Andrea Carter and the Price of Truth, by Susan K. Marlow

Trouble has no problem finding thirteen-year-old Andrea (Andi) Carter. Despite best intentions, her plans almost always get thwarted. In this sixth and final book of the Circle C Adventures series, Andrea Carter and the Price of Truth, Andi secretly plans to earn money herself so she can give her mother a very special birthday gift. But keeping those plans a secret from her family is easier said than done.

One of Andi’s ideas seems to be working out. That is, until she identifies an upstanding citizen, and her brother’s best friend, at the scene of a back-alley murder. When the town bully holds her beloved horse hostage, pressuring Andi to recant, the young girl must decide if the price of telling the truth is worth the cost of losing Taffy. Her thoughts express her frustration, “All I did was tell the truth, and now everything’s in a muddle.”

While this book brings the series to a close, Price of Truth is quite enjoyable on its own and can stand alone. I do recommend reading books one through five, though, to get to know Andi, her friends, and her family, and to catch a glimpse of the Old West and 1880s America.

A FREE, downloadable, 24-page enrichment guide comes with each book in the Circle C Adventures series and includes:
• Vocabulary
• Discussion Questions
• Geography
• A "Closer Look" at history that ties in with the book
• "Just for fun" hands-on activities, crafts, cooking, or games
Lapbooks are available by separate purchase for grades 3-6. Find it all at Circle C Adventures!

Now younger children can get to know Andi too! The first two books of Susan’s Circle C Beginnings, a new series of early reader chapter books that introduce a six-year-old Andi to the elementary audience, have just been released. Each Circle C Beginnings book has color covers and illustrated pictures, with FREE supplemental activities available online. Visit Andi’s blog for an adorable treat to hear little Andi herself tell all about it.

The Circle C Adventures and Circle C Beginnings series are wholesome reading for the entire family. Read more about Susan in this Aim for Perfection Editing interview or by visiting her website.

Compensation Disclosure: I received one complimentary copy of this book from Kregel in exchange for reviewing it on my blog.

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Deceit, by Brandilyn Collins

During my time away from Aim, I was pleased to receive and read Brandilyn Collins' Deceit. Her trademark is "Seatbelt Suspense," and this latest work fits right into that category.

Main character Joanne Weeks is a skip tracer, a bounty hunter. Seven years ago, her best friend, Linda Jackson, mysteriously disappeared. Joanne always suspected Linda's husband, Baxter Jackson, was responsible for the crime, but as a church elder and beloved member of the town, he walks the streets a free man.

Now Baxter's second wife has died in susupicious circumstances. Joanne is certain Baxter's to blame, and she sets out to prove his guilt in both crimes. As Joanne drives home on a cold, rainy night, a hooded, masked man darts in front of her car. As she squeals to a stop, she clips the man's leg. She gets out to check on him, and he tells her the Baxters' former foster daughter, Melissa Harkoff, had witnessed Linda's murder. If Joanne could find her, she could put Baxter behind bars. Joanne finds Melissa and puts both of their lives in danger. Just who was that man in the road?

Well-incorporated twists, turns, and flashbacks reveal Linda's killer-or killers-while keeping the reader's seatbelt tightly fastened!

I was not disappointed in my first Collins read. You won't be disappointed by Deceit either.

Find Brandilyn at www.brandilyncollins.com or www.forensicsandfaith.blogspot.com.

Compensation Disclosure: I received a complimenary ARC of Deceit, released by Zondervan July 2010, in exchange for reviewing and publicizing the book.

Mary DeMuth's Life in Defiance

As Ouisie Pepper’s mysterious new friend, Elijah, observes of her, Ouisie has “prisons aplenty.” To Hap’s abuse, to the knowledge of Daisy’s killer, and to alcohol addiction Ouisie remains captive. But what grieves her most is her disobedience to the Lord. The Voice beckons her to baptism, for only by dying to herself will she be set free from her burdens. But she consistently resists.

