I was eager for the opportunity to review the book Girls Gone Wise In a World Gone Wild by Mary Kassian, and I was not disappointed. As a woman and friend to women with young daughters (and aunt to 6 boys that are rapidly approaching the age where they notice girls) I am interested in how to lead young women and even some not quite-so-young woman to think about their choices.

This book is written to provide thoughtful advice and alternative options to what the world provides. It is suitable for women at college age or above, and has helpful information for mothers of younger girls. She lays it out there in a few examples, never beyond acceptable, but it is probably not useful for younger girls to read those details, protect their thought-life. The book is also very useful for women of all ages. Given the bombardment of the media and the feminist messages, I believe we all need some corrective reminders of what scripture says and what is truly wise.

The structure is identifying contrasts between the wild girl and the wise girl. The writing is clear and keeps the subject interesting. The chapters are short enough to allow for some real contemplation of what is being discussed, and there is a companion website with questions that can be used by an individual or in a group to spur deeper thought.

I will be recommending this book to friends. I even thought that I’d love to share it with my nephews so they can see the truth behind the wild girls no matter how fun they may look, and really appreciate the wise girls of the world.

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Disclaimer – I did receive a free copy of this book to review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

My latest BookSneeze book is The Revolutionary Paul Revere by Joel Miller.

This was a great read. The cover has a great feel to it, so it’s comfortable to hold. The chapters are fairly short and easy to read. This period of history has so many people of interest. The author does a good job of introducing people, reminding us who they are when it’s been awhile since they were first mentioned, and explaining how they intersected with Paul Revere’s life.

This is obviously not an in-depth scholarly biography. It is a well written, easy to read description of the character and history of a man we all know of, but don’t know much about. This is a great book to learn about what life was like for the residents of Boston leading up to and during the American Revolution, but it is never boring. Highly recommended.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

I try not to turn this into a blog just about my reading, so lately most of the reviews have been my BookSneeze books. But I have continued in my effort to read more classics. Here’s a summary of progress made so far in 2010.

Just last week I read Utopia by Sir Thomas More. It is interesting to see that even now people can’t quite tell if he was serious or sarcastic. It is fascinating to see that things we struggle with and argue over today were being discussed in the 1500′s. The writing is easy to read and the book isn’t overly long, so I recommend it. I read it for free on my Kindle. One thing that struck me was that the perfect society was on an island with some separation from other countries and was not suffering from a gigantic population.

Related, and from 1976 so not an old classic, I read The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia by Ursula K. LeGuin. This is Utopia with a science fiction spin on it. A good story showing the differences between a socialist society and one man’s experience in a more capitalist society and how the two relate to each other. The socialist society is on a barren planet which the idealists populated so they could begin with a society set up the way they wanted. I am still struck by how the geography and origin play into the concept.

I also read Bartleby the Scrivener by Herman Melville. This is a novella, so a much quicker read than Melville’s Moby Dick. I’m not sure most people even know what a scrivener is, but this story of an assistant to a lawyer who stops doing more and more until he is doing nothing is really interesting.

One of my favorite reads this year is Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton. What a fascinating, and sad, story. I had heard of it but never read it. I recommend it highly. The chapters are short, but that is necessary to absorb what just happened in each one. Wow.

I did read my planned classics – Pilgrim’s Progress for book club discussion, and Scaramouche by Rafael Sabatini. This last was a great swashbuckler pirate story.

My latest BookSneeze book is Beautiful Things Happen When a Woman Trusts God by Sheila Walsh.

The title says it all. This is a book about how hard it can be but how rewarding it is to trust God. The author uses real life examples and people from the Bible who faced similar examples to show how God is always faithful and it is never too late to trust. The writing is well done and the points are well made.

I am learning that this is an author I can always trust. She is biblical, relevant, practical, and true. In this book she reveals a bit more of her own story, presenting lessons and struggles that are common to so many of us. Then in each chapter she addresses this concern or issue through the life of a person in the Bible. She assumes the story is somewhat familiar but clarifies some good points and shows how their life story reflects trusting God (well or not so well, early or late).

I am encouraged and convicted by this book. I recommend it to all women seeking to live godly lives, dealing with brokenness, or needing fulfillment.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

The King and Dr. Nick: What Really Happened to Elvis and Me by Dr. George Nichopoulos is my latest BookSneeze pick.

This book is written by the man who was the main personal physician for Elvis the last 10 years of his life. He provides  details of the day Elvis died, describes what daily life was like for Elvis as he performed, and the publicity and legal issues that came up after his death.He does this with very little bashing, and a lot of respect for most of the people he interacted with. He also has a love of Elvis.

I may be too young for this book. I was 8 years old when Elvis died. My father shared his love of the man and his music, which I still have to this day. But there was never really discussion of any of the rumors or recurring publicity around his death and the possible use of drugs. That means the main premise of this book, to defend the legacy of Elvis, was not necessary for me. It is an interesting view of how hard Elvis worked, how seriously he took his performances, and some of the physical struggles he had.

It also provides a look at the frustrating machinations of the media and the side-affects of political maneuvering. None of that has changed for the better.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”