The Greatest Patriot

I have always loved history, and a great story is always something I am attracted to reading. I was born while President Kennedy was in office, and therefore, all I know I've read or was taught in school. Although this book is a fiction, there was a bit of the "conspiracy theory" that attracted me, my sister had a friend who worked in the hospital where Kennedy died, and said that there was a wing of the hospital that was blocked off, and only the Kennedy's and certain others were allowed to go to, she believed the president had lived, but was in a state he could not continue as president. So, you see this book intrigued me from the start.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

The Greatest Patriot is a thought provoking spin on the history of the last five decades that leaves its readers with a serious case of “What if?”
What would the world look like today had John F. Kennedy actually died in November of 1963? What was so compelling that the President of the United States found it essential to fake his own death? Where did he hide for the following 48 years and how did he shape the world we know today? The Greatest Patriot isn’t another ‘conspiracy’ theory but a fiction that relies on historical fact and creatively twists those facts to form a most intriguing story. Secretly sequestered on a Greek island, Kennedy continued to shape major world events from the political fall of Khrushchev to the demise of the USSR and even the rise of Barack Obama.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Dan Sullivan was raised in La Grande, Oregon, a small town nestled in the Blue Mountains of northeastern Oregon. He spent his younger years exploring the mountains and wilderness around La Grande creating wonderful adventures along the way. After graduating from Oregon State University he worked for three years in Seattle and Portland, Oregon before quitting his job and spending three months backpacking around Europe in 1990. Upon returning from Europe, Dan moved to Boise, Idaho where he went to work in the Real Estate industry.
He earned his Scuba Dive Master certification and spent years traveling to destinations such as Fiji, Belize, Mexico, and throughout the Caribbean. Dan and his wife Amy enjoy the incredible natural wonders of Idaho and the Pacific Northwest with their two children.
To read more about Dan Sullivan vist his website at: www.thegreatestpatriot.com

My Review:

This book is an easy read, full of history. Although this book is fiction, I felt like I was in the middle of real life while I read it. The book flips between the 1960s and Present day, where a wonderful man Hal Rumsey tells a story to Washington Post writer Mike Mahoney. I found myself being tense as I anticipated what might happen, anxious to get back to reading as soon as my kids were at school. I had a difficult time putting this book down. I was captivated by the story that Hal Rumsey told and the twists and turns that would alter the American history as we know it.

The book is a wonderful read, if you do not mind flipped between present day and the 60s the information in the book seemed plausible and enjoyable to read. The book took some turns that I was not expecting and in the end all I can say is that Hal Rumsey is the hero in my book! The fact that John F. Kennedy gave up his life for his country is one of the greatest sacrifices anyone could make. This fiction was a wonderful read! I highly recommend it. There was some language in the book; however, given the circumstances this language was not out of place.

This book was sent to me to review, I did not promise a positive review. I reviewed the book for Media Guests and appreciate the opportunity to do so!

Sandie

If My Body Is a TEMPLE, Then I Was a MEGACHURCH

The title of this book caught my eye and when I saw that it was available to review I jumped at the chance. I have often felt a little mega as well. For years my husband and I had a little family joke, that I was wearing our food storage. All good Mormon’s have a year supply of food. I absolutely have always had a year’s supply; however, in recent years I have been wearing that food storage on my hips, my thighs, my butt…you get the picture.
About the Book:

If My Body Is a Temple, Then I Was a Megachurch: My journey of losing 132 pounds with no exercise!
IF THERE’S ONE THING that’s guaranteed, it’s that you will bust a gut reading comedian Scott Davis’ hilarious yet poignant story about how he lost 132 pounds without any exercise. Spiced with his trademark comedy and self-deprecating humor, Scott serves up a dose of reality about the correlation between the state of our hearts and the location of our waistline. Scott explores the spiritual depths and practical steps to losing significant weight and shows how you can adopt a healthy lifestyle too.
Whether you need to lose 150 pounds or five pounds, Scott’s hilarious memoir will not only make you laugh but it will also equip you for your own journey to a happier and healthier you.