Ouisie confesses, “All I know is that someone seems to be watching me out behind the woods, Sheba’s bent on fixing me, and Hap’s not going to be thrilled with the state of the house when he gets home. It’s all too much, really. Too much for a woman to bear.” All the secrets she holds inside drag her down and hold her under. They stifle her, suffocate her hope. She fears releasing her secrets will unleash a torrent and “send [her] drowning on a river [she] never knew was there.” Ousie’s longing to make God smile outweighs her fears, though.

Justice. Finally.

Readers of Life in Defiance, Mary DeMuth’s third book in the Defiance Texas Trilogy, anguish in Ouisie Pepper’s hesitance to expose Daisy’s killer, reel from the blows of Hap’s fists, and, sighing relief, revel at her release from burdensome secrecy. Read all three in the series and find it is better to reveal truth than to live with the consequences of burying it forever.



Compensation Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in exchange for reviewing it on my blog.

Andrea Carter and the Trouble with Treasure, by Susan K. Marlow

I finished reading Andrea Carter and the Trouble with Treasure today. It's a nail-biter! Lots of suspense, lots of action, lots of trouble. This fifth book in Susan K. Marlow’s Circle C Adventures series for ‘tweens continues to showcase the author’s readability and appeal to the younger audience.

Main character Andi Carter has recently turned thirteen and is struggling with the idea of growing up. After innocent horseplay lands Andi and her friends in jail, they venture into the Sierra Nevada mountains to pan for gold and leave their troubles behind. But trouble finds them. A shootout with bank robbers leaves her brother seriously injured and sheltered in a remote cabin. Andi must nurse him to health and fend off some serious dangers while keeping hope alive.

Andi is able to count on her friends to get through the tough times and comes to find out that treasure is more than just a handful of shiny gold.

Once back home on the Circle C Ranch near Fresno, California, with her brother on the mend, Andi realizes growing up might not be such a bad idea after all. She recalls her brother’s words to her from their first night on the trail, “I’d rather have a sensible young woman around—one who can think clearly and do what’s got to be done,” and rather likes the idea of being considered sensible.

While this book is the fifth in the series, Trouble with Treasure is quite enjoyable on its own and can stand alone. I do recommend reading books one through four, though, to get to know Andi, her friends, and her family, and to catch a glimpse of the Old West and 1880s America.

For further study, a FREE enrichment study guide is available for Trouble with Treasure and includes a geography study, a vocabulary list, and a recipe for Andi’s Beef [Jerky] Broth, as well as web links of period photos, an Annie Oakley word puzzle, and a creative rattlesnake craft. Click the PDF graphic at the bottom of Susan’s website to download. Lapbooks are available by separate purchase for grades 3-6. You can sample Susan’s panning for gold activity at this Magical Mouse Schoolhouse feature.

Read more about Susan in this Aim for Perfection Editing interview or by visiting her website. Be on the lookout this fall for Susan’s sixth and final Circle C Adventures installment, Andrea Carter and the Price of Truth. Andi's adventures are not concluding, however. Soon younger children can learn to read with Circle C Beginnings, an upcoming series of early reader chapter books that introduce a six-year-old Andi to the elementary audience. Each Circle C Beginnings book will have color covers and illustrated pictures. Look for Pony Trouble next winter. Visit Andi’s blog for an adorable treat to hear little Andi herself tell all about it.

The Circle C Adventures series is wholesome reading for the entire family.

Compensation Disclosure: I received one complimentary copy of this book from Kregel in exchange for reviewing it on my blog.

Judging Books by the Table of Contents

I read a blog post last week that was written by someone I respect, someone very highly regarded in the publishing industry, someone who is in charge of what books get published. I normally enjoy reading this person's articles, because they're very informative. I even follow him on Twitter and am a fan of his on Facebook. One thing he said in this particular post, though, struck a raw nerve.

Regarding how to read a nonfiction book, this writer gave a list of ten tips. Item #1 recommended NOT reading a book all the way through. He basically said not every word is worth reading. I was shocked to see this coming from someone in his position, especially when he went on to advise "reading" the book by skimming through the author's bio, studying the table of contents, and scanning the text (taking note of bold headers and block quotes). In his opinion, following these suggestions would give the reader enough information to review said book.

