Anyway, eventually I got to hear Steve Brown interview the actual Mark Driscoll (pastor of mega church Mars Hill Church, with over 7000 members spread across several campuses in several states). Honestly, I got a few good laughs out of that interview, and quite often, as Driscoll was speaking, I’d think, “well, that’s an interesting take on it”, and then he’d finish his thought and I’d think, “interesting, but completely wrong.”. And Driscoll does have some interesting ideas. To him, MMA is next to godliness, swearing in the pulpit is a good way to reach people, and he seems to think that everyone is completely obsessed with sex simply because he, himself, is completely obsessed with sex.

So, it was with a good deal of trepidation that I requested his new book on marriage, Real Marriage: The Truth About Sex, Friendship, and Life Together. The focus of this book pretty much goes in that order.

So, first, the technical details. Real Marriage by Mark Driscoll and Grace Driscoll (his wife) is published by Thomas Nelson and is 256 pages long. Interestingly, about 1/4 of the book is a Preface, and Introduction (yes, both), and 5 appendices (plus a little more scattered around). The Preface, which is titled How Not To Read This Book, instructs you to not be a voyeur, a critic, to not say that you tried it and it didn’t work (actual quote “If it’s rooted in biblical wisdom, keep trying until it works or you die.”), don’t think of other people who need this book, don’t be unwilling to put in the work that this book says to do, don’t read this book and see your spouse’s shortcomings, don’t think you’re the exception, don’t try to figure out how to have a good enough marriage instead of a great one, talk about the book with your spouse- chapter by chapter, and don’t copy us.

The writing style leaves much to be desired. Unfortunately, I believe that the Driscolls really did actually write this book by themselves. Normally, I applaud celebrity books being written by the actual celebrity (and make no mistake, Mark Driscoll is a celebrity pastor- a strange, but real phenomena). However, while the sections that tell you what to do are pretty clear, the sections that tell you what they did tend to be rather vague. For example, it is mentioned in the book that Grace once (or, it seems to have been only once) had sex with another man shortly after she began dating Mark. Elsewhere, it is said that she was sexually abused. The way it’s written, it’s difficult to tell if the “sex with another man” incident is the same as the “sexual abuse” incident. The way the book is written, it sounds as though he’s referring to both cases as Grace sinning. This is cruel to Grace, whether intentional or unintentional, as many people now believe that he has called her rape to be her sin. It is, however, brilliant marketing, as once this firestorm erupted online, many people who had no interest in the book immediately ran off to obtain copies to read for themselves. Oops, there goes the “don’t be a critic” rule.

In addition to rather ambiguous stories of their past, it’s extremely difficult to tell who is writing what section until one identifies himself or herself. Several times, I was reading a section believing that it was one, and several paragraphs later, it’s identified as the other.

While I believe that advice should stand on its own (good or bad) and not depend on the character of the person giving it, I have to specify one incident here. While reading Real Marriage by Mark and Grace Driscoll, I was also reading Real Marriage reviews online. I also read one or two interviews. In the book, Real Marriage, Mark Driscoll states twice that he was not a virgin when he met Grace, and at least once that Grace was not a virgin when she met Mark. No biggie. For one thing, Mark wasn’t a Christian, and Grace had “fallen away”.  At location 288 in the ebook, Mark states, “By fifteen I had lied about my age, falsified my birth certificate, bought a car, and drove myself to work at a 7-Eleven (near the strip clubs), where I sold liquor, condoms, porn, and rubbing alcohol for freebasing drug addicts who lived in the low-income apartments next door. Around this time, I also started having sex with a girlfriend.” (he didn’t meet Grace until he was 17). At location 306 he says “Neither Grace nor I was a virgin when we met,”.  Here’s the thing, in an interview with Christianity Today, he says “We were virgins when we met and were sleeping together as high-school boyfriend and girlfriend.”  Now, maybe it was a mis-statement, or maybe CT accidentally left out the word “not”.  It’s been known to happen. However, he’s been caught in other untruths- for example, depending on the interview, he can’t make up his mind which state he was in when God told him to marry Grace and start a church.

