Category Archives: Four Stars
The Path of Fullness – Book 1 of The Way of Unity
The Path of Fullness: The Individual Spirit of Universal Principle is a detailed and careful walk through the author’s spiritual world. It lays out “The Way of Unity” as both a theology and a daily path of practice. The book moves from the core idea of Unity as “The Coming Together of All Things” to practical tools like the Unity Prayer and Sacred Silence, then into big metaphysical frames about the Heart of Creation, the Planes of Creation, the Abode of the Soul, the thirteen Pillars of Unity, and finally the Passage of Death as a return to Oneness. It reads like a map of Spirit and a recovery manual at the same time, rooted in Indigenous teachings, personal experience of addiction and healing, and an explicit desire to honor First Nations wisdom.
I felt the writing carried a strong sense of sincerity and devotion. The tone is reverent, steady, and often gentle, even when it tackles heavy topics like genocide, generational trauma, and medical pain. I appreciated how clearly the author names his sources and speaks as an Anishinaabe and Sami man who sees this path as his own revelation, not a replacement for other traditions. The recurring phrases like “True Nature,” “Oneness,” and “The Way” give the book a kind of liturgical rhythm, and that rhythm drew me into a slower, more reflective pace than I usually have. I also found the step-by-step methods for Sacred Silence and the degrees of the Unity Prayer refreshingly concrete. They gave me something to actually try, not only to think about, and they showed that this is a lived practice, not only a set of ideas.
The writing is rich with detail. Many key terms come in with a lot of weight and importance, so they show up often and start to form a kind of inner vocabulary for the path. Sometimes that really helped the ideas settle in. I would have liked more stories to balance out the more abstract parts. The sections where the author talks very simply about his own “rock bottoms” and his return from “that space between life and death” stayed with me the most, and I would have welcomed even more of that kind of personal sharing. I also felt that the book speaks most directly to readers who already feel some openness to spiritual language, to ideas like energetic wounds, ancestral burdens, and a Spirit World filled with elders and deities who walk alongside this way. For me, that was moving and genuinely interesting.
This is not a quick or casual read. It is long, earnest, and sometimes weighty, yet it has a consistent heart: to help people realign with their True Nature, heal their wounds, honor their ancestors, and live in a way that supports the fullness of Life. I would recommend The Path of Fullness to readers who are already on a spiritual or healing journey and who are willing to sit with complex ideas, slow methods, and an Indigenous-informed vision of Unity. It will suit people in recovery, seekers who feel caught between traditions, and anyone who wants a devotional-style manual for prayer, meditation, and inner work. For the right person, this text feels like a long conversation with a committed medicine person who wants you to find your own Way.
Pages: 447 | ASIN : B0FTSJ5KFV
Blue Jeans and Lavender Gowns
Blue Jeans and Lavender Gowns follows Terry Deitz from his first sight of Debbie Douglas at a high school pool in 1971 through years of friendship, dating, heartbreak, and slow reconciliation in small-town Illinois and Indiana. The story moves from study hall and football games to farm chores, college, bad marriages, and single parenthood, all filtered through Terry’s first-person voice as a Christian young man trying to grow up. The romance stays clean and sits inside the wider Finding Love in the Heartland series, with a strong focus on faith, family, and the long haul of commitment rather than quick sparks.
I had a soft spot for the writing whenever it stayed close to everyday details. The banter around the study hall table, the running jokes about teachers, and the way everyone teases Debbie about her blue jeans felt warm and authentic. Later, when the lavender gowns start to show up, the title clicks into place, and the contrast between work clothes and dress-up moments gives the romance a neat visual thread. The dialogue carries most of the load and often sounds like real teens or young adults from that time period, with talk about homecoming, 8-tracks, and small diners. At times, the prose can get wordy, especially when Terry circles the same worry, and the pacing in the middle third slows while careers and side relationships are mapped out. Even so, I stayed invested because the author clearly likes these characters and lets them make mistakes without turning them into jokes.
