Box of Butterflies | February Book Club

OK, OK, it doesn't come out until March, but I wanted to give you all a heads up on this beautiful book, by my beautiful friend, Roma Downey.

Do you feel something special when you see a butterfly? Roma does. These graceful winged creatures, with their intricate patterns and delicate flutter reminder her of God's presence, which is all around us.

Box of Butterflies is meant to do just that, remind us all that God is here, with us, each and every moment. It's a collection of inspiring thoughts, poems, scripture and art work that will serve as a metaphorical butterfly on the days you most need one.

Just a moment or two with her book during those times will give you the little lift, the little reminder, that you are never alone. In the best and the worst of times, God is there, loving you fiercely throughout your life.

Box of Butterflies is the absolute perfect gift to tuck into an Easter basket or wrap up for Mother's Day. Actually, it's the absolute perfect gift to give ANY day.

Pre-Order your Box of Butterflies

I think Box of Butterflies is such a lovely thing to own, I'm going to give several of them away.

Would you like one? Write to me and tell me why at D@Delilah.com.

Firefly Cove | January Book Club

FIREFLY COVE

I've got ten (10) hard-back copies to GIVE AWAY! Write to me at D@Delilah.com and tell me why you'd like one! Be sure to provide your snail-mailing address so I can ship it to you if you're chosen!

We've rung in the New Year, and I stayed up until midnight "just for fun."  Last week I was up waaaay past the clock striking twelve but it was because there were so many things to be done; pies and cookies to bake, gifts to be wrapped, and last minute footed pajamas to be found and rush ordered...

And between these weeks? There were books to read! Glorious, lose yourself in the story, make the world go away, introduce me to new and wonderful character, books!

Among my favorites, and the one I chose for Delilah's January Book Club, is Firefly Cove by Davis Bunn. In it, we go back to Miramar Bay, the setting of Bunn's previous novel (If you haven't read it, pick up BOTH books!) and get to know Lucius Quarterfield. 

Lucius was born dying. The poor kid wasn't expected to make it long because of his "bad ticker." Perhaps it was because he knew he had to cram a whole lifetime in whatever time he had, but Lucius was a determined kid, who became a focused teen, who turned into a  successful entrepreneur with 11 car-dealerships to his name at the ripe "old" age of  28...

Alas, it seems as though the end really IS in sight and however many minutes, days, weeks or whatever Lucius had left, he was determined to spend it near the only person who had had ever really captivated his weak, irregular, imperfect heart; Jessica.

"A novel rich with rediscovery... Readers will be particularly swept away."
Publishers Weekly.

This novel is one that will draw you in and have you rooting for love no matter how cynical you've become. It's about first, second, and last chances, it's about hanging on and letting go.

Pick up Firefly Cove by Davis Bunn at AMAZON, and while you're there, buy Miramar Bay too!

Happy New Year, my book loving friends. I hope 2018 is filled with kindness, love, and book after beautiful book. Start it off with Firefly Cove!

A SIMPLIFIED LIFE | DECEMBER BOOK CLUB

I speak to you about finding your serenity often. The holidays are the most trying of times to do this, and yet, if you are to "survive" them, or at least come out in the New Year relatively unscathed by the craziness of the months preceding, serenity (sanity!) is exactly what you must find!

Enter my December Book Club pick, A Simplified Life: Tactical Tools for Intentional Living, by Emily Ley.

For those of you longing to simplify the demands on your time, energy, and resources, those with complicated responsibilities, overwhelming to-do lists, and endless clutter that leaves you feeling overwhelmed, THIS is the resource you've been looking for.

Busy wife, mom, entrepreneur, and bestselling author Emily Ley knows how you feel. With a growing family, increased work demands, and more, she understands the struggle it is to keep the plates spinning.

In A Simplified Life, you’ll find Emily’s strategies, systems, and methods for permanently clearing the clutter, organizing your priorities, and living intentionally in 10 key areas—from your home and meal planning, to style and finances, parenting, faith life, and more. Emily will show you how to truly make the most of your days with realistic, achievable, and tactical tools.

“If you can’t take care of yourself, you can’t take care of anyone else!”

Walk alongside Emily through each page of the book, working through her simple strategies toward your own goals as you simplify and make space for what matters most.

Know other busy, hassled, and harried folks striving to "do it all?" What a nice little gift for company, book club, coffee klatch, or church group gift exchanges! A great stocking stuffer... might I suggest the PERFECT gift to give oneself? The gift of A Simplified Life!

WONDER | November Book Club

WONDER | November Book Club
by R.J. Palacio
Now a major motion picture

WATCH THE TRAILER

If they are going to start making movies like this, we are going to have to replace our definition of Real - vs - Hollywood.

WONDER, the movie, is based on the New York Times bestseller of the same name by R.J. Palacio. It is the story of an ordinary boy born into an unordinary body; one with facial differences that required multiple surgeries and kept him out of mainstream school settings until now.

When Auggie enters the %th grade at Beacher Prep, he becomes the most unlikely of heroes as his new classmates, and the community at large, struggle to find their compassion and acceptance. Auggie's extraordinary journey unites the community and proves that,

“You can’t blend in when you were born to stand out.”

WONDER will be in theaters on November 17th. It has a fantastic cast starring many of my favorites; Julia Roberts, Owen Wilson, Jacob Tremblay, Mandy Patinkin, Daveed Diggs and Izabela Vidovic. 

Hollywood just got real.  

