A book review is a real form of writing real writers use
to write real things about real books that really matter to them.
(Steve Peha)
to write real things about real books that really matter to them.
(Steve Peha)
The Good Listener by James F. Sullivan
The Miracle of Understanding I believe that listening is the most important tool we have for healing. I respect it so much that I am thrilled when I come across a book on it. This book was recommended by a teacher of a Christian healing prayer course. And I was delighted at the thought that I could order it, receive it, and sit down in a comfortable chair with it to savor its contents. Running down the right side of the cover of this slender volume are words that the author thinks describe the art of listening: compassion, caring, healing,...
read moreThe Circle Maker by Mark Batterson
Thumping Around I will admit that the concept of a circle serving as a means of getting one’s prayer answered was initially very disorienting. The Circle Maker starts with a somewhat myth-like tale of an ancient Jewish prophet commanding God to provide rain. And drawing circles around himself for emphasis. It is a nice, sweet story. For children who need to begin to understand that God answers prayers. But right on its heels is the impactful Bible account of Joshua’s destruction of Jericho by marching continuously around the...
read moreAcedia & me by Kathleen Norris
Leaving God out of the picture When my daughter was young, she watched a television show called, The Magic School Bus. It was, as the title tells us, about the adventures of a school teacher, her students, and a bus that had magical qualities. One such quality was to shrink down in size and then go places where an ordinary-sized school bus could not go. A journey on this bus through man’s psyche was my general impression of Kathleen Norris’s book, Acedia & me. The reader gets on the bus, opens the book, and the bus dives...
read moreSearching For Sunday by Rachel Held Evans
First the love, then the hate Rachel Evans’s book, Searching For Sunday, is organized into the seven sacraments of the church: Baptism, Confession, Holy Orders, Communion, Confirmation, Anointing of the Sick, and Marriage. Each sacrament is given a handful of chapters, which gives the author the freedom to approach each sacrament from different angles. And approach them from different angles she does. In spades. I cannot fault Ms. Evans for her writing. She can truly find ways of making love with the subjects at hand. And she clearly...
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