Thursday, April 29, 2010

New Releases

Faith Begins @Home Mom
Maria & Mark Holmen
Focus on the Family, February 2010
There is a special bond between mothers and their children. In Christian families, this bond can grow beyond biology to the life of the spirit, but many moms don’t know how to begin nurturing their children’s relationship with God. This new series of Faith Begins @ Home resources is designed to help parents bring faith home. Faith @ Home Mom is an easy-to-use resource that starts from square one and ends in a 24/7 lifestyle of family faith. Moms will find step-by-step tips and age-appropriate guides for instilling a vibrant and growing faith in their children’s lives, as well as true-life stories from other moms experiencing the power and blessing of God in their homes as they develop their “spiritual skills” with their children.

Day-Votions for Mothers
Rebecca Barlow Jordan
Zondervan, March 2010
Introducing a new series of Day-Votions™ from bestselling inspirational author Rebecca Barlow Jordan. This beautiful, lighthearted series of devotional books is perfect for you and is a perfect gift for women of all seasons, and all stages of life. From deepening your walk with the Lord to strengthening your relationships with others ... mothers, daughters, grandmothers, and women everywhere will find page after page of powerful spiritual encouragement within. Each 'day-votion' points to a biblical truth, affirming with every reading that God is faithful no matter what challenges you face. With forty devotions per book in this three-set series---Day-Votions for Grandmothers, Day-Votions for Mothers, and Day-Votions for Women---designed to bring you into deeper relationships with God, your family, your children, and your friends ... inspiration is certain.

Mother-Daughter Duet
Cheri Fuller & Ali Plum
Multnomah, February 2010
A harmonious relationship is possible. When your daughter was born, you had a thousand hopes and dreams for her. . .including that one day you'd be best friends. But as life unfolds, even the best intentions go awry. There are so many challenges on the journey to adult friendship that the reality is fraught with friction and frustration. Thankfully, a harmonious relationship with your daughter is possible. Written by a mother and daughter who have successfully navigated the minefield from distance and tension to acceptance and friendship, Mother-Daughter Duet helps moms open wide the door of communication so that daughters want to walk through it. Filled with personal anecdotes and based on proven principles, each chapter offers timeless wisdom as well as a daughter’s perspective. Often these principles apply to daughters-in-law as well.
The relationship between mothers and daughters is intense, personal, complex, and unique. But you can have the loving, authentic bond you always dreamed of—when you learn the mother-daughter duet.

Your Spouse Isn't the Person You Married
Teri Reisser and Paul Reisser
Focus on the Family, March 2010
When two people are falling in love, no detail about the other person is too small to leave unexplored. Sadly, in most marriages this intense desire to know the other person ends once spouses feel they have a “handle” on each other—with disastrous results. In this book, Paul and Teri Reisser look at 10 behaviors, decisions, and communication patterns that can change with time. Using candor, humor, and stories from years of experience, the authors convey the warning signs couples miss when they forget that they aren’t the same people they were when they wed.

Preparing for Marriage
Dennis Rainey
Gospel Light, April 2010
It can be tempting, for couples who are engaged, to focus on planning their wedding day and ignore preparations for the lifetime commitment that begins after the cake is cut. Now, with this revised and updated edition of Preparing for Marriage from FamilyLife, couples can do both! Created by one of America's leading marriage and family ministries, this dynamic program is designed to help Christian couples lay the foundation for a strong, lasting and biblical marriage. Preparing for Marriage includes eight sessions of fun, romantic study that will help couples identify areas for growth in their relationship and start them off on the right foot before they walk down the aisle. Couples will learn how to discern God's will for their relationship, to handle finances and plans for the future, to clarify their roles and responsibilities, to develop a loving sexual relationship, to deal with family histories and past issues, and much more!

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

New Releases

What Did You Expect? Redeeming the Realities of Marriage
Paul David Tripp
Crossway Books, April 2010
A longtime Christian teacher and counselor calls engaged and married couples to a grace-based lifestyle of daily reconciliation, marked by six practical commitments. Marriage, according to Scripture, will always involve two flawed people living with each other in a fallen world. Yet, in counselor Paul Tripp's professional experience, the majority of couples enter marriage with unrealistic expectations, leaving them unprepared for the day-to-day realities of married life. This unique book introduces a biblical and practical approach to those realities that is rooted in God's faithfulness and Scripture's teaching on sin and grace. "Spouses need to be reconciled to each other and to God on a daily basis," Tripp declares. "Since we're always sinners married to sinners, reconciliation isn't just the right response in moments of failure. It must be the lifestyle of any healthy marriage." What Did You Expect? presents six practical commitments that give shape and momentum to such a lifestyle. These commitments, which include honestly facing sin, weakness, and failure; willingness to change; and embodying Christ's love, will equip couples to develop a thriving, grace-based marriage in all circumstances and seasons of their relationship.

