• Books,  Reviews

    Review: A Cast of Stones by Patrick Carr

    Cast of Stones by Patrick W. Carr Reviewed by: Lori Twichell Genre: Fantasy Publisher: Bethany House Publishers Publication Date: February 1, 2013 Errol Stone doesn’t really have an ideal life. In the small village of Callowford, he’s known as the town drunk. He gets kicked out of the local tavern on a regular basis and everyone in the village knows that if he gets any money, he’ll spend it on ale. So when an urgent message arrives for a hermit priest who lives in the hills, Errol isn’t exactly at the top of the list to deliver it. However, the church’s messenger needs it delivered quickly and Errol is the only one…

  • Books,  Reviews

    Review: If We Survive by Andrew Klavan

    If We Survive by Andrew Klavan Reviewed by: Lori Twichell Genre: YA, Adventure Publisher: Thomas Nelson Publication Date: November 6, 2012 Will Peterson is just a normal teenage guy. He’s got his issues with girls and friends and schoolwork. He deals with all the regular stuff you’d imagine that a teenager deals with on a daily basis. When the chance came for him to join a mission trip to Central America, he figured why not? So Will went to a foreign country with a few other friends from school and their youth pastor to help build a wall. What he never expected was to get caught up in a violent uprising and…

  • Books,  Reviews

    Review: Revolve Devotional Bible

    Revolve Devotional Bible Reviewed by: Lori Twichell Genre: Bible Publisher: Thomas Nelson Publication Date: July 20, 2010 When I first started looking into reviewing Bibles, the Revolve Devotional Bible for teen girls jumped out at me. The cover is highly recognizable and utterly gorgeous. In chocolate brown tooled leather with a pink leather band around the center, this is a Bible that will stand up and make people take notice. Obviously I needed to know more about what else it contained and why it was so perfectly geared for teen girls. (This is what it said on the box, by the way.) I opened the Bible and saw that the pages,…

  • Books,  Reviews

    Review: Iscariot by Tosca Lee

    Iscariot by Tosca Lee Reviewed by: Lori Twichell Genre: Historical, religious Publisher: Howard Books Publication Date: February 5, 2013 Judas Iscariot. It’s a name irrevocably intertwined with the death of the most famous man in history, Jesus Christ. Anyone who has studied the scriptures knows that Judas betrayed the Messiah with a kiss of friendship. But if the sum total of your knowledge of Judas comes from those few verses, then you don’t know his whole story. Iscariot by Tosca Lee opens with the final moments of Judas Iscariot. We follow his pondering and memories as he explains what led him to this climactic ending. It’s the part of his tale that we…

  • Books,  Reviews

    YA Review: Waves of Light by Naomi Kinsman

    Waves of Light (Faithgirlz!) by Naomi Kinsman Reviewed by: Lori Twichell Genre: Young Adult Publisher: Zonderkidz Publication Date: April 23, 2013 Things are getting even more tense in Owl Creek, Michigan. Just when Sadie is finally feeling like this might be home, chaos erupts again and this time it threatens to destroy everything Sadie knows and loves. First, Frankie is moving to New York to live with her mom. That’s a big adjustment for Sadie since she and Frankie are now friends. She and Frankie have developed a love for art, drawing and for their art teacher, Vivian. Sadie has some fun ideas on how she and Frankie can still be art…

  • Books,  Reviews

    YA Review: Flickering Hope by Naomi Kinsman

    Flickering Hope (Faithgirlz!) by Naomi Kinsman Reviewed by: Lori Twichell Genre: Young Adult Publisher: Zonderkidz Publication Date: November 7, 2011 Sadie Douglas is finally starting to settle into her new home of Owl Creek. She never expected to fall in love with the bears that her father has come to work with, but now she’s definitely a fan and she’s got her favorites. As the story opens, some things have definitely changed. Frankie, her nemesis from book one, seems to be making some changes. She even appears to want to be Sadie’s friend! Ruth and Andrew, Sadie’s closest friends, are convinced that Frankie is up to no good, but Sadie isn’t…