Graceful Warrior: The True Story of a Son, a Father, and a Family Who Carried Each Other Through by Gary Sinise Book Review

In Graceful Warrior, Gary Sinise opens up about how his son, Mac is an example of a graceful warrior thru the many health battles he faced. He begins the book by sharing a journal entry from December 30, 2023. He writes how his son was struggling to breathe. The caring nurse had to call 911 to have the paramedics drive him to the hospital. His mother, Moira who was sick at the time herself struggles to give him one last kiss goodbye before they took him away. His wife, Moira was also battling cancer herself and was very sick. The book covered the up and downs of discovering that his son was diagnosed with a rare cancer at only age 27. But his life wasn’t all about dealing with sickness. The book covered the good and bad days of his son’s life and how he had to watch his son being taken away from cancer progression. Mac was passionated about music and loved to play the drums was very talented in crafting new pieces. He was able to have a musical album completed before he passed. Gary shared how God gave him peace and was able to provide him with this despite all that was going on around him. He explained how he felt connected to Elijah and how he begged God to end his suffering and end his life. God instead sent him an angel with food to encourage and support him in his journey. He relied on God’s strength to get thru the pain of losing his son. 

Gary is an actor and has starred in Forrest Gump, The Green Mile, and best know for CSI: NY. He also founded a veteran organization. He does discuss a little about the shows and his organization and people’s stories. 

I would recommend this inspiring book to anyone who is a fan of Gary Sinise and his acting. Readers get to learn more his personal story and how he endured the challenging times and triumphs. It was a times difficult to read without feeling the emotions of watching your family members dealing with intense physical and emotional pain. I liked how he shared his personal faith and how that helped him to get through the hard times and come out stronger. 

Check it out below:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1400208157/ 

Check out one of his music videos:

 

Adversity for Sale: Ya Gotta Believe by Jeezy Book Review

In Adversity for Sale, Jeezy has written an autobiography about his rise to becoming a rapper. He was from a small town in Georgia, Hawkinsville. He started out as a thief and he described his childhood and how he was able to get money always. He revealed how he became to selling crack and making money off others. He shared how one of his friends was spammed out of their money and what this principle taught him. He realized the importance of getting what you deserved out of every single deal. You have to stand your ground. Ultimately his friend ended up paying the price with his life and was killed. He opened up about how he got caught and went to jail. He went to a youth challenge program boot camp and learned some new principles to live by and he is still living by these today. One of these touched on the importance of reseting. He covered his musical career and the adversity and successes he encountered. He released the popular album, “Thug Motivation 101” as a mixtape that later grew into a huge hit album. 

He explained in the book how people need to have a crystal clear view of who they are and where they are wanting to go. You must have a plan on how you are going to get there. It’s important to be in the right mindset and believe without a doubt you deserve the success that is to come. He revealed that if you change your mindset and you can change your entire lives. 

I would recommend this book to anyone is a fan of Jeezy music and they are wanting to learn from the artists and how he became a huge hit. It was eyeopening to read about his rough upbringing and living in poverty to now being a successful rapper. He tries to motivate others to believe in themselves and to dream and to go after what you want. He encouraged readers to have better mindsets to overcome any adversity that they may face. 

Check it out below:

https://www.amazon.com/Adversity-Sale-Ya-Gotta-Believe-ebook/dp/B0BV6FQYJ5/

Poison in the Well: 11 Toxic Beliefs That Kept Me from the Living Water of Jesus by Granger Smith Book Review

In Poison in the Well, Granger Smith explored eleven toxic beliefs that negatively affected him and kept him away from Christ. All of these are warning signs where he claimed to be a true Christian but wasn’t living out his beliefs. He begins the book by sharing how when he was a teenager, his dad let him drive a red Massey Ferguson 240. He was supposed to cut the grass along the gravel road. He was in awe watching the tall grass laying flatten. He made another lap when he realized all the hard way wasn’t paying off. He had only been pressing down the grass and he forgot to turn on the power takeoff. The blades were never spinning so it never cut the grass. He compared this story to salvation and how we are saved by grace alone. A changed life can reveal to others their own need for a savior. 

