Thursday Tags: Questions About Books

I found this tag over at Lauren Reads YA.  I am going to tag EVERYONE on this tag, so don't forget to add links to your posts in the description or put your answers in the comments.

1. What is your favourite book?
Does the Bible count as just one book?  If not, the book of Esther from the Bible :)

2. Who is your favourite author?
I have several.  Ted Dekker, J.K. Rowling, Jenny Nimmo (Charlie Bone series), Neal Shusterman, William Sirls, Cidney Swanson, Kasie West (can you judge an author by only one book read?), Scott Westerfeld, and Marissa Meyer are some of my favorites.

3. What genre do you prefer?
 I read a lot of YA, especially paranormal and fantasy.  I read some YA contemporary.  I also like christian fiction (adult and YA), christian fantasy, and christian inspirational.  I also read some christian historical fiction.  Basically, anything PG :)

4. What is your favourite book series?

Of all time?  Probably Harry Potter. 

5. What books did you hate reading in school?

I love reading, but when it is required it is not as interesting to me.  I never hate reading, but I did not like required reading in school.

6. What is the first book you remember reading as a child?

Anything Dr. Seuss!

7.  Bookstores or libraries?

I love both!  If I had mony to spend, I would buy a lot more books than I do.  I love libraries though because I can read a book and not feel like I am wasting my money if I do not enjoyt the book.  Oftentimes, I just buy the books that I know that I will reread.
 

8.  How many books do you own?

Too many to count... probably around 100 or more.
 

9. Do you read before bed? 

Sometimes

10. What is your most comfortable reading position?

Sitting

11. What is the most recent book you read?

The last book I finished was Death Note Volume 3.

12. What quote from any book will you never forget? Why is it significant?

Mostly, I only remember Bible verses (Jeremiah 29:11, John 3:16, ect.).

13. Science Fiction or Fantasy?

Can I pick both?  I am going to say both.

14. What books do you regret reading?

Anything not PG rated I will not finish reading.
 

15. How large is your bookshelf? 

I have a lot of small bookshelves.

16. On average, how many books do you read per year?

Last year, I read 58 books towards my Goodreads goal of 75 books.  This year, I hope to read 75 books.  So far, I have read 49.

17. What book can you read hundreds of times and never get tired of? 

The Bible

18. Do you like to read outside?

Yes

19. What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned from a book?

There are many lessons that I have learned from the Bible.  Mainly, that God's love is incredible and there is always hope.  From other books, the biggest lesson that I have learned is that friendship is an incredible thing that you should always be grateful for.

20. Of the past year, what is the greatest book you’ve read? 

The best book that I have read in 2014 is either The Exile by Eric Buffington, Cinder by Marissa Meyer, The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, or Pivot Point by Kasie West.  Yes, I am very indecisive.

Children's Book Review Tuesdays: Once Upon a Curse by E.D. Baker

Book Title: Once Upon a Curse

Author: E.D. Baker

Publish Date: October 4, 2004

Series: The Tales of the Frog Princess (Volume 3) ~ Can be read as a standalone

Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy Novel

Plot (from Goodreads):  

Many years ago a slighted fairy placed a curse on a beautiful young princess--a curse that caused her and all her female descendants to turn into mean, ugly witches if they ever touched a flower after turning sixteen. Now, Princess Emma, who is about to turn sixteen herself, is determined to break the spell once and for all. Emma travels back in time to the day the curse was placed on her ancestor in the hope of preventing the curse from being cast. Unfortunately she isn't successful in her efforts, but she does learn how to break it. Armed with this knowledge, Emma returns to her own time full of hope. But disaster ensues and Emma is about to give up completely--until true love shows itself in the most unexpected place of all.

With a bit of courage, a pinch of luck, and of course, a healthy dose of magic, Princess Emma charms her way through the third hilarious adventure in the Tales of the Frog Princess series.

Why I Read this Book: I checked out this book from the library.

