeating the positive phrases during the EFT, but can’t a person just close their eyes and repeat the phrases to clam their nerves down.

I’m somewhat shy, well I was as a kid, and that was one of the reasons I wanted to review this book. The author has a checklist for you to find out how sensitive you are. I checked only for, therefore, I’m not that sensitive as I thought. There people out there that are sensitive, and I would recommend EFT for the Highly Sensitive Temperament, as they may get some benefit out of reading it.

*I would like to thank Energy Psychology Press for sending me a copy to review.