Women's guide to reading the bible in a year by Diane Storz

I read A woman's guide to reading the bible in a year by Diane Stortz, in exchange for honest review from Netgalley. The book was published by Bethany House Publishing.  I wish I skimmed this book sooner because I truly enjoyed reading it this weekend. Definitely am thinking about buying either the Kindle or paperback version of the book.

Second, The book starts out with inspirational stories, starting with a ladies group, who desired to read the bible in a year, focusing on three chapters per day. The group eventually broke off into multiple groups, including a men's group. The stories also included a Jehovah's witness, who desired more, in addition to a missionary, who realized she lacked familiarity with the bible, even though she taught it.

Why I chose the book: I never read the entire bible. I read the verses outlined in Church, plus a few chapters on my own. Read the book of Revelation a few times, but I never thought of reading the entire bible in a year. Definitely need to work on reading the bible more, plus memorization. Never memorized a bible verse, let alone a chapter,  a day in my life, I think, except like the last verse: AMEN or JESUS WEPT. Of Course, there is In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 

Third, The book was very inspirational. Stortz (2013) discusses how we can find truth and love within the bible. We also can find encouragement, forgiveness,  hope, understanding, accountability, appreciation, direction,healing, release,  and peace. Next, Diane told her story of being born with one, fully formed, hip socket, instead of two. She was placed in full body casts around the age of one, in addition to staying in the hospital in traction. She eventually wore braces and then learned to walk. God is good. Very inspirational since my youngest son can not walk yet. He is in Early Childhood and Physical therapy. Tomorrow, he is getting a gait walker, which is to help his balance and muscular structure. God is truly blessing him with great therapists and he has made great progress since last year.

Fourth, the book provided tips for reading the book. For example, you can start anytime. The pages are not dated. You can use the guide with any bible version. You will read about three chapters per day, which takes about 15 to 20 minutes. It is also ok if you fall behind or get confused. You can catch up or re-read anytime. Stortz definitely focuses on using the bible to develop a closer relationship with God, which affects other relationships, such as family. Diane also encourages using the book to record your thoughts as you read the book. The book also provides guidelines for group reading.

Fifth, Stortz provided a brief history of the bible (from God speaking directly to men to traditional publishing), in addition to the books of the bible. Everything I mentioned so far, is found in the first 30 or so pages of her book.

Finally, the book provides an outline for reading the bible in a year. Each section has a selected theme, bible verses, in addition to checkpoints. The author discusses each theme first, before getting into verses and questions. Each section also has questions such as name something you learned or write down a bible verse you like to remember. The sections are very short. The bible verses given for each section also has a check box, to check your progress, I assume.