About the Author:

Scott Davis is a comedian, singer and entertainer. He received Christ at the age of sixteen on July 10, 1979. He graduated from Liberty University where he attended on a full scholarship for traveling with the Light Singers. While working toward his degree in cross-cultural studies, Scott traveled across the U.S. and to ten foreign countries.
Scott’s ministry has continued in the U.S. and abroad since his graduation in 1984. He has appeared on Mark Lowry’s videos and has written comedy for Mark while under contract with Word Records. For a year, Scott appeared weekly on the national television show, “The Mark & Kathy Show,” with Mark Lowry and Kathy Troccoli. Along with his weekly appearances, he has been a guest on numerous religious and secular radio and television broadcasts, including an appearance with comedian Dennis Swanberg on Swan’s Place.
Today, Scott conducts GET REAL national conferences with the nation’s top speakers and musicians. He also presents music and comedy concert events.

My Review:
As I started to read this book, the first thing that became extremely clear to me was his use of the bible and since I am an extremely spiritual/religious woman, this was something that struck a chord with me. Right from the start Scott suggests that if our bodies are our temples, then why would “I” treat them so poorly. That statement slapped me in the face and made me sit up and think. I stopped all reading and considered exactly what that meant to me as a disciple of Jesus Christ.

I have hid wrappers before, I am sure that most people who are overweight have some sort of a stash that nobody knows about. I however, never keep my stash in my house, I always eat the evidence first and I’ve been known to stop at the gas station to throw garbage away. In this book Scott talks about hiding wrappers in the trash and moving trash to cover over the wrappers. I know this hit home for me. There is a line in the book that has a definite meaning its talking about not being your own person (like the apostle Paul) only this time it’s because food is a barrier. He said “Same with me when it comes to food. I’m not my own. I’m enslaved”. Yes, I certainly can see how someone’s life to feel that way, enslaved to food. I’ve often said to others that food is to me what alcohol is to an alcoholic. This is just the same thing worded different.

This book parallels scripture, mixed with humor to illustrate an ordinary life that had extraordinary consequences. Scott, made some seriously valid points on weight loss that takes forever, as a person who has much to lose, this is something to help one lose motivation in a hurry. I love how he states that he wants to feel himself shrinking so his confidence goes in the other direction. Scott talks about golden nuggets, advice to live by.

The best part of this book, was how easily it is for someone to relate to, anyone who has ever have an issue with weight could identify with some if not all of what Scott went through. This is a fun read, a clean read and I would highly recommend this book to anyone who would like to consider weight loss.

Sandie

What are YOU Thinking?

I saw this book on the Media Guest Tour Here and I wanted to review it since I have three children still at home. I love children's books so this book just sounded like something I needed to read. Not only did I read this book, I sat down with each of my children and had them read the book to me and then we talked about the book. I was given a copy of this book and the words expressed in this review are my own.

About the Book:
Our thoughts, be it positive or negative, determine who were are and what we become. That is why helping our children understand the power of thoughts from an early age is essential.

Studies show that children with negative thoughts are more likely to give up; they lack confidence and motivation. One the other hand, children who think positively take on their life, they overcome challenges they are more enthusiastic, and driven. Author, Valerie Achley, illustrates the power of our thoughts in the award winning book, What Are You Thinking? This book introduces children to the law of Attraction. Beautifully illustrated with fun characters and humorous situations, this amazing creation teaches the power of the mind and the importance of wisely selecting our dominate thoughts.

"What Are You Thinking?" will inspire creativity, confidence, goal setting, gratitude, and How to turn a bad day around! Parents can use this book as a spring board to discuss healthy vs. unhealthy "thinking habits" with their children.

About the Author:

Valerie Ackley graduated from college with a degree in Business Management and worked eight years in the telecommunications industry before becoming a fulltime homemaker to her five sons.

After attending a seminar by Leslie Householder, author of The Jackrabbit Factor, Valerie gained a better understanding of the effect of our thoughts have on our experiences. Valerie had a strong desire to introduce these principles to her sons.

