Book Review: Misconception

I recently joined the christianaudio Reviewers Program.  My first audiobook was Misconception by Paul & Shannon Morell.  This was an emotional true story of two families and their experience with a fertility clinic mix-up.  It is told in first-person from the perspective of Shannon, whose frozen embryo was implanted into the wrong woman.

This book is in no way a treatise on the human-from-conception view of life, though it touches on the topic.  Instead, this book focuses on the story of two families’ experiences with pregnancy via in vitro fertilization.  It is a narrative, not a defense.

In many ways, this book felt like a catharsis for Shannon; a chance for her to get out all of the penned-up thoughts and emotions from her ordeal.  At times, there were details and stories told that were not essential to the overall timeline of events, but give depth to Shannon’s feelings.   Especially since I experienced this as an audio book, it sometimes felt as though I was on a long phone call with Shannon after asking her, “So what happened with your baby?”  Taken in this vein, and giving an understanding ear, I was absorbed into the story.  I rode the roller coaster with her.

Tavia Gilbert did a fantastic job of narrating, lending full emotion when appropriate, and even sounding as perplexed as Shannon must have felt at times.  I highly recommend this book, especially in audio format, and especially to anyone dealing with fertility issues of any kind, past or present.

Book Review: The Money Answer Book by Dave Ramsey

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Your finances aren’t the problem… you are.

That might be how I’d sum up the message of Dave Ramsey’s newest book, The Money Answer Book.  Dave is a no-nonsense kind of advisor, and starts out with his key premise: “Personal finance is 80 percent behavior and 20 percent head knowledge!”  This is the foundation of all the advice that will follow in this concise, easy-reading resource.  This book is designed to be a quick and easy guide to some not-so-easy questions.  Whereas his previous books laid out general concepts, this newest addition seeks to answer specific questions, with bite-sized, easy to digest answers.

This is my first Ramsey book, and I was consistently impressed with his values.  He’s up front about his belief that the Bible is his foundation for his financial principles.  Dave places a high value on family, stressing the need for spouses to work together and agree on financial issues and teaching good financial values to their kids.  Dave hammers home the idea that hard work is the solution to financial trouble.  He has no magic bullet, and he is a true realist.  Overall, he’s like that uncle or ball coach that’ll tell you the hard truth your parents tried to tell you, but you’ll listen to him!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com <http://BookSneeze.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

F-R-E-E that’s spells free!

image courtesy of Billy over at stock.xchng

I love free stuff.  Do you love free stuff?

I thought so.

Well, get yer keester on over to Christian Audio and sign up for your free audio book of the month!  This month (April 2010) features Stuff Christians Like by Jonathan Acuff, which I plan to do a review of later on. I would’ve included the review in this post, but I haven’t written one yet and don’t want you to miss out on the opportunity to laugh until it hurts!  So, expect a review of not only this book, but also of Dave Ramsey’s The Money Answer Book, coming soon!