 

Review

I picked up Once Upon a Curse from the library as an impulse read.  I was unaware that it was part of a series, but I was in the mood for a cute, light-hearted read.  I was not disappointed.

Once Upon a Curse is a super cute and sweet middle grade fantasy novel about a witch princess named Emma trying to break the curse that has been placed on her family.  Whenever anyone in her family touches a flower, they will turn into a crabby, ugly witch.  I enjoyed the lightness of the read.  Sometimes you just get tired of reading books whose themes are dark and heavy.  I love reading middle grade because often times they are light and cute.  This book did not disappoint!  I am looking forward to reading the rest of this series.

 

Final Statements

Recommended Reading Age: Any Age

Overall Rating: 4/5

Blog Tour and Book Review: A Nation Under Judgement by Richard Capriola

 

Book Title: A Nation Under Judgement

Author: Richard Capriola

Publish Date: April 3, 2014

Genre: Christian Nonfiction

Book Description (from Blog Tour Media Packet):  

What does it mean to be One Nation Under God? Our Founding Fathers believed it was more than a political slogan. Have we strayed from their vision? A Nation Under Judgment focuses on issues currently facing our nation including hunger, poverty, the environment and marriage. These and other issues are reviewed from both a Scriptural point of view and a social policy point of view. Readers are empowered to consider whether our nation is moving away from being One Nation Under God.

Book Excerpt:

Over one hundred and fifty years ago, Abraham Lincoln accepted his party’s nomination in Springfield, Illinois, to run against Stephen A. Douglas for the U.S. Senate. In his acceptance speech before one thousand Republican delegates, Lincoln addressed the issue of slavery and said, “A House divided against itself cannot stand.”

 

Today, the issue that divides us is no longer slavery. Now, it is whether we will live up to the words “one nation under God” and the very meaning of those words. Do we construct our national polices and our laws to honor God’s point of view, or do we develop them based on a political agenda? What does it mean for us to be “one nation under God?” Have the words become merely a political slogan? Do they have value only in times of national crises, when we feel threatened? Have we become a nation asking for God’s protection and blessing while ignoring His point of view?

Our Founding Fathers understood that we could not exist apart from God’s point of view. George Mason warned that providence would punish national sins with national calamities. Thomas Jefferson new that God’s patience would not endure forever when he wrote “I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, and his justice will not sleep forever.” 

Book Trailer:

 

About the Author:   
Richard Capriola spent many years serving as a hospital chaplain. He completed four years of Clinical Pastoral Education in preparation for his chaplaincy work. In addition to his pastoral care experience, he has served as a mental health counselor at both a regional crisis center and a psychiatric hospital.

 WEBSITE | TWITTER | FACEBOOK | GOODREADS

Why I Read this Book: I received a physical copy of this book as part of a blog tour in exchange for an honest review.  This in no way influenced my review.

 

Review

Is the United States of America truly a nation that follows God's principles?  This is the question that this books seeks to answer.  Filled with scripture and statistics, the overall message of the book was very meaningful and the topics were interesting.  This book has an incredible amount of potential but I believe that it fell short in a few areas.

Throughout the book, I felt like there where too many statistics and quotes and not many original ideas.  There were too many facts and not many conclusions.  I sometimes got lost in the statistics and forgot what point the author was trying to make.

I really enjoyed the Biblical messages throughout the book.  The message of not being gluttonous, greedy, lustful, ect. was a meaningful message.  The parts of the book that included original ideas was very thought provoking.  Although I do agree with much of what this book states, many problems of why the United States is not a God following nation were presented but a solution to this problem was not discussed in this book.  If there were more unique ideas and solutions to the problems presented throughout this book, I would have enjoyed it much more.

Overall, the message was wonderful but the statistics bogged down much of the book.  Even though this book was not the perfect book for me, it may be for you.  I encourage you to give this book a try.

 

Final Statements

Recommended Reading Age: 16+ for adult topics such as abortion

Overall Rating: 3.5/5

Have you read this book?  Discuss this book in our PUYB Virtual Book Club at Goodreads by clicking HERE.