The idea of "What are You Thinking?" was born when she was unable to find any similar products for children. She hopes this book will be a tool to open a discussion between parents and children regarding the power of the mind, and the importance of wisely selecting our dominate thoughts. Valerie has seen her children benefit from applying these principles. She believes this book, with the delightful and humorous illustrations created by Lori Nawyn, will empower children and parents to enjoy the endless rewards of positive thinking.

Valerie lives in a beautiful valley at the base of the Wasatch Mountains in Utah with her husband and five sons.

My Review:

The day I received this book in the mail, I sat down with my five year old, and we read the book through about four times. She loved the pictures and hearing the story. She kept asking me for a few days after, hey what are you thinking? I then gave this book to my ten years old and she read the book through. After she read the book we sat down and talked about how she felt about the book. She stated that the book has a good message, she especially liked the dialogue of the little animals, she also believes this book is something that kids should read and remember. I next gave the book to my nine year old that read the book and said that he loved the pictures and to him the story had a good message, he said that more kids need to read this book. He asked if they have the book at the library at school, because he wanted his friends to read the book.

My thoughts on the book are that this book was well written and illustrated. At first I thought that the pages were a little too busy, but after looking at the book through my children's eyes I started to glimpse what they saw in the illustration and the pages written.
The messages in this book are real, and needed. I loved the light bulb, the idea of a light bulb represents thinking and then it says "just like a bug is drawn to a light..." That is exactly how this epidemic of negative thoughts.

This book was wonderful, the pages were well illustrated, some were busy to me, but my grandchildren loved the illustration, which went hand in hand with the message. As the book states "you decide what you are going to focus on" this is a powerful message to children!
Sandie

Velwythe: Resurrection of the Mind

Although Velwythe was not a book that would usually be in my genre, I wanted to read it so that I could expand my horizons so to speak. I was given a free copy of this book to review from Media Guests Here. The views expressed in this review are my own words. Thank you Media Guests for allowing me the opportunity to review this book.


About the Book:
His mother vanished. His father killed himself. Vaan, now 21 has no friends, no money, no family, and no hope. All his dreams have vanished. Unable to escape the horror of his own memories, his life has been in stasis.
But with a bit of luck and a bit of effort Vaan manages to make his first real friend since childhood. Duncan, a man who has watched the growing railline destroy his entire home city, was disowned after denying his birthright.
Vaan and Duncan become fast friends with troubled pasts. Now, with Duncan's help and the encouragement' of a local priest, Vaan decides his life has remained in a quagmire too long. Only by selling his house and everything he owns will he have a chance to become a wandering scholar.
Every year around the FreePort Solstice Festival (and his birthday) Vaan has terrible nightmares of his father's chronic pain. But the night before the festival Vaan has a dream unlike any before. He wakes up thinking he has gone blind-but it isn't just that, he can feel something cold pawing at his head as though it is absorbing his very thoughts.
After the horrible dream, leaving FreePort isn't just about getting an education. Ellred, a local priest, tells Vaan there could be more to his non-dream than he could ever imagine. But the only way to figure any of it out is if duncan agrees to travel with Vaan to the very place Duncan can never return. And on their way to Alpine, Vaan's encounter with a small militia forces him to question his understanind of humanity and the very reality he thought to be true for so many years.
But Velwythe is more than just the story of Vaan and Duncan. Visit Here the website for Velwythe to explore the world Vanna and Duncan explore,, participate in the story by communicating with the characters, vote on issues that will change not only the future books but the entire world and much, much more. No book has been so complete and so accessible. Velwythe, not just a book, a whole new world.

About the Author Bonn Turkington:

With a background in classical philosophy and a love of video games, a new author brings an original idea to the overstocked book isle. Bonn Turkington, was always intrigued by the interactive environments of video games and RPG's, but also enjoyed the intellectual feasts of Greek and Russian Philosophies. This mix laid the foundations for a unique vision of a fantastic world.

