Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Book Review: "The Truth Of The Matter" by Andrew Klavan



I recieved this book from Booksneeze.com to review. Over all it is a very good juvenile fiction book. I would say it would most appeal to a 11-13 year old boy. I think that for someone on an upper reading level would find the dialouge a little shallow.

This book is the third in a series of adventures of our hero, Charlie West. It is set in present times or just in the future. Charlie has found himself without the memory of a year of his life. During that time, he has been convicted of murder, sent to prison, broken out of prison, and is being chased by two sets of unknown government type groups. As you can tell from just this vauge list of events, this is an action packed book series.

Even though I had not read the first two books in this series, I found that the back story was filled in very well. Therefore, if you pick up any one of this group you will be entertained. This book is from a Christian publisher and does have Christian themes. It is not over the top with pushing God onto non-believers. It does show how Charlie's faith gets him through some really tough spots. It does not have bad language in the book. This was a nice perk. I liked how the author conveyed emotions with out falling back on potty-mouth dialoge.

This is a good action/adventure book for young teens. Those that like spy novels will really find something to like in this book.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Book Review: A Year with God By R.P. Nettelhorst

I just got a copy of "A Year with God" by R.P. Nettelhorst from Booksneeze.com and I can hardly wait to use it on a daily basis. Needless to say, I'm not going to wait a full year to review this book for you all.

I've spent a while browsing through the book. I really like how the devotionals are broken up into different topics. The topics include hope and fear, love and hate, perseverance and quitting, faith and doubt, loyalty and betrayal, companionship and isolation, mercy and judgment, forgiveness and anger, joy and sadness, and finally peace and conflict. It seems like a very thourough list to me.

Each days devotional begins with a passage of scripture. All of the scriptures used are from the Old Testament. Below the passages the author breaks down the passage and what it can mean for our lives today. Out of the devotionals that I've read, I've found the author very insightful and uplifting.

Another aspect of the book that I liked was that it was listed as "Day 1" etc.. instead of "January 1." I always felt pressured with the calender type devotionals. LOL!! I guess that is just my OCD coming out.

Would I recommend this book? If you are looking for a devotional that focuses on the Old Testament, then a resounding "YES" could be heard from me. It is concise and insightful. I'm excited to use this book over the coming year.