REVIEW: The Woman Code

I read through this book and had to put it down several times because I was literally in shock while reading through the contents.  I'm really not certain why this book was published by a Christian publisher.  This entire book reads like a self-help book for women which would be fine if it was intended for a non-Christian audience.  The problem is that Revell published this book which means that it's intended for a Christian audience.  Honestly, the author has obviously intended the book to be read by a wider audience which makes me wonder why she didn't just take it to a different publisher. 

The main premise of the author is that everything we need to answer life's questions is inside of you.  That couldn't be farther from the truth if we are talking about living our lives as Christian women.  God has directed us not to look inside of ourselves but to look to Him and His word for the answers to ALL of life's questions.  Here are some direct quotes from this book:

"You are the keeper of your heart's desires.  You are the one you have been waiting for."

"Everything you need to win in life is right inside you."

"There is something majestic inside of you."

I can't recommend this book for Christian women.  The book contradicts God's word in many places.  I don't know anything about Sophia Nelson except what I read about her in this book.  I can't comment on her theology as it was not really evident what she believes.  There was very little scripture in the book.

I wish that I could sit down with Ms. Nelson and ask her about what she believes about the Lord and His word to understand why she wrote this book.  I'd like to give her the benefit of the doubt especially because she wrote it during a difficult time in her life. 

I would like to state that the book was exceptionally well-written grammatically.  Ms. Nelson has an incredible sense of clarity in her sentence structure and she is a wonderful writer.  It is rare to read through a book and think, "that idea was expressed very clearly."  Unfortunately, the premise of many of her ideas did not line up with what God has revealed to us about who we are and about who He is.

I would love to explore any other books that this woman has written since she has such an excellent writing style.

NOTE: I received a copy of this book from Revell for my unbiased review.

REVIEW: Stolen: The True Story of a Sex Trafficking Survivor

I read this entire book in a few days.  It provided some good information regarding what to look for in a person or a group of people that might be grooming young girls and boys for sex trafficking.  Although it did provide some insight into sex trafficking I had some problems with the book:

1.  The book was written in a very choppy format and it was difficult to read.  It was hard to tell from one moment to the next where you were in the story.  The story did not flow well.

2.  There were many times when I read the book when I felt as though the author wanted us to think that she had no control over what happened to her.  I have to disagree.  I made many bad choices when I was young that were unwise and I believe that because we are sinners living in a sinful world our bad choices have consequences.  The bible actually confirms this.  I was also taken advantage of by men in my youth and I often rebelled against my parents and I rebelled against God.  I chose to make these bad choices and I suffered the consequences of these choices.  While it is true that we are often sinned against without having made any bad choices (this also happened to me multiple times when I was young) I found it hard to read this author's book because she seemed to downplay her own bad choices which in many cases were directly correlated to her circumstances.  She could have walked away from sex trafficking right at the beginning by listening to her mother.  She chose to rebel against her mom.  I kept wondering, "why doesn't she talk about her rebellion against God more."

I don't know this author personally so I can't comment on her theology but I really can't recommend her book because of the above. 

NOTE: I received a copy of this book from Revell for my unbiased review.

I really appreciate this book.  Unlike many other books and articles that I have read on health this one is based upon actual medical studies.  I have read so many articles recently that were written by non-experts that have had an "experience" with an alternative medicine/essential oil/a particular diet.  This book is soundly based on documented medical research.  While we will undoubtedly cringe at the medical advice that he have taken one day as more and more studies are done I would still rather base my current lifestyle on "what we know works" rather than on some non-expert's opinion.  Dr. Furman's advice to be extremely cautious about taking alternative medicine without double blind clinical trials is sound advice.  He mentions people that did not heed this advice and the numerous complications that can arise from taking something that has not been tested thoroughly.  I have been thinking recently that the internet has propagated a non-medical culture and a suspicious one at that.  While I am not a HUGE medical advocate I still really appreciated Dr. Furman's common sense approach to taking care of your body. 

He has numerous chapters that offer good advice about nutrition and exercise and reading his book is like having an armchair physician at your side telling you all of the things that you need to hear to be informed about what you should do to care for your vascular system and help you to avoid major problems with your body like cancer, dementia, diabetes, alzheimer's, etc.  My doctor has never told me that I need to lose weight but Dr. Furman very directly tells me what my doctors are afraid to point out.  I am headed for some pretty serious problems if I don't make some changes.  I like Dr. Furman's style and he is easy to listen to. 

So thankful for this book and for Dr. Furman's care and advice.  He is someone that I hope that many people will listen to.  He cares for his patients and you feel as though he cares for you as you are reading his book.  He wrote this book because he is passionate about people. 

He is donating all of the proceeds of his book to Samaritan's purse which just shows me that he has put his money where his mouth is.  He only wrote the book because he really wants others to know about how to care for their bodies so that they can live a younger life and be useful for many years. 

NOTE: I received a copy of this book from Revell for my unbiased review.

Debt-Proof Living by Mary Hunt

I do not have any debt and consider myself pretty savvy about financial matters. I am in my mid-40's and have spent a considerable time reading about budgets and financial planning,etc. I was so impressed with this book that it kind of took me by surprise. I learned a few new things from Mary Hunt and I am very thankful for this excellent and sound resource.

I will be recommending this book to many people as a sound way to budget and manage a plan that will keep you safe from financial disaster. If you are looking for a place to start in terms of learning about how to view your money and resources then this is a SOLID book to start with. This is an especially helpful book for those folks that had no financial training growing up. This book is up-to-date with great resources and it is a very encouraging read. It is not an overwhelming book by any means and it will ease you into thinking about managing your money.

Mary Hunt makes so many excellent points about money that I hardly know where to begin in terms of laying out the wisdom of her plan. From learning to enjoy the things that you have budgeted for to remembering to plan for yearly expenses so that they don't catch you by surprise to finding peace in knowing where your money is going from day-to-day. Just an excellent, excellent book.

**Disclosure** This book was sent to me free of charge for my honest review from Revell.