Book Reviews

Review of Winning Balance: What I’ve Learned So Far about Love, Faith, and Living Your Dreams by Shawn Johnson

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Genre: Autobiography/Sports/Inspirational

Recommended.

Olympic Gold Medalist Shawn Johnson shares a piece of her life and experience in a very personable and encouraging way. She talks in detail about gymnastics, but also her crushes on boys, her self image and weight pressures, her time on Dancing with the Stars, her scary stalker, and the injury that nearly cost her her career. She shares many personal stories, thoughts, and poetry. This is really an inside scoop into her life, and I have to say: she has a winning personality. I love Shawn’s honesty, vulnerability, and the cheerfulness of her writing. It’s hard to read this and not become a fan.

Since I haven’t closely followed gymnastics, I searched Google and YouTube for Shawn as soon as I had started the book to see what the media was saying. Most of her press is overwhelmingly positive–and I can see why!–but Shawn’s behind-the-scenes commentary completes and responds to her image in the media confidently and gracefully. I especially appreciated Shawn’s vulnerability in discussing her struggle with weight gain after the Olympics. Regardless of where God takes her in the future, Shawn is an amazing young woman with an excellent story.

I received a complimentary copy of this book through the Tyndale Blog Network.

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Review of The Coming Revolution: Signs from America’s Past that Signal Our Nation’s Future by Dr. Richard G. Lee

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Genre: History/Politics

Not Recommended.

I was really intrigued by the title: The Coming Revolution, but I found the book to be dull and hard to finish, especially in the opening chapters. The strong political bias was overwhelming for me and really turned me off from wanting to read more. I’m tired of the Republican versus Democrat dissensions, and did not enjoy Lee’s negativity toward liberalism (even though I’m somewhat conservative myself).

I did find some of the history kind of interesting–not engagingly interesting, but interesting enough to force myself to finish reading it. I studied at a public school and a very secular university, so the texts and perspectives the author cited were entirely new to me, despite our shared connection with Christianity. I may look further into some of his sources as I continue to develop my own perspective on America’s roots.

I was also disappointed by the lack of evidence and enthusiasm regarding a coming revolution. It seems that Lee is using this book to persuade people to start the revolution he believes is necessary, rather than predicting that a revolution is actually underway–and to me, his case wasn’t very enthralling.

I received a complimentary copy of this book as a part of the Thomas Nelson Book Review Blogging Program through booksneeze.com.

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Review of Godforsaken by Dinesh D’Souza

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Genre: Academic Theology/Apologetics

Not Recommended.

I found Godforsaken instantly engaging. I loved the cohesiveness and organization of D’Souza’s writing and the grace of his arguments. So why did I strongly dislike this book? Because his theology and worldview lack basic biblical understanding.

Before D’Souza expresses his own ideas, he argues in agreement with the atheists that the Christian concept of original sin and the events of Genesis are not enough to explain why suffering exists today. The problem with his argument is that his worldview is not the Christian one–at least, not the one I see in the Bible. His academically inspired, secular theology continues in pieces throughout the book–as well as some solid theology and truly interesting points.

I personally can’t separate God’s creation of the world from the gospel–but that aside… Even if the biblical creation account was a myth, there are elements of the story that can’t be ignored, including the transfer of the dominion of the earth. The Genesis account tells that God gave dominion of the earth to Adam and Eve, but that a fallen angel disguised as a serpent tricks the humans to give up their birthright in exchange for worldly knowledge. Satan has since been the ruler of the earth, but because of Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross and resurrection from death, Christians have authority over sin and the realms of darkness. Darkness and suffering are not yet gone, but Christians can experience the fruit of the Spirit even in the worst of physical circumstances because nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. At Jesus’s second coming, suffering will be removed from the earth altogether and God will tabernacle on a cleansed earth with those who love Him. In the meantime, evil must fully blossom before it can be removed–so we can expect suffering to increase before the second coming (and also for a corresponding revival of the Holy Spirit).