BUY THE BOOK

Same Kind of Different as Me | October Book Club

October Book Club | Same Kind of Different As Me
by Ron Hall & Denver Moore

BUY THE BOOK

On February 1, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln approved the Joint Resolution of Congress submitting the proposed 13th amendment, which formally abolished slavery in the United States, to the state legislatures.

Astonishingly, entire families were held virtual captive in rural areas of the south, made to pick cotton, clean houses, take punishments and abuse, and live in squalid conditions for a nearly a century more; in rare cases up until the 1960’s!

In Same Kind of Different As Me, you’ll meet Denver, a man raised under this type of plantation-style slavery in Louisiana in the 1960s. He escaped, but what does a man unused to the modern world, and bitter to the soul do with his new-found freedom? He wandered, homeless, angry, and hostile, for 18 years in Dallas, Texas. 

You’ll also meet Ron, and international arts dealer, who’s lived a life so completely opposite that of Denver, that it’s difficult to mention them in the same breath.

And then there is Deborah, Ron’s wife, who is currently being held by a different hostage-taker, cancer.

How they all come together is, of course, a God thing. Deborah believed in the power of prayer, and listened intently for direction from God. She obeyed what she believe He was telling her to do, and charges her husband to rescue a dangerous homeless man… Thus an unlikely trio was formed.

Same Kind of Different As Me is the emotional tale of their story: a telling of pain and laughter, doubt and tears, a story of how one woman’s faith and trust in GOD saved a life.

Now an inspirational film with the all-star cast of Greg Kinnear, Renee Zellweger, Djimon Hounsou, and Jon Voight, you can pick up the book at any booksellers, and find the movie in theaters on Oct 20th. 
 

WATCH THE TRAILER

The Shack | February Book Club

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Buy the Book * Watch the Trailer * Buy the Soundtrack

Special Preview Showing March 2nd, hosted by Delilah! Get your tickets HERE!!!

My February Book Club pick is a New York Times best selling novel many of you may be familiar with, The Shack, by William P. Young.

It’s one of my FAVORITE books and has been adapted into a major motion picture coming out on March 3rd. Sam Worthington and Octavia Spencer star in the movie, which also features my friend Tim McGraw.

Since the movie will be here soon, I decided it was a great time to pick it up and give it another read. 

It was just as thought provoking and fantastic as the first (several) times I read it! Did I mention it was one of my favorite books, ever?!

At the center of the story is Mack Phillips who has experienced a tragic loss. A deep depression ensues and he finds himself questioning the very basis of his existence, his purpose, and experiencing a profound crisis of faith.

Led to an abandoned shack enveloped within the towering coniferous forests of Oregon’s Cascade wilderness by a letter that appears 4 years after the tragedy, Mack has doubts but decides to make the journey. There, he meets a woman with the odd name of “Papa” and two more strangers that initially leave him filled with even more confusion.

Yet through the experience Mack not only rediscovers himself, but takes to heart lessons of love, loss, and forgiveness, leaving with an understanding of how to live again after the unspeakable happened; walking out of the gloom and into the light.

Tim and Faith lend their voices to the soundtrack with “Keep Your Eyes On Me” written and performed by this beautiful couple. Listen to the song and watch the movie trailer HERE.

Pick it up, give it a read, then go see the movie when it comes out March 3rd!

Special Preview Showing March 2nd, hosted by Delilah! Get your tickets HERE!!!

Buy the Book * Watch the Trailer * Buy the Soundtrack
 

How to Manage Your Home Without Losing Your Mind | January Book Club

I've got a great new book for January's Book Club!

How to Manage Your Home Without Losing Your Mind: Dealing with Your House's Dirty Little Secrets
by Dana K. White, Creator of A Slob Comes Clean

Available at Thomas Nelson!
and Amazon

For those who truly know me, or who have ever been to my home, they know clutter is an everyday reality.

I won't say I "struggle" with it, because I have come to accept (for the most part) that having 18 children between my husband and I, a gaggle of grandchildren, foreign exchange students, friends who need a place to stay, a farm to run, etc. etc., comes with clutter. Lots and lots and lots of clutter. But at some point I have to say "Enough!"

When I pack away Christmas, it's always a good time to take stock and get rid of things I don't need or use. Somehow taking down the tree brings on a cleaning bug that makes my tidy temperment extend to the rest of the house.

My January Book Club pick couldn't come at a better time! Dana White's How to Manage Your Home Without Losing Your Mind is a fantastic guide for bringing your home out of the mess and learning how to keep it under control!

“The dirty little secret about most organizing advice is that it’s written by organized people,” says blogger, speaker, and decluttering expert White. “But that’s not how my brain works. I’m lost on page three.”

A Slob Comes Clean is Dana's blog, which chronicles her successes and failures with her self-described “deslobification process.” I'm told that at first she used the name “Nony” (short for aNONYmous), because she was embarrassed about sharing what a disaster her home had become.

With How to Manage Your Home Without Losing Your Mind, Dana K. White has truly come clean. No longer a silly pseudonym, White shares her name and the strategies she's developed, tested, and proved in her own home.

She now knows how to reclaim space, the habits that make the largest impact, and how to keep the clutter under control... and she's willing to pass on all her tips, tricks, and secrets to those of us who still have challenges to overcome.

I appreciate her REALITY-BASED cleaning and organizing techniques. We are not robots. Life happens. White gets this. She debunks the biggest housekeeping fantasies and helps readers learn what really works in real homes, with real people (not Pintrest Peeps.)

Here's a step-by-step process with strategies for getting rid of enormous amounts of stuff in a little time. Start your New Year off with a clean counter and move on from there!

How to Manage Your Home Without Losing Your Mind is available at
Thomas Nelson
Amazon