Dave Ramsey is a common sense money expert.  It is kind of ironic that he has created an empire from simply giving us the advice our parents and grandparents gave us about money.  His newest book is a quick reference book for every day financial questions.    It is broken down into categories ranging from budgeting to insurance with specific questions addressed within each section.

For readers who “have their ducks in a row” financially, there is not much here for you.  That being said, for someone who is trying to learn the basics of living within one’s means, this is a great little reference guide.  I particularly like the bevy of quotations included.  Each subsection ends with a well chosen quotation that really reinforces the lesson being taught.  Additionally, Ramsey’s signature supportive but directive manner that you hear as he provides advice on his radio show comes through as you read the words on the page.

While this complimentary book was provided for review by Thomas Nelson Publishers, no other compensation was given.  All remarks are my personal and honest opinions.

5 Cities that Ruled the Word by Douglas Wilson attempts to explain the importance and significance of Jerusalem, Athens, Rome, London, and New York not merely during a specific time period, but their ultimate role in shaping global history.   Wilson gives an overview of each city through a single chapter which highlights successes as well as failures and ultimately provides a primary contribution:

Jerusalem – Spiritual Liberty

Athens – Democracy

Rome – Law and Justice

London – Literacy and Literature

New York – Free Enterprise

Further, he shares the theological significance of each of these cities weaving scripture reference throughout the text.

As someone who rarely reads historically based texts for pleasure reading, I found this book to be an enjoyable,  quick read which provided quite a bit of new information for me.   The use of a conversational tone made the text particularly accessible.  Although I appreciated the attempt, I found the author’s use of humor distracting at times.

Clearly, one cannot have a full understanding of the history of each of these cities (Jerusalem, Athens, Rome, London, and New York) nor their impact and influence as the result of reading a 200 page book.  That being said, 5 Cities that Ruled the Earth provides a good starting point for further exploration and study.

While this complimentary book was provided for review by Thomas Nelson Publishers, no other compensation was given. All remarks are my personal and honest opinions.

What Difference Do It Make – Stories of Hope and Healing is the follow up to the tremendously popular Same Kind of Different as Me.  I enjoyed the first book overall and felt that the book had been well thought out and organized in a manner in which the reader really could enjoy the richness of the story.  I particularly liked the use of alternating point of view.

What Difference Do It Make did not live up to overall enjoyment of the first volume by this duo.  The alternating point of view format is still used which I liked, but the book seems a bit scattered and not as well organized.  A lot of material is re-hashed from the previous book.  Ron shares about his family background and specifically details about his relationship with his father.  To me the highlight was getting to learn more about Denver, his experiences,  and his art.  I loved the fact that there are actual examples of his art work with the book – what a treat!

The other highlight from the book was the use of reader’s personal stories.  They kind of reminded me of “Chicken Soup for the Soul” stories.  They were a touching addition, and I would have enjoyed reading more of them.  Overall I thought the book was an enjoyable, uplifting read, but it didn’t quite measure up to their first effort.

While this complimentary book was provided for review by Thomas Nelson Publishers, no other compensation was given.  All remarks are my personal and honest opinions.