D’Souza’s ideas were interesting, but I’m unsure who his target audience is. This isn’t a book for traditional Bible believing Christians. It might be of interest to an agnostic or unsure atheist, but I couldn’t recommend any new believer becoming a Christian without a solid biblical foundation, and this isn’t it. I personally can’t see this book benefiting anyone.

I received a complimentary copy of this book through the Tyndale Blog Network.

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Review of Spirit Wars: Winning the Invisible Battle against Sin and the Enemy by Kris Vallotton

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Genre: Spiritual Growth/Spiritual Warfare

Highly Recommended.

Spirit Wars is one of the best books I’ve read in awhile. It is short and simple, but I was deeply impacted by Kris Vallotton’s encouragement, personal stories, the way he presents the truth of the gospel, and his insight into the supernatural realm.

Early on in the book, he uses the metaphor of a haunted house to show how many Christians are deceived into believing they are in a war with their flesh. As Christians, we know that ghosts of past residents do not haunt houses–rather, ghosts are demons that sometimes pose as real or deceased people, and those demons are the ones doing the haunting. Likewise, when we believe we are struggling against our sinful flesh, it cannot actually be our flesh if we’ve repented and become a born-again believer in Jesus. Our sinful nature died on the cross with Jesus and we were resurrected with Him, so any current struggle is no longer with the dead self, but with demons who try to impersonate our former state. Our flesh is weak, but it is no longer corrupt. I found this metaphor so powerful that it’s been easier than ever for me to take every thought captive and live in uninterrupted freedom.

I also loved the way Kris describes our triune being (soul, spirit, body). A few years ago I was diagnosed with a chronic illness, and have spent so much energy on my body (eating, sleeping, exercising) that I hadn’t considered that focusing my attention away from my body might be just what I need. For the last couple weeks, I’ve made it my priority to laugh more, find fun things to do, and to be a bit looser with dealing with my body (still being mindful of good health, of course). It’s been going great! Kris’s situation and stories are completely different from my experience, and yet his stories and teaching triggered me to think outside the box so that I could better hear what the Holy Spirit was guiding me to do. I appreciate how his writing is so conversational and easy to relate to–despite the differences in our circumstances.

There are other books that deal more thoroughly with deliverance/sozo ministry (I particularly recommend the author Neil T. Anderson, as many of his books encouraged me after my own deliverance experience), but Spirit Wars is special in that it’s clear, concise, and accessible, without lacking in depth or impact. I think every Christian could benefit from reading this book.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Bethany House.

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Review of Indelible by Kristen Heitzmann

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Genre: Fiction/Suspense

Not Recommended.

When former Olympian Trevor MacDaniel rescues a toddler from a mountain lion attack, his life entwines with the child’s aunt Natalie. Natalie has a gift for seeing deep into people’s souls–it’s so powerful for her, she can hardly look at people and can only remove the images and feelings she sees through her gift of sculpting. Together, Natalie and Trevor’s friendship helps each of them work through their wounds to find courage and peace. Meanwhile, strange and evil things begin happening, and Trevor and Natalie find themselves right in the middle of it.

I’m surprised so many people like this book. I just couldn’t get into it. I did enjoy the major characters and the way they interacted, and Heitzmann did an excellent job portraying the personalities of the characters through their unique artistic and athletic abilities. But I otherwise did not enjoy the storytelling. The grammar and syntax were sloppy (and distracting) in many places (especially in multiple character scenes). I did not find the story suspenseful (the ending, in fact, was a bit anti-climactic). And I especially disliked her attempt to parallel the antagonist’s journey with Milton’s Paradise Lost.

After each chapter were mini chapters from the antagonist’s perspective, each beginning with a stanza from Paradise Lost, then describing the villain’s activity in a terribly written poetic prose. I think these short chapters intended to build the suspense and mystery that evil was on the move. Personally, I thought they were so poorly written that it killed any bit of suspense. I was distracted by the grammar and found many of the Paradise Lost quotes to be contextually misplaced. I’ve noticed that a handful of other reviewers greatly enjoyed the addition of Paradise Lost, which makes me wonder how many of them have actually read it!

