Peter and Julia are spending their vacation at their grandparents’ house, waiting for their father to come home from sea. When Julia sees a hidden garden from her window she becomes drawn to it, and she and her brother soon find themselves in another land, drawn into a battle for freedom.
Book one of “The Aedyn Chronicles,” this is a good start. It is written for children, and there are illustrations throughout the book. I found that the writing tends to focus a lot more on getting into the action than character development. For me, this was a bit disappointing, but I would imagine this is a very good approach to writing for children… to keep them engaged. Overall, the story was good, and I would recommend this to anyone with kids who enjoy reading.
Sam Hopkins is the son of small-town preacher. When we first meet him, he his lying beaten and bloody on the side of the road. How did he get there. According to him, it was because of the stupidest thing he ever did. Not playing chicken with a freight train, or hanging out with the local thugs. No, that wasn’t the stupidest thing he ever did. Things get crazier when Jennifer Sales gets involved. She’s been having hallucinations of demons and coffins. But are they real? Are they visions of something coming? Sam has no choice but to find out.
I really liked this one. I have to admit that I had a little trouble reading this one before sleeping. Let me just warn you now… if you like to read in bed just before going to sleep… read the first chapter up with the lights on, not in your bed. You’ll thank me later. It’s really not overly scary, but I got creeped out. Demons and stuff, you know? I enjoyed reading Crazy Dangerous. It’s a light, quick read that will keep the pages turning and keep you entertained. Not really predictable, but not confusing with a bunch of weird twists and turns. The characters are realistic, especially Sam. I see a movie here, really. It would be pretty cool.
I received a complimentary copy of this book for review purposes from BookSneeze.
It’s been up for a while now, but I haven’t really promoted it. I thought with Plummer’s declaration of May being “Read a Historical Theology text month,” it might be a good time. If anyone will be reading the Historical Theology text by Gregg Allison and wants to discuss, please come sign up. Even if you decide to read another text, or not to participate in the historical theology reading at all… still come sign up! The Bookish Fellowship Forum has been created primarily for Christians who love to read (though everyone is welcome), whether it be fiction or non-fiction… or even just the Bible. If you love books half as much as I do then you should come join. You can head straight over to the forum by clicking here, or you can get to it from the blog’s menu. I’m also open to suggestions, as I’d like this to become a community for all to enjoy.
Victory! I’ve completed both of the reading challenges I set goals for. I read 52 books this year… 12 of them were classics. I read several books I’d never read before and discovered a few new authors. Here are my recommendations of the books I read this year:
Leinad is sixteen years old – the son of a farmer. He has spent his life working the land, and practicing sword fighting with his father. He eventually learns that the sword fighting was not just to pass the time. Leinad has been called to serve the King. He sets out on his journey with a young girl named Tess, facing many hardships as they find themselves the enemy of the Dark Knight and his Shadow Warriors who want nothing more than to ruin the plans of the King.
Kingdom’s Dawn is book one in the Kingdom Series, and it’s a great start. The book is written as Youth fiction, but I think it makes a pretty good light read for adults as well. There is a lot of symbolism and representation of Bible stories and figures, from the rebellion of Lucifer to Moses and the burning bush. Based on this book alone, I would expect the series to take us through the most important moments of the Bible all the way through Revelations and Jesus’ return to establish His Kingdom. The symbolism is pretty easy to grasp if you know the Bible, but just in case you miss some things there is a discussion guide with answers in the back of the book. The only problem I had with the book actually came in the first few chapters with regard to the writing style. It was loaded with adjectives. For example, “The night breeze chills my moist face as I gaze across the rhythmic mass and see the outline of hundreds of other galant ships.” The almost poetic feel goes on for a bit as the narrator fills us in about himself before he start telling us about Leinad. It does, however, lessen after the story gets going.
1) Overall Plot = 4.5
2) Characters = 4.5
3) Flow/Pace of the story = 4.5
4) Is the story easy to follow? = 5
5) Overall Enjoyability = 4.5
When a dig in Pella turns up less-than-stunning finds, Shannon Jennings Weber decides to visit the archives of a nearby church. She discovers brown leaves of parchment being used as a bookmark in Eusebius’ Historia Ekklesiastica. She brings the pages to her famous husband, Dr. Jonathan Weber, a professor at Harvard. What they discover is that these few brown pages could lead to the biggest discovery in Christianity since the Dead Sea Scrolls. Problems arise, and the Webers face more than their share of dangers as events unfold. Will this be the discovery of the century?
First let me say, I loved this novel! Paul L. Maier is a professor of Ancient History. He has done translations and commentaries on the historical works of both Josephus and Eusebius. While The Constantine Codex is a work of fiction it contains many historical facts regarding Christianity. I have been interested in church history for some time now, though I by no means admit to knowing much. But I am willing to bet that if you’ve never been interesting in the history of Christianity this book may make you curious. The story is fascinating and I actually learned a lot about manuscripts that scholars truly believe could exist. The story has a couple of sub-plots that keep everything moving along. As a whole, this is a very interesting and entertaining novel. Easily in my top 3 for the year.
1) Overall Plot = 5
2) Characters = 5
3) Flow/Pace of the story = 5
4) Is the story easy to follow? = 5
5) Overall Enjoyability = 5
Friday Finds is hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just share the new-to-you books you found during the week — books you either want to add to your TBR (to be read) list, or that you just heard about that sounded interesting. If you’ve discovered them this week, share them with us in the comments or post the link to your blog post where you shared them.
God and Stephen Hawking by John C. Lennox – CBD | Amazon | B&N
Melaia is a chantress at the Temple of the Most High. One night in the courtyard she witnesses the murder of a weary traveler and quickly finds herself in a world she thought only existed in old songs and stories. Angels and immortals locked in battle. The stairway to Heaven must be rebuilt, and Melaia is pushed into a journey where she will discover angels, draks, and herself.
Breath of Angel is the first book in The Angeleon Circle series by Karyn Henley. Labeled as fantasy and marketed as Christian, it meets both categories well, but some may be skeptical at first, as I was. The Christian label is tested with the use of titles such as “priestess” and “chantress” and the treatment of angels. It takes awhile to start seeing some mild Christian metaphors, but they are there. This is why the category of Fantasy is so important. It allows liberty to be taken in certain areas to move the story forward, but nothing that would be deemed un-Christian. Even with the use of characters who are “chantresses” there is no use of “magic” in any way that would turn someone off, as one might expect.
The story starts quick and moves along at a steady pace. Some of the characters, however, fell a little flat for me. Though not so much that it was a disappointment or a distraction. Overall, this is a good read, and it kept me interested to the end.
1) Overall Plot = 4
2) Characters = 3.5
3) Flow/Pace of the story = 5
4) Is the story easy to follow? = 5
5) Overall Enjoyability = 4
Average score of 4.3
Overall grade = B
I received a complimentary copy of this book for review purposes from WaterBrook Multnomah. Please rate my review here.
Peter and Julia are spending their vacation at their grandparents’ house, waiting for their father to come home from sea. When Julia sees a hidden garden from her window she becomes drawn to it, and she and her brother soon find themselves in another land, drawn into a battle for freedom.