Now let me ask you, is it possible to form an accurate opinion of a book without reading it in its entirety? If you read the beginning and the end but skip the middle, are you getting the whole message? Can you grasp the complete concept by skimming the table of contents? Would your answers depend on whether the book is fiction or nonfiction?

My simple answer to all of four questions is NO. 

Now, I understand there are some books that don't hold the reader's interest all the way through. I've read plenty of books that tempted me to put them down halfway through and never open them again. But I persevered. Yes, some disappointed, but others picked up the pace and revived my interest. I would not have known the outcomes if I had not continued to read.

The tips offered in that article may help generate a book review, but picking and choosing only certain pieces of a book to represent the whole will not produce a very reliable assessment of the material. It is not alright to judge a book by its cover or by its table of contents.

Mary DeMuth's Thin Places

If thin places are those moments in which we are allowed to peer through the veil and glimpse God’s grace, then Mary DeMuth’s Thin Places is itself such an experience.

With this moving memoir, author Mary DeMuth struggles to make sense of her life, to find answers to all the whys. Why was she molested? Why did her father die? Why did her stepdads leave? Why didn’t her mother love her more? The weight of personal violation burdens her shoulders. The grief of fatherly loss shatters her heart. The glare of the victim target illuminates her shame. Mary frets about incompetence until she reaches that thin place of acceptance and realizes that despite many deep and lasting emotional injuries, God is more than capable of restoring and making her whole. For He is all she needs.

God repairs wounds. He pacifies sorrow. He fills voids.

I share Mary’s brokenness. I too am flawed, helplessly selfish, needy, and clay-footed, as Mary describes herself on page 100. Though, thankfully, I have not been physically assaulted, I certainly have experienced ample portions of pain. And what I realize, the blessing I receive from Mary’s message, is that I need to stop attempting to fix those broken areas myself. I know that God is all I need, but I don’t always allow Him to BE all I need.

I have been a Christian most of my life. Although I am no longer an infant Christian, sometimes I still crave pure spiritual milk so I may taste that the Lord is good (1 Peter 2:2). Thin places remind me that I am ever in a state of maturing. Thin Places quenches my thirst.

A line from an old movie states, “I gave her my heart; she gave me a pen.” Mary DeMuth gave Jesus her heart and He gave her a pen. However, unlike the breakup scene of that film, Jesus’ gift to Mary was not meant to cover up a wound. His pen—or computer—enables Mary to expose human frailty and to reveal God’s grace to the world. Of the effects of her writing, Mary says, “I could say my writing is all for me, and it’d be a hint of truth…He shows me that my paltry words touch others…All I can say is: let the healing begin” (DeMuth, p. 70). For this reader it has.

Thank you, Mary, for allowing God to work through you in this mighty way. Thank you for reliving these memories, for recording the challenges of your life, and for offering your transparency as a thin place.



Compensation Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in exchange for reviewing it on my blog.

Review of Ted Dekker's Green

Perhaps I chose the wrong book as my first Ted Dekker read. Green, “the beginning and the end” of Dekker’s Circle series, is both a continuation of and an introduction to the good versus evil saga begun in Black. Although Dekker claims Green is a fine place to begin reading the Circle series, I found it difficult to plunge into.

I am not typically a fan of fantasy literature, and maybe that’s what hindered my reading, but I did find Green to be a superb allegory. The events of Green take place in two worlds simultaneously which are linked by one man, Thomas Hunter. In Black, Hunter, raised in the present age, crosses into a parallel dimension, a post-apocalyptic earth 2000 years in the future, where civilization exists much like it did in ancient times, depending on the strength of man and horse in battle and living off God’s provision. In this future world, good and evil are physical. What is unseen and spiritual of the present age is seen and tangible in the future world.

Black, Red, and White cover Hunter’s years in the future world, during which time he marries, raises a family, and fights evil. He leads the Circle, the representation of Christians who follow the ways of Elyon (God) and are literally washed by his blood, against the Hoard, the representation of those who reject salvation and worship evil.

