Book Review: 30 Days to Great Love

30 Days to Greater Love: A devotional journal to experience the love of God through the Gospel of John by Hua Vang Dodson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Hua Vang Dodson, a personal friend I've grown to love through Bible Study Fellowship, used the tragedy of her husband's suicide to record the lessons of God's love through a study of John. Each day highlights one aspect of God's love and applies it to daily life. The entries are short but oh so meaty. If you read in the morning, you can "chew" on it all day long. It is written so that a young believer can learn but a "seasoned" believer will be refreshed and renewed when reminded of God's love.

Hua shares not only from her husband's taking of his life resulting in her widowhood and life as a single parent, but also her early childhood in Laos and as a refugee following the Communist takeover of her home country. Not only has she known those traumatic life events, but she has felt the loss of six close family members in six years. Through this Hua's faith remains unshakeable.

I highly recommend this book.

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Book Review: So Help Me God

So Help Me God by Mike Pence
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Overall a good book as I really enjoy reading about what goes on in the Oval Office and other high positions. Mike Pence is a man of principle which came through loud and clear, and he was a honest about what Trump did wrong post-2016 election as he did what Trump did right prior to that. His explanations of various programs he implemented as governor of IN gave me a different viewpoint that challenged my thinking on things such as healthcare and welfare programs.

Pence is a man of faith but even as devout Christian he came on very strong.

My biggest issue is that Pence writes the way he talks. It's a long book. Pence is not a dynamic speaker. I could hear his voice as I read. Enough said.

I recommend reading regardless of your political position.

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Funny story about the book. My parents wanted a Christmas gift for my brother so I bought this for them to give him. He bought the book for a Christmas for them and one for me for Christmas!

Book Review: uncultured

Uncultured: A Memoir by Daniella Mestyanek Young
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The book is billed as "in the vein of 'Uneducated' and 'The Glass Castle'", which is true but I found it much darker than "Uneducated."

Raised in a cult with the name God in it, means all she thinks of God is filtered through the false teaching of the Prophet. It is sad that the author has not found love and peace in the God of John 3:16 who loves her so much that He gave His only begotten Son to die for her.

After leaving the cult, she joins the Army. Much of the last half of the book is a comparison of the Army with the cult.

The book is dark--the children in the cult are violently mistreated and as an adult the author continues to find fulfillment through sex.

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Book Review: Gentle and Lowly

 

Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers by Dane C. Ortlund
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a book for thinkers. When my sister gave me Oswald Chamber's My Utmost For His Highest for my high school graduation, she wrote in it, "This is a book for thinkers and you are a thinker who will benefit from reading it." This needs a re-reading and another re-reading to glean its teaching.

A friend in ministry reviewed by saying, "This may be a modern classic." I agree that it very well may be.

The author quotes Scripture freely which I love. He also quotes old authors which were sometimes difficult to wade through. I often had to re-read sentences and paragraphs for understanding.

For various reasons this took awhile to read. The lesson I will remember most vividly is that God's wrath and mercy are not a balance in which when His wrath over sin is high, God's mercy is diminished. No, when His wrath for sin is high, His mercy is greatest as shown by His love and forgiveness. Our sinful hearts think God cannot love us when we sin or loves us less, but no. When we sin, His heart draws us even deeper to Him.

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Book Review: Call Your Daughter Home: A Novel

 

Call Your Daughter Home by Deb Spera
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Before a cruise I thought I was getting a book by a different author, but once I started this book my OCD kicked in and I had to finish it. This follows several southern women in the 1920s and how they deal with family and cultural dynamics. So much dysfunction and one storyline of sickening perversion made this a difficult read. It is so far removed from my life experiences and demonstrates how the Gospel changes people and families. That storyline alone tells me not to recommend this book to my friends.

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Book Review: My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry

 

My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This book fit in my bag to read on a cruise as I wanted an easy fiction read purely for enjoyment. This really wasn't that for me, but since I didn't have access to another book on the boat and since I have to finish what I start I completed it. It was a bit hard to follow as there was a fantasy element that I just didn't get into.

I didn't really enjoy A Man Called Ove by this author although it was highly recommended by quite a few friends so I'm not sure why I thought I'd like this book, but what can I say? It was $1 at an estate sale  

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Book Review: An Invisible Thread

 

An Invisible Thread by Laura Schroff
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

An Invisible Thread is a can't put down book. It took only two days to read while I was on vacation. I don't know who recommended it or where I read about it, but I'm thankful someone or I did.
The thread is a reference to a Chinese proverb that people are connected with an invisible thread so they will inevitably meet and be tied together. My faith says that isn't by chance--it's God's plan. this is very much in the same vane as Same Kind of Different as Me but without reference to God or a faith foundation.
Would I have done what Laura did? I don't know. I know I'm not always responsive to panhandlers, but what if a child asked me for money?
Obviously this statement near the end resonated with me to identify with Laura: It's not your lot in life to have children but in fact to affect many.
I recommended this book.

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