Posted by Posted in Books to Read, womanhood

5 Books Every Young Woman Needs to Read

So as all of you know I am a big reader and I wanted to share five books I have read that I think all you young women would benefit from. Have at it!

1. Beautiful Girlhood
revised by Karen Andreola
This book is great for a study or for moms to read with your daughters. It talks about blooming like a rose into a woman. Every chapter talks about a different topic, sincerity, modesty, friends, books, public behavior and many more amazing topics. This book is older and holds a lot of wisdom that we don’t have now. Beautiful Girlhood is appropriate to read with younger girls too and I think some eight and nine year olds could benefit from reading this with her mom.

2. Becoming God’s True Woman…while you still have a curfew
by Susan Hunt and Mary Kassian
Becoming Gods True Woman is a devotional which again I think is ideal for moms and daughters to go through together. There are little assignments at the end of each devotional which are fun to do. This book transformed the way I thought about womanhood and the role of a woman. Women are life givers, support pillars and helpers. Very great book. And you girls who are like me and are NOT girly do NOT be fooled by the pink cover and flowery pages. This book was great with a lot of wisdom in it!

3. Let Me Be A Woman
by Elisabeth Elliot
This book is a collection of letters from Elisabeth Elliot to her daughter Valerie before she gets married. Coming from an amazing woman this book is sure to be great. It contains wisdom for the single, married and widowed with the majority of the book on marriage though. I really enjoyed it but I would recommend to maybe thirteen and up because there was a chapter on Godly use of sex. You can just skim over it like I did or read it with a parent if you aren’t comfortable reading about that. But it was excellent and you really should read it.

4. Daughters of Destiny
by Noelle Wheeler
From the daughter of “Little Bear” Wheeler, this book contains much to be praised! A collection of poems and stories of all sorts of women, this book is inspirational and interesting. Many heroines and noble women of history who have been forgotten have their stories told here. The book talks about daughters of virtue, home, strength, service, royalty, stature, liberty, lyrics, purpose and vision. Women like Jenny Lind, Clara Barton, Elizabeth Zane, Mary Slessor, Pocahontas and Betsy Ross have amazing life stories and these women and MANY others have them told in this book. Read it.

5. Before You Meet Prince Charming
by Sarah Mally
“A guide to radiant purity” is the subtitle of this book. True to that this book contains much about purity, keeping yourself until marriage and modesty of spirit. Contains many funny stories from the authors family and some fun activities. My dad went through this book with my sister and me and we all loved it so much. A must read for Christian girls!

Well there you have it ladies! You just added five books to the ever growing reading list. 🙂 Enjoy, benefit and learn from them!

Priscilla

Posted by Posted in Books to Read, Chrildren's Writing

Book Review- The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elisabeth George Speare

So I actually didn’t read this book until my teen years because it had witch in the title and we don’t do witches in our house. I missed out on a classic! This book was amazing.

Rating: ***** 5 stars!
Audience: Boys and girls would both enjoy it but I think girls would like it more because the main character was a girl and there was some who will marry who in it. Nothing sentimental or romancy though.

Characters:
Kit- orphan from the exotic island of Barbados
Uncle Matthew- Kits stern Puritan uncle
Aunt Rachel- Kits kind and submissive aunt
Judith- Kits vain but hardworking cousin
Mercy- Kits sweet, kind, loving, crippled cousin
Nat Eaton- the son of Captain Eaton of the “Dolphin”, friend of Hannah Tupper (He was one of my favorite characters)
William Ashby- Rich admirerer of Kit
Prudence- daughter of mean Goodwife Cruff, she is befriended by Kit and introduced to Hannah Tupper.
Hannah Tupper- The “witch” of Blackird pond, she is really just a sweet Quaker woman
John Holbrook- studious student of the Reverend, admirerer of Mercy

Basic Plot: When Kit goes to America to live with her uncle and her family she is not prepared for the stern, solemn way of life of the Puritans. She always seems to make mistakes and get in trouble and on top of all that William Ashby is trying to get her to marry him! She finds comfort and hope from Hannah Tupper, the Quaker “witch”. When the towns epidemic of sickness is blamed on Hannah, Kit helps her escape but what will happen when SHE is accused of witchcraft?

This was a beautiful piece of children’s fiction. It had a great plot and characters and kept you reading and reading. A most endearing work of art.

