Due to various challenges, Debbie Stier’s son Ethan did not have excellent marks. When Debbie, a single mom, realized she could not afford college tuition, she decided Ethan would need to do well on the SAT. Rather than add to his stress by pressuring him, she decided to model to her son how to get […]
52 Books in 52 Weeks
Review: The Marriage You’ve Always Wanted by Gary Chapman
Gary Chapman, popularizer of the 5 Love Languages concept, has reworked an earlier book, Toward a Growing Marriage, into this helpful manual. He states that the goal of marriage is a deep, total union of a couple on all levels—intellectual, social, spiritual, emotional, and physical. From a Biblical viewpoint, Chapman deals with all the usual […]
Review: What Your Heart Needs for the Hard Days by Holly Gerth
We all have hard days. Some people have only a few of them, at least for the present. Some face an unrelenting succession of difficult times. And some have sadness woven so deeply into their souls that it seems joy will never return (and if that’s you, please do seek professional help as well as […]
Review: A Vine-Ripened Life by Stanley D. Gale
We live because of Christ, and we bear fruit by abiding in him. Those are fundamental facts of life for Christians. But what does ‘bearing fruit’ mean in practical, everyday life? And how, exactly, is that related to abiding in Christ? A Vine-Ripened Life discusses this by exploring Galatians 5:22, 23: “But the fruit of […]
Review: Mendeleyev’s Dream by Paul Strathern
From ancient Greece through centuries of alchemy to the modern periodic table, Mendeleyev’s Dream traces the history of chemistry with fascinating mini-biographies. We learn about Thales of Miletus who fell off a cliff while stargazing; Henning Brand who fermented and distilled vats of urine to isolate phosphorus, the first new element; Boyle, the founder of […]