A Perfect Likeness

 "Love isn't binary. People say you fall out of love like you might fall out of bed. Love is different every day. Like a tree, it can bloom and flourish or it can die over the course of a long winter."

Love makes people do strange, terrible, and wonderful things. And love isn't always directed where we expect it.

This was a refreshing change to my reading lately. A Perfect Likeness is easy to read, mysterious, and pretty well written.

I thought for sure I knew what was going on but I turned out to be wrong, which was nice. Figuring out the solution at the beginning of a thriller is not my idea of a good time.

Definitely check this book out if you want a good weekend read. It kept me guessing page after page.

There are a few plot holes but I can't really hold that against Renee Kira because I thoroughly enjoyed the read. And I'll let the confusion over homonyms slide as well since she is far from the only author to suffer from the problem. Since the book is already out, I guess I can say that specifically the word "bare" is used when it should be "bear" more than once. It's something I can't understand proofreaders not catching before publication but like I said, I see that kind of thing a lot.

I received a free ebook for review through Book Sirens.

Activation by Adam Gellert

I just recently got back into the free review copy game. In other words, I've been entering to win free books through Goodreads.com. Earlier this week I received a copy of Activation by Adam Gellert.

Christian books can be hit or miss and I'm picky about what I choose to read. The description was:

     "When God decides to activate and transform your life, amazing adventures await. Join Adam Gellert and his family on a journey of incredible revelations and discoveries, and see how God desires to reveal His true nature to all of us, His children. Are you ready for your ACTIVATION?

Winner of the 2016 Henri Christian Literary Award for Best Non-Fiction!"

So I decided it sounded pretty good, even though it seemed to be some kind of self-help book. I can count the number of self-help books I've read on one hand, thanks to that book I read on improving your digital math. (Get it, digital math?  Ha!) But I try to keep an open mind. And it turns out that this isn't actually a self-help book, which is a good start. It's simply the story of a man's developing interactions with God.

Activation has something else going for it. Christian authors are usually earnest, positive people. But their writing and editing skills sometimes leave something to be desired. I don't know why that is. Maybe the excitement of getting the book to the presses and getting their word out there leads to a rushed job. Gellert, however, is a pretty decent writer. The grammar is not always flawless and I noticed what appeared to be a typo, but overall this is some solid work.

As an author, Gellert's voice is engaging and encouraging. There's no holier than thou patronizing here. He is straightforward with the reader when it comes to times he has under performed in his faith and tells us over and over that we shouldn't sell ourselves short. The book also flows nicely, which makes it a quick read. The Activation Application section at the back boils each chapter down to a few concise and thought-provoking questions, followed by suggested scriptures.

The message I will personally take away is about prayer. I have sometimes been reluctant to pray for big, miraculous things because I know that while God hears our prayers, only He knows what is best for us. Most of the time, I just pray for God to guide the situation and help me toward the best outcome. But the feeling I got from reading Adam Gellert's personal story is that you should absolutely ask for outrageous things. Why? Because God loves each of us and wants what is best for us. Things WILL NOT always work out the way you want because God may have plans to use what seems like a tragedy for ultimate good. And as long as you accept whatever God's answer is, you should never be afraid to go to Him and ask.

~~~I received a free copy of this book through a Goodreads Giveaway~~~