A scabbing disease marks each Hoard member. It is discovered in Green that the disease is more than skin deep. It resides in the brain of its hosts and is a living, destructive reproduction of evil, or the literal and physical effects of sin.

Circle members are referred to as albino because they lack the scabs. They were once affected, but chose to drown in Elyon’s lake, the water turned red by his blood. They literally died to themselves and were born to salvation by accepting Elyon’s cleansing gift.

Over time, doubt has crept into the Circle, and the people can no longer see nor touch the spiritual forces surrounding them. They had been so confident in and reliant on Elyon, “But the realities of life cast doubt on that interpretation” (Dekker 150). The musing of Thomas' son, Samuel, “Absolute good and evil were nothing more than constructs fashioned by humans who needed to understand and order their everyday lives” (Dekker 150), is reflective of the way people question the need for salvation today.

Thomas sums up that need in his conversation with Kara and Monique. He says, “Yes, we die. But it’s life really, because Elyon paid that price so we can escape it.” The women question what the price is for, to which Thomas replies, “The cost of our embracing evil—death. Elyon cannot live with evil; it must die” (Dekker 199).

My one real disappointment was the ending. I understand why it ends as it does, so the Circle will continue. However, it would have been much more satisfying (to me) to end with a final defeat of evil and the redemption of the faithful. You know, a happy ending. As it is, everyone in the Circle but Thomas and Samuel go on to eternity with Elyon, while Thomas goes back in time in hope of saving his son, thus, leading us into Black.

As Thomas tells Mikil after Samuel joins the half-breeds, “There’s much [I] don’t understand.” A second (or third or fourth) reading might fill in the blanks I missed, but I will probably not see the whole picture until I read the complete series. Isn’t that ironic? I won’t see the whole picture of my own life either until its circle is complete. For now, though, I concur with the Roush, “I understand what I’m meant to understand” (Dekker 157).

I recommend reading Green, but only after reading Black, Red, and White. I believe it would be helpful to read the Paradise trilogy and the Lost Books series beforehand also.

Mary DeMuth's A Slow Burn

Author Mary DeMuth’s A Slow Burn (Zondervan, 2009) presents quality literature that appeals to the masses. In this second installment of the Defiance Texas Trilogy, the reader assumes Emory Chance’s burdens and becomes the mother of a murdered child, a mother consumed by the guilt of love ungiven, of hope neglected, of shame unyielding.

When Emory was a child, her mama warned her the crossed lifelines on her palms destined her to heartache and misfortune. Drug abuse, adultery, and neglect of her daughter, Daisy, brought that prediction to fruition, engulfing Emory in pain and suffering. Believing God created her to fail, Emory tells Ousie Pepper, “I’m really only good at messing things up.”

With Daisy’s killer stalking Emory, lurking in the shadows, she trusts no one, especially not God. In Emory’s opinion, God is weak. He couldn’t protect her little girl from evil. Why expect Him to deliver her? One man, Hixon Jones, a man “more like Jesus than anyone,” accepted God’s charge to protect Emory. Having wrestled with life’s afflictions, Hixon knows firsthand her need for redemption and persistently reaches out to Emory, despite her resistance.

The reader transforms along with Emory Chance and emerges a bit charred but renewed, together receiving a final prayer, “Dear, dear Jesus, Author of everything beautiful, Thank you for changing her, for making her a woman who loves you again...Oh, how I pray that every single day, Emory would know she’s treasured.” As Emory considers the message, she knows she’ll “spend her life living up to outrageous love like that.”

Mary DeMuth is a master at her craft, and A Slow Burn is a must read! Her books are available on her website or at retailers like Amazon, Christian Book Distributors, or Barnes & Noble.

Fatal Illusions Book Review

A disillusioned counselee, Stacey James, shot Pastor Marc Thayer in his Chicago home, leaving him for dead and implying an affair. Media deluge forces the wounded pastor and his family on sabbatical, sending them to a remote, historic lighthouse on the coast of Lake Superior. When Stacey is found strangled on their Michigan property, Marc is the prime suspect.