Bonn Turkington has opened the series to his fans, encouraging them to participate in the story development. Readers can vote on issues described in the available book, Velwythe: Resurrection of the Mind, as if they were citizens of the fantastic realm via the books website, http://www.velwythe.com/ This will change the enviorment around the main character, forcing him to deal with political and social fluctuations just as anyone in the real world would have to. There is also an open invitation to artists and writers who are interested in a chance to have their work recognized through working with the site and publishing company.

My Review:

Velwythe is as I stated earlier, not something I would ordinarily read. I read the synopses a few times before I decided I would like to try reading this book. I will admit that I had an extremely difficult time getting into the book. As I started the book, I considered a few times just giving up on the book. I took it everywhere I went and found I would rather make a phone call and talk to someone, than read the book.

As I started to move through each chapter I realized that this story was so deep, and complex that it was not something one could simply light read. I started to become more serious about the book and found that I started to enjoy the book as the chapters passed. I enjoyed the relationship that Vaan had with Duncan. I do not know if I was more excited that he had someone in his life because I felt so sorry for how lonely he was or if it was just nice to have another character that was solid. Vaan was an interesting character who in my professional opinion has issues with separation anxiety.

I felt sad when the Festival came, and how sad that made Vaan. It was a good idea that he sale everything and get away from there. The memories of his parents in his house seemed to haunt him. This was a good book, I am glad I did read it. I can not say that I loved this book, but I did like the book. I think its a great read for someone who enjoys a deep book and has the concentration level to devote to reading. Vaan is a great character and I would recommend this book! This book was Volume One so there will be more books coming in the future.

Sandie

Echoes of Savanna

I was given the honor of reading Echoes of Savanna by Lucinda Moebius, by Media Guests Here. I was given a free copy of an E-book to read, I had never read an E-book before, and found it interesting and challenging since I read it on my computer. I had wanted to read this 2nd Edition copy of the book; I had heard so many good things about the 1st Edition, I was eager to read the book.

About the Author:

Lucinda Moebius grew up in the mountains of Idaho and Eastern Oregon. her mother taught her to read when she was only 4 years old and since that time books have been her constant companions. She has a Bachelor's degree in English Teaching, a Masters in Educational Leadership and is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Education. Lucinda supports her writing habits by teaching high school and college. She lives in Boise, Idaho with her husband and their dog and cat. Lucinda is the author of Echoes of Savanna, a Haven Novel, part of the Parent Generation. You can visit the Authors website HERE.

About the Book:

Every generation has their defining moments, events that change history and turn the course of lives. Forever will the children of that generation be identified by those moments. Savanna Taylor is a medical doctor in 2036, the same year terrorists release a series of plagues and viruses into the world. She is a nineteen year old Brain Trust whose task it is to find a cure for the diseases and develop vaccines to prevent their further spread. The world is thrown into turmoil and Savanna needs to find a way to survive with her sanity and family intact. Can Savanna cope in a world in constant flux brought on by war and disease? Can she save the world and protect her loved ones or will she make the ultimate sacrifice? How will she be defined?

My Review:

This book fascinated me from the start. I was quickly drawn into the story as it was set in the year 2036. I found that I was so captivated by Savanna and her way of life, that I became completely engrossed in this book and had a difficult time putting the book down.

The story moved quickly, there were times that the story went through many years in a page or a paragraph. This was not something I felt detracted from the book, but the story did move fast. The new age futuristic technology seemed to me like watching the Jetsons cartoon back in the 60s and 70s, now in the future; this technology did not seem so farfetched. I could see data pads and all the technology that followed in this story. I actually thought how nice it would be to have that type of a data pad.

I loved the story of Savanna; she was a good woman who helped so many people. I felt that she was a viable character who was easily likable in real life. As always, I love a good love story, the story of Travis and Savanna albeit different, it was heartwarming. I love how they found love. I know that people fall in love at first sight, I did. This relationship was fun to follow from Travis picking up Savanna in Phoenix, to his transferring dorms so that he could be closer to her and eat his meals with Savanna's family, and to his gentle care of Savannah when she was injured.

The story ended very differently than I had expected, I do hope that there are more books in this series, because I enjoyed reading the book so much. I would recommend this read to anyone who likes an adventure. This book was a clean read.

Sandie