Do I care whether they’d had sex before they met? No. Does it matter whether they’d had sex before they met? No. But if you’re going to make a big deal out of it (and they did), then they should at least get their story straight.

Now, as for the actual advice in the book, meh. Sure, some of it is solid- be friends with your spouse, respect your spouse, have sex often. That’s all well and good. It’s also in every half decent marriage book out there, and it’ll also be the advice that you get if you ask anyone with a decently healthy marriage for advice. Nothing new here, folks! Although, they do seem to confuse “respect” with “submit”. Really folks, just because your husband gets offended or hurt by something you say, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ve actually disrespected him.

1/3 of Real Marriage by Mark Driscoll and Grace Driscoll is devoted to sex. Yes, sex pervades the other 2/3, but 1/3 is actually devoted to it. Chapter 6 Sex: God, Gross, or Gift? had me ready to hurl the book across the room. But, it’s on my brand new Kindle, so, yeah, I restrained myself. This is the section that gave me the most giggles and the most nausea.

If you’ve ever wondered if it’s ok to have oral or anal sex with your spouse, there’s a chapter to address that too (good news, Mark gives both the thumbs up).

The most helpful part of Real Marriage, I think, is the section near the end where they list several pages worth of questions to discuss with your spouse. The questions are taken from their premarital counseling sessions, and I think that most, if not all, are worth discussing. At the very least, you’ll have fodder for a few days of discussion, and at the most, you’ll learn things that you never knew about yourself and your spouse as you open up about some deep topics.

The biggest minus is probably that, well, Pastor Mark comes across as a real jerk to his wife. Story after story about how he was treating her, and you expect a “Looking back, I really shouldn’t have/should have done this instead of that.”, and it never comes. Does he regret his poor treatment of his wife, or does he actually think that he treated her right? I don’t know. And that’s what worries me about this book. They say to not copy them, but anyone who needs a self help book tends to do just that. The opportunities for abuse based on this book is quite high. Anyone who is able to separate the chaff from the wheat very likely doesn’t need this book, and anyone who can’t, well, heaven help you because this book surely won’t.

For the most part, I can only recommend Real Marriage to fans of Mark Driscoll, because anyone else will either find it unhelpful or enraging, depending on your point of view. Actually, that’s not true. I also recommend it to those who loathe Driscoll, because there are plenty of (unintentionally)  hilarious quotes in here for those who already disagree with him.

If you’re deciding whether or not you would find this book helpful to your marriage, please do consider that Pastor Mark and his wife are not professional therapists, and this book was not intended for those in crisis. If you are in danger from an abusive spouse- get out and protect yourself. If you both have serious emotional, mental, and/or spiritual or physical problems creating a rift in your marriage, get professional help. This book is intended for those who just want a better marriage, not those who are in dire straits.

I received this copy of Real Marriage from Thomas Nelson’s BookSneeze review program in exchange for an honest review.

P.S. If you’re curious about some of the more interesting quotes from the book, let me know and I’ll try to hook you up.

Anyway. This book is called Mere Churchianity- Finding Your Way Back to Jesus-Shaped Spirituality by Michael Spencer, aka The Internet Monk (internetmonk.com). Michael Spencer was a pastor who blogged his views on Christianity and church life and, based on a blog post that he wrote, was solicited to write this book. He died shortly before it was released.

While most books on the church (written by Christians) seek to defend the church and most, if not all, of its ways, Mere Churchianity is the opposite. Despite being a pastor himself, Michael Spencer considered the modern church to be more or less the antithesis of a Christ centered life. According to Spencer, at least, in this book, the majority of churches today are too busy either chasing after modern culture (to bring in the sheep- of course) or replacing the Christ-centered life with a bunch of moral rules of its own making.

