Janet Sketchley's Blog: Tenacity, page 4
March 21, 2025
Review: How to Hear God: a simple guide for normal people, by Pete Greig
How to Hear God: a simple guide for normal people, by Pete Greig (Zondervan Reflective, 2022)
Can humans today hear from the God of the Bible? Not necessarily audibly, but can we know what He���s saying to us? If you���re curious, I highly recommend this book as an excellent, inspiring resource.
You can tell from the subtitle that it���s not a dry theological work. Instead, it���s a refreshing, accessible, and practical look at various ways Christians can ���hear��� God (and how to dis...
March 14, 2025
New Releases in Christian Fiction (March 2025)
More in-depth descriptions of these books can be found on the ACFW Fiction Finder website
Biblical:
The Daughter of Rome by Angela Hunt — In Nero’s Rome, Calandra helps her father, a renowned sculptor, complete the most significant commission of his illustrious career. But then a catastrophic fire nearly destroys the imperial city, leaving Calandra reliant on a group of Christians–unusual individuals unlike any she has encountered before. Intrigued by their worship of ...
March 7, 2025
Review: A Forboding of Petrels, by Steve Burrows
A Forboding of Petrels, by Steve Burrows (Point Blank, 2022)
If you like British-based police procedurals, unconventional detectives, down-to-earth characters, and plenty of bird sightings, the Birder Murder Mystery series is for you. This particular mystery will take you to rural England and to Antarctica.
In England: A disciplinary suspension bars DCI Dominic Jejeune from involvement in any active cases. Not that there’s much going on except someone setting a few fires. Well, until t...
February 28, 2025
Are You Aging or Maturing as a Reader? (Guest Post)
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♡ Julita ♡♡ from PixabayAre You Aging or Maturing as a Reader?by Steph Beth NickelOver the next couple of months, I will be having cataract surgery on both eyes and may need corneal transplants in the years to come. I can no longer go as long between workouts and not get stiff—not the good kind that comes from beneficial exercise but the kind that comes from too much inactivity. My sleep patterns are wonky, admittedly because I often stay up too late.
Are these signs of ...
February 14, 2025
New Releases in Christian Fiction (February 2025)
More in-depth descriptions of these books can be found on the ACFW Fiction Finder website
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Contemporary Romance:
Small Town Harmony by Milla Holt — Faith, fame, and family collide as a Christian music power couple hides a secret discord. (Contemporary Romance, Independently Published)
Only You Can Love Me by Carolyn Miller — Dr. Jess Martin–Doc Martin to her local community–might be used to solving the veterinary problems of rural south east Washington, but she ...
February 7, 2025
Review: The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, by John Mark Comer
The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, by John Mark Comer (WaterBrook, 2019)
Subtitle: “How to Stay Emotionally Healthy and Spiritually Alive in the Chaos of the Modern World”
���The problem isn���t when you have a lot to do; it���s when you have too much to do and the only way to keep the quota up is to hurry.��� (p, 21)
Can you relate? In this book, author John Mark Comer invites us to discover ���what the way of Jesus has to say to the epidemic of hurry.��� (p. 76)
He���s appro...
January 31, 2025
Why Reading Can Be a Challenge (Guest Post)
Image by Free stock photos from www.rupixen.com from PixabayWhy Reading Can Be a Challengeby Steph Beth NickelDon���t get me wrong. I love books. Physical books. eBooks. Audiobooks. All the books. But sometimes I do struggle to sit down and read a book from cover to cover.
Specific Challenges
When I���m tired, it can be difficult to focus on the words on a page. All of us have likely found ourselves reading and re-reading a paragraph because we complete it and wonder what on ea...
January 24, 2025
Review: Stumped, by Emily James
Stumped, by Emily James (Stronghold Books, 2020)
She left high-pressure city life behind and is now part-owner of a maple syrup farm in Michigan and a partner in a small-town law firm. She���s also a wife and expectant mother���and an amateur sleuth with a knack for digging out the truth.
There weren���t supposed to be any new cases for Nicole Fitzhenry-Dawes-Cavanagh to tackle before her baby���s birth. But when a man shows up at her office covered in blood, with no idea what happene...
January 17, 2025
Picks from 2024
Image credit: Goodreads. Click to view full details on Goodreads.From those 59 books in 2024, here are my top picks:Book of the year, fiction: Born of Gilded Mountains, by Amanda Dykes
Book of the year, nonfiction: Abiding in Christ, by Andrew Murray
Christian living: Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools, by Tyler Staton; , by John Mark Comer, Opening to God: Lectio Divina and Life as Prayer, by David G. Benner
Fantasy...
January 10, 2025
Review: Born of Gilded Mountains, by Amanda Dykes
Born of Gilded Mountains, by Amanda Dykes (Bethany House, 2024)
To open an Amanda Dykes story is to step into an exquisitely crafted tale of diverse, well-crafted characters that is at once poignantly real while evoking wonder and a feel-good ending.
Born of Gilded Mountains is a historical novel of friendship, loss, loyalty, and resilience set in a small town in the mountains of Colorado.
Schoolgirl pen pals Marybeth Spatts and Rusty Bright forge a deep bond that shapes the rest o...