The book is not just a “will they or won’t they” high school romance. It digs into controlling parents, emotional and physical abuse, infidelity, and the stigma around divorce in a churchy small town. I felt angry more than once, especially when Debbie’s early choices box her into a painful marriage, and I felt protective of both her and Terry as they try to navigate guilt and shame that are not always theirs to carry. The Christian themes are upfront, but they mostly show up as characters wrestling with conscience, prayer, and forgiveness rather than long sermons. When Terry talks about the kind of husband and father he wants to be, the story’s view of masculinity becomes clear. It values steadiness, gentleness, and repentance more than swagger. That spoke to me and gave the last few chapters a real emotional weight.
By the end, I felt like I had walked with these people for a big slice of their lives, which is the book’s strength. The long time span gives their eventual peace a satisfying heft. I appreciated the steady, kind tone and the way the story honors ordinary decency as much as big romantic gestures. I would recommend Blue Jeans and Lavender Gowns to readers who enjoy wholesome Christian romance, small-town and 1970s nostalgia, and love stories told from a male point of view. If you want a gentle, faith-colored second-chance romance that takes its time and cares about everyday faithfulness, then you’ll heartily enjoy this story.
Pages: 271 | ASIN : B0FZ2V62J7
Through the Lens of an Ancient Yisra’elite Bible Study
Through the Lens of an Ancient Yisra’elite Bible Study is a deep dive into Scripture that invites the reader to step out of a Western mindset and into the ancient world of the Yisra’elites. The author walks through history, language, culture, and theology to peel back layers of tradition and interpretation that have built up over centuries. From the opening pages, the book frames its goal clearly. It challenges readers to see how personal background, denominational teaching, and cultural habits shape the way the Bible is understood. It also aims to restore a more original, rooted perspective by examining Hebrew concepts, early calendars, festivals, and worldviews.
The author opens the book with the story of his own struggle in academic settings where the teaching felt out of sync with the Jewish foundation of Scripture. There is a real sense of longing in his words. A longing to understand the Bible as its writers meant it, not as later cultures reframed it. I could feel his drive to challenge the status quo, and even though the material gets dense, his sincerity comes through. The book really resonated with me because I’ve wondered about the same tensions, especially when modern teachings don’t quite match what the text seems to say. The book pushed me to slow down, rethink assumptions, and notice how much I bring to the page without even realizing it.
I also had moments of overwhelm. The amount of research is enormous. The book covers linguistics, sociology, astronomy, theology, ancient practices, and more. It is clear that the author spent decades digging into sources, and that commitment shows. There were moments when I hoped for a little more guidance on certain ideas. I admired the depth of the material, but there was much to take in, and that mix made the experience feel fuller and more engaging. I appreciated the effort to take readers past surface-level teaching. The author doesn’t hide difficult topics or soften them. He wants the reader to confront hard truths and reconsider traditions that many people accept without question. That boldness gave the book a refreshing kind of confidence that made me want to keep going.
I think this book is a great fit for readers who enjoy intensive Bible study and who don’t mind digging through challenging material to uncover deeper meaning. It would be especially valuable for people who feel that something is missing from modern interpretations and who want to explore Scripture from a historical and cultural angle. If you like to question, research, and wrestle with big ideas, this book will feel like a rich and rewarding journey. For anyone hungry for a fuller picture of ancient faith and practice, though, I’d absolutely recommend it.
Pages: 893 | ASIN : B0FBRLXSTB
The Moving Finger Moves Again
The Moving Finger Moves On is a cozy mystery set in Lymstock, a small English village where gossip travels faster than the post and murder feels almost indecently out of place. Told in first person by Jerry Burton, it follows his life with his fiancée Megan after the events of Christie’s The Moving Finger, as they settle into village routines, plan a wedding, and try to recover from past trauma. That quiet life is disturbed by a new death at a house party, an old poison, and a fresh tangle of suspects, with Miss Marple arriving as the calm, watchful centre of the storm. Underneath the whodunit puzzle, the book explores relationships, especially Megan’s growth, Joanna’s marriage, and Jerry’s slow realisation that love is not the same as possession.