For the most part, he’s right. It happened in Jesus’ day too- why do you think He was always ragging on the Jewish priesthood?

Rather than try to convince church leavers to give church another try, Spencer seems to be encouraging anyone who’s even contemplating leaving the church to do just that. Go ahead- leave! It might be the best decision you’ve ever made for your spiritual life!

I’m not entirely certain how I feel about his points. On the one hand, I agree. For one thing, the early church certainly didn’t take place in a big building with a band leading you in songs that you may or may not know and taking communion by eating a tiny piece of bread or wafer and a thimble sized shot of grape juice. From what I can gather from reading the New Testament, it was believers gathering together in each others homes, sharing a meal, companionship, and sometimes worshiping God the same way that they did when they were simply Jews (singing, instruments, praying), and meeting in the temple courts (that would be the Jewish temple, by the way, not a church dedicated to Christianity) to pray.

So, yes, I do agree that the modern church doesn’t model how the disciples and the apostles did it. However, our lives don’t mirror that of the Jews during that time either! For many of us, the only way to “not cease gathering together” is in church. If you don’t have a circle of fellow believers to gather with and fellowship with, well, what other way are you going to find fellowship? And if all of your Christian acquaintances believe as you do, how are your beliefs ever going to be challenged? How will you grow? I’m not saying that it’s not possible, I’m just saying that at no point in this book did I feel that Spencer took any look at the good points of having a church.

Part of that single mindedness is simply because the whole point of the book is more or less “If you want to leave church because you don’t want to just be a churchie, then go ahead, it’s probably the right thing to do.”, but the lack of any other point of view made parts of the book actually come across as somewhat bitter.

Honestly though, I think this book is best suited to those who struggle with the idea of others leaving church. The people who immediately condemn “leavers” won’t be able to hear the message, and “leavers” don’t care. But those who hurt to see someone leave the church, but don’t respond in an Holier Than Thou manner, may find Mere Churchianity to be useful in understanding why someone who professes to believe in God and/or Jesus would leave church.

It has some good points, it has some bad points, and overall, I found it to be the least painful non-fiction Christian book to finish. That said, had it not been endorsed by Steve Brown, I probably would not have requested it, and might have not finished it if I had still requested it (which I might have done as I love the title). Better than most, interesting, but not particularly useful unless you’re confused already.

Note- I received this book free of charge from Waterbrook Multnomah in exchange for reviewing it.

I’m not sure how much of a review this is really going to be. I ordered this book from Thomas Nelson’s BookSneeze program (the theory behind that name is that good books are contagious) because I mistakenly thought this book was something other than what it was.

I grew up in a non-denominational church with very definite charismatic tendencies. My pastor grew up Amish, and his kids and nieces and nephews were all allowed to wear shorts and t-shirts on Sunday morning, even though my parents wouldn’t let me.

So, unlike most other kids that grew up in church, I never learned most of the old hymns, I never understood that whole sit, stand, sit, stand, reading out loud from a hymnal thing in response to what the pastor read out (though I got some of that at my grandma’s church), and never knew what incense was for. The closest I’ve ever been to a mass was a Philipino church in Paris (yes, France) that mixed a whole lot of different denominations into one, and that was confusing as heck.

But, I’ve always had a secret desire to be a nun, and I’ve always been interested in how other people worship as well as other religions. So when I saw The Liturgical Year, I snapped it up.

What I expected was a detailed account of how the liturgical year is celebrated. I mean, each and every day that something happens no matter how big or small, every single element of how to celebrate each celebratory day, and the why of each element. Like, why does the priest wear a particular vestment on a certain day, and what’s the significance of that particular color. Are there special prayers that are recited? Are there particular rituals for a particular day, and if so, what is the ritual, and what is the significance of each part of the ritual?

The chapter on Lent starts out “To understand Lent and its characteristic forty-day fast in its fullness would require a process of wandering back and forth between its historical evolution in the church and its gradually developing sense of purpose, whatever the nature or place or pace of its evolution.”

