This year was a great one for book reviewing. The publishing world is buzzing with new authors with seasoned talent as well as seasoned talent with new releases. I filled the year with reading and reviewing, although not all books got reviewed. In keeping with my review standards there were many that just couldn't be given a decent or positive review. However, I was able to keep you, the reader, current and up to speed with this girls reviews as well as many suggested reads.
As we see 2009 looming around the corner, I offer you the best of the best-books that I read and reviewed and would recommend to anyone, anywhere. These are books that you can purchase knowing from the opening of the front cover that you are in for a good read! I offer Marysworld Top 10 reviews of 2008! (and, may I add, in no particular order. There is no way I can place these in a sequence based on performance. They all deserve #1!)
Step Inside by Melea Brock. "Jesus taught using stories for good reason. As author Melea J. Brock points out, with a story, you don’t have to come back and say “Now what I mean is….” No, you can tell the story and leave the meaning to be contemplated by the listener. Story telling is needed. Story telling is necessary. The art of story telling has been captured in Brock’s book Step Inside"
My Heart Remembers by Kim Vogel Sawyer. "A good book is one that inspires you to learn more about its subject matter. It could also leave you thinking long after finishing the last chapter. It should motivate you to make a change, any change, for the overall good of humanity. My Heart Remembers is just that, a good book."
The Shack by William P. Young. "If I were to pen a review, I would say that The Shack is so vivid and thought provoking, if you could read it with an open mind and close off all of the former religious programming, this world might have a chance. We might see an outbreak of forgiveness and global warming to relationships instead of religions and church. The Shack is so full of symbolism but then again, what’s to say it isn’t more accurate that symbolic? This is exactly the argument we find ourselves debating in regards to the Bible. The Shack has the potential to change lives as does the Bible, if, the reader is willing to stretch their imaginations and be willing to accept that which they can not prove."
Hired Guns In Iraq by Shaun Schutte. "The abbreviated version-Hired Guns In Iraq is an intense roller coaster ride through a convincing and realistic story-line. The long version-On the surface, this appears to be a guy’s book all the way. The action is intense, the politics that come with the territory are male dominated, and the viewpoint is definitely testosterone driven. But that doesn’t mean this girl didn’t thrive on every word."
Ransomed Lives and A Pilgrimage In Time by Scott Higginbotham. Who can even begin to guess where this talented writer will go when given a book contract? It is obvious to this reviewer that he is going to be a published author soon. The publishing world has a hidden gem with Scott and as a reader and reviewer, I'm getting impatient to see his manuscripts in print.
Louder Than Words by Jenny McCarthy. "Her writing is interesting, compelling and motivating. And for those that have autistic children, she's done a ton of homework for you. The book is a memoir, a textbook, an autism bible. Get the book. With autism rates as high as 1 in 150 children (with a rate of 1 in 70 in boys) chances are if you haven't personally encountered an autistic child, you will."
Don't Bet Against Me by Deanna Favre. "The book is packed with spiritual insight and inspiration and ends with poems, scripture, resources and prayers. I hesitated reading it since my mom died of breast cancer over 2 years ago. I didn't want it to hit too close to home. And in a sense, it did. All survivors walk the same road through surgery, chemo and radiation. Yet, her book was more about her walk with God instead of her walk with cancer. It inspired me to read how faith in God and faith in your family really can be enough. Sometimes all it takes is to be reminded. Consider "Don't Bet Against Me" that reminder."
In Jesse's Shoes and The Forbidden by Beverly Lewis. Beverly Lewis, children's author and beloved queen of Amish fiction. Need I say more?
