My Book Photography

Hello everyone!!  I thought it would be fun to share with you all some pictures I took of some of my books.  I edited them using PicMonkey. 

I received this copy of The Hobbit for Christmas this past year and the acorns are earrings I made.

Let me know which picture is your favorite!  I hope you all have an awesome weekend!!

P.S.

Book Review: The Loyal Heart

Publisher's Description

Robert came to Galveston to fulfill his promise to a dying man and look after his widow. He didn’t expect to find love in the unlikeliest of places.
Robert Truax, former Second Lieutenant and Confederate officer in the Civil War, made a promise to his comrade Phillip Markham. If anything happened to Phillip, Robert would look after his beloved wife, Miranda. She was his life, his world, his everything.
After the war, Robert is left to pick up the pieces and fulfill his pact. When he arrives at Miranda's home in Galveston, Texas, things are worse than he imagined. Phillip's name has been dragged through the mud, everyone in town believes him to be a traitor, and his widow is treated as an outcast. Even more disturbing is her emotional well-being. Miranda seems hopeless, lost, and so very alone.
Robert had thought his duty would be simple. He would help Miranda as quickly as possible in order to honor a promise. But the moment Robert laid eyes on her, his plans changed. He's mesmerized by her beauty and yearns to help her in any way he can.
He makes it his duty to protect Miranda, turn her reputation around, and to find some way to help her smile again. But it doesn't prove to be an easy task—Robert knows something about Phillip that could shake Miranda to the core and alter her view of the man she thought she knew so well.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This book is about love, healing, and loyalty.  The characters were just fine.  I didn't get particularly super attached to any them.

Robert was fine and so was Miranda.  Robert suffers from flash backs to his days in the service.  And Miranda suffers depression for most of the book.  She is mistreated by everyone including her once best friend.  After her husband, Philip died and the war was over some rumors start going around that Philip was a traitor.  And that Miranda was unfaithful to him.  On top of all the stares, whispers, loneliness, and threat letters for her home,  Philip's Mother and sister are beyond rude and want their home back, Miranda's home left to her by Philip. Which is where Robert steps in to help. 

It was rather odd how you would be reading a conversation and then a word is said and for several paragraphs it takes you back in time.  Then it would come back to the "present" and continue the conversation.  Some chapters were solely in the past, which was a better way to explain things, in my opinion.

Another odd thing was that Robert and Miranda go through a lot together, but they don't really know all that much about one another.  So it is interesting that they get together like snap.

If you like books during or after the Civil War, books with romance, danger, and a little mystery, then this just might be the book for you.   It was an ok book.  I wish it had some more Godly principles because there weren't that many.

Rating: 3 out of 5

* I received this book from BookLook in exchange for my honest review.

Book Review: The Promise of Jesse Woods

Publisher's Description

The summer of 1972 was the most pivotal of Matt Plumley’s childhood. While his beloved Pirates battle for back-to-back World Series titles, Matt’s family moves from Pittsburgh to Dogwood, West Virginia, where his father steps into the pulpit of a church under the thumb of town leader Basil Blackwood. A fish out of water, Matt is relieved to forge a fast bond with two unlikely friends: Dickie Darrel Lee Hancock, a mixed-race boy, and Jesse Woods, a tough-as-nails girl with a sister on her hip and no dad in sight.

As the trio traipses the hills and hollers, Matt begins to fall for Jesse, and their promises to each other draw him deeper into her terrifying reality. One night, the wrath of the Blackwoods and the secrets of Jesse’s family collide, and Matt joins Jesse in a rescue that saves one life and ends another . . . and severs the bond of their friendship.

Years later, Matt is pulled back to Dogwood and to memories of that momentous summer by news of Jesse’s upcoming wedding. He could never shake the feeling that there was more to the story of that fateful night, and he’s determined to learn the truth behind the only promise Jesse Woods ever broke.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This book goes back and forth between 1972 and 1984.  It is all from Matt's point of view.  He goes back to Dogwood to try and change Jesse's mind about getting married.   So it jumps around to past and "present".  It was a fine read.  I personally liked the parts in the past better than the "present".  This book is about peoples mistakes, and pretty much finding forgiveness and believing in God.  Though I do wish the healings and changes were a bit more radical and evident. 

I like the way Chris Fabry writes.  The way he describes things and such.  There were also some reference to things like, To Kill a Mockingbird (Matt tried to read it to Dickie and Jesse, but ended up reading it himself), Star Trek, and some other things. 

The most boring parts was when they were talking about baseball. I'm not a sports girl, so it didn't interest me at all.  I was glad when those few parts were over.  Other than that it was an interesting read.

This is a very mature read.  Bad things happen and are sad.  So be prepared.  The pace was pretty good for this book.  I liked the characters, how different the all were.  It was a fine book, but one I don't plan on rereading anytime soon.

3 out of 5

*I received this book from Tyndale Publishers in exchange for my honest review.

The Power of WORDS Tag

(I hope you don't mind I'm using your photo, dear.:))

~Thank the person who nominated you (Thank you so much, Michaila!!!!)

~Answer the 6 original text-themed questions

~Add a typography/word related question of your own for those you tagged to answer

~Tag 6+ bloggers and let them know

~Include these rules in your post

(1) ~ what is your favorite letter of the alphabet?

          Probably L.  Especially in cursive. 

(2) ~ three words that you love

          Lovely, wonderful, and darling.

(3) ~ what are three words that you hate?

           Other than cuss words, I don't like fart or barf.

(4) ~ if you were to create a word, what would it be?

         Funtastic! 

  When you are having a fantastically, fun time.

(5) ~ what are your three favorite punctuation marks?

