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RE: Book Reviews - 10/20/2007 8:52:37 AM
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Interceder
Posts: 17
Joined: 10/16/2007
From: Ontario Canada
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quote:
ORIGINAL: dt29
Can anyone recommend a good christian fiction book with a not so happy/hollywood ending?...don't want the book to be about the ending but rather about the journey. And I really do mean "christian fiction", where the characters struggle with real tough issues about life, the christian life, relationship with God, etc. Thanks.
I know this post is 1 year old but I'm new and just read it. If it still applies:
Joel Rosenburg
Last Jihad
Last Days
Ezekial Option
Absolutely riveting!
< Message edited by Interceder -- 10/20/2007 8:58:38 AM >
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RE: Book Reviews - 10/29/2007 3:28:20 PM
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Auben
Posts: 1602
Joined: 4/13/2005
From: Where pines tower and cranberries float
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Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
This hefty book (1200 pages) follows several storylines. One is a modern-day one which follows an computer geek named Randy Waterhouse who is involved with a telecommunications deal in the Philippines and a data haven on a seperate island. Parallel with that runs a story about a WWII cryptoanalyst (someone who studies and breaks codes) named Lawrence Waterhouse. Parallel to that is Bobby Shaftoe a gung-ho marine who manages to get himself into all the hot spots of the war and Enoch Root a priest who belongs to a mysterious international organization. Along the way you learn a lot about WWII, codes, computer scientists, and many places and people.
I really enjoyed this book. There were moments I cursed the fact that it was 1200 pages (sometimes I really just wanted to be done, some of the storylines didn't appeal to me as much) but it always kept me going. Stephenson's ability to juggle these characters and make even normal things like getting your wisdom teeth removed amusing and insightful. I was very impressed.
Stephenson is also one of the few modern writers I've read who is not a christian but seems to respect that viewpoint. There are a few sex scenes included and the marine tends to use foul language, be warned. But if you have any interests in any of these subjects I highly recommend this novel.
Grade: 9
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Tamara
~Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time~
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RE: Book Reviews - 10/31/2007 4:42:12 PM
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Auben
Posts: 1602
Joined: 4/13/2005
From: Where pines tower and cranberries float
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Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! by Richard P. Feynman
This is a series of anecdotes about the adventures and misadventures of the famous American physicist. There were many parts I did enjoy; notably the beginning, his schooling, his early practical jokes, and his work on the atomic bomb. Not quite as nice was his fascination with picking up women in bars by being rude to them (not being the gentlemen), and topless bars.
He was a very curious fellow, alway interested in other cultures and skills. I liked that. I could have done without the rat pack bar scene.
Grade: 7
_____________________________
Tamara
~Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time~
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RE: Book Reviews - 11/5/2007 2:55:35 PM
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Auben
Posts: 1602
Joined: 4/13/2005
From: Where pines tower and cranberries float
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Summer of the Great-Grandmother by Madeleine L'Engle
I like L'Engle's autobiographical work better than her children's books. A Circle of Quiet bipped around through her writing career (the decade where she received rejection after rejection) and a person's sense of self, her introduction to the church and small town life. This one follows her mother's last summer at Crosswicks (her house in the country) sinking into senility and eventually death. This makes for a sober book sometimes, but a real one I think. It talks about ouisa (someone's essense or soul) and how it leaves the body. How people respond to death. The last half goes into a mixed bag of relational stories that I found myself not as interested in.
Worth reading.
Grade: 8
Memory of Earth by Orson Scott Card
A very Old Testament story, that is if God was a computer created to stop humankind for destroying its new world like it destroyed earth. It even looks like the beginning of an Abraham-like journey.
I like Card. This book had a few interesting themes of freewill/submitting your will and faith but it was fairly easy to guess what would happen next.
Grade: 8
_____________________________
Tamara
~Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time~
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RE: Book Reviews - 11/6/2007 10:04:08 AM
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lexie
Posts: 3055
Joined: 6/27/2005
From: Toronto
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Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali (Biography)
Dutch MP Ayaan Hirsi Ali relates her story of growing up as a Muslim in her native Somalia, as well as Saudi Arabia and Kenya, and coming to question everything her religion has taught her. Disagreeing with the way Islam treats women she sets out to make changes within. Forced into a marriage she doesn't want, she escapes to the Netherlands where she begins a journey that will take her to the Dutch Parliament and to make a movie about women in Islam for which the filmmaker is murdered and death threats against her are issued. An excellent look at Islam today, the role of women and one women's decision to speak out against all costs.
Grade A.
