Book Review: Preserve the Dead by Brian McGilloway

Preserve the Dead is the third book in the DS Lucy Black Series.  While visiting her father in Gransha Hospital, DS Black is alerted to the fact that a body has been found spotted floating in the River Foyle and it turns out that the body has been in the river for a few days and that the body has already been embalmed by an undertaker.

This leads to confusion and a full investigation into who the man is and how he ended up in the River Foyle.

During the investigation, more bodies are found and the police are lead into a ring of exploitation in the building trade.

I enjoyed this story but for me, it wasn’t as good as the first two in the Lucy Black series. 

Book Review: Be Holy by Warren Wiersbe

Be Holy is a commentary on the book of Leviticus, the third book in the Old Testament in the Bible.

Leviticus is about holiness. We serve a Holy God and as His children, God longs for us to pursue a life that is pleasing to Him.

Originally written for the ancient Israelites, Leviticus continues to offer timeless principles for living that remain relevant to us Christians today.

Be Holy examines the principles of holiness and explores how we can cultivate holiness in our daily lives. 

Book Review: Larger than Life by Jodi Picoult

Larger than Life is a short story about Alice who lives in Africa researching Elephants in their natural habitat.

While walking around the Safari grounds, Alice comes across a herd of elephants which have been killed by poachers. But not all of them are dead – there is a baby elephant who has just lost her mother. Alice decides to adopt the baby elephant and subsequently calls her Lesego. Alice works with Lesego, with the help of a ranger, to help her in the aftermath of the tragedy she witnessed and the loss of her mother.

This is a lovely story of love between Lesego and Alice and the relationship between Alice and her mother which is very strained, as well as the relationship which develops between Alice and Neo, the ranger who helps her in raising Lesego.

Larger than Life is a prequel to Leaving Time which will hopefully tell us what happens to Alice, her mother, Neo, and Lesego. 

Book Review: Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

What a sweet lovely book about two teenagers Eleanor & Park who meet on the school bus and break through the social barriers which should keep them apart.

Eleanor has bright red hair and wears the wrong clothes while Park is a cute stylish guy who hands with the cool crowd. They are opposites but they are thrown together by an empty seat on the school bus.

Set over the course of one school year, this is the story follows the lives and the budding romance of Eleanor & Park and how they overcome family problems to find their own way.

This is such a sweet book and I read it in one day because I just couldn’t put it down.  It is a book that I really do recommend you read. 

Christianity: Learning from Leviticus

What do we learn from Leviticus?

• Our God is a Holy God
• Everything about Him is Holy
• His Wisdom
• His Power
• His Judgement
• And His love 
• God wants His people to be Holy
• “Be Holy for, I am Holy” is said five times in scripture
• What health is to the body, holiness is to the soul, and the Great Physician can give us the spiritual health and wholeness we need
• Need to have a godly character as well as verbal witness
• Holiness begins at the altar
• The book of Leviticus doesn’t begin with a prayer meeting, a praise service or a church meeting. It begins at the altar where innocent sacrifices shed their blood for guilty sinners.
• Holiness involves obedience and discipline
• Disciplined obedience is a part of holy living
• Need to demonstrate the biblical truths in our everyday lives
• Holiness must be from God and be genuine
• Satan is a deceiver and we must be careful to detect and reject his counterfeits.
• Holiness involves priestly mediation
• There can be no growth in holiness apart from fellowship with Jesus Christ
• Unless we ‘take time to be holy’ and commune with God, we will never grow in holiness or likeness to Jesus Christ.
• Lack of holiness effects our land
• Holiness isn’t a private affair
• We need each other to help us in our journey of life with Jesus
• We need community
• Holiness glorifies the Lord
• Holiness means living to please God alone

Book Review: The Power of Letting Go by J Martin

Break free from the past and future and learn to let God take control

We all have a tendency to hold onto things that have happened to us in the past and it feels like we are walking with a ton of bricks on our back – which can slow us down and make us feel very depressed.

But all we need to do is Let Go of all the bricks and let them fall away, but this can be harder than we expect because we feel all alone – but we can’t as other are also overburdened with problems.

This book shares stories of other people who have struggled with letting go and what happened to them when they did.  It talks about how when we let go we need to do it with the help of God and how he is with us at the moment we are living in.

The journey of letting go takes a lot of courage and faith and the need to be open to God coming into our lives to help us. 

Book Review: The Tent, the Bucket and Me by Emma Kennedy

I laughed so much while reading this book – it is hilarious but I am sure that if I was in Emma’s shoes experiencing all those traumatic events I wouldn’t find it so funny.

The Tent, the Bucket and Me is a true story undertaken by her parents and herself, from camping trips in Wales with her grandmother to camping trips in France - and in every trip that they took, disaster always struck.

If it was my family we would have given up long ago, but the Kennedy’s here are determined to prove they can have a holiday without disaster.

These disasters included their tent being swept away by a force ten gale on the Welsh coast, food poisoning in France, madmen in the campsite and an invasion of ants.

A hilariously good read which I really do recommend people read. 

Book Review: The Truant Officer by Derek Ciccone

Pilot Darren McLaughlin is sitting in a bar after a long flight, thinking all is right in the world, then the news comes on and his life is turned upside down.

His wife has been kidnapped and Darren is determined to get to the bottom of her disappearance.  This leads him to befriend people he never thought he would and discover the real truths of the woman he is married to.

Mixed in with Darren’s story there is that of Lily McLaughlin, (Darren’s wife), Brett Buckley (Lily’s Student), Natalie Gold - a singer and detectives who are struggling on many different levels in relation to this case.

Taking us on many different journeys, this book involves so many twists and turns and ends in a very surprising manner. It is a good read and I do recommend it. 

Book Review: Disappeared by Anthony Quinn

Inspector Celcius Daly Mystery 1

Set in Armagh, Northern Ireland Disappeared follows Inspector Daly as he has to solve the case of a missing man, David Hughes, a retired Special Branch Agent.

This investigation brings Daly to a previously closed case of Oliver Jordan, who went missing at the hands of the IRA decades ago when “The Troubles” were at the highest.

The bombs may not be happening anymore, but for some, the fight will always be there and the discrimination still rife. For Daly being a Catholic in a Protestant nation and workforce, he knows too well the agonies of sectarian strife.

When Joseph Devine turns up dead, Daly’s investigation now turns a different corner as he has to work out how Devine and Hughes are connected as well as trying to find where Hughes has disappeared too, and how does Oliver Jordan and his son fit into all this.