Misery Loves Company Book Review

My latest book review is a mystery called Misery Loves Company by Rene Gutteridge.  The premise of this book is the disappearance of a grief stricken widow.  She works from home as a blogger and after writing a negative review of a best selling author, she is nowhere to be found.  I felt a bit confused in the first few chapters with the roles of the characters and had to go back a couple of times to clarify who was who and what was happening.  And even to this point, I don't think the author wrote how the main character was kidnapped.  I may have missed it but I believe the details were left out.  This may not have been important to the author but I wanted to know how it was done.  I also felt the book was a bit misleading with the "Don't tell me it's terrifying.  Terrify me" comment in her review. I expected more of a thriller aspect to it that left me a bit disappointed.   I didn't want goriness like Stephen King's Misery but if you're going to say "terrify me" it builds up an expectation to be terrified.

After the first few chapters, I found the book to be compelling enough with wanting to know what was going to happen next.  I read the book in a couple of days and overall liked it.  It's a good book to read over the summer while at the beach or pool.

Tyndale House Publishers has provided you with a complimentary copy of this book.

Blessings,

Noreen

Bible Stories Painting Book Review

I am participating in a Kregel Blog Tour this month with my review of Bible Stories Painting Book 2.  

As the title implies this is the second one in the series of bible stories painting books.  

The one that I am reviewing has two paint pallets on the inside covers with one page pictures of a popular bible story.  The child dips a paint brush in water and then onto the paint pallet.  

Then, paint on one of the 16 bible stories with 8 from the Old Testament and 8 from the New Testament.

Each story has a sentence or two of explanation of the bible story. 

 Candle Books publisher markets this painting book as mess free and it is for the most part. 

 The paint pallets do not make a big mess but the child must remember to wait about 5 minutes before closing the book in order for the paint to dry.

I asked my 5 year old nephew to test it out and give me his opinion.  

He asked me "what does opinion mean?" 

 I said, "you can tell me if the paint works good or not so good."  

His reply, "I can do that.  I'll give you my opinion."

Here he is pressing down the pages. 

 I think he was skeptical if the paint was real and would work. 

It worked similarly to watercolor paints.  

Only a little bit of water on a paintbrush was needed and the color turned out great.

Watercolors are more transparent then this paint.  

Which means the color strength was definitely better in this painting book.

 This painting book serves a dual purpose:  painting fun and faith formation.

It is geared towards young children who are just learning to read.

For the faith formation to occur, the parent needs to talk about what's on the page.

Otherwise, it's an ordinary painting book.

His opinion was that "the colors worked good and it's fun."
I told my nephew he could keep it so he'd have many more hours of painting fun.

That put a smile on his face :)

The Bible Stories Painting Book 2 is ideal for quiet activity either individually or as a group.

I think a preschool or kindergarten teacher could use this as enrichment when teaching a bible story.

All you need is a paintbrush and water and you're ready to start.

I was given a complimentary copy of Bible Stories Painting Book 2 for my honest review.  

The opinions used were my nephew's and my own.

Blessings,

Noreen