An exclamation point!!!!!!  :D  One of these ~ They are so pretty.  And probably a question mark?

(6) ~ what are your three favorite fonts?

Bonus question: One saying that always annoys and or makes you laugh?

One that I read in a book that I though was funny was, "You can pick your friends and you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your friend's nose." XD

I tag any one who has finished a book in the last week.  Thank you again, Michaila!! :D

Book Review: Courageous

Publisher's Description

Valiant Hearts: Where Adventure and Romance Meet
Inspired by the vision of the Young Lady Sapphira, Rosalind of Ipsworth joins a group of men, women, and children as a defender of the cross, seeking to free captives from prisons near Tripoli. She gladly gives herself to the cause, as she's haunted by a tragic mistake and no longer deserves such joys as marriage and family might bring.

Sir Randel Penigree was reared to serve in the church, but dreams of protecting the innocent as a knight. Joining a crusade to escape humiliation at home, he finds himself drawn to Rosalind as they partner to train and protect a group of young adolescents. When they face political machinations, danger, and an unknown enemy bent on their destruction, they are forced to reconsider their priorities and the very nature of the God they serve.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

First off, I had no idea that this was a third book in a series.  With that said, it had quite a few characters and some references to the first two books.  Which I have yet to read.  Normally in series books I really like when they have characters to the previous books in it and so forth.  But when you are not in the loop it's not as much fun, in my opinion.  But I will say it makes me want to read the first two books to find out what happened.

Characters:

Rosalind and Randel are the main characters.  They both suffer from things they did in their past that they cannot forgive themselves for.  They are quite the pair.  They tell each other about God's forgiveness and yet have a hard time excepting it themselves.  I think Randel is more complex than Rosalind.  For the fact that he suffers from nightmares from battle. 

They were both fine characters, but I cannot say that I fell in love with them.  I did however, really like Lady Sapphira.  She seeks God and finds Him.  She listens to that still small voice in her heart of God speaking to her and she heeds it.  Even though she is only thirteen.  She goes after God with all of her heart and even though sometimes she doubts as all humans do, she remains ever faithful to Him.  I really liked her, a lot.  She is always praying and seeking His guidance.  I love that.

She even befriends a Muslim girl named, Rabia and shares the love of Christ by simply being there for her and loving her.  

Writing:

I thought the writing was good.  A bit slow in the begging, but eventually it picked up.  I love the part when Sapphira and the other children pray over Rosalind and Randel.  Very powerful and descriptive.

I like how she added in something from the Bible.  A certain story, a certain miracle that happened in this book as well.  I like how different all of the characters were.  They each have their own nick.

Overall:

This story doesn't just show courage, but also God's unfailing love and redemption.  It shows how one young girl hears His voice and follows it.  How one young man and women filled with so much pain and regret can be restored whole in His unfailing love. 

I wasn't too sure how I was going to like this book.  But I think it was well done.  I love how much Jesus and God there was in it.  A lot of Christian Romance kind of books don't always have that.  So that was very nice to read.  God always has a plan for our lives if we just be quite and listen to His still small voice.  He will show you what to do.

Rating: 4 out of 5

*I received this book from Bethany House in exchange for my honest review.

Happy Independence Day!!!

Hello everyone!!!  Happy Independence Day!!  I hope you are all having a wonderful day.  I just wanted to do a quick post of my 4th of July outfit.  Since I told you guys I would, here it is.

My sweet friend, Mary made this wonderful pin for me.  I just love it!!!  Thank you again, dear!!! <3

Outfit details:

Top: Thrifted

Dress: Thrifted

Shoes: Zulily

Pin:  Gift from Mary <3

I hope you all have a wonderful week!!!  A very happy 4th of July to you all!!!  Love, Morgan <3

June Wrap-up + My Outfit from Yesterday

G'day everyone!!  And happy July!  I can't believe that June is gone.  It went by so fast.  It was a good busy, month for me.

Reading; Well, I read Ender's Game, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Phantom of the Opera and The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.  I also read some of the Bible.  I'm currently working on the Old Testament.

Watching; I saw Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 and to say the least, it wasn't as good as the first one. I have watched lots of other movies but I can't remember them all. ;)  One that I saw this month for the first time that I really liked was Now You See Me.  Guys, it was really well done and entertaining.  I liked it very much.  And this week we have been watching...Shark Week on TV.  It has been really interesting and fun.

What I did; Me and my family went camping to Lake Tahoe towards the beginning of the month.  Last week I went to Christian Redwood camp to help some friends with babysitting. 
Then my parents surprised us this last Sunday morning with a trip to Disneyland!!! 

I'm looking forward to July.  Fourth of July is in just a few days and that's always a fun holiday!  My Dad's birthday is on the 10th and my sister, Mackenzie's birthday is on the 16th.  And then drum roll...I'M TURNING 18!!!!!   So hard to believe that in a few weeks I will be considered an adult.  

My lovely sister, Madison, has started a blog!!!!!!  Her blog is at Every Day Simplified.  Yesterday she took some pictures of me in my outfit so I thought I would share it with you all.

Outfit details:

Top: Forever 21

Vest: Thrifted

Scarf: From my Grammy

Pants: Thrifted

Shoes: Zulily

So here's my outfit!  All of the pictures except the first two were edited in PicMonkey for different shades of color.  The first three pictures were by me, the rest my sister did for me. 

Well, I hope you all have a wonderful 4th of July.  Yah know, I've been really feeling the red, white and blue look.  As you can tell in this one. ;)  I may post a few pictures of my 4th of July outfit.  So stay tuned!  Stay cool! And eat lots of yummy food, for that is what I'll be doing! Love, Morgan