Granger Smith was a country music singer and had a number one hit with, “Backwood Song”. Two of the other top charted songs were called, “Happens Like That” and “If The Boot Fits.” He also went on stage and dress up as Earl Dibbles Jr as alter ego and in the book he revealed how that began and how felt convinced to quit playing that role. He was actively touring and performing in numerous states when everything changed forever. He ended feeling called to quit music altogether and is now a pastor. What brought all this one was in June 2019, his third child River, around aged three was playing outside around the pool. Granger opened up about pulling his cold lifeless body from the water. This led to his family moving from their home. This dismantled his entire world and he lost his identity that he was holding onto. He was having to give up all of his false idols. When he passed away, Granger felt it was time to give up the music and he was seeking to follow Christ’s path. 

In the book, he also touched on how losing his son, River led him to Christ. He just had finished playing a show and his ears were still ringing fro the drums and the rush of the crowd. He turned on the TV to a TV pastor, Joel Osteen. Joel asked if his heart stopped beating where would you spend eternity. He recited the Lord’s prayer along with Joel Osteen and felt at peace and went to sleep. He explained how he had repeated and believed he was a Christian many times before. This led to the toxic belief in our poison well that repeating a prayer can bring about full transformation. He shared what salvation is and how this decision is about being transformed and made new. It means more than just a simple prayer it’s supposed to change us into knowing Christ. He explained how we won’t be finding alter calls in the Bible but instead we will discover the importance of repenting and believing. 

I would recommend this life changing book to anyone who is tried of the old Christianity and the beliefs on what it takes to be a good Christian. This is the second book Granger Smith has written and it continues on with his story but this one adds more details about Christ and his journey to healing and changing his life. I have enjoyed him since listening to the record, “Dirt Road Driveway” and it was difficult in seeing him give up music completely. Although I understand, the calling on his life has changed I just wish he would at least still do Christian music. This book provides a glimpse into his story and how his toxic beliefs were slowly killing him from living. I really enjoyed the topics and this is a wake up call to live out our beliefs in Chris and be really transformed by the power of His love. 

Check it out below:

https://www.amazon.com/Poison-Well-Toxic-Beliefs-Living-ebook/dp/B0G1K2FNNG/ 

https://grangersmith.com/pages/books

One of my personal favorite songs:

Backroad Song:

Happens Like That:

Book Trailer:

Don't Stop Praying: The God Who Hears Is Just a Breath Away (A 40 Day Prayer Journey) by Matthew West Book Review

In Don’t Stop Praying, Matthew West has written a 40 day devotional type book centering on the topic of prayer. Matthew West is a popular Christian artist with hits such as Don’t Stop Praying, Hello My Name Is, Truth Be Told, The Motions, My Own Little World, Forgiveness, just to name a few. He is also known as reaching out to fans and getting their own stories and making them into a song. He begins the book by sharing a personal story about taking his daughter Lulu on a father-daughter trip. At the camp, they made them to an experiment and she would be blindfolded. Before that happened, Matthew was told to tell her that he would never leave her, she can ask him anything, and that she should only listen to his voice. At first, he was allowed to touch her shoulder and guide her walking around the camp. Next, he had to remove his hand and wasn’t allow to touch her. Next, they rose the challenge by not allowing him to speak unless she asked him a question. She was confused and she didn’t remember why he wasn’t talking. Later on a camp counselor told her that she had been separated from her dad and to follow him. She eventually followed the new leader and off she went. She had completely forgotten the three rules. This idea let him to writing this book on prayer. God will never leave us, we can ask him anything, and we should only listen to his voice. This lead him to seeking more a stronger prayer life and his hope is for readers to join him on this journey. 

One of my favorite lessons in the book was about praying for your enemies. This chapter is a difficult one to read and do! Matthew shared how even he struggles with praying for his enemies. He explained how Jesus instructs us to love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us. Jesus forgive his enemies while he was bleeding out. Matthew made a point about how we aren’t called to roll our eyes at them, to gossip, or unfollow them. He revealed also how it is nearly impossible to stay upset or bitter towards someone else when we are truly praying for them. We can seek God’s strength and help in praying for our enemies even when it’s difficult to do so. We have all been there and struggled with this in some degree. 

Another shocking story was about praying for your kingdom come and how your God’s will be done in our lives. Years ago, Matthew West started seeing a door open for a country music career. The publishing company was offering him a job to become a country music songwriter. He has written a few hit songs for some country artists before become a Christian artist and songwriter. He did sign a contract and one the way home he felt God telling him this wasn’t what he was supposed to be doing. They surprising wasn’t angry with him and they didn’t try to sue him for breaking his contract. Two weeks after turning them down God opened up a spot for him to write songs with Casting Crowns and this changed his entire career. 