Reinvention
Superchick
Inpop, April 2010
With their new project Reinvention, Grammy-nominated Superchick goes back to the studio to reinvent their favorite songs. Drawing inspiration from the nearly 100 TV shows, video games and movies that use their music, Superchick has created a soundtrack album for fast car chases, giant fighting robots, teen romance and bad guys walking in slow motion. Two new singles, "Still Here" and a solo breakout from bassist Matt Dally entitled "Let It Roll," accompany nine reinventions pulled from every album in the band's discography. "These are songs we love. It means a lot to us to get the chance to go back into the studio as a band and rebuild them from the ground up. We have the technology. We can make them better, stronger, louder," says Max Hsu, the band's founder, producer and studio recluse.

Online with God: A 90-Day Devotional (FaithGirlz!)
Laurie Lazzaro Knowlton
Zonderkidz, April 2010
Put God on Your Buddy List. Finding God in the universe of computers and cell phones isn't as easy as googling his name, but he's there all the same. And what girl wouldn't want him with her as she tries to make her way through a galaxy of emails, text messages, IMs, chat rooms---and middle school relationships? Written as a girl's personal blog to God, Online with God teaches you how to stay safe while using today's technology. This ninety-day devotional contains relevant Scripture verses, tips on making safe choices, and prayers for all the confusing times in your life. As you read it, you'll realize that God listens when you blog as well as when you pray. After all, he's the Lord of the universe---including cyberspace.

Let's Have a Daddy Day
Karen Kingsbury
Zonderkidz, April 2010
Let's Have a Daddy Day, written by Karen Kingsbury and illustrated by Dan Andreasen, is a playful and heartwarming picture book that celebrates the cherished and unique times that fathers and their children spend together. Whether it's building forts, wrestling, or catching tadpoles, this book reminds us that there are many ways to have a special day with Daddy. 'When you're all grown up and you look back on this day, you'll know how much I loved you 'cause we took the time to play.' A Daddy day? Why not! What better way for a child to enjoy being with Daddy---and Dad to enjoy being with his little one? These heartwarming rhymes by bestselling author Karen Kingsbury offer great ideas for children to have simple, fun times with Daddy, and to come up with ideas of their own. Geared for kids and dads alike, this endearingly illustrated book will become a cherished addition to the family library.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

New Releases

Bringing Up Girls
James Dobson
Tyndale Publishers, April 2010
You’ve got daughters? Then you’ve got questions. Parents, teachers, and others involved in shaping the character of girls have a lot on their minds:
  • Are girls really fundamentally different from boys? If so, should they be treated differently?
  • Whoever said that girls are “sugar and spice and everything nice” never met my teenager. What can I do?
  • My adolescent daughter seems to be on an emotional roller coaster. One minute she’s giddy with excitement; the next she’s moody and withdrawn. Is this normal?
  • As a mom, I so badly want to be “best friends” with my daughter. Why isn’t it working out the way I dreamed?
  • How does a dad’s role in his daughter’s life influence her character and decisions—including her eventual choice of a husband?
  • How can grandparents contribute to raising a healthy granddaughter?
  • What’s the best way to educate girls?
  • How are girls affected when their parents divorce?
  • What should we be doing to shape the next generation of women?
In Bringing Up Girls, Dr. James Dobson, America’s foremost authority on parenting, tackles these and many other questions, offering wisdom and encouragement based on a firm foundation of biblical principles.

Imaginary Jesus
Matt Mikalatos
BarnaBooks, March 2010
Imaginary Jesus is an hilarious, fast-paced, not-quite-fictional story that's unlike anything you've ever read before. When Matt Mikalatos realizes that his longtime buddy in the robe and sandals isn't the real Jesus at all, but an imaginary one, he embarks on a mission to find the real thing. On his wild ride through time, space, and Portland, Oregon, he encounters hundreds of other Imaginary Jesuses determined to stand in his way (like Legalistic Jesus, Perpetually Angry Jesus, and Magic 8 Ball Jesus). But Matt won't stop until he finds the real Jesus-and finally gets an answer to the question that's haunted him for years. Be warned: Imaginary Jesus may bring you face-to-face with an imposter in your own life.

Giving Church Another Chance
Todd Hunter
IVP Books, February 2010
Everybody wants to be spiritual. But nobody wants to be religious. Everybody is looking for a rich spiritual life. But nobody is looking to church.As a pastor, Todd Hunter found himself disillusioned, burned out and needing to drop out of traditional forms of church. He experimented with house churches and other options but was still dissatisfied. Eventually he found himself sneaking off to worship services on Sunday mornings with surprising results.What did the historic spiritual practices of church do for him? How did they lead to a life of centered peace, chart a path to simplicity and cause him to reach out to others while focusing on the glory of God?Walk with Hunter on this journey to find spiritual riches in a surprising place. You might just give church another chance.

