Read This! says Keeks

Chazown: Define your vision, pursue your passion, live your life on purpose by Craig Groeschel is a book I refer to frequently.Chazown is vision.This is a guidebook to use to map your life.This book offers practically and accurate information to identify your life's main theme by focusing on five areas: Relationship with God Relationship with others Work life Financial life Physical lifeIt is laid out simply, but don't underestimate its effectiveness. Of course it's up to you to put this into action.If I were to bundle a life support set of books it would include: Chazown Quitter by Jon Acuff A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller Creating Your Personal Life Plan by Michael Hyatt War of Art by Steven PressfieldAlso, you can visit the Chazown website and enjoy free resources and teachings to help you create your own personal Chazown. There are Chazown conferences/workshops you can also attend at participating churches and small groups. I attended in the fall of 2010 and still use the tools and information I received to live my life with vision and with purpose. It was a phenomenal experience and very encouraging to be surrounded with others committing to live life intentionally.***Favorite Quote Where there is no vision, the people perish... Proverbs 29:18aFor more reviews, visit www.theycallmekeeks.com

Written by Donald Miller, Blue Like Jazz reads like conversation between deep, soul-searching friends. He isn't afraid of ambling along. He isn't afraid to be completely transparent - which is why this book is equally profound and disturbing. The subtitle "Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality" is the crux of the book. Miller gives you a gracious and eye-opening perspective that may be different than your own.This is my second time to read this book in less than a year's time span. I have a feeling this is the beginning of a beautiful relationship with this book.The book is written essay style. My favorite stories include his time spent at Reed College. Please read this book and be challenged by the story of the confession booth.***Favorite quotes and passages:“I am something of a recluse by nature. I am that cordless screwdriver that has to charge for twenty hours to earn ten minutes use. I need that much downtime. ”“I believe the greatest trick of the devil is not to get us into some sort of evil but rather have us wasting time. This is why the devil tries so hard to get Christians to be religious. If he can sink a man's mind into habit, he will prevent his heart from engaging God. I was into habit.”“There is something beautiful about a billion stars held steady by a God who knows what He is doing.”***If you'd enjoyed this review and would like to read others, visit www.theycallmekeeks.com

This book was fantastic! It is raw and thought provoking. Don't let the title fool you into thinking this is only for those who grew up without fathers-Donald Miller's insights are rare and unique! Hope you enjoy this book as much as I did! (February 13, 2008)Reviewed again March 2012 (www.theycallmekeeks.com):To Own a Dragon: Reflections on Growing Up Without a Father (2006) by Donald Miller & John MacMurray is an incredibly thought-provoking read.Donald Miller writes transparently about growing up without a father and how that loss has affected him.Photographer John MacMurray is co-author of this book. MacMurray invited Donald Miller to live with him and his family. Donald Miller shares his experiences and the lessons he learns during this time period in his life.I loved how MacMurray invited Don into his family. I think that alone is riveting and a true representation of Christ and how the Church should operate.This book reads like any of Miller's other books: easy and with gut-wrenching honesty.Some of the topics that Miller reflects on include: identity women money spirituality fatherhoodTo Own A Dragon is a must-read for everyone. It will allow you to glimpse a different perspective and help you to respond compassionately.Also, this book rereleased as Father Fiction: Chapters for a Fatherless Generation (2010)***Favorite Quotes “It isn't about what you don't get done; it's about what you do get done.” “God has spoken, and when God speaks, the majority has spoken.” “...burying themselves in his arm was more about feeling his love in the confusion, in the difficulty, than it was about having moved past it.”