Well, yes. That’s what I wanted this book for- to learn the history of Lent and why and how it’s celebrated.

What I got, instead, was musings on each day. A meandering 5 or 6 pages in each section that essentially boil down to “Fill-in-the-blank is a time to think about blah-blah-blah”. I know it sounds a bit rude to put it that way, but that’s how the entire book read to me. Or rather, the first 50 pages, after which I skimmed through to about midway through the book, looking for something worth reading. Having not found anything, I flipped through to the end, and decided that it was time to just write this up and put myself out of my misery.

In conclusion, if you’re already quite familiar with the nuts and bolts of the Liturgical Year and just want a fresh way to think about it, or are interested in a nun’s take (Joan Chittister is a Benedictine nun) on it, then you’ll probably enjoy this book. Or, at least, you won’t hate it. But if you actually want to learn about the liturgical year, then give this book a miss and keep looking. A quick search on Amazon for “about the liturgy” netted me several potential winners.

Note- I received this book at no charge in exchange for a review from Thomas Nelson’s BookSneeze program.

I’m going to admit right up front that it’s possible that my friendship with C.J. may color my review. I also received my copy free of charge as part of this book tour. However, as a reviewer for TitleTrakk, a Christian book reviews site, I get most of my to-be-reviewed books for free. So, keep that in mind, but I think I can be pretty honest here about my Bound by Guilt review.

Bound by Guilt focuses on two characters and how their lives are inter-twined by the actions of one of them. One character is Abby Dawson, a police woman who’s past makes her, well, lets just say a little over aggressive in her police work. Roxi Gold is just a scared teenager. The unwanted child of a druggie mother and a foster home drop out. Her one shot at a home came with strings attached- be a part of the family “business” or suffer the displeasure of Irene, her new foster mom and cousin to Roxi’s birth mother. That doesn’t seem so bad at first, but when the family “business” is stealing rare books, her conscience begins to interfere with her work.

Now, I took copious notes for my review as I was reading Bound by Guilt. Unfortunately, when I read them over, I realized that they were pretty much all spoilers, and one typo. So, I’m just going to wing it.

Bound by Guilt is really, really good. I’m not just saying that for the aforementioned reasons. Seriously- it’s good. There are elements of mystery and suspense, but the genre is pretty much general or maybe contemporary fiction. It’s definitely not a romance novel- although at times you really can’t help but hope that Roxi and her foster brother Diego would hit it off. They think of each other as though they really were brother and sister, and yet the chemistry is so strong and their relationship is so good, that the more romantically inclined among us just can’t help but picture this as their possible future. I swear, if I ever take up fan fiction, my first target will be CJ’s characters. Jim (from Thicker Than Blood) needs to make some woman happy, and Roxi and Diego so need to at least date.

In Thicker Than Blood, C.J. had a tendency to repeat events that we “saw” in her characters’ heads, and a few characters missed a chance to be fully fleshed out. Those are total non-issues in Bound by Guilt. Every character is thoroughly and well drawn, there are no awkward remembering scenes, and even characters that I disliked in Thicker Than Blood are much more likeable and interesting in Bound By Guilt. Oh- I should mention that several characters from Thicker Than Blood are in Bound By Guilt. None of them are major players except for Christy, but they are there.

Both books revolve around rare books from Dawson’s Book Barn, so it’s a totally natural thing that so many characters are involved in both books but without being a sequel in the usual sense. For example, while we get to see the progression of Christy’s life since the end of Thicker Than Blood, Bound By Guilt is focused on Abby Dawson and Roxi Gold- not Christy.

And the villains! Man, C.J. is so good at writing the bad guys. Which is a little worrying, as she only lives 20 minutes away from me and knows where I live… erm… So, anyway… Vince from Thicker Than Blood was a really well fleshed out psycho abuser. I mean, he was a psycho, not that he abused psychos. Irene, from Bound by Guilt is extremely manipulative and devious. And yet she’s extremely human. Maybe a little on the crazy side, but not so much so that it interferes with her life. Other people’s, maybe, but not her own.

