Book Review for September 2023

Yesterday was just back to back events. All good and necessary places to be, but leaving little time for a post. 

As you know if you have been around for any length of time on the Journey, the first of the month is book report time. 

I managed to read three books this month, with the full disclosure that I am still five pages short of finishing one of them, but we are counting is as a September read. 

The first book I read was one Russ had finished and set on my stack. Faith that Moves Mountains came into our hands in a way that neither of us can remember. We simply can’t remember if it was a gift or something we picked up on a sale or how we came to have it in our reading stack. 

The book is written by Harris Faulkner and is a collection of stories from various people and how God moved in their lives. The stories are uplifting and encouraging and include both people in history as well as every day people. 

One of the things I found interesting was the way these accounts shared how often a miraculous turn of events in answer to prayer got the attention of the person, yet didn’t ensure a steady path of growth from that day on. 

There were honest accounts of forgetting what God had done and I think we all can relate to that. It was an easy book to read and I especially enjoyed reading right before I went to sleep because it set my mind on good things. 

In fairness to the book review process I have here, it is not one I need to keep or read again. I didn’t underline or take a note on anything so I would say if you have a lot of other books on your list, this one might be a pass. 

The second book I finished was The Loudest Roar by Judy Dunagan. Dear sister-by-marriage and sister -in-heart who named this blog for us, Sonja, gave me this one for my birthday. I had listened to a Revive our Hearts podcast when Judy spoke on this book and talked a bit with Sonja about it.

She said she ordered it before I could, because she knew I would want it. 

The title is based on the dual use of lions in Scripture. We know Satan is called prowling lion who is on the hunt for those he can destroy. But Jesus is referred to as the Lion of Judah. Two lions, both roaring, but Jesus has the loudest roar. 

The book has three sections covering The Bigger Lion, His Unshakable Victory and Our Mightiest Roars. She includes some prayers at the end of the written portion and then a small section that provides a study to accompany the book. 

I highly recommend this book and I plan to do the study in my morning devotions this coming month. 

If you have not listened to or are familiar with the Revive our Hearts ministry, there are some very good books by founder Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth and others. The podcasts are good to listen to and the material is solid. 

The final book I read, and still have five pages to finish, was one I picked up off the “free” shelf at our village library. 

The title of Newfoundland, by MarkMayell, caught my eye as my father was stationed at Harmon Air Force Base for several years of my young life. From age 3 to 5, this was our home and I have some early memories of our time there that I treasure. 

I knew little about the province. In fact, I didn’t know until I read the book that it is actually Newfoundland and Labrador Province. While the book is older, published in 2003 (how can 2003 be two decades ago???), I found it so interesting to read about this place that was a big part of my childhood. 

As I read of various parts of its history, I would google current news to see how things worked out. For instance, in the 1990’s commercial fishing had completely destroyed the Cod population. They were hoping, at the writing of the book to revive this species in the area. Sadly, this has not happened. 

I loved reading about the people and their resilience as well as the land itself. I will probably keep this one for sentimental reasons, and I am quite certain since it was in the giveaway section of the library that it isn’t for sale on Amazon.

But if you have a burning desire to read it, I would be happy to loan it out to anyone who loved social studies in grade school…lol.

As always, would love to hear what you are reading and your thoughts about those books <3