What can I say about Little Bee by Chris Cleave?This is a powerful story. Powerful in its intricate telling. Powerful in its subtlety. Powerful in its ending.I enjoyed this story because each time I thought I had figured out the next turn of events or the ending, I did not.I won't say much about the storyline because of its intricacy:Instead open the book yourself and begin reading.***Favorite Quotes On the girl's brown legs there were many small white scars. I was thinking, Do those scars cover the whole of you, like the stars and the moons on your dress? I thought that would be pretty too, and I ask you right here please to agree with me that a scar is never ugly. That is what the scar makers want us to think. But you and I, we must make an agreement to defy them. We must see all scars as beauty. Okay? This will be our secret. Because take it from me, a scar does not form on the dying. A scar means, I survived. I could not stop talking because now I had started my story, it wanted to be finished. We cannot choose where to start and stop. Our stories are the tellers of us. Sad words are just another beauty. A sad story means, this storyteller is alive. The next thing you know something fine will happen to her, something marvelous, and then she will turn around and smile. This is the forked tongue of grief again. It whispers in one ear: return to what you once loved best, and in the other ear it whispers, move on. You are blind to the present and we are blind to the future.More reviews at www.theycallmekeeks.com

Zusak.Markus Zusak.He is one of my favorites.In a world of hierarchical artistry, he is right up there with Madeleine L’Engle, Donald Miller, Jane Austen. This writer brings his A-game in everything he writes.I Am The Messenger is story structured as a deck of cards. Trust me on this because when you open the book yourself you will see it in the chapters, in the design, in the story itself. What genius! That alone has held my rapt attention.I can recite the first lines like a mantra.So far, I’ve read this book five times.Each time it reads deeper and truer.I will never get enough of Zusak’s word weaving.You can read a summary anywhere so I’ll just tell you this much:I Am A Messenger is a story of becoming more than you think you are.Zusak paints with words. Inky alphabet sculptures.This book will make you believe in barefoot girls, old ladies drinking loneliness, the power and the glory, and that the gunman is useless. Useless but effective.***To read more book reviews, visit: www.theycallmekeeks.com

Author Ruth Rosen is a daughter of Moishe Rosen and writes a beautiful, moving biography of the life and experiences of her father.This biography is a very detailed account handled in a loving, but very honest way. Ms. Rosen writes in meticulous detail. The biography is mostly told in chronological order. Footnotes give the reader even more insights and observations by Ms. Rosen.The story and controversy of Moishe is an incredible, fascinating read. Ms. Rosen has captured the richness of her father's life and legacy. The depth and level of research that Ms. Rosen provided is evident in the book. There are personal narratives from Moishe himself. There are accounts given by friends, families, and colleagues.If you are interested in the incredible story of Moishe's journey to belief in Jesus as the Jewish Messiah, read this book. I am still thinking of the heartache, the setbacks, the journey that gave the world the organization Jews for Jesus. This was a fantastic read!Favorite quotes by Ruth Rosen: God's little intrusions into Moishie's life were like a series of brush strokes. It was as though God were painting a picture, showing Moishe that whatever the circumstances, trust and obedience were key elements in the destiny that God had designed for him. Moishe was a man with a mission, called to controversy; a man with a beautiful soul and feet of clay.Favorite quotes by Moishe Rosen: There is no such thing as a hopeless situation; it seems insoluble because people have grown weary of trying. We are not preaching ourselves, but Christ. And whether or not we do well does not depend on how well we serve Jews for Jesus, but on how well we serve Christ. The quality of your life is shaped by what you really believe, not just what you say you believe.***Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the 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 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”www.theycallmekeeks.com

This book will wreck you. It will inspire you. It will challenge you.

This girl is genius! And she can write!

Ummmm....yea this book is totally going to be read and reread and reread!

Brutally fantastic. Liquid poetry.

This will be a book I will continue to reference and will look to for encouragement! Fantastic, challenging read!

Gotta say that I am really enjoying spy/thriller novels right now!

I couldn't finish this book... I kept forgetting they were vampires (vampyres) not witches... oh well at least I tried.

I'm giving this five stars because I actually felt sympathetic to the two characters-Melanie and Wanderer- who were stuck in the same body....I was amazed that author was able to successfully pull this off.

didn't even finish reading....