I first discovered Becky Thompson’s blog when a post of hers went viral on Facebook.  As a result, I started following her and quite a few of her posts were very encouraging. When I discovered she had written a book, I was excited to get a chance to read it.

Her book, like her blog, is easy to read but oozing with encouragement.  It is so obvious in every chapter that her heart truly cares about her readers even though she has never met us.

Overall, it was a little too conversational for my taste.  Each chapter started with a personal anecdote or some sort of story.  The anecdote was literally half or more of the chapter.  So for me personally it was a little too drawn out.

When she got to her main point…it usually wasn’t earth-shattering or revolutionary.  But it was just a whisper of something that my heart needed to hear as a Mom.  There were a couple chapters in particular that were great reminders for me and brought me so much encouragement.

If you are a Mom who wants a friend to sit down over coffee with you and encourage you to persevere in motherhood…this is a great book!

Read Becky’s bio here and join her online at her web site or on social media.

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

-Bonnie

Counted with the Stars is a wonderful historical fiction book.  As I have said before, I am a harder sell when it comes to fiction, but I have really enjoyed this book.

Connilyn Cossette writes about an Egyptian girl, Kiya, who is sold into slavery by her father.  She is right in the thick of it when suddenly her beloved homeland is struck by terrible plagues.  Hearing rumors about a man named Moses, she tries to piece things together as she wrestles with what kind of terrible god would do such a thing.

I love this book because it is not predictable.  It immerses you into the story as if you were truly experiencing it as one of the Egyptians.  I have read the story in the Bible numerous times.  It’s an incredible story.  But to think of it as if I was experiencing it made the fear and terror come to life.  It made me think about the account in new ways.

Kiya eventually is able to leave her mistress and escapes with her family after the final plague.  They travel with the Hebrews, following Moses and God.  She is faced with questions about just who this Yahweh is.

The only criticism I would make is a minor one and that was with the Hebrew girl Kiya befriends.  A pet peeve is when Christian authors paint the Christian characters as habitually bubbly, happy, and smiley.  Joy does come from knowing God, but joy doesn’t always equal bubbly or happy.  But as I said, minor detail and does not detract from the whole story.

I will definitely be keeping this book for a re-read later!

Note: I received this book for free from Bethany House Publishers in exchange for this review.

-Bonnie