Priscilla

Posted by Posted in adventures, Books to Read

Book Review- The Hidden Hand by E.D.E.N. Southworth

Hello! I will be starting to do more book reviews so all you readers keep updated and maybe you will find a good book to read. 🙂

“The Hidden Hand” was loaned to me by a friend. It is a Lamplighter book which means that it was an old book that Lamplighter republished.

Rating: 5 stars *****
Why the rating? “The Hidden Hand” had an intriguing plot which kept you on the edge and wove many lives into one great story. The characters were endearing and vibrant, the content was good, it was written in an old style but understandable.

The Characters: I will give you a brief picture of the characters and then a sneak peek of the plot (I will try to give no spoilers!).

Major Ira Warfield (Old Hurricane)- The first character we are introduced to, Ira is an old fogey who has quite a temper. He has a military background and is adopted uncle of Capitola (see below).
Capitola- A spunky, brave, and spirited lass. She was found on the streets of New York dressed as a boy and is always stirring up adventures and Old Hurricanes temper. She is the daughter of…oops you will have to find that out!
Herbert Greyson- Good friend of Capitola, nephew of Old Hurricane and adopted son of Marah Rocke (see below). He goes into the army and fights in a war against Mexico.
Marah Rocke- Forgotten wife of Old Hurricane, motherly friend of Clara Day (see below) and housekeeper for Docter Day (see below).
Traverse Rocke- Son of Marah Rocke, betrothed husband to Clara Day, promising young doctor.
Doctor Day- Kind old doctor who takes in Marah and Traverse Rocke, father of Clara Day.
Clara Day- Daughter of Doctor Day, betrothed wife of Traverse Rocke, friend of Capitola and Marah Rocke.
Colonel Le Noir- Evil villian who commits crimes against many of the above characters. I won’t spoil it and tell you what though.
Craven Le Noir- son of Colonel Le Noir, attempted suitor of Capitola and bad guy to the bone.
Black Donold- The feared outlaw of the area, attempts several kidnaps against Capitola.

Ok, those are the main characters. There are more but I might give the story away if I told you who they were!

Basic Plot: Old Hurricane hears about a young girl who lives on the streets of New York from a dying nurse. He finds her dressed like a boy, adopts her and brings her home. There are many adventures that Capitola has along with the other characters, including kidnap attempts, duels, treachery, orphans, thunderstorms and much more! The pace was fast and I enjoyed reading it so much that I had stayed up reading it late into the night. It was a great book.

Hope you enjoy the review and the book if you check it out!

Priscilla

Posted by Posted in 100 Hard Things Challenge, Bible, Books to Read, challenges, do hard things, faith, Living for God, myth of adolescence, stuff to do, teens, teens doing big things, the rebelution, words

#25- Read Through the Entire Bible

About a year ago I received a Bible reading schedule and a challenge. Two days ago (Saturday, November 29th) I finished the challenge. As you have probably guessed the challenge was to read through the Bible, no time limit, just the hope that I would hide God’s word in my heart. Thanks to the Lord I did. I believe that reading all of the Bible, God’s word to us, is a huge step in your Christian walk. I hope to read through the Bible again this year. My family was such a blessing to me and an encouragement when I finished. Can not wait to see how God will teach and guide me this next year!

Priscilla

Posted by Posted in 100 Hard Things Challenge, Books to Read, challenges, character, do hard things, Family, Living for God, me, myth of adolescence, teens, teens doing big things, the rebelution, words

#22- Began An Auto Upkeep Book

So if you hang out at the Bower’s, you may see that our schooling takes initiative and self control. Our parents philosophy is “teach them to learn, and let em’ learn!” If there is a certain subject we want to study, we find books and study on that topic. We have oodles of books in our house and sometimes browsing our shelves can start the pursuit of a new project or skill or subject to learn about. Our parents have also really wanted us to know about auto upkeep and how to be able to do basic auto work. I am good with my hands and after finding a book in our shelves I started working on it. This was hard because the first chapter (vehicle identification and the history of cars) seemed boring and the book sat on my school shelf for a while before I picked it up and started doing it. It turned out to be great. There’s a reason God gave you a brain. To learn about Him, the things He has made and enjoy it! Once you grasp the idea that any kind of learning is learning about God (math, science, history etc.) you are on the right track and you have true brain power!

Priscilla