The Bride Collector
Ted Dekker
Center Street, April 2010
He loves them because they are beautiful. He kills them because he loves them. A virtuoso killer is carving a path of death across the west, intent on killing only the most beautiful women, all in the name of love. He has claimed six victims and slipped through the FBIÂ’s fingers, each time leaving behind a hand written note and a bridal veil. Full of surprising wit and hair-raising twists that will keep you riveted to the end, The Bride Collector will haunt you with a new way of looking at beauty, love and the world in which you live.

The First Three Gears
Relient K
Gotee Records, April 2010
Combining their self-titled album with The Anatomy of the Tongue in Cheek and Two Lefts Don't Make a Right . . . but Three Do, this collection offers rock 'n' roll for listeners of all ages. Includes "Wake Up Call," "Nancy Drew," "Sadie Hawkins Dance," "Breakfast at Timpani's," "Mood Rings," "College Kids," "Gibberish," and more, plus five bonus tracks. Three CDs.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

New Releases

Letters to God
Patrick Doughtie and John Perry
Zondervan, February 2010
Inspired by the major motion picture Letters to God, this novel is for readers eager to read more of this inspiring story. Tyler, a nine-year-old boy, is stricken with incurable brain cancer and begins to write letters to God. He turns his suffering into spiritual lessons for his widowed mother, his embittered adolescent brother, and a troubled postman. This story of hope will help readers from all walks work toward greater understanding of God's presence and care.

Letters to God
Patrick and Heather Doughtie
Zonderkidz, February 2010
'I thought maybe God didn't hear me, so I decided to write him a letter.' In his search for a special compass, a young boy writes a letter to God and reveals, to himself and others, the miracle of God's hand in every situation. This book is inspired by the true story of Tyler, whose life is told in the major motion picture Letters to God. Patrick and Heather Doughtie, authors and parents of the real-life Tyler, share the endearing story of their son's inspiring and contagious faith.

Letters to God Journal
Zondervan, February 2010
This journal inspired by the major motion picture Letters to God is an appealing and innovative tool for helping people build stronger, more fulfilling prayer lives. Building on the popularity of the film, in which a dying boy shares his fears, hopes, and dreams with God through letters, this easy-to-use journal helps unlock the mystery of prayer by enabling users to talk with God the way they would pour out their hearts in letters to their best friends. Complete with examples and Scripture verses on prayer, it offers the practical, yet inspired advice that both instructs and motivates. Readers will be able to turn to one of the blank journal pages and start praying.

Prayer: Your Own Letter to God
Andre Dugger
Zondervan, February 2010
Inspired by the major motion picture Letters to God, this insight-filled guide offers Christians creative, practical advice on how to strengthen their relationship with God. Writing their own letters to God, readers of all ages---both newcomers to faith and lifelong prayer warriors---will develop and strengthen their prayer lives. Hands-on strategies and exercises, featured at the end of each chapter, ensure this book will be used and studied over and over again. Readers will rely on it not only for help in writing to God daily, but also for: * Clear, concise descriptions of prayer * Guidance on how to pray * Thoughts on for whom and for what to pray * Insight into why to pray and when to pray Written by the real-life pastor of the young boy portrayed in the movie, this book is a practical primer for prayer that will build on the powerful message of the film as it inspires believers for years to come.

If I Could Ask God Anything
Kathryn Slattery
Tommy Nelson, March 2010
Awesome Bible answers for curious kids!
If I Could Ask God Anything
is a unique kid-friendly book jam-packed with clear, fresh answers to important questions about God, faith, prayer, and Christianity in language that children can understand. Using kid-friendly language, established author Kathryn Slattery tackles "toughies" such as:

  • If God is invisible, how do I know He is real?
  • Did Jesus live on Earth before or after the dinosaurs?
  • Why should I go to church?
  • When I die, do I become an angel with a halo and wings?
  • How can the Holy Spirit help me?
  • Does God stop loving me when I sin?

This book will help young readers establish a closer relationship with God as well as help parents nurture their child’s mind and spirit with this well-rounded, Scripture-based guide.

The Telling
Beverly Lewis
Bethany House, April 2010
Grace Byler leaves Bird-in-Hand in a fancy car to search for her mother in Ohio. But what if Lettie Byler doesn't wish to be found? Meanwhile, Lettie continues her private quest to find the missing piece of her life. As clues take her from state to state, she is increasingly torn between the family she has left behind and the yearning for her long-lost child. Struggling to come to terms with a grave medical diagnosis, Heather Nelson is determined to forgo traditional medicine--to her father's chagrin--in hopes of finding answers and healing in Amish country. But first, she offers to drive her Amish friend, Grace Byler, to Ohio Amish country. Will mother and daughter, and one seriously ill graduate student, find the answers they long for? Or will "the telling" cause them all further pain?