An excellent companion books is Murder in Amsterdam: The Death of Theo Van Gogh and the Limits of Tolerance by Ian Buruma
Prisoner of Tehran by Marina Nemat (Biography)
Falsely arrested by the Ayatollah's regime in Iran at the age of 16, Marina Nemat, a Christian, is thrown in the notorious Evin prison and is sentenced to death. Her life is saved after she agrees to marry her interrogator and convert to Islam. After her husband is murdered she is returned to Evin to serve a life sentence and is once again saved, this time by her husband's family.
Grade B+
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Are you ready should our Saviour call today?
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RE: Book Reviews - 11/6/2007 7:10:13 PM
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Jeffo
Posts: 151
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Prayer by Richard Foster
Richard Foster pretty much covers all the basics in his book and more that aren't found in Scripture.
Much of the book is based on the mystics like Madam Guyon, Jean Pierre de Caussade etc. I've read the books by them and others and admire their spirituality but don't find a lot of what they say based on Scripture.
Foster seems to rely more on the experience of these saints of the past and his own experience (meaning experiential) than on Scripture. And when he does quote Scripture it's often out of context. In fact he often quotes other great saints of the past out of context. One example is in the chapter on Contemplative prayer. He quotes Psalm 62:1, "For God alone my soul waits in silence;" which is referring to waiting not to prayer.
In his section on Repenting on Behalf of Others he offers no Scripture and says, "...our repenting prayers on behalf of others somehow seems to make it easier, more possible for them to turn on their own. How this works I do not know."
There are good tidbits and reminders in this book that one can benefit from. But given how highly touted this book is I was pretty disappointed and agape at some of what was said.
(ducking)
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http://www.scripturezealot.com
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RE: Book Reviews - 11/15/2007 3:59:44 PM
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Auben
Posts: 1602
Joined: 4/13/2005
From: Where pines tower and cranberries float
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The Flame Trees of Thika by Elspeth Huxley
Another one of my autobiographies set in turn-of-the-century Nairobi. This one follows a 10? year old girl who arrived with her parents to start a coffee and citrus farm. Huxley has a wonderful gift for memory and description. Her descriptions of her parents, the animals, and the native Kikuyu are wonderful. Not as wonderful is the blighted romance of one of their near neighbors. Its a bit melodramatic in an pre-war era way.
Grade: 8
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Tamara
~Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time~
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RE: Book Reviews - 11/15/2007 6:00:31 PM
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rnershigh
Posts: 1556
Joined: 7/15/2005
From: DC metro area
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Venetia - Georgette Heyer
Grade: 10
Wonderful Regency England romance novel.
What sets a Heyer book apart from more modern romances, is Heyer is able to craft a romance story without even resorting "into the bedroom". She is able to create incredible sexual tension between the characters, with nothing more than a kiss being exchanged between the hero and heroine.
In Venetia, we come across a lively and very likeable heroine named, what else, Venetia! She is engaging and cheerful, never one to complain about one's circumstances. In this case, she is confirmed "on the shelf" at the age of 25, looking after a younger brother while her other brother has his adventures in the Army in Europe. She has spent her entire life in the countryside of York on her familys' estate, content overseeing her home and finding adventures only in the books she reads.
When one day, Venetia encounters the hero Lord Damerel, a libertine and notorious rake, at his estate and her life is never the same. Damerel is cynical and hardened at 38, a confirmed bachelor who's lifestyle of decadence and extravagence has made him a social outcast among the ton. After his encounter with innocent Venetia, he decides to stay for a time in the country to seduce her (what else would a rake do?lol), but in turn becomes seduced himself by Venetia's wit, charm, and intelligence and inevitably falls in love with her.
This is the second Heyer book I've read and I was a fan at the first (Arabella).  Heyer is known for her heroes and heroines amusing banter and intelligences, descriptive secondary characters, and an attention to detail of the time period she writes about. She is definitely the modern Jane Austen, in fact, I find her stories even more humourous and engrossing than Austen's! (which, btw, I also love) Heyer pretty much created what is known as the Regency Romance genre and is most known for her Regency novels.
_____________________________
O Grave! where is thy Victory?
O Death! where is thy Sting?
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RE: Book Reviews - 11/18/2007 8:59:26 PM
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Auben
Posts: 1602
Joined: 4/13/2005
From: Where pines tower and cranberries float
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Barefoot Heart: Stories of a Migrant Child by Elva Trevino Hart
Memoir of Mexican-American girl who spent her childhood following her parents from Texas to Minnesota and Wisconson every summer in the 1950s. It deals a lot with the second generation immigrant experience (her parents naturalized citizens from Mexico), migrant work, race, gender, scholarship, and many other things.
I enjoyed this. Don't expect anything more shocking than poverty here but its obviously a very true expression of family and culture.
