"Life of Andrew Jackson" Ed. John S. Jenkins

Snack of Choice:Drinking Chocolate Milk these days. And snacked on some old birthday cake with a “Racing Automotive 2” theme (if you get my animated drift). I may not get paid for this, but I am certainly not going to get sued by Disney either (after all, I have been associated with the Southern Baptists)!!

Story behind the story:
This Attic Books/New Leaf Publishers book was sent to me by request with no requirement to write a positive review. That’s the story… Yeah, that’s it.

Story Line:
Andrew Jackson – He’s more than just a 20 dollar bill! He was president, you know. He was just a young boy when the Revolution broke out, but he has at least one legend that follows him. He was known for his “scuffles” with the Indians (not even gonna touch that one). Battle of New Orleans, relentless, stubborn, and strong.

"The Priest with the Dirty Clothes" by R.C. Sproul

Snack of Choice:

There are days that you just need to celebrate victories. Today was one of those days, so I celebrated with a small (and I mean small) coffee and Boston Cream donut from the KING... of Donut’s, Mr. Dunkin. Thanks for the memory!

Story behind the story:
I received an electronic copy of this children’s book to review from Reformation Trust. No contract necessary! (and no requirements for a positive review). I had to come back after the great experience with “The Prince’s Poison Cup.”

Story Line:
R.C. Sproul, one of the great Christian thinkers of our time, has a desire to make complex theological concepts that make adult minds swirl and eyes glaze into something that even a child can understand. This story deals with the Imputation of Justification (that was fun). Basically, “how we are made acceptable to God through Jesus Christ’s righteousness” (5). It’s is rooted in the Scriptural event found in Zechariah 3:1-5 and the story of the Joshua (the high priest in the Biblical book of Zechariah, not the winner of Moses’ series finale of “The Apprentice”)

"Dragons: Legends and Lore of Dinosaurs"

Snack of Choice:

Peanut Butter and Jelly, green apple pieces, and chocolate milk is about all I'm getting these days. We've recently received a placement of two kids (Big Mac - 6 years and Small Fry - 9 months [but please don't call them that in public]) to stay with us a while. 

Story behind the story:
New Leaf Publishers (Master Books) provided this product to me a while ago, and I hesitated to review it, because I don't have the perspective of a six year old and I had strong feelings about it on my own.

Story Line:
Who DOESN'T love dragons. So obviously this would be a book for everyone. So what's the story? It's the history of Dragons from a creationist stand point. There are incredible pictures and some interactive material that make for some interesting discoveries.

Now an AWARD WINNING BLOG!

It's nice to add blue ribbons to a pig, even nicer to reward a blog with GREEN. Thanks Blogging for Books for the nod and for the dough. It will be wisely used! See my AWARD WINNING REVIEW of Radical!

The following is from an e-mail of notice I received:

Remember that blog review link you submitted to us in order to win a $--- Visa gift card?

Congrats! You’ve won!
We’ll be sending you your $--- Visa Gift Card next week. We’ll be sending them to the address you have on file with us through BloggingForBooks.org. If you would like us to send them elsewhere, please let us know where you would like it sent.
Congrats!

And here's what went out to the masses (check out some of the other winners as well):

MAY WINNERS

Congrats to Erin Mifflin. Her review of When the Hurt Runs Deep by Kay Arthur was the highest ranked review in the month of May. Erin won a Toshiba Netbook computer.

Congrats to Tarena Beckham who had the best quality review under the Family Life / Mom's category in the month of May and won a spa package.

Congrats to the following bloggers who submitted their best book review and won a $--- Visa Gift Card...

Aaron Matthews
Ragamuffin Gospel

For starters, we love Aaron's blog design. His review includes an image of the book cover, an embedded YouTube video of Brennan Manning and finally, he used the Blogging for Books "get code" feature to get others to rank his review.

Jeremiah Perdue
Radical Together

We enjoyed how Jeremiah incorporated links to external sources supporting his review. We also appreciate how Jeremiah engaged 100% with the book and did a great job communicating the main threads and takeaways from David Platt's new book, Radical Together.

Renee Smith
When The Hurt Runs Deep

Renee's blog is the perfect example of a book review that is original and unique. Many bloggers start a book review with, "I just read.." or "This is a book review for..."
This may sound weird...but a book review doesn't have to focus on the book. It can be more about discussing the subject matter in the book...how it impacts you, makes you feel or opens you up to something new. That said, we love how Renee tied her review to the book and the author, while keeping her post interesting and thought-provoking. With such a great review, it's no wonder Renee had 49 people leave comments on her blog post.

Melinda Fathel
Redeeming Love

We loved how Melinda embedded the first chapter excerpt using the Scribd embed feature. We also liked how she embedded a link to purchase on a retailer's site.

Chris Collins
Radical

We really liked how Chris embedded the video at the top of his review. We also liked that the video was nice and big. Chris' review was also quite unique in the way that he laid it out.

 Momma always said there was something special about me! Hope this is what she meant :)