Friday, December 25, 2009

Merry Christmas!

Whatever your circumstance is today, I hope you have a wonderful day!
Take some time to remember and reflect on why we celebrate this wonderful day.
Merry Christmas!

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

January 2010 Selection

It's time to get the book club rolling for 2010 and I sure do hope you all are as excited as I am about starting our 2nd year. The only change is that we will now be meeting in our new facilities at church! Beacon of Life has been good to us but for our 2010 year we will meet in one of the classrooms in Swift's new building. This will make our first meeting for 2010 on January 30th at 8:30 AM.



Our January selection for the book club will be, The Ultimate Gift by Jim Stovall. This is a small book (125 pages) but has such an enormous impact. You may recognize the name of the book which is also a movie and is just as good too. As we come off the busy Christmas season giving and receiving our material gifts lets take a minute to read about the gifts found in this book. Being what the title of the book is, at first it might lead you to believe we are reading about God's Ultimate Gift to us, Jesus. But the gift the author describes is a gift from one person to another that helped change a life. Here is what the book flap has to say:




Red Stevens was a self-made man who gave his family everything – and ruined them in the process. Now, as his estate of mega companies is divided among greedy and self-serving relatives, one member is singled out for a chance to do something special: Red’s great-nephew, Jason. The Ultimate Gift takes the reader through Jason’s incredible work to gain his Uncle Red’s inheritance through a series of challenges. Every step of the way, there is a lesson for Jason and the reader. It’s a quest for what it means to live life well that has captivated millions of readers throughout the world, and has also become the basis of numerous educational and philanthropic initiatives that build upon the inspiring insights that unfold in this stirring story. (End quote)




This book is an inspiring fictional novel. Please keep this in mind when reading the selection and that in no way are we trying to take away from the gift of Jesus. Because this book is so short I thought I would let you know that there is a sequel that goes along with it that you are welcome to read but it is not required for discussion. The sequel is, The Ultimate Life by Jim Stovall and is equally as short as the first book.




If you are interested in a Pre-order please contact Kathy at the church office. As always local libraries and bookstores have some copies available. I have sometimes seen this one and it’s sequel at the $5 Christian bookstore at the Tanger outlet mall. We welcome you to invite your family and friends to join us in reading. If you have any questions, please let me know. Happy Reading!!

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan (Whole Series)

You might remember that I read the first book in this series and told you about it back here. I have since completed reading all 5 books in the Percy Jackson series, squeezing them in here and there between other reads. And I have to say I enjoyed it. I always enjoyed learning Greek mythology and it was interesting to see it all play out in a story. You can certainly tell the writing is for a younger crowd but nevertheless it was a fun read. Here is a list of the series in order:


Book 1 The Lightning Thief (See above)







Book 2: The Sea of Monsters



























Book 3: The Titan's Curse

























Book 4: The Battle of the Labyrinth
















Book 5: The Last Olympian




















Of course this will not be a book club selection but if you are interested in these kind of fiction novels I thought I would share. A friend of mine who is also a Harry Potter fan had told me about these and thought I might enjoy them so might as well pass along. If you are a HP fan just keep in mind that the writing seems to be for an even younger crowd. To go to the official Olympians website to check out the different books, click here. Happy Reading!