Guess who's in the path of Hurricane Dorian? ME.
For those of you who don't know, I moved about a week ago to college....in Florida. I just got here and already I have to evacuate. I'm going to my roommates home because she lives more in-land. Because of the hurricane I don't know if I'll have WiFi or power, so next weeks post is being postponed. Pray for my safety and for the safety of Florida in general and I'll update y'all when I can!!!!
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*This post contains links that lead you to other websites in order to buy this book, view the author's website, the publisher's website, or other destinations.
Personal Blogger Moment I actually read this one rather quickly, so I'm hoping that means that my reader's block is gone. Also, I moved to college the week that I wrote out this review, so I might continue to read books but I am considering doing timed posts instead of posting right after I read. That way I have a steady flow of content and it'll be better for both you and me. So I'm kind of excited to share this one with you guys because Veronica Roth is one of my favorite authors and I think she has done an exceptional job with this series. What I Liked: First of all... The COVER IS GORGEOUS!!!!! I haven't been able to see the naked book because it's a library copy, so the sleeve is taped and you can't remove it, but I bet it's gorgeous too. 2.) The writing was amazing; it was so cleverly done for the most part. I just can't stop admiring Veronica Roth. She knows how to write amazing, captivating stories. Also, this book series is completely sci-fi, which is unlike the Divergent Series where it's at least still on Earth. So the amount of creativity it took to create the universe that the stories take place in is super high and so congrats to Veronica Roth for doing it!!! 3.) The beautiful, amazing, precious characters - so well thought out!!! They are so human. It's sometimes really hard to write realistic characters in a unique sci-fi universe, but Veronica pulled through and did an amazing job! She keeps them well balanced with weaknesses so that they aren't over our head heroes. We can feel them to an extent. 4.) All in all I loved this book. It was thrilling and kept me on my toes guessing. It wasn't too childish and it is definitely my genre/type of story. What I Didn't Like: 1.) At first I was confused. Mostly because it's been a while since I read the first book, so I was struggling to remember who characters were and what had happened in the last book, but eventually it all made sense as it came back to me. 2.) As a Christian, I try to be generally sensitive to what I read because of struggles with personal sins. And it's something I'm committed to being better at. I had a problem with the same-sex relationship between Cisis and Isae. At the same time though, they were secondary characters, so it wasn't like a huge deal and there weren't too many details, but it was still there. I also had a problem with the community referenced/a couple of characters who were neither male nor female. I know I might receive hate for this opinion...but I promised honesty so... you don't like it, don't follow my website or accounts. 3.) I hate P.O.V character changes because it confuses me a lot sometimes, but I understand how it was necessary to the plot so Imma chalk this one up to personal preference. Who Should Read This Book: It's sci-fi and YA, so mostly that age group I guess (15-25ish or anyone who loves sci-fi). And I would caution conservative/sensitive Christians because of the homosexual relationship and the non-binary characters. Also there's some violence and domestic abuse/emotional/mental abuse/manipulation. So it could be triggering to some people I guess, especially because most of the abuse was from the father. More About the Author: Veronica Roth, born in 1988, is a renowned novelist and short story writer of American origin. She is best known for her New York Time Best Seller trio that has also been adapted as high grossing movies of same titles. The trio was: Divergent, Insurgent and Allegiant. The first book of the trilogy, Divergent, was also listed as the Favorite book of 2011 and 2012 by GoodReads. The book also won the Best Young Adult Fantasy and Fiction. Roth’s love for fantasy and science fiction motivated her to pursue her Linguistic studies in Creative Writing Program of Northwestern University. She was initially attending the Carleton college however, her love for creativity forced her to quit the college after first year and transfer herself to Northwestern University. It was during the winter vacations of Northwestern University that she wrote Divergent. Followed by phenomenal success of her first science fiction trio, she also wrote four spun off short stories that narrated the point of view of Tobias Eaton – protagonist of her famous novel. Currently, Veronica Roth is working on two young adult novels that are being sponsored and will be published by HarperCollins in 2017 and 2018. Meanwhile she is also anticipating the release of two films based on her last divergent series by the titles of The Divergent Series: Allegiant and The Divergent Series: Ascendant. Besides writing Veronica has a cute little Schnauzer that she posts a lot of pictures of on her very popular Instagram profile. She loves to travel especially visit the grand capitals of Europe, like Wonderful Copenhagen in fairytale Denmark, Amsterdam with its many beautiful canals, or the old capital of Germany, Berlin. Fun Links:
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* This post contains links that can lead you to other websites in order to buy this book, view the author's website, the publisher's website, or other destinations. * This book was sent to me by Shadow Mountain Publishing for an Honest review *This book's release date is 09/03/2019 Personal Blogger Moment Phew! Reader's Block is real!!! Reading block, for those of you who don't know, is like writer's block; you just can't seem to read. Reasons why may vary, but for me it is because I have so many books to read that I feel so overwhelmed and end up not reading at all. Which... doesn't help, okay, I'll admit that the more I wait the bigger the pile of judgmental books across the room stare me down. Judging me for ignoring them and spending countless hours on my phone. See, normally I can read and spit out a book every 1-2 days; but with reader's block, what usually takes at most two days becomes two months. It's so bad, I know. So take my word for it, this book is super good! But to my shame and horror, it took much too long to actually read it enough so that I could get to the point of reviewing and publishing my review! So... without further ado, here's August's Book of the Month!!! Back Cover Summary: Bill Marriott, son of J. Williard Marriott who opened a root-beer stand that grew into the Hot Shoppes Restaurant chain and evolved into the Marriott hotel company, grew up in the family business. In his more than fifty years at the company’s helm, Bill Marriott was the driving force behind growing Marriott into the world’s largest global hotel chain. His vision and leadership expanded the family business to more than 6,500 properties across 127 countries and territories. Bill Marriott: Success Is Never Final gives readers an intimate portrait of the life of a billionaire and business titan and shares his definition of success. Bill shares details about his very structured childhood including the private struggles with his domineering father’s chronic harsh criticism; his time in the United Sates Navy as an officer aboard the U.S.S. Randolph; how he innovated the hotel industry with resort-like facilities; his dogged courtship with Donna, who would eventually say yes to his marriage proposal over a pay phone; and the boundless passion and energy he demonstrated for his work, family, and faith. Bill also shares spiritual experiences that allowed him to recognize God’s guidance in his personal life, helping him bounce back from a life-threatening explosion in a freak boating accident which caused severe burns over his body. Readers will learn the fascinating details about the successes and failures of Bill’s business ventures and relate to his challenges of balancing roles as a CEO, a husband and father, and a man of faith. From his half-billion-dollar venture and “bet-the-farm” move to build the New York Marriott Marquis hotel, to the heartbreaking loss of an adult son whose body slowly degenerated from Mitochondrial Disease, to the billions of dollars donated to medical research, the biography of Bill Marriott tells the remarkable story of a man who had the vision to create a multi-billion dollar business, who understood the power of giving, and lived the creed that hard work will pay off but success is never final. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ So, part of have an Advanced Reader's Edition copy is that the final copy may come out looking different than the copy that I have. There may be more or less content in certain areas....or the summary may change. Personally, I like the summary that I have on my edition, but the summary above comes straight from the publisher's website. But don't you just feel inspired and ready to buy the book? I personally love (both) the summary, but now let's take a gander at the contents inside! ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ What I Liked (Loved): I'm going to start with a general statement(s) and then get into some specifics. The book was AMAZING!!! I seriously loved it. To me, the Marriott family are the living examples of the American Dream, and are so inspiring! I took notes while reading, so let's dive into specifics. 1.) The book surprised me (see, I originally knew NOTHING about the Marriott family) because it seems that the Marriotts have been long connected to important, historically famous, well-known figures. Presidents, Billy Graham, and the King family are just a few examples. This becomes important to some events, like inaugural dinners, that the Marriott family attend or help plan. 2.) An important theme of the book is the family's faith/religion. It's an important aspect of the family and shapes their decisions, family history, and just about every aspect of their lives (which is how it is meant to be). Certain chapters highlight this more than others. (If you were curious...they're Mormon) 3.) Dale Van Atta was successfully able to dig deep into the Marriott family history and brought to the surface inspirational stories about Bill Marriott's ancestors. It gives the reader a unique sneak peak into how the Marriott family was formed and how their values rose through each generation. You also get to see the overwhelming amount of struggles and obstacles that each generation faced and overcame. The entire family embodies the American Dream in that they never quit, but instead they continued with determination and found a way around every obstacle. They truly know how to hustle! Sometimes, however, the stories can seem a bit like tall-tales; which simply means every reader must determine for themselves to what limit they will believe the stories. 4.) Most of the Marriott family seems to adopt a sort of 'sink or swim' outlook on life. They take up challenges that should be too risky and result in failure, but then find the inner strength to rise above the challenge and succeed. 5.) Okay, so, you know how you go to school and learn about the history of America, especially major events like the Great Depression and the Korean War? This book kind of brought those points of history to life for me through the Marriott family. For the younger generations who have never experienced the hard parts of American history, it's like peeling back a layer of impersonal learning about events and seeing it for maybe the first time through the lens of a family and how the events effect them. Quotes: " 'I could hardly wait to get back to work.' It was a lesson he had learned from his father, that a life of ease is an enemy to progress, both for the person and for the corporation-that, as Bill often put it: 'Success is never final.' " "There is no such thing as, 'It can't be done.' " "Although he (J.W.) was very tough, he was successful in continuously challenging me and our executive team to always do better. Today, our belief that success is