The story progressed naturally, but not predictably. She did make me mad at one scene near the beginning, but it also answered all of her evasive “Well, that’s not going to happen… well, it will, but not for long…” answers when I tried to quiz her on certain book 2 happenings. Which actually made it strangely satisfying even though I was still mad. (And I’m still mad, C.J.! You know what I mean!) But page turner? Most definitely. You can’t help but want to know what’s going to happen to Roxi next, or what decisions she’ll make. A foster child run-away at the age of 16? So close to independance, and yet still dependant? Guilty for a crime that she did commit, and also guilty for a crime that she was merely present at… You can see what’s whirring through her head and feel yourself putting yourself in her place and wondering just what you’d do in the same predicament.

And Roxi is so real. I loved Thicker Than Blood, but Christy did come off as rather cold (the main character in book one) which made it harder to get really into the book. But Roxi is so warm, with real emotions, capable of thinking on her feet but not always making the right choices. Just as in reality, there aren’t always right choices to make.

I hate to say it, but there’s not much more that I can say without getting into spoilers, so I’ll finish with the book trailer for Bound by Guilt. And an endorsement. I rarely read anything that isn’t chick-lit or fantasy, but I loved Bound by Guilt. If you are a book geek, you’ll love it too, because not only is it a great story that’s well told, but there are lots of geeky tidbits on the antiquarian book trade, and about specific rare titles. Given that C.J.’s day job is in the rare book trade, those tidbits aren’t just guesswork or gleaned from interviews. It’s the real thing.

For more information, click the Amazon link above, or visit C.J. Darlington’s official website.

Disclaimer: I received this book for free as part of C.J. Darlington’s Bound by Guilt book tour in exchange for a review.

I’m really not a memoir reader. I dislike most non-history non-fiction. For some reason, I keep choosing memoirs from Thomas Nelson’s Booksneeze program, and I’m not sure why (perhaps because there isn’t much fiction in my preferred genres). However, I loved I Am Hutterite. It read like a novel, and had very little of the “but that was to change all too soon” in it.

While I’m pretty familiar with Amish and Mennonites (I grew up in and live in Amish Country in south-central Pennsylvania), I’d never even heard of Hutterites until a few weeks ago. I’d heard them all grouped together and was intrigued, but assumed that it was simply another sect like the Amish. Within days I noticed I Am Hutterite appear on Thomas Nelson’s Booksneeze page and immediately grabbed it. I’m so glad I did. I read the whole thing through on my recent vacation to Walt Disney World (and those who know me know that I rarely have time for reading there), and have just passed it on to my mother for her vacation. I highly recommend it.

Links of interest:Thomas Nelson’s Product Page, Book Preview

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of I Am Hutterite by Mary Ann Kirkby from Thomas Nelson’s BookSneeze program for the purpose of reviewing it.

Now, I’m not used to reviewing non-fiction books, and so this might be a little shorter, or scattered than usual (and that’s saying something), but when I was offered the chance to review The Search For God and Guinness by BookSneeze, ThomasNelson’s book review blogger program, I jumped at it. Despite the fact that I don’t like most beers, I’ve always been fascinated by them. In fact, when I get a house of my own, I intend to learn how to brew.

I’m also extremely touchy on the subject of Christianity and booze. Look people, drinking is not a sin. It never has been, it never will be. Getting drunk may be a different matter, but yes, you can be a Christian and drink. All the apostles did, most of the church fathers did, Jesus not only did, but said that he would again when we’re all reunited. Ok, I digress.

I’m not a fan of non-fiction in general, but surprisingly, this book is changing that. I enjoyed The Search For God and Guinness: A Biography of the Beer That Changed the World so much that I’ve purchased 5 or 6 non-fiction titles since receiving it. The author, Stephen Mansfield, is the man that wrote The Faith of Barack Obama which was such a hot seller during the election. He’s written several other biographies, and if they’re as good as this one, I may pick up one or two later on.