The writing keeps the easy, conversational tone of a Golden Age detective story, yet it slips in modern touches, like Megan’s frustration with dresses that lack pockets or the way people talk about investments and cruises. I liked being inside Jerry’s head: he is observant enough to carry a mystery plot, but also flawed and a bit blinkered, especially about Megan. The choice to let him narrate a cozy mystery means we get more emotional texture than pure puzzle, and I found that grounding. At the same time, the prose stays simple and clear, so the pages move quickly. I never felt lost in the cast, even though village mysteries can sometimes turn into a blur of names and motives.
What I liked most was how the book uses the tools of a classic cozy mystery to talk about identity and agency. Megan’s love of Latin and maths is not just a quirk; it becomes a way to show her sharp mind, her right to a life beyond “the girl who was once in danger,” and her shift into someone who goes to university and studies what she loves. The kitten, the extra dog lead, the broken and un-broken phone lines, even Jerry’s dream of birds and needles, all feel like gentle symbols of control and freedom, of who is being led and who holds the lead. I enjoyed how Miss Marple recognises Elsie’s performance as a kind of acting, almost like costume changes in a village play, and how that idea of “who you are in public” runs through the book. The story balances comfort and tension in a way that feels right for a cozy mystery.
The mystery is satisfying, the clues are fair, and the solution fits the emotional logic of the story as well as the facts. If you enjoy classic whodunits, village gossip, and Miss Marple quietly seeing everything, this will feel like a warm return to familiar ground. And if you like your cozy mysteries to come with a real emotional arc, especially around a woman finding her footing and a couple learning to love each other as equals, this book is very much for you.
Pages: 78 | ASIN : B0CW1KL6LY
Ballot: When Fate Called Their Name
Ballot: When Fate Called Their Name follows Mitch Masters, a young Sydney speedway rider, and his mates Greg, Kiwi, and Jay after the birthday lottery drags them from hot flats, cold beer, and rock gigs into national service. Author Dan Mulvagh walks them through call-up, rough training at Kapooka, and tense jungle patrols out of Nui Dat, then jumps forward to a later life of scars, secrets, and Cold War scheming as Mitch and Greg head into Russia and Finland to help the long-lost Jay and his wife Mooi escape. By the time the afterword rolls around, the men sit with damaged bodies, messy loyalties, and a government medal that feels both overdue and hollow.
I really enjoyed how the author handles the nuts and bolts of the story. The opening ballot scene in the stuffy flat hooked me immediately; that jittery wait in front of the telly felt real and a bit sickening. The training chapters have a grim, almost slapstick rhythm, with buzz cuts, shouted insults, and blokes trying not to stuff up kit inspection, and I could almost smell the boot polish and sweat. Out in Vietnam, the writing sharpens, and the jungle patrols feel cramped and tense, full of talk about booby traps and the weight of the SLR that suddenly makes sense when bullets might come from anywhere. The later shift into espionage, Russian factories, and snowy border runs surprised me at first, yet the tone stays grounded in the same easy banter and practical thinking, so it holds together. The prose is plain and punchy, heavy on dialogue, heavy on Aussie slang, light on fancy description, which suits the characters and keeps the pages moving. The tone is consistent and confident, and it carried me through a long story without dragging.
The book keeps circling fate and choice, that simple birth date that yanks some kids out of bands and beach culture and drops them into someone else’s war. The ballot, the protesters, the “Save Our Sons” mums at the depot gate, and the later debate over medals all push the same question: who gets to decide what counts as service and sacrifice? Mitch’s anger at the medal offer and Greg’s pride in the same bit of metal gave me a real jab in the ribs because both reactions feel fair and human. Jay’s path hit me hardest, from surf club golden boy to missing in action, then Soviet asset, then possible traitor who just wants to stand on a beach again with his board and his wife. The book never fully cleans that up, and I liked that unease; it kept me thinking about how war twists people, not just bodies but stories and paperwork and memorials. There is a quiet rage under the humour, aimed at lazy bureaucracy and political spin, and it left me feeling sad, angry, and oddly hopeful all at the same time.
