My first book giveaway!

Hey y'all, I am so excited!!! Marlo Schalesky will be giving away a free autographed copy of her book, Shades of Morning, to one of my followers! I posted my review of her book yesterday and I just loved her book. It touched my heart and I know it will touch yours also! The giveaway is pretty simple, I have a couple of different ways you can follow my blog on the side bar. Become a follower and leave a comment letting me know you follow my blog! Please let me know if you have read any of her books and what you think of them. I will put all of the comments in a hat and have a little girl pull a name out for the winner on Monday, July 19, so make sure your comments are in by Sunday night!

Marlo has written several other books also: Fiction: Shades of Morning, If Tomorrow Never Comes, Beyond the Night, Veil of Fire, Only the Wind Remembers, Freedom's Shadow, and Cry Freedom. Nonfiction: Empty Womb, Aching Heart ( I suffer from infertility also and I cannot wait to read this book).

I want you to get to know Marlo a little better.
Follow her blog http://marloschalesky.blogspot.com/

or check out her website http://www.marloschalesky.com/

you can also follow her on FB http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/MarloSchalesky?ref=ts


Here is an interview I found on YouTube, she is discussing her book Empty Womb, Aching Heart and about the struggles she faced with infertility.



Don't forget to leave a comment and follow my blog so you have a chance to win her book!

Happy Reading,
Missy

Shades of Morning by Marlo Schalesky

This is the first book of Marlo's that I have read.  Multnomah sent me the book to review and blog about.  Shades of Morning is one of the best books I have read in a while.  The book is about Marnie Wittier who has had a hard life and a lot of regrets.  She puts all of her regrets in a box and hides it on a shelf.  Her sister, who she had not talked to in fifteen years suddenly dies and Marnie becomes the guardian of her 15 year old nephew, that she never knew about.  When he gets there, he is a down syndrome boy whom she has no idea how to take care of.  All of her memories from the past that she has tried to hide away comes back to the surface, including her old love, Taylor.  Marlo does a great job of of showing every body's point of view and feelings in this book.  It also has an ending that you will never expect.  I could not put this book down and I read it in two days.  This is a must read book!
If you are on FB be sure to friend Marlo Schalesky, she is a very nice lady.  http://www.facebook.com/MarloSchalesky
Here is her blog: http://marloschalesky.blogspot.com/
Her website: http://www.marloschalesky.com/
There are a lot of places to find out more information about her and her books.
You can go here to buy the book:  http://waterbrookmultnomah.com/results.php

I can not wait to read more of her books!
Happy reading!
Missy

Blind Hope by Kim Meeder and Laurie Sacher

Blind Hope is a true story of a young lady, Laurie, and her quest to be loved and accepted by the world.  She adopts an ugly, blind dog with bad breath, Mia.  Through Mia, Laurie learns that no matter how ugly and blind we are, God is always there to guide us and love us through life. She needed to learn to trust and obey her master , just as her blind dog also needed to learn these lessons. It is a short book and an easy read.  It is not to "weighty" like some self help books are.  This is a book that can be read by teenagers and adults, men and women, although it is written by women so it would appeal more to the way a woman thinks.  It's a pretty good book, here is a quote:  "Just like Mia chose to trust me, it was time for me to choose to trust God.  I needed to demonstrate confidence, not only in my heart but also with my actions, that God would lead me with His light.  It was time for me to believe that no matter how far I had fallen away from God, there was no darkness so deep that I could fall beyond his willingness to be my light."  The book is full of all kinds of truthful insights that would be a blessing to anybody.
Multnomah sent me this book to review and share with you!  You can go here:  http://waterbrookmultnomah.com/catalog.php?isbn=9781601422804 to find out more about the book and to purchase it. 
Kim Meeder operates Crystal Peaks Youth Ranch, where Laurie Sacher also works as a team leader.  You can go here:  http://www.crystalpeaksyouthranch.org/  for more information.
Happy Reading!
Missy