Despite the title suggesting that the book is solely about the beer, it’s mostly about the Guinness family and how the beer company funded and their faith fueled their philanthropy. Much focus is put on Arthur Guinness (often referred to as “the first Arthur” throughout the book) and then subsequently the line of Guinnesses that ran the company after him. Mansfield does follow several of the Guinnesses who chose not to follow in their fathers’ footsteps, but these excursions are brief though interesting.

Towards the end is an entire section devoted to the Guinnesses For God- the many missionaries and preachers to come from the Guinness line. I found this section, and the section on Arthur Guinness (the first) to be the most interesting to me, possibly because they were the longest sections to have a single focus. Sadly, there was little discussion of the actual beer, but the author did include enough information that a reader who is totally unfamiliar with the process of brewing beer should be able to follow along without difficulty. These snippets were my favorite part, and I wish there had been more of the actual beer in the book.

In all honesty, I felt that there was not enough focus to be a biography of the Guinnesses, nor enough focus to be a biography of the beer. Not that the author wandered from his intent, but that the intent isn’t as clear to me as a reader as I would have liked. I found the story of the Guinnesses to be very interesting to read, but I chose the book because I thought the focus would be on the beer. Nonetheless, I found myself itching to pick it up, and missing it when I’d finished reading.

Thicker Than Blood by C.J. Darlington is a story about a pair of estranged sisters. Their parents died in a car accident when they were just teens. One went to live with an elderly relative, and then grew up to become a rancher, starting off as a field hand and working (and investing) her way into full partnership. The other ran away from her pain, ended up making some hard decisions, some bad decisions, and more or less mucking up her life.

The twist comes when Christy (the messed up sister) tries to rectify one of those old bad decisions and it puts her life in danger. She ends up escaping into the loving arms of her sister, though the reunion is anything but hugs and kisses.

Thicker Than Blood by CJ Darlington is a book about relationships. Relationships between sisters, between close family friends, between those of us who are totally messed up and God.

Now, it’s a common misperception that is founded in truth  that Christian books are nothing but sermons in thin polyester disguise. This is very true of many older Christian fiction books, and even currently of some particular genres and publishing companies. This is certainly not true of all of them, and most of the Christian fiction I read certainly doesn’t fit that category.  It’s also a hard line for truly talented Christian writers to walk. Many feel that it would be a betrayal of their faith to NOT put in a sermon or two, and others fear that allowing any shred of their personal beliefs to shine through might spoil the story or limit their market. For many others it’s simply a part of the story since it’s a part of them.  I bring this up, because there is a bit of overt Christianity in Thicker Than Blood. I can’t call it preaching, because it’s not. It’s something that’s kind of hard to explain, but in my opinion it was handled very well- not detracting from the story but adding to it. Your opinion may differ.

A common complaint that I heard about Thicker Than Blood by CJ Darlington is that there wasn’t enough romance. And this is true, in my opinion, but since I actually know CJ, I was personally surprised to find as much in it as I did!  Of course, I know who the main character ends up with in the next book, but honestly, I couldn’t help pulling for a certain different character. *sigh*

There are a few sensitive spots for a some people. If you’re vehemently Pro Choice, this book will probably irk you. There is also a physically abusive man in the book (the one that the main character-Christy- is running away from). This might be a little sensitive for some, although if you can handle it, CJ wrote that character really well. I mean really, really well. I’m not sure if it’s a compliment or not, but I actually think the abusive ex-boyfriend (Vince) was the best fleshed out character in the whole book. I’ve told her before that she should be a suspense writer (Thicker Than Blood is simply labeled as “Contemporary”), and his character just proves it. Although, maybe that would be more suited to a thriller. Not sure.  What I do know is that if you struggle with writing genuine, realistic baddies, you’ll want to pick up a copy of this book as a study guide. If you’re anti-Christian, just ignore the parts that irritate you and study his character.