I actually think Indelible could have been more successful as a romance novel. There were many romantic elements between Trevor and Natalie and also several of the minor characters; and the health (or dysfunction) of relationships in general was very central to the story line. Heitzmann did such a good job with the internal story and character development that it’s unfortunate the suspense plot line, poor attempts to be poetic, and weird Paradise Lost references had to get in the way.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from WaterBrook Multnomah.

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Review of Relentless by John Bevere

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Genre: Spiritual Growth

NOT Recommended.

I want to start by saying that I really like John Bevere. I believe he hears from God and desires to teach in the ways of God. Several of his teachings have been a blessing to me. And so I am deeply saddened that no one prevented him from publicly declaring in this book the blasphemous statement that “we are Christ.” The first time he used this phrase I thought maybe there was a linguistic error, then the statement was repeated (more than once)! How did this happen!?! I find that this kind of theological error is too big to disregard. It causes all the good things he says before and afterward to be irrelevant. We can not be followers of Christ and also believe we are Christ; it does not work!

Indeed, we are not Christ! We are part of his body, yes. We have, through His grace, received inconceivable spiritual gifts and spiritual blessings that we don’t deserve and don’t yet fully understand: it’s amazing! Someone needs to tell the body how much we’ve inherited through Christ and in Christ–and that should have been the outcome of this book. But we are not Christ. He is the head of us (the source of us) and through His power we live. We are His body, and yet, we do not and will never replace Him. We represent Him, but do not become Him. We will do (and should be doing) amazing things through the power of the Holy Spirit–Jesus said even greater things than He did. Yet the power still comes from Him and is ushered in by our weakness. We are not and do not become Christ. We have the grace to carry the divine, while not being divine ourselves.

Since personally being delivered from the power of the occult, I can not emphasize this enough. We (the body) need to learn to walk in full understanding of our identity in Christ with power and confident access to the Holy Spirit. But we can not mistake the source of our power. It is not from within us (though the Spirit does dwell there when we invite Him to), or from other spirits; it comes from Jesus Christ who is our head.

I, honestly, would be very surprised if John Bevere actually believes what it sounds like he is saying (or maybe he does?). But certainly there has been a confusion, and I do believe that this is a big mistake. I hope that all involved in the realm of Christian writing and publishing will be careful in prayer and discernment with future publications.

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from WaterBrook Multnomah.

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Review of Heart of Ice by Lis Wiehl with April Henry

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Genre: Fiction/Suspense/Crime Mystery

Series: Book Three of the Triple Threat Series

Recommended.

This is the first book I’ve read of the Triple Threat Series, and I enjoyed it. It was light reading, suspenseful, with interesting characters–and it takes place in Portland Oregon, which happens to be one of my favorite cities.

The “triple threat” is made up of Federal Prosecutor Allison Pierce, FBI Special Agent Nicole Hedges, and crime reporter Cassidy Shaw. These good friends are able to investigate and solve crimes, and also support each other through every-day-life.

Heart of Ice is unique from other crime mysteries in that the perpetrator, Elizabeth, is introduced from the beginning–as someone the other characters know well. There is plenty of suspense, however, since the reader has inside information into the killer’s background and sociopathic mindset which the characters do not have. A few scenes were almost too intense/graphic for me, and since the book does realistically present situations of theft, murder, manipulation, arson, fraud and a bit of sexuality, I wouldn’t recommend it to teen readers.

It’s not obvious that this book is Christian fiction, though one character does have spiritual convictions (which are subtly displayed). Had I picked this up in an airport (for instance), I wouldn’t have guessed it was Christian at all, though the language was clean, and I suppose the darker elements (murder, etc.) could have been even more graphic. I’m interested to see if there may be Christian themes in the series overall.

I received a complimentary copy of this book as a part of the Thomas Nelson Book Review Blogging Program through booksneeze.com.

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Review of Night of the Living Dead Christian by Matt Mikalatos

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Genre: Allegorical Fiction/Satire/Spiritual Growth

Highly Recommended!