"The Defender's Duty" by Shirlee McCoy

I bought a bunch of these Christian "dime novels" at a library sale years ago.  Picked up this one to read and it is the 3rd or 4th book in a series of "The Sinclair Brothers"  That's okay though, it was still a pretty good book.
The only message in the book is that you should follow God, but it was not a very deep message.  The book was pretty shallow but well written.  Had a good plot line and a surprise ending.  It is about a cop who was almost killed by a hit and run and someone is still trying to kill him so he is pushing his friends and family away from him to keep them safe.  He almost lost his legs and is in a lot of pain when he walks or stands for too long.  His brother hires a home health nurse to take care of him.  He doesn't want her hurt so tries to get rid of her.
The book has the typical love at first sight scenario most dime novels have.  They are so short there is not time to develop a relationship.  Most of the book occurs within one week.  These books are great when you don't have time to get sucked into a long novel.
Happy Reading!
Missy

"How I learned to Cook" Edited by Kimberly Witherspoon and Peter Meehan

I just read half of "How I learned to Cook".  I love cookbooks, I read them like I do my fiction books!  I found this book at the library in the biography section and was pretty excited to read it.  Seriously, what could be wrong with a biography about famous cooks?  Right?
The first few stories were great, they talked about how they got "the cooking bug", who or what influenced them, it was good reading.  BUT (I know you are not supposed to start a sentence with but, but it fits!), the next story had cuss words, some famous chefs have the foulest mouths I have ever heard!  I thought it must be just this one chef, so I skipped the rest of that story and  I read the next story (each chef wrote their own stories), it was absolutely disgusting!
Needless to say, I did NOT finish reading this book!  I was so disappointed!  I try to keep my mind and thoughts clean and pure and you would think a cooking book would be fine, NOT.  So please do not read this book.  I have another biography to read about a blogger and her quest to cook all of Julia Child's recipes, I pray this one is better than the last book!
Happy reading!
Missy

"The Kitchen Linens Book" by EllynAnne Geisel

I just read "The Kitchen Linens Book" by EllynAnne Geisel and could not decide if this post should go on my baking website ( missyscakesandaprons.blogspot.com ) or here.  I put a picture of the author and her book at the top of my post.  I have a video of her on the Sunday Morning Show talking about her aprons here: 

http://missyscakesandaprons.blogspot.com/p/apron-pictures.html

Be sure to check it out, she is a true southern belle.

The book is a combination of vintage linens, history, memories and plain fun!  She shares many memories of her linens, why she chose the linens she has and how to pair them together when entertaining.  She gives entertaining tidbits and some recipes.  She also explains the different linens and weaves of the material and stuff like that.  She has lots of photos of linens, aprons, and pictures of her using her linens through the years.  Mrs. Geisel is fun and witty as she talks about her passion.  The book is easy to read and informative.   Here is a video where Mrs. Geisel talks about her book:

 Go to your bookstore or local library and get one for yourself! 

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_16?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=the+kitchen+linens+book&sprefix=the+kitchen+line

I also found her website, which I absolutely love!

http://www.apronmemories.com/

Happy reading and entertaining!

Missy

"Outlaw Marshal" by Al & Joanna Lacy

I love Al Lacy's books.  I met him about 13 - 14 years ago.  He was the guest speaker at either camp meeting or revival at my church in AR.  I tended to his book table while he was there so that he could mingle and talk to people.  It was a privilege, since we all know what a bookworm I am!  I had not read his books yet and as a thank you for helping him, he gave me several of his "Angel of Mercy" books, autographed.  I stayed up late every night reading them even though I was at church late selling his books, and got up early to help serve breakfast, then was at church all day for the services.  Bro. Al Lacy is an independent, fundamental Baptist evangelist who preaches the Word with no reservations.  He is KJV only.  I have almost all of his books.
His first books he wrote was the "Stranger" series.  Western books that even my husband likes to read, and he does not read fiction books but loves Bro. Lacy's books.  He brings the Stranger back in "Outlaw Marshal".  Outlaw Marshal is about a young outlaw who John Brockman, The Stranger, leads to the Lord and becomes a deputy working for him.  The book has a great salvation message (as all of his books do) and a great story line.  I would definitely recommend reading all of his books!

http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/easy_find?Ntt=al+lacy&N=0&Ntk=keywords&action=Search&Ne=0&event=ESRCN&nav_search=1&cms=1

I can't wait to read the next book: "Deadlock"  #2 in The Return of the Stranger Series. 

Happy Reading!
Missy