I echo the sentiments of the many other reviews and comments that I’ve seen on my friend’s book- it’s really, really good. Maybe I’m biased, but with so many others saying the same thing, I think it probably doesn’t matter.  I noticed a missed opportunity to add a little more suspense to a section of the novel- a rare first edition Ernest Hemmingway plays a large part in the plot- if a part of the reveal had been left out till later, the suspense would have been raised for the next chapter or two. It’s not a big deal, but it could have made a big difference in the pacing of the book.

Also, I noticed, as did another reviewer, that most of the internal thought scenes were basically digesting the action that had happened in the previous scenes. No new information seemed to come out of those, and as a result, I felt as though the space was being wasted. I didn’t get to know the characters any better than I had through watching them act. I would have enjoyed a little more time spent learning about the secondary characters instead in the same space.

As far as I’m concerned, CJ’s debut novel is really strong, with a great story, no cardboard characters, and some really great insider info on the rare book trade (it’s her day job). Even though it’s not in the genres that I normally read (chick lit and fantasy), I did find it rather hard to put down at night. My mother said the same, and even told me that at one point she had to put it down over night before continuing because she found a Vince scene too intense to read before trying to sleep. She also told me that she’s planning to buy a copy for a friend of hers because she’s afraid that if she lends it, she won’t get it back.  She also found it amusing that Christy’s drug of choice was sherry.  Very amusing. I think she spent about 10 minutes giggling about Christy drinking sherry to me.  Yeah, mom’s cute.

I suspect that the fact that her book has just gone into its third printing (remember, it was only released at the end of December), and the fact that Amazon has actually raised its listed price by almost $1 means that other people quite like it too! Check out some more reviews of Thicker than Blood, then buy a copy, or come back here and leave a comment. If you’d like to win an autographed copy, put in your comment that you’d like to win a copy (Travis can’t enter because he already won a copy when I posted about TTB before- though it hasn’t been sent because I haven’t had a chance to get CJ to autograph it yet- but I should have that on Saturday- sorry it took so long Travis!). To win, you must leave a comment stating that you want it, have a blog or website where you will mention the book (you don’t have to review it, but you do have to at least say “Hey, I won this book over at Vixen’s blog!” though a review would be appreciated. You also have to live in the continental USA cuz I’m cheap, and leave a valid email address (the one you use to leave a comment is fine) so that I can contact you and get your mailing address if you win. Entries end some time around 11:59pm Thursday, March 11, 2010, give or take a few minutes either way. I’ll try to announce the winner that Friday, but I tend to be lazy and sometimes things happen to prevent me from actually doing anything that I should be doing. But, I’ll still notify the winner so I can get their mailing addy.

Aaaaaaand, I think that’s it! I really wish I could write a better review than that, but my writing brain just hasn’t been functioning lately.

Now, I just want to reiterate that I am NOT a fan of non-fic or self-help. A friend of mine who is a fan of both is also reviewing this book, and she absolutely loves it. Possibly the fact that I’m trying to read it during a time that I would normally be reading fluff books instead of while bored at jury duty is influencing my feelings on this book. Unfortunately, the feeling that is most pronounced to me is… boredom.

While I thought the tiny little book The Prayer of Jabez was too long for its content, I feel that You Were Born For This should be the size of The Prayer of Jabez. Seriously. I also have problems with anyone who prescribes or suggests steps or formulas for anything to do with their walk with God. Jesus came to release us from the law, no? Then why is everyone trying to shove us back in there?

Granted, I truly do understand that this book is not intended to be a formula for miracles. I realize that the “keys” are really just totally opening yourself to let God take over your life, as you’re supposed to do. And the miracles he’s talking about are not the making the lame to walk and the blind to see kind of miracles. However, every time he mentions miracles, all I can think of is that people were healed when Paul’s shadow fell on them. Was Paul concentrating really hard on listening to what God told him to do when that happened? Maybe. I mean, we ARE supposed to listen to God. But what it really was, was the Holy Spirit moving through him.