Several convenient coincidences pull detective Chuck Riley out of retirement. Back on the case, he unravels ties of this murder to a string of deaths in the Cincinnati Magician Murders. Are the events mere happenstance, or are they God’s providence?

Interwoven throughout Adam Blumer’s debut novel, Fatal Illusions (Kregel, 2009), is a story of forgiveness, letting go, and following God’s lead. Marc Thayer unshackles himself from his mega-church ministry and embraces the small community. His wife, Gillian, begins to accept the loss of her newborn twins while liberating herself of unfounded guilt and learning to trust her husband again. Even the antagonist approaches catharsis.

My only disappointment with this otherwise well-written and suspenseful novel is that the “real” story doesn’t begin until about a third of the way through the book. The author devoted a lot of time on setup in the early chapters, and I found it difficult to sort out the numerous characters and viewpoints in the beginning. However, I was duly rewarded for my persistence.

I enjoyed Fatal Illusions, but I don’t recommend reading it while sitting in a dark house alone at night!

Review of God's Little Princess Devotional Bible

God’s Little Princess Devotional Bible (Tommy Nelson, 2006), written by Sheila Walsh, is a wonderful story book for young girls. Sheila utilizes the International Children’s Bible (Thomas Nelson, 1999) to communicate God’s Word in easy-to-understand terms. Special features that accompany each Scripture passage are fun and interactive, from mini-plays to songs to what-would-you-do-if thought provoking scenarios. Sheila even offers beauty tips to young ladies, advising her readers to adorn their hearts with the love of God and, “Then ask God to help you grow up to become the special woman he wants you to be” (Walsh, 113).

I would have written this review much sooner, but my daughter insisted we read through the book three times. We initially read God’s Little Princess Devotional Bible at bedtime but quickly discovered it piqued my daughter’s interest, awakened her creativity, and invigorated her inquisition rather than quieting her spirit. My little princess has learned much about the King from this book and is pleading, “Read it again!” as I type. I encourage all parents of little girls to devote time to study this book with their own daughters.

Book Review: The Great Eight, by Scott Hamilton (with Ken Baker)

I recently signed up to be a book review blogger at Thomas Nelson Publishing, http://www.brb.thomasnelson.com/. Periodically, I will review a selection here on the Aim for Perfection Editing blog. Not every text will apply to the topics of writing or editing, but I hope to help you glean some insight about the writing process from the books I review.

My first choice was The Great Eight, by internationally renowned figure skater Scott Hamilton (with Ken Baker). I ordered this book with my mom in mind. We both enjoyed his skating and his cheerful, upbeat attitude. Mom would call me whenever she noticed a Scott Hamilton television performance in the TV program. Whatever my mood, to see Scott flipping or running across the ice flashing that big grin, would perk me up in no time. His happiness was contagious.

Well, this book arrived in my mailbox the day my mother passed away. Ironically, Scott’s theme is “How to be Happy (even when you have every reason to be miserable)”. Plunged into misery, I set the book aside for a few weeks to finish a Kathi Macias book and to read Don Piper’s 90 Minutes in Heaven. I didn’t really feel like reading a book on happiness.

As I read The Great Eight, I wasn’t real impressed with the writing style. It’s a bit redundant, doesn’t flow chronologically, and is all over the place with point-of-view. As much as I love Scott Hamilton’s bubbly personality and vivacious skating, I must admit I was bored by the book. Until, that is, I realized the message is valid and the advice pertinent. The chapter titles sum up Scott’s happiness strategy: Fall, Get Up, and Land Your First Jumps; Trust Your Almighty Coach; Make Your Losses Your Wins; Keep the Ice Clear; Think Positive, Laugh, and Smile Like Kristi Yamaguchi; Win by Going Last; Learn a New Routine; and Stand in the Spotlight.

Scott explains that we will not find true happiness until we accept our God-given flaws and reminds us that how we deal with our experiences defines our character. We can choose to let life smother us, or we can choose to let our experiences enhance our lives and provide opportunity for growth. Despite what I would consider relatively weak writing, The Great Eight effectively inspires readers to follow Scott’s “great eight” principles, to take charge of their circumstances and commit to goals, so they too may find lasting happiness.