I would recommend this awesome book to anyone who is seeking a new book about prayer and connecting more with your Creator. I have always enjoyed Matthew West and his songwriting style and this book is no different. He is very knowledgeable on the topic and wants to help readers to pray more effectively and more often. I think his song ideas he gets behind hearing fans stories is inspiring and some of those are included throughout this book. This book will assist readers into don’t stop praying. 

Check it out below:

https://www.amazon.com/Dont-Stop-Praying-Hears-Breath-ebook/dp/B0FFSHTN58 

Come Here and Cook: Stories and Recipes from a Life at the Table by Jordan Howlett Book Review

In Come Here and Cook, Jordan Howlett has written a cookbook mixed with personal stories before each recipe. He is a social media influencer with his TikTok videos gaining many views and he is the president of the Fast Food Secrets Club. He opened the book by sharing how in college he wanted to become a professional baseball player. He was also secretly battling a food insecurity battle. He would workout multiple times a day and he had a terrible feeling from where his next meal would even come from. He came up with this idea to host events that centered around mental health and there was funding to provide for this service. He was hoping to host events that everyone could eat and feel safe and fed. His funding turned out to be denied. He reached out to his aunt and extended family with ideas on how to make the cheapest meals for the event. They made spaghetti, got bread, and made an upside down pineapple cake. He also included the upside down cake recipe in the book. This taught him about reaching out to people and making them feel appreciated and loved. He explained how he went from living in his car to where he is now. 

In the book, he enclosed 40 recipes with high quality pictures that readers can hungry and want to try to make on their own. One of my favorite which appears super simple was the cookies and cream banana milkshake. Some of the other recipes included bacon pancakes, chipotle burrito bowl, cheese Hawaiian rolls, homemade pop-tarts, buttermilk crepes, red velvet cheesecake brownies, Crunchwrap supreme, chicken and broccoli fettuccine Alfredo, grilled onion bacon cheeseburger, and much more. All to them looked amazing and it made my mouth water. 

I would recommend this excellent cookbook to anyone who is looking for new recipes to try. Readers also get to read more about the social media star and they will be able to related to his stories. He isn’t a declared chef but he does enjoy cooking recipes and trying new things. If readers will make some of these recipes they can bring people together at your own table. 

Check it out below:

https://www.amazon.com/Come-Here-Cook-Stories-Recipes-ebook/dp/B0GMTB53CT/ 

Praying for Mr. Right A Story of Love, Surrender, and God's Unwavering Faithfulness by Hannah Cook Book Review

 

In Praying for Mr. Right, Hannah Cook takes readers on a journey of how she met her husband. She has enclosed letters she wrote her husband before she even knew him. She would pray and write prayers over his life. She shared how her own parents didn’t have a good marriage and they argued a lot. They did wind up divorcing. This led her to chase the fairytale love. In the book, she shared how at a young age she was bullied for her red hair and was told she has no soul cause of her hair color. She longed to fit in and didn’t understand why God made her different. She went on to explain some of her past relationships and how they taught her what she didn’t want. She shared what her list of a husband she was looking for and it was quite detailed and specific. She also reveal journal entries from a time period about how she felt her future husband, Justin was in danger spiritually. She was interceding for her husband and he didn’t even know until later on. We switched to his point of view and readers got to witness how he was going through a spiritual war after ending a relationship. He also moved from Dallas to back home to Minnesota. If he wouldn’t have move back, they wouldn’t have ever met each other. In the book, they both recounted how they became Facebook friends and how it led to them meeting later on at a concert. It revealed how they ended up dating and eventually getting married. 

I would recommend this excellent book on prayer and praying for your future spouse to anyone who is single and is looking for encouragement. There is always hope that you will end up meeting someone someday that will change your life. You could also start journaling prayers for your future spouse. You could also do this for your spouse if you are already married. Readers will connect to this awesome story. It was very interesting to me to read about how they met and how they fell in love. The journal entries and prayers were inspiring and very detailed. You can see how much they both love each other and how God wrote their love story. I appreciate how the book went from both perspectives and it really gave readers insights on what the other was feeling and thinking. Readers will also get to read from lyrics he ended up writing about his future wife and this song is very touching. The song is called, “I’d Love You Over Again” and it’s by his band Regal Noise.  

Check out the video below:

Check out the book:

https://www.amazon.com/Praying-Mr-Right-Unwavering-Faithfulness-ebook/dp/B0GZ8G9KZM/