Book Review & Some Pics

A few weeks ago I was contacted via email regarding a Christian book series from Guideposts. Before that time I knew about Guideposts and have subscribed to it at different times over the years, but I never knew they published Christian novels.

"Home To Heather Creek" is the name of the series of books, and a different author is writing each book in the series, with the same characters continuing throughout the series.

Here's what the publisher had to say about the series of books:

"Home To Heather Creek" is an exciting, heartfelt new fiction series just launched by Guideposts. It follows the story of the Stevenson family as they discover the joys and challenges of this new second chance.

Charlotte Stevenson's world is turned upside down by the death of her daughter Denise. Denise ran away from home when she was a teenager, and Charlotte has never forgiven herself. Now, Denise's three children are coming to live on Heather Creek Farm:

Sam, fiercely protective of his younger siblings;
Emily, desperately missing her friends;
And young Christopher, a sweet soul who only wants to fit in.

Is this Charlotte's chance to make things right?

I agreed to read "Sweet September" by Tricia Goyer, the second book in the series and do a review here on my blog. So that I'd be able to start the series from the first, they also sent me the first book in the "Home To Heather Creek" series, "Before The Dawn" by Carolyne Aarsen.

I have to say that I enjoyed both books. Either stand alone as you don't have to read them as a series, but I do think the story is stronger and richer if you start with the first book and then read the second book in the series.

I'm a very fast reader so they're short enough for me to read in one sitting, but for most people who read more leisurely they could probably be read over several days' time. They're in depth enough to get involved with the characters' lives but not so deep that you get cumbered down with the story.

Overall they give insight into the Christian life and how we need God in our lives every day, but they're not preachy at all.

The books themselves are hardback with attractive matte bindings and artwork. The books are very well made.

If you're looking for Christian novels to read, I recommend "The Heather Creek Series" from Guideposts. And there are more books coming in the series! For more information on the series, click HERE.

***CLICK ON THE PICS TO ENLARGE***

As I visited some of your blogs today I noted that a lot of you across the South are experiencing everything from light showers to beneficial rain to flooding from the remnants of Tropical Storm Fay.

The rains came very close to us. So close, in fact, that I was able to take these pictures of the approaching clouds to my Southeast. But just before the clouds and rain reached us here in Northeast Arkansas the remnants of Fay slipped back to the East, sparing us the flooding rains.

Memphis, parts of South Arkansas and most of Mississippi weren't so fortunate though.

As you can tell from the pictures, the skies were blue right up to the defining line of clouds. The clouds looked like a solid mass until they got close enough to see the fluffy cumulus clouds boiling up, ever changing.

The clouds are beautiful until you look below the surface beauty and realize how destructive they can be. I'm in awe of God's nature and how something can be so beautiful and yet, potentially, so deadly.

And now that TS Fay is moving away from us, TS Gustav is gathering strength in the Caribbean. While some of you in the South are still dealing with the remnants of TS Fay another storm is churning toward Cuba, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico. Almost every forecast has it coming ashore somewhere in our coastal States.

And this time Gustav is forecast to be a major hurricane. This storm already looks to be a much stronger, more destructive, deadlier storm than Fay ever thought about being.

My prayer is that all my blogging friends in reach of Gustav would be proactive in making yourself as safe as possible in expectation of this storm. Prepare, be watchful and be safe, my friends. You all know who you are.

I wonder if this is a foretaste of the rest of this hurricane season? TS Fay has already been affecting the US mainland for over a week, and now Gustav is almost certainly going to make landfall somewhere on the US coastline...My supper is warming on the stove, almost ready to eat. I took some homemade vegetable deer soup out of the freezer to reheat for tonight's supper. The rich aroma of soup is drifting through the house from the kitchen to my spare room, calling me to set the table for supper. As soon as I get this proofread and published I'll answer that call.Y'all have a great Tuesday evening and rest of your week.