I’m not sure how to describe Night of the Living Dead Christian except that it’s full-on satire, very unique, and very good. Mikalatos mixes elements of fiction and non-fiction, and even includes himself as a character within the story. The story follows lycanthropic (werewolf) Luther Ann Martin as he discovers what it means to be a Christian and how to become free of his animalistic tendencies. Vampires, mad scientists, an android and a congregation of zombies are also woven into the narrative.

Each of the monsters or monstrous conditions represent various problems or tendencies within human nature, and through this, Mikalatos demonstrates the process of salvation and reveals much about the state of the church. There is a congregation of zombies, for instance, that do not think for themselves and act just like their leader. They run around proselytizing, stuffing headphones of podcasts into their victim’s ears, and trying to eat their victim’s brains. I’ve met this sort of creature; perhaps you have too.

Sometimes it takes imagining the world in fantastic terms to understand the reality; I love how Mikalatos mixes both realms outright. There is also an excellent Discussion Guide and Self-Diagnosis Guide to Common Monstrosities in the back of the book, which would be really fun to discuss in a small group or book club.

(Also, I enjoyed the whole book, as I’ve said, but really got into it around sixty pages in; and I mention this in case some readers are tempted to stop before the good stuff starts: keep reading!!)

To get more of an idea of the author and this book check out this video:

It just so happens that Tyndale gave me a certificate for a free book to give to one lucky reader. Leave a comment below telling me you want it and I’ll decide the winner in one week. This will be my first contest, so I’m pretty excited to have a free something to give away. 🙂

I received a complimentary copy of this book through the Tyndale Blog Network.

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Review of December 1941: 31 Days that Changed America and Saved the World by Craig Shirley

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Genre: History/United States/20th Century

Highly Recommended!

Lately I’ve been reading and watching historical documentaries as much as possible because I really feel that understanding history is helpful to understanding where we are and what’s to come. This account of American history was especially insightful to me.

Shirley weaves together newspaper reports, human interest stories, and other research to thoroughly portray the mindset, recreation, dress, social and spiritual beliefs, American leaders and celebrities, and day-to-day lifestyle of Americans in the month of the Pearl Harbor attack–really, there is no area he doesn’t touch on. And although the size of the book was a bit intimidating for me (535 pages plus an additional 100 or so of Notes and the Epilogue), Shirley writes in a way that is both accessible and captivating. I love how each chapter reflects one day from December 1941 (especially since it’s so dense with knowledge that readers may not want to read more than a couple days at a time). And by reading this, I really felt a grasp on this time in American history and the generations before me.

This is a great addition to any library, especially for lovers of history.

I received a complimentary copy of this book as a part of the Thomas Nelson Book Review Blogging Program through booksneeze.com.

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Review of Invasion by Jon Lewis

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Genre: Juvenile Fiction/Science Fiction/Action & Adventure

Series: Book One of the C.H.A.O.S. Series

Recommended.

Invasion is a story of alien attacks, other universes, real-live comic book characters, super gadgets, and secret service agents, all mixed in with typical high school life. High school hero, Colt McAlister, discovers that his family has been involved in a secret military organization to defend the world against alien intrusions, and that the accident that killed his parents was no accident at all. Now it’s up to Colt and his high school friends to help the agency and save the world.

Invasion is definitely geared toward teen readers, and even has a bit of teen romance (which I personally thought was well done), but certain adult readers may also enjoy it. In fact, I actually enjoyed reading it quite a bit. The characters were fun and personable, and the plot felt realistic despite being very imaginative.

This is the first book in the C.H.A.O.S. Series*. I appreciated how it is a complete story in itself, though I can’t imagine readers not wanting to keep up with the series.

*Edit: I had mistakenly thought Invasion was the second in the series (and read the book with that mindset), but it turns out that Lewis’ book I am Number Four is not related to the series.

I received a complimentary copy of this ebook as a part of the Thomas Nelson Book Review Blogging Program through booksneeze.com.

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