Journals Books

This book, Cuban Legends, is written by the brother of my Cuban grandmother, Carmen Serra, whose maiden name is Bueno. She has showed me a copy of the book in Spanish, and I have not yet been able to find one written in English. The $45 for the translation would be a good investment to me, the compiler being my great uncle.

Compiled by respected essayist and literary critic Salvador Bueno, and enhanced with illustrations by Siegfried Kaden, Cuban Legends is an anthology of timeless tales reflecting the folklore of Cuba, including stories of the Taino and Siboney (the island's original Native American inhabitants); Afro-Cuban tales; and tales that reflect the Hispanic, African, and indigenous ways of life that blend to make the nation of Cuba what it is today. A most enjoyable collection of stories that comprise an engaging and eye-opening tribute and celebration of cultural legacy, Cuban Legends is also available in a hard cover edition.

The gift of letter-writing unfortunately is becoming a lost art?but not so for author Rebecca
Barlow Jordon. Because she understands that ?letters mingle souls,? she has structured her
new devotional, Daily in Your Presence, as a series of 365 little love letters from God?s heart
to yours. Imagine the joy of opening a personal love note from God every day for a year, that
draws you deeper into His presence, nearer to His heart. Divine love and Scriptural truth are
folded into each missive, hopefully to be tucked deep inside your heart forever. Each letter is
sealed with a meaningful short reflection called ?Simple Truth? that captures the essence of
each reading for easy recall. Daily in Your Presence is guaranteed to take you daily to the
Throne of God where your soul and His will someday mingle eternally.
?Lynn D. Morrissey, author of Seasons of a Woman's Heart & speaker

As the sun inched it's way over the dark hills on the East side of the Sea of Galilee, I sat on the balcony of my hotel room in Tiberius, Israel. I had a camera sitting ready in my lap, waiting for the exact moment deemed perfect for shooting the burst of the sun's rays once they made their grand appearance. In my hands, secured by my fingers, I held Rebecca Barlow Jordan's new book, Daily in Your Presence...and I read from page 19, "My child, sit down in the boat...I made the wind and the sea; they listen and obey My voice. I walk on the clouds, and they thunder their praise. I blink My eyes, and lightning reflects My power. I hold out My hand, and the storms are stilled. So, take My hand, sit down, and relax."

Does it get any better than that? To sit looking out on the water where Jesus walked toward His disciples during a raging storm...the place where He called them to service...the place where He pulled Peter from the water and his own momentary lack of faith? To sit and look out on all that and to read words from the Father's heart, a grateful response, and a simple truth?

Rebecca Barlow Jordan's work will sit next to such classics as God Calling and When I'm On My Knees. Her heartfelt words will remain a part of one of the fondest memories of my life, The Sea of Galilee, Summer 2002.

I love that this book gets you into the action. Sometimes without a little help (such as from this journal) you forget to do the small things that make other peoples and your day a wonderful experience.

A thoughful kindness quote for every day of the year and a set of practical kindness ideas for every major holiday. Each week, you find a guided opportunity to consider the place that some aspect of kindness has in your own life. An invaluable and growth-producing book

This is a great little book. Being familiar with the Daily Word magazine and having read the book "Daily Word: Love, Inspiration, and Guidance for Everyone," I was excited to see this new prayer journal. It has a forty-day theme with poems, articles, inspirational messages, and a place to journal for each day. It has really given me a boost each day, and as I journal I found myself learning more about myself and my God. It doesn't focus on any one particular religion, but on the bond of spirituality that we all share. I highly recommend it!

Forty is one of the important spiritual numbers...one you'll find several times in our Bible. And so a 40 day journal is symbolic. This journal has poems and devotions for each of the 40 days, but most importantly, it has space for your own thoughts with suggestions for journaling subjects if you don't already have your own planned. This is truly constuctive spirituality, and you will be rewarded for it, just through the journaling experience.

Much more interesting than I could have imagined. Written by the author of Robinson Crusoe. If I have my dates correct, Daniel Defoe was about 5 years old when the Great Plague hit London. He wrote this journal when he was 62 years old, and wrote what he recalled of the plague. It obviously left a great impression on him. (He wrote this journal 3 years after he wrote Robinson Crusoe -- again if I have all my dates correct -- he wrote Robinson Crusoe at age 59 years age.) Robinson Crusoe and Journal of the Plague Year are both on Harold Bloom's Western Canon reading list.

In this documentary novel, Defoe sketches poignantly the irrational behaviour of man under extreme circumstances, when death threatens behind every corner of the street.
People turned to fortune-tellers, astrologers or conjurers who deluded them. They became the victims of `doctors' selling `infallible preventive pills'. They `swarmed to a wicked generation of pretenders to magic and black art'.
People were terrified by the force of their imagination and saw representations and appearances in clouds. Their impudence increased by using devilish blasphemous language.
Others risked their lives by stealing and plundering without any regard to the danger of infection.
Man behaved as a mad dog.

The Government encouraged devotion, public prayers, fasting and humiliation to implore the mercy of God to avert the dreadful judgment. `Many a penitent confession was made of crimes long concealed.'
Innumerable religious sects and divisions fought for the souls of the condemned. It was `altar against altar'. The discourses of the religious ministers were full of terror, prophesying evil tidings.
Unfortunately, religion was not the solution: `the best physic against the plague was to run away from it.' People who believed in predestination (`tis the hand of God, there is no withstanding it') and stayed home, were infected too and died by thousands.
For Swift `there was no apparent extraordinary occasion for supernatural operation, it was really propagated by natural means.'

