Tag Archives: christian help books

Book Reviews – April 2026

27 Apr

Welcome back to SGL, friends. How this month has flown by! I’m surprised by how much I was able to read, let’s get to it, shall we?

The Powder (Tales of a Revolution: Bermuda) by Lars D.H. Hedbor – Hal is unexpectedly thrust into the middle of the revolution in colonial Bermuda when Molly’s father asks for his help in a daring plot that will aid the mainland rebels. Hal’s caught between his own more immediate concern of where his next meal will come from, and the seriousness of this cause.

~ I found this story engaging and very easy to read – I’d say younger readers could grasp what was occurring without trouble. I loved Molly’s spirit and the adults’ drive to do what was right, as well as give Hal a second chance. I got to meet Lars at a few book events these past months and enjoyed getting to talk to him about his stories and writing process. He’s a pacific northwest author, check his website out if you’re interested in his books!

In the Reeds: A Short Story Anthology by Tim Maddox – Maddox shares eleven short stories (and a few extras!) of his completed short stories for Reedsy.com weekly challenges. These cover fantasy, sci fi, espionage, snapshot of life and more.

~If you’ve been around a while, you’ll know that I don’t read many short stories/novellas because I always want them to be longer. And, while that is still true with these short stories, I still enjoyed them. A few stood out more than others of course, but I liked reading one or two before turning my light out at night, and not have quite so much pull to read ‘one more chapter’ like happens with a full length book. He’s another pacific northwest author, here’s his website, if you’re interested!

The Tales of Teltra by D.H. McCormack- I recently shared a separate blog post on this story, click the title to go check it out!

Little Women by Lousia May Alcott – Follow the March sisters as the family lives through the Civil War. Their home in New England is a haven against the world for all four of them – Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy. While Marmee and Hannah help them in their day to day, their father is away at war.

~dramatic reading, Spotify. I hadn’t read this in several years, somehow, so it was a delight to listen to it again. Although, it did take me far too long to finish since I couldn’t find my physical copy… The dramatic reading was great, although I wondered at the southern-sound of Hannah’s voice – is that something I forgot was there in the book, or was it just a choice for the dramatic reading? Anyway, I also liked how Alcott steps away from the story to tell the reader certain things and started wondering how that would go over in a book written nowadays or if it would be more of an irritant to modern readers without that nostalgia to smooth over the ‘preachy’ aspect of some of it. I digress. I was reminded why

Hope When It Hurts: Biblical Reflections to Help You Grasp God’s Purpose in Your Suffering by Kristen Wetherell and Sarah Walton – Both the authors have lived through difficult times- and still are. They’ve share thirty biblical reflections that, while they don’t shy away from the real pain that often accompanies life, they are full of hope in God.

~This is the second time my sister in law and I have gone through this book and we found it just as encouraging this time. The lessons are a good length with insightful questions at the end of each. Highly recommend this book whether your suffering is physical, emotional or psychological, chronic or not.

Ten Days in a Mad House and Other Stories by Nellie Bly – the first of the stories, ’10 days in a mad house’ was written in 1887 after Bly went undercover at a woman’s insane asylum on Blackwell’s Island. The assignment was given to her by Joseph Pulitzer. Other stories follow, giving more insight into the living conditions of the time.

~I thoroughly enjoy Bly’s writing style. That aside, it was further interesting, knowing that they were newspaper articles when they were first read. And that, if people were so moved, things could have changed for those she wrote about. Definitely recommend.

Currently Reading:

The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive #1) by Brandon Sanderson

Leave It To Psmith by P.G. Wodehouse (audiobook, Librivox) – I’ve just recently started listening to this again

Upon Waking by Jackie Hill Perry

Upcoming Hopefuls:

Little Men by Louisa May Alcott

that book from Anna

The Oath by Lars D.H. Hedbor

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Book Review – When God Doesn’t Fix it

27 Jul

Hello friends! I have been wanting to write this review for a few weeks now – maybe longer? –  it is such a great book and I highly recommend it! (there you go, now you know, you don’t even have to read the rest of this post, haha!)

bkrvwwhengoddoesntfix

But seriously, When God Doesn’t Fix It by Laura Story is one of those rare books that doesn’t focus on ‘if only your faith were stronger’ or ‘God is distant and doesn’t care for our day to day’ books (yes, I’ve read both of those type of ‘help’ books and I’m sure you have too!) Instead, she shares her trials and what she’s learned along the way – that despite our flaws and hard stories, God can still use us in extraordinary ways. If we remain faithful and willing.

Here are a few sections that stood out to me :

in reference to John 9, “Neither the man’s nor his parent’s sin caused the blindness. . . Imagine the deep sense of relief the blind man must have had to hear that… Jesus wanted the disciples, the blind man and the religious leaders listening to know that it wasn’t one person’s specific sin that caused this man’s hopeless situation… Jesus was clear that neither this man’s nor his parent’s sin caused his blindness. But neither did God cause it.” (page 138/139) 

This section right here made me sigh in such relief. FINALLY. Finally someone who doesn’t teach that physical sickness is because your relationship with God isn’t right. I can’t believe how many times over the years I’ve been told that. I will avoid getting on my ‘soap box’ about it but let’s just say that it’s not Biblically accurate and leave it there. (although, I encourage you to study more about this topic.) Really, she sold me completely when I read this section. I’d been holding my breath just waiting for this topic to come up.

“The Bible is a book of broken stories and of sinful behaviors that cry out for redemption. That’s why the entire story of the Bible points to a Redeemer. And that Redeemer isn’t Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Peter, Paul or even Mary. The entire Bible points to Jesus as the Redeemer – our Redeemer.”  (page 186)

I really liked this chapter. We all know the heroes of the Bible aren’t perfect but how she explains why God uses their stories to teach us is so wonderful.

“What if David hadn’t been willing to write his story? Consider how different our faith would look if David’s story, both the highlights and the lowlights, had never appeared in the Bible. Think of how often we turn to the Psalms for comfort. What if David’s psalms were missing?”  (page 193)

She’s talking about being willing to share our story -even when we haven’t reached the happily-ever-after yet. When we are still in the ‘lowlights’ as she calls them. This point of David never sharing his story hit home for me. I have Psalms highlighted in my Bible from high school ( I no longer write in my Bible, but I did back then!) and have taken so much comfort from them – what if they weren’t there?!

I hope this quick review encourages you to go out and snag a copy of this book for yourself! And then, go ahead and share it with someone you think might gain from it. That’s how I got to read it, my sister in law let me borrow it (thanks sis!).

~Laura

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