I don’t know, I realize that where I’m coming from, and where Mr. Wilkinson is coming from is not the same place. It IS an uplifting book, and it can certainly help you to decide to let God take over. If you’re the sort of reader who appreciates someone taking the long way round a subject and repeating the same thing over and over but in different ways, you would appreciate this book. But if you’re the sort of person (like me) who tends to say “get on with it already!”, then, I’d give this a miss.

If you’re interested, you can order the book directly through Random House, or click the book photo above to go to Amazon to order.

In book one of the Wingfeather Saga, we find out that the three Igiby children are what is known as The Jewels of Anniera, being the king, the throne warden, and the song maiden. Since the dreaded and evil Fangs of Dang (vicious lizard men who are servants of Gnag the Nameless) have now found out who the Igiby children are, they (the children) along with their mother, grandfather, and an old friend are on the run to the north, where they believe the frigid temperatures will keep them safe from the heat loving Fangs.

Where the first book was mostly set up and back story, book two is all action. North! Or Be Eaten keeps up a proper pace for an adventure-fantasy, and is fraught with hidden dangers, jealousy, anger, remorse, and deadly secrets (which are not the same as hidden dangers).

The pace keeps the story hopping, and the unusual world keeps you guessing at what’s going to come next.  The focus is less on the twisted humor (“a nameless evil, called Gnag the Nameless”), and more on story, and while I missed having so much of my kind of humor wrapped up in the story, I actually enjoyed this book more than the first. I will say, though, that reading book one is absolutely necessary before starting book two. There is very little info dropping, and while it’s possible to enjoy book two without book one, that would be like eating the bologna without the bread. Fine for a snack, but not much of a meal.

I would have enjoyed North! Or Be Eaten more if I’d been able to wait until the series is finished. I don’t like having questions dangling about in my head, which is one of the reasons I rarely choose to pick up any books in a series until the whole series is available. Right now, I want to know why Gnag the Nameless chooses to use children for all of his labor. For experimenting, that makes sense- children are easier to mold and control. But for labor? That just doesn’t make sense, yet I can tell that it will. And that drives me up a wall.

I personally think this is a great YA fantasy. I’d place Andrew Peterson’s Wingfeather Saga somewhere between Donita K Paul’s Dragon Keeper Chronicles and Jeffrey Overstreet’s The Auralia Thread series. If you like either one, you’ll surely enjoy this. Just be prepared for some gross-out humor. You can tell this was written with young boys in mind.

To purchase this book, you can visit Random House and search, or go straight to the North! Or Be Eaten’s page. Available August 18, 2009.

In Andrew Peterson’s On The Edge of The Dark Sea of Darkness, Janner, Tink, and Leeli Igiby live under the oppression of the horrible Fangs of Dang- lizard-like creatures who delight in torturing humans, and in eating maggotloaf and other such culinary treats. These bad boys work for Gnag the Nameless, who (whom?) the book refers to as a nameless evil… Yeah, you can see why I liked it from the start.

Unfortunately, the Igiby children manage to draw an undue amount of attention to themselves, and in order to avoid death or enslavement, they, along with their one legged ex-pirate grandfather, and sensible mother, have to escape.

The book is interesting from the start, but mainly because of the humor, which is a cross between middle school boy humor (aka: booger jokes), and Terry Pratchett. It’s an odd mix, but I love it. The majority of the book is almost like back story, however, and doesn’t really pick up the pace until the final third of the book. It’s well worth the read, but is absolutely essential if you plan to read the much more active book 2. At the very least, the secondary characters and the humorous footnotes should keep you entertained until you reach the exciting bits.

This is a middle grade fantasy, so if you’re expecting Robert Jordan, give this a miss. If you like both Narnia and Terry Pratchett, this may be worth your while.