The near view of death reconciled men of good principles one to another.
But as the terror of infection abated, things all returned again to the course they were in before.
More, after the plague, `people, hardened by the danger they had been in, were more wicked and more stupid, more bold and hardened, in their vices and immoralities.'

In this impressive panorama, worth a Breughel or a Hieronymus Bosch, the only weakness is the lack of some kind of plot.

Not to be missed.

This book was a little bit more exciting than the first, My Father's World. The detail in this book is not overlooked by the authors. The characters show strong Christian values and at the same time show weaknesses, as we all have. It makes the characters seem very real and almost concrete. I recommend this book highly! The authors keep the book going, drawing you into it more and more. It was hard to put down! Enjoy!

Michael Phillips and Judith Pella have worked together well to tell the believable story of a girl and her spiritual growth. This book, which immediately follows MY FATHER'S WORLD is one of a series chronicling the life of Corrie Belle Hollister. The inner thoughts and feelings of this young woman are sensitively expressed. One can easily become absorbed in the adventurous tales involving Corrie and her siblings. I would highly recommend this book as a realistic representation of how, with careful guidance and love, a young person can be lead to a close and mature relationship with God. It truly touched and inspired me.

I discovered this book while writing my own "Fatherless Women: How We Change After We Lose Our Dads" (Wiley) and so I came to it having already drawn many conclusions from my own research and interviews. Still, I found myself reading this and going "yes!!" at almost every point Reis makes, often hearing in her words an elegant echo of what women had been telling me in my own interviews. As a woman who had a conflicted relationship with her father -- and as an author who has interviewed many women -- I recommend this book. It's smart, it's insightful, and it's also well written.

In Daughters of Saturn Patricia Reis explores various aspects of the father daughter relationship with a particular focus on the father's effect on a woman's creative life. Beginning with the charter myth of Saturn, the archetypal devouring and melancholic father, she explores the many ways tha Daughters of Saturn have come to name their experience and have used language to tell their stories. Through myth, dreams, and women's experiences, Reis creates a map marking a journey from life in the Belly of the Father through the First Gate of Awakening. She documents women's resistances and rebellions against the dominant culture of patriarchy, the treacherous Battlezone of Culture, and records the lives of four women writers -- Emily Dickinson, H.D., Sylvia Plath, and Anais Nin -- outlingin their struggles and strategies to live creative lives. Reis marks the trails into what she calls "The Wildzone," a place that has existence outside the law of the fathers: a woman-centered ground of being and knowing.

I looked everywhere for a book like this to send with my infant to daycare so I would know what his day was like. I am ready to purchase my second book now. I can also save it as a keepsake! It's a great buy!

Parents rely on daycare for their children for many reasons. Unfortunately, when children are in daycare, they are usually too young to share all the little things that happened throughout their day. Now there's a wonderful way for parents to feel more "connected" to the children they leave in their daycare's hands. There's no reason that parents should miss out on all the happenings of their child's day.

"A Day In The Life..." is a keepsake journal that allows daycare providers to record messages about a child's day, and gives parents those would-be "missed" memories and milestones that they would ordinarily not have. This soft-covered, easy-to-carry, spiral-bound journal lists five sections per day, where daycare providers can fill in notes for parents such as "Activities & Achievements," "Yummy for your Tummy," and "Notes & Reminders to Parents." It's 103 pages of memories that daycare children can now share with thei parents!

My ParenTime recommends the journal, "A Day In The Life..." by Shannon Hammond -- what a great idea! It helps parents keep informed about their child's daycare activities; and answers many questions parents have about their child's life while away from home.

It was very intresting. I'm deffinitly getting this book. It has great things like friendship, bad days, your own writing space and everything a teenager could want!!! So if you see it, be sure to get it!!!!!

Since I have been keeping my prayer journal, I feel that I am able to pray for everyone by name, as there is room in this book to list all the prayer concerns. And after one is answered I also use the room in the journal to list the answer received from our Heavenly father. One of the things that I like best about this journal is that no matter what your faith, you can use it. I am sure that everyone who starts a prayer journal will want to keep one for years to come.

Cindy Roberts' illustrated journal of her return to Vietnam for a homeland tour, accompanied by her four oldest children, two of whom were born adopted from Vietnam. She writes back home to her daughters, sharing the tale of their travels and adventures. Families who hoping to adopt and those who are considering a return trip to Vietnam will find this book very interesting. Adult adoptees will find it interesting as well, as the Roberts visit a babylift memorial and travel with older adoptees to their orphanages.

I loved "Dear Sam and Dani: An Adoption Journal" by Cindy Roberts! It's a set of letters Cindy wrote when she took her four sons -- two born to her and two adopted from Viet Nam -- to visit the homeland and the birth family of her adopted sons. Cindy gives the reader a very real, fascinating, and honest portrayal of the reactions of all five of them -- the exciting, the strange, and the poignant. This book should be very educational for adoptive (and prospective adoptive) families, reassuring for those worried about contact with birthparents, and a great case study for people interested in multicultural experiences. Best, Margie, An Adoptive Parent