Grade: 8
_____________________________
Tamara
~Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time~
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RE: Book Reviews - 11/22/2007 8:53:03 PM
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lexie
Posts: 3055
Joined: 6/27/2005
From: Toronto
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The Diana Chronicles by Tina Brown
A look at the life of Diana, Princess of Wales. Done by a friend of Diana's who interviewed over 250 people who knew Diana personally. An interesting look at her life, the royal family and the media sensation behind them.
Grade B
And I certainly won't look at the Royal Family the same way again!
_____________________________
Are you ready should our Saviour call today?
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RE: Book Reviews - 11/25/2007 2:57:38 PM
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Auben
Posts: 1602
Joined: 4/13/2005
From: Where pines tower and cranberries float
Status: offline
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Norstrilia by Cordwainer Smith
Smith's (aka Linegarger) only novel, this is a full length exploration of his ideas of man's need for freedom and trial. The novel follows a boy from Old North Australia (Norstilia in common verbage) who survives his coming of age trial only to find trouble from an old enemy. In order to escape his computer plays the stock market (stroon futures) and wins enough money to purchase the Earth, mankind's original home. In going there the main character learns much of Man's plight and his treatment of the Underpeople, genetically modified animals used as servants and slaves for the pampered population.
If you have read the short stories Smith has written (and I highly recommend them if you enjoy science fiction) this book makes a lot of connections. It also shows a bit more of Smith's faith (he was a Catholic) and his perceptions of Mankind.
Grade: 8.9 My husband loved this and probably would rate it a 10.
_____________________________
Tamara
~Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time~
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RE: Book Reviews - 12/1/2007 8:19:33 PM
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Auben
Posts: 1602
Joined: 4/13/2005
From: Where pines tower and cranberries float
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Pattern Recognition by William Gibson
Not a cyberpunk book. This book follows a woman named Cayse (Case) in the corporate world of marketing and the free-wheeling world of the Net. Gibson does a very detailed job here moving through branding, 9/11, advertising memes, and russian mafia turned corporate elite.
It was interesting. The most impressive thing was Gibson's ability to incorporate such a layer of detail into the novel (sort of a mystery, not quite thriller) of real human, cultural, and corporate practice. It didn't move me though. I didn't feel much besides professional (writer's) appreciation for that level of detail.
Grade: 8
_____________________________
Tamara
~Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time~
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RE: Book Reviews - 12/2/2007 7:55:44 PM
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Auben
Posts: 1602
Joined: 4/13/2005
From: Where pines tower and cranberries float
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Women of the Silk by Gail Tsukiyama
This is a lighter, chick-lit novel about a woman growing up in the '20s and '30s in China who is given to the silk trade by her desperate farm parents. She grows and makes friends in the years before and during WWII with a measure of freedom unusual for Chinese women of the time. If you like Amy Tan books you'll probably love this.
This was a nice quick read. It is Tsukiyama's first novel however and it shows. Maybe it's just something I would notice but her transitions and character motivations seemed rough.
Grade: 8
_____________________________
Tamara
~Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time~
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RE: Book Reviews - 12/2/2007 9:01:15 PM
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uponeagleswings
Posts: 2017
Joined: 4/12/2005
From: Out here in the desert
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Morgan's Run- Colleen McCullough
A fictional account of the time period in the 17 and 1800's when the English government started shipping their convicts to unsettled Australia. Told mainly from the viewpoint of Richard Morgan, the main character. This was an interesting look into that time period, but it was quite lengthy and sometimes seemed to get bogged down in the details.
This was a multi-layered book. Behind the actual story was an ongoing theme regarding what people become when they are pushed to their limits, and beyond.
Abundant coarse language, sexual situations (including homosexuality), and some setting-appropriate violence (prisoners getting lashed and such).
8 out of 10.
_____________________________
Stacy Singing in the Shower "When women are depressed they eat or go shopping. Men invade another country. Its a whole different way of thinking." -Elayne Boosler
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RE: Book Reviews - 12/9/2007 5:19:08 PM
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Auben
Posts: 1602
Joined: 4/13/2005
From: Where pines tower and cranberries float
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Oh My Stars by Lorna Landvik
Nice little chick novel about girl who grows up in an abusive family who looses her arm and her will to live. Only when she finds herself managing a mixed race musical group in the Depression does she learn confidence in herself and find friendship and love.
