Book Review: Spiritual Warfare for Your Family by Leighann McCoy

Spiritual Warfare for Your Family is a book that sets out to teach the reader how to fight spiritual battles. As the mother of two small children, I figured it would be a useful book for me. Unfortunately, the first two thirds of the book were pretty useless. A few useful things were said, and a few statements that I’m not sure how she could back them up with the Bible. I had a hard time getting through that portion of the book (parts 1-4 of 6 parts), because it seemed like a bunch of talk. I also had a problem with the fact that every time she quoted a Bible verse, it seemed to come from a different translation or paraphrase of the Bible. I’m always suspicious of intentions when I see authors switch around among translations to try to make it serve their purposes.

However, I trudged through, and found the last two sections to be more helpful. In those sections, she goes more specifically into parenting children at different stages in their lives, and dealing with various issues and situations commonly faced by families today.

I’m not sure I would recommend this book to friends, but if they really needed some help in this area, I would tell them to start at the beginning, and flip to Part 5 once they got bored. I was glad at that point that I stuck with the book because it was definitely more of what I hoped to find on the pages. I wish I could give the book a higher recommendation, because I did have high hopes for it and it was helpful toward the end, but I couldn’t get past the first two thirds easily.

I received this book for free from the publisher through the BethanyHouse Blogger Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review and the opinions and thoughts I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255

Book Review: The Pediatrician’s Guide to Feeding Babies and Toddlers by Anthony F. Porto, MD MPH and Dina M. Dimaggio

The Pediatrician’s Guide to Feeding Babies and Toddlers turned out to be very informative on more than just feeding little ones. It covers different types of allergies, disorders, and diseases related to food and eating, as well as growth and development. I thought the book would be most helpful as a reference, but it was quite educational to read the whole book first. Now I can go back to specific areas relating to my children’s stages.

The book is largely in a question and answer format, with questions as headings to make it easy to find what you are looking for. Each chapter covers a different age group: 0-3 months, 4-6 months, 7-8 months, 9-12 months, and the toddler years. At the end of each chapter are a collection of recipes useful for that age, with adaptations for adults or older children.

I currently have a two month old and a toddler, and although I have already navigated feeding the toddler up to her current age, I found the earlier chapters to be rather eye opening. I discovered that some of my toddler’s social behavior is more normal than I thought, and gained insight into ways to get her to eat better.

A few comments about development had me shaking my head, however, like where it says 4-6 month olds should be sleeping 10-12 uninterrupted hours every night! I think most parents know that only happens before the 4 month sleep regression and then sometime after a year. Other than that I found the book to contain sound information and advice, including alternative diets and research based nutritional info. The charts and references at the end of the book were also helpful.

I definitely recommend this book to parents of babies and young children, and will be referring to it again as my children and my family keep growing!

I received this book for free from the publisher through the Blogging for Books blogger review program. I was not required to write a positive review and the opinions and thoughts I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255

Book Review: Yankee in Atlanta by Jocelyn Green

Caitlin McKae is stranded in enemy territory. Having survived a gunshot wound while fighting for the Union army, she is mistaken for a Confederate and taken to a hospital in Atlanta. If she reveals who she really is, she would end up a prisoner, and would never return to those she loves. But it looks as though she might find a new love in the South.

Ruby O’Flannery is working to better her life for the sake of her young son, and to piece things back together after the events of the previous two years. But her past secrets and struggles threaten to mar her future.

Yankee in Atlanta is the third installment of the authors Heriones Behind the Lines series, historical fiction set during the Civil War. The history behind the story is very accurate, with several real supporting characters. The characters are well-developed and the story is uplifting, as the main characters learn to rely on God during very rough times.

I enjoyed this book as much as I did the previous two books in the series, and loved the fact that it brought in some characters from the first two and tied them into the story. I would recommend at least reading book one, Wedded to War, before beginning this one. I also must add that this series is really geared towards a more mature audience, with content not suitable for younger kids.

If you enjoy historical fiction and romance you will LOVE this book!

I received this book for free from the publisher through the Moody Publishers blogger review program. I was not required to write a positive review and the opinions and thoughts I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255