never final is what separates our company from our competitors." "Keep physically fit, mentally and spiritually strong; Guard your habits-bad ones will destroy you; Pray about every difficult problem; People are No. 1; Decisions... have all the facts and counsel necessary-then decide and stick to it; See the good in people and try to develop those qualities; Manage your time; Details-let your staff take care of them; Think objectively and keep a sense of humor. Make the business fun for you and others." What I Didn't Like: There's only one thing, and it's really more of a personal preference. The Marriott family's faith is Mormonism, and to me the Mormon faith is heretical. So I didn't really enjoy when the faith's views were explained, but that's minor. Who Should Read This Book: Anyone, everyone. Scream from the rooftops, hand out copies in the streets, this book is a keeper for sure! More About the Author: Dale Van Atta is a New York Times best-selling author and journalist who has been nominated five times for the Pulitzer Prize. For more than a decade, he co-authored the world’s most widely syndicated news column appeared in the Washington Post and nearly 1,000 other newspapers, reaching 50 million readers. Van Atta was a longtime Roving Editor for Reader’s Digest and has been published in numerous other national publications. He has made appearances on the variety of national television news shows and has reported from all seven continents, including coverage of several wars. He has interviewed a panoply of U.S. presidents, world leaders, business and military leaders, terrorists, and spies. Van Atta’s previously published biographies include General Norman Schwarzkopf, Stormin’ Norman: An American Hero; former Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird, With Honor; and murderous polygamist cult leader Ervil LeBaron, Prophet of Blood. He lives in Ashburn, Virginia, with his wife of forty-five years, Lynne. They have three children: Tara, Dylan, and Kate. Fun Extras:
If you stuck through and read all of this CONGRATULATIONS! You're my new favorite person! But before you close the tab, would you do me a huge favor and go to the contact page and subscribe! If you have any questions, comments, or concerns you can comment beneath this post, or contact me using the form on the contact page!!! Thank you so much for reading this and for visiting my website. Feel free to browse my other pages and learn a little more about me or this website company thing. Back Cover Summary: In Holiness, J. C. Ryle speaks to the heart and soul of every man. In a winning, approachable style, he wields the sword of the Spirit like a skillful surgeon, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow. He addresses hard and trying subjects which most modern evangelicals have chosen to ignore: the power and depth of indwelling sin, the necessity of a holy life, the struggle and fight of faith, counting the cost of following Christ... and that's only in the first five chapters! Ryle’s treatment of the texts which head the chapters is based on plain interpretation, common-sense exegesis and practical application. He does not side-step the difficult issues, but takes them head-on, making Christian theology and the principles of holy living seem so simple, obvious and straight-forward that readers will wonder what other Bible truths they’ve been missing all these years. Christian, read J. C. Ryle. You will not regret it. He is a man who first and foremost loved the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the vital center of all his teaching and writing and the sole reason for his great power in ministry. Whether you are an erudite scholar or a hard-laboring farmer, a pastor or a layman, a spiritual elder or a babe in Christ—no matter where you are--Ryle's writings are for you. The love of Christ and the faith of this great 18th century saint cling to every page like an aromatic perfume. What I Loved: As a Christian, I absolutely loved the straight to the point writing. Ryle does not pull punches, which is something we need in today’s time when Christianity can become like brackish water when mixed with secularism. I loved Ryle’s perspective and how even though Holiness was written in the eighteenth century, it is just as relevant today as it was then. In totality, I LOVED this book. It was just a little hard to digest (as you'll read in the next section). Rate: 8/10 What I Didn’t Like As Much: Because it was written in the eighteenth century ...it can be a little hard to read. I had to read in chunks, and because of that it took me a very long time to get all the way through it. There was one chapter on Moses that wasn’t theologically accurate, but it still held great points. Who Is This Book For: This book is for anyone who wants to be, or is, serious about their Christian faith and want to be challenged. Even if you meet those requirements however, you need to have a high reading level to understand it. So, if you buy the book and can’t understand it…. do what I do and put it aside for a year or two, then try again. More About the Author: J.C. Ryle was a great theologian of his time, a Bishop, and an evangelical who, for some reason, was not widely read or recognized. It’s a pity to me, for sure, because his writings are so awesomely articulated. He was born into a well off family, did sports (which taught him leadership skills), and ended up being converted when he was ill and arrived at church late. His life is filled with so many details and accomplishments that I’m just going to link where I’m getting my information from so that you can read it yourself. Truly just what people of his time said about him is amazing, I really wish I could have met him. Fun Extras: Well ...the book was written in the eighteenth century, so there’s not much to put here except the other books J.C. Ryle has written (none of which I have read). Here’s the link to his author page on Amazon.
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About the AuthorHi, I'm Rachel, and I'm here to share reviews of books with you so you can know what to read next! Archives
October 2021
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