Grade: 8 (some sex but more in the noticing what other people are up to kind, not first person description)
Leaving Mother Lake: memoirs of a girlhood at the edge of the world by Yang Erlich Namu
This is autobiography about a girl from the Moso group in the Chinese mountains bordering Tibet. Very interesting in that the Moso have matriarchal houses and 'walking marriages' (ie the women take lovers and raise the children under their mother's roofs, boys stay in their mother's houses until they are old enough to work with their uncles raising yaks or taking caravans east into China, or west into Tibet or India). Sort of a nostalgic and interesting look at an unusual culture, how communism and the cultural revolution came to the furthest tribes in China, and how the author (a famous singer) came to be educated at the Shanghai conservatory during the political shift of the mid-80s.
Recommended if you're interested in different cultures, but remain aware that the author is very nostalgic about her people and sometimes that comes out as blindness to any faults they have. She sees the Moso people as truly kind, free, and non-violent (and the rest of the world as strangely patriarchal and rude), but if you continue reading you see between the lines of her own situation (the way she takes an ax to the kitchen at the school, the way she justifies her plagarism at school, her hesitation to follow the tradition taking of a lover after her skirt ceremony) that they are living in a tight-knit familial community but not in a perfect place.
Grade: 9, very interesting
_____________________________
Tamara
~Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time~
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RE: Book Reviews - 12/12/2007 6:45:22 PM
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evermorej
Posts: 94
Joined: 12/3/2007
From: Cleveland
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The Heart: A Tale of Evermore- by Reginald C. Johnson
How do I put this novel into words: I mean its just a touching story. I guess The Heart is a story of love, grace and everlasting faith rising above all limitations. It will inspire you deep within the depths of your soul and it will lift your spirits high, opening your existence to a world of vast proportions and overflowing abundance. It is a story of courage and passion that will move your heart in more ways than you could ever imagine.
Ok I'm gonna try to be quick about it and just run through it without giving away too much. Its like a epic adventure of four individuals as they come together naturally by chance while following a graceful call from the Lord above upon there hearts. We watch as they're lives tell a beautiful story of creation everlasting the moments in which they live as their relationships begin to grow and the story unfolds. Its even crazier because their journey begins in a wonderful world known as The Heart; A planet free from the turmoil of war, poverty, violence, and crime. But make no mistake this is no perfect utopia, but rather a land amongst its own trials and tribulations with a story of its own to tell.
We watch as our newfound friends take on destiny head to head as they naturally awaken in the unknown and foreign world of Evermore which happens to be a very extravagant piece of the Lords entire creation and is connected to us them all but they dont know it because its true existence happens to be foreign to their perception and repressed upon their memories {sounds confusing but when you're reading the story you'll know exactly what I mean}.
Anyway, through faith they find the strength they need to navigate this strange land and eventually they find themselves in a face to face encounter with a great and wise guardian who in turn takes them on the journey of a lifetime as they set out and take a flight through the stars traversing the Lords world of Evermore. They go to all these glorious places and see all these wonderous things. They learn many things along their travels and they begin to grow as the wise omniscient guardian trains them in the fine arts of love, life, and liberty in the hopes to prepare his pupils for what awaits them as they continue to travel their paths of faith. Then we catch a twist as they naturally encounter a man from the earth during the year 2023. He is in desperate need of their help as our four friends have exactly what he needs to save the life and soul of his precious daughter who happens to be in a very dangerous perdicament. Thats all I can say for now, but the symbolism in this novel is wild and it brings many virtues to life in ways you would have never seen coming. The holy spirit, hope, grace, Love, angels, light, darkness, It really does open the gates in ways you would have never imagined.
God bless
< Message edited by evermorej -- 12/12/2007 6:54:25 PM >
_____________________________
Hello all! I am a new up and coming christian author. You can find The first novel to The Heart series on Target.com, Amazon.com , Ingram and of Course Publishamerica.com. Simply search The Heart: A Tale of Evermore by Reginald C. Johnson.
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RE: Book Reviews - 12/13/2007 8:52:30 AM
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Bibleman7
Posts: 262
Joined: 11/26/2006
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These are my 3 favorite Christian books which I recommend all my fellow Christians to read:
1. Knowing God...................................by J.I. Packer
2. The Common Made Holy...................by Neil Anderson
3. Disciplines of a Godly Man.................by Kent Hughes
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RE: Book Reviews - 12/13/2007 9:42:17 AM
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Auben
Posts: 1602
Joined: 4/13/2005
From: Where pines tower and cranberries float
Status: offline
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Two more:
The Samurai's Garden by Gail Tsukiyama
A much better effort by Tsukiyama. This one follows a young Chinese man recovering from a serious illness at his family's beach house in Japan while WWII heats up. It starts off a little slow but it's worth the read. A nicely layered plot.