I came away feeling like I had spent time with a real group of mates, not perfect heroes, just stubborn, funny, damaged men trying to make sense of what the ballot did to them. The mix of Vietnam combat, home-front politics, and later spy-style adventure will work well for readers who enjoy war stories with strong characters and clear, down-to-earth writing rather than high literary polish. If you are interested in Australian history, conscription, or how national decisions land on individual lives, this book is worth your time. I would happily recommend Ballot as a vivid, heartfelt tale of fate, loyalty, and the long shadow of one small numbered ball.
Pages: 368 | ASIN : B0FV8G8QXS
Breathe and Believe
Breathe and Believe, by Arthur Wiggins, drops readers into the messy, money-soaked world of American Midwest University athletics, where one bad week blows up an entire department. Bruce McDermott, a marketing specialist on the rise, watches his mentor quit, his secret relationship implode, and his football program slide toward NCAA sanctions and budget disaster. Interim athletic director Tara Gantt battles power-hungry basketball coach Ron Hill and his boosters over gender equity, football vs. basketball priorities, and the push to build a new multi-purpose facility, while a tragic road accident involving the women’s tennis team shows the very real cost of all these decisions. By the time Bruce walks into a legislative hearing with a giant check and a campus-wide vision, the book has turned a spreadsheet crisis into a story about ambition, grief, and what it really takes to keep a university sports machine alive.
The storytelling has a slow-burning style that works overall. The early chapters around the motel incident, the surprise resignation, and then the van crash hit hard and fast, and I caught myself thinking, “OK, this is not just a sports novel, this is a whole train wreck of a weekend.” The author writes meetings, press conferences, and budget talks with the same seriousness as big games, and that gave the book a grounded, insider feel. There are passages packed with numbers, acronyms, and institutional history where the tension dips. The dialogue often carries the weight, with characters stating the stakes rather than letting subtext do more of the work. Still, when the story leans into crisis scenes or personal confrontations, the pacing snaps back, and the pages move quickly.
What really hooked me were the ideas underneath the plot. The book digs into Title IX, gender equity, and the brutal math of “too many sports, not enough money” in a way that feels honest. We see how a 53 percent female student body sits next to only 39 percent female scholarship athletes, and you can feel how wrong that is without the author giving a lecture about it. Tara Gantt’s arc, as a veteran woman administrator who built a separate women’s program only to see it merged, trimmed, and constantly second-guessed, gave the book heart.
Bruce’s role as a marketing guy caught between ideals and survival felt believable to me; he is selling walk-a-thons, naming rights, and spring game hype so the department can pay back a 1.3 million dollar overspend, and the whole thing feels both clever and a little desperate. The tennis team crash is handled with a blunt, unsentimental style that hit me in the gut; it underlines that all the talk about TV contracts and conference moves sits on top of actual young people in vans on bad roads.
I also liked how Wiggins treats politics and media as part of the same ecosystem. The scenes with the local newspaper scrambling for a “thumper” front-page story and sniffing around the athletic budget felt very true to life, and there is a sly humor in how leaks, half-truths, and spin drive the narrative around AMU more than any scoreboard does. The boosters, legislators, and campus leaders come off as flawed rather than cartoonish villains, which I appreciated. There were moments when I wished for more time inside the student-athletes’ heads and a bit less time inside meeting minutes. Even so, I came away with the strong sense that the author has lived in this world, and that authenticity carries the book.
I would recommend Breathe and Believe to readers who enjoy behind-the-scenes sports stories, campus politics, and workplace dramas where the real action happens in boardrooms, press boxes, and budget spreadsheets more than on the field. If you want a thoughtful, occasionally heavy, very human look at what modern college athletics does to the people inside it, you’ll enjoy this book. Arthur Wiggins has written a grounded, slow-burning sports novel for readers who love college athletics stories packed with messy politics, money trouble, and real emotional fallout.