Grade: 8.7
Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage by Alice Munro
Munro is probably the master short story writer of our generation, and this is considered to be her finest work. I'm not a major fan (her characters all seem so alienated to me) but I must admit that this is good, solid work.
Munro, unlike almost every other author, manages to show me people and their motivations which I never imagined existing. Now while part of this is because we have widely different world views, much of it shows the power of her imagination and the level of detail in her stories.
I'm not sure I'd ever read this one again (the alienated people and their lonely marriages/relationships get tiresome) but it was definitely worth reading.
Grade: 9
_____________________________
Tamara
~Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time~
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RE: Book Reviews - 12/18/2007 11:28:13 PM
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Auben
Posts: 1602
Joined: 4/13/2005
From: Where pines tower and cranberries float
Status: offline
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Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
This book follows 2 girls and a boy from childhood to adulthood. They attend a somewhat mysterious school in the English countryside and the novel deals with a fairly well-known scientific theme. That's probably all I could tell you without completely wrecking the slow unraveling of this novel's twist.
Ishiguro (The Remains of the Day) exhibits an amazing control here, and although I already knew the twist before I read the book it was amazing to see it slowly reveal itself around the everyday problems and situations.
Grade: 9 (some sex)
_____________________________
Tamara
~Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time~
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RE: Book Reviews - 12/26/2007 11:43:12 AM
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i_am_just_me
Posts: 494
Joined: 12/20/2007
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The Book of God by Walter Wangerin - It's a novel version of the Bible. I started reading it during a small study group. I had my Bible out when I was reading it so that I could see how everything corresponds. I was able to understand things a lot better. It made the stories of the old testament really clear for me. (The book covers old and new testament but my I love the stories of the old testament.)
In my next small group, we are going to be reading Hope for the Homefront by Marshele Carter Waddell...I have some great reviews about this book so if anyone else had read it, opinions are welcomed! Thanks!
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RE: Book Reviews - 12/30/2007 10:17:57 PM
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Hazel2
Posts: 979
Status: offline
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The Magic of the Mask by Louise Ashby
The story of an aspiring model and actress horribly disfigured by a car accident. It is written by Louise Ashby and captures her feelings and experience from the accident through her eventual recovery.
I found it a little empty ... mostly just about the thoughts of a self centered young woman who never thinks of turning to God through her tragic circumstances. It was even slow in parts where I resorted to reading the first sentence of each paragraph to skip through quickly. Although lacking any spiritual element, it is a wonderful account of personal courage and sticktoitiveness. If I ever find myself disfigured, I hope to follow this woman's footsteps but with God by my side.
Grade C. Sex (nondescriptive), language
< Message edited by Hazel2 -- 12/30/2007 10:24:15 PM >
_____________________________
Will you please remember my husband, John, in prayer He is not saved. Thank you and God bless you!
"When two people agree on everything, one of them is not necessary"
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RE: Book Reviews - 1/2/2008 10:21:28 PM
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uponeagleswings
Posts: 2017
Joined: 4/12/2005
From: Out here in the desert
Status: offline
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A Hope in the Unseen by Ron Suskind
Before reading this book I would have had serious doubts about the thought of a white guy writing a meaningful book about what it means to be young, poor, and black in America. Ron Suskind did it. This book covers several years in the life of Cedric Jennings, a poor black kid at one of the worst high schools in DC, who is determined to go to an Ivy League college. Honestly, this was one of the best books I've read in a while. Suskind seems to observe everything, and at the same time manages to make himself invisible in the narrative. He picks up on all of Cedric's complicated feelings both in high school, and once he gets to Brown University.
9.5/10 Some mostly situational cursing (including the f-bomb), a few non-descriptive references to sex and violence.
_____________________________
Stacy Singing in the Shower "When women are depressed they eat or go shopping. Men invade another country. Its a whole different way of thinking." -Elayne Boosler
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RE: Book Reviews - 1/12/2008 4:46:53 PM
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redbomber
Posts: 11
Joined: 1/11/2008
Status: offline
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Try reading "Journal of the unknown Prophet" by Wendy Alec.
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RE: Book Reviews - 1/21/2008 1:32:12 PM
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evermorej
Posts: 94
Joined: 12/3/2007
From: Cleveland
Status: offline
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I need reviews on the Heart: A Tale of Evermore... I would appreciate anyone's opinion on the novel to help me prepare for writing the second and third books. Thank you
_____________________________
Hello all! I am a new up and coming christian author. You can find The first novel to The Heart series on Target.com, Amazon.com , Ingram and of Course Publishamerica.com. Simply search The Heart: A Tale of Evermore by Reginald C. Johnson.
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RE: Book Reviews - 1/21/2008 9:49:05 PM
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