Pages: 309 | ASIN : B0DFCHCWND
Remembering the Storm
Remembering the Storm by Lucy Davila Hakemack is a historical novel that moves between the devastation of the 1900 Galveston hurricane and the quieter years of 1970s memory and activism. We follow Ellie McLean from her youth as an idealistic new teacher and young woman in love, through the chaos of the storm, into her nineties as she fights to preserve the stories of survivors and the history of Black Galvestonians. The book braids personal loss, civic rebuilding, and local politics around race and memory into one long life story. At its heart, it is a love letter to Galveston and to the stubborn people who try to make that city more just.
The book feels warm and earnest, and I found that really moving. The prose leans descriptive and old-fashioned, which fits the period setting. I liked the vivid sense of place, from the smell of the Gulf to the streetcars and the old hotels, and I could picture the seawall, the storm surge, the ruined buildings, the quiet library tables stacked with letters. The dialogue between Ellie and her friends in the 1970s had charm and humor, and I enjoyed their teasing, their toasts, and their small complaints about modern life. The pacing felt gentle, even slow, and that gave room for the emotional weight of the storm and its aftermath.
I appreciated how the story keeps circling back to whose stories are remembered and whose are ignored, especially the Black citizens who buried the dead, built the seawall, and still got pushed off the page. Ellie’s push for markers, plaques, and school equity felt honest and sometimes uncomfortable, and I liked that the book does not paint her as flawless. Her position as a respected white teacher gives her power, and the narrative shows both her courage and her blind spots. The sections about Juneteenth, segregated schools, and the small acts of defiance around books and beaches were thought-provoking.
I would recommend Remembering the Storm to readers who enjoy character-driven historical fiction, especially stories tied to real disasters and to questions of memory, race, and local history. If you like novels that feel like oral history, that take their time, this will be right up your alley. For anyone curious about Galveston, about the 1900 hurricane, or about how an ordinary woman can push for change over decades, this book is a thoughtful and heartfelt choice.
Pages: 435 | ASIN : B0G3QQY9X8
The Amplified Entrepreneur
The Amplified Entrepreneur blends personal memoir, music history, and practical business advice into a surprisingly heartfelt guide for entrepreneurs. The book ties rock legends like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and America to lessons about innovation, resilience, and creative courage. It follows the author through childhood moments in a musical home, early experiences in small family businesses, and his evolution into a serial entrepreneur who sees business as something closer to a jam session than a corporate exercise. The book moves through themes of self-doubt, creativity, opportunity, collaboration, reinvention, and promotion, with stories that stretch from basement guitar nights to the pressures of building companies in healthcare and technology.
As I read, I found myself caught off guard by how personal the writing felt. The stories are warm and vivid. The author talks about pumping gas at eight years old and hearing Beatles records that cracked his world open. Those moments made the business lessons earned and authentic rather than like a lecture. The writing feels like someone telling stories over coffee and letting memories tumble out. I actually liked that. It gave the book a human texture. Still, there were moments when I wished the ideas were tightened just a touch, because the storytelling is so strong that the transitions occasionally drift. Even so, I appreciated how consistently he circles back to the real message. Innovation is messy. Growth is personal. Doubt is normal. And nothing in business works without heart.
What surprised me most was how often the book stirred up my own emotions about taking risks. The chapter about embracing failure resonated with me. I could feel the honesty behind the author’s admission that he avoided things for fear of looking foolish. I’ve been there more times than I care to admit. And his stories about forming a band later in life or acting in indie films made me grin because they reminded me that trying new things can be joyful even when we’re terrible at them. His enthusiasm is contagious. I also liked how he uses music as a lens to talk about teamwork, experimentation, and seizing opportunity. It’s unusual and kind of charming, and it kept the book from feeling like every other business guide out there.
The Amplified Entrepreneur brought me a mix of inspiration, nostalgia, and a surprising sense of comfort. I’d recommend it to entrepreneurs who enjoy story-driven guidance rather than rigid frameworks, and to anyone who wants business advice that feels relatable and a little playful. It’s also a great fit for readers who love music and don’t mind their lessons wrapped in lyrics, memories, and the occasional backstage moment.
Pages: 142 | ASIN : B0F4FX3R13
LITERARY TITAN 