Blogcritics Category: Books: Spirituality

Book Review: Summer Secret (Sonshine Girls #1) by René Morris

Jennifer Bogart — Thu, 8 Jan 2009 06:34:52 EST

Girls, friendship, makeup and boys - 'tween-lit meets Jesus, providing strong moral guidance through the rocky years of adolescence.
When 13-year-old Kristin moves from Georgia to Texas she is thankful to quickly find a new group of friends. Charli, Jessica and Anna eagerly open the doors of their life-long friendship to include her as a fourth member. Life in Rimsfield sparkles with new promise as the girls plan for the summer youth group church camp and the upcoming school...

Book Review: Ways Of Escape by Graham Greene

Philip Spires — Mon, 5 Jan 2009 23:42:05 EST

Graham Greene�s development as a writer is described in this, his autobiography. While he denies his genius, Greene constantly if disarmingly reaffirms it.
Ways Of Escape is one of the most rewarding and, surprisingly, surprising reads one might encounter. On the face of it, the book is Graham Greene’s artistic, literary autobiography. A second half and companion volume for A Sort Of Life, Ways Of Escape deals chronologically with Graham Greene’s works, his inspiration and his development...

Book Review: Before the Season Ends by Linore Rose Burkard

Jennifer Bogart — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 16:48:30 EST

Not one to read romance, this novel waylaid me until the wee hours, proving itself to be the most addictive novel I have ever read.
Though Jane Austen was raised in a devoutly Christian home, her novels dealt with matters of the faith on a peripheral level. Certain characters were engaged in the ministry as a career, and church attendance, belief in God, and a high moral standard were givens. Christian culture was the assumed setting; personal struggles, growth and dependence...

Book Review: Finding Beauty In A Broken World by Terry Tempest Williams

Tulis McCall — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 22:23:16 EST

Finding Beauty in a Broken World is a dense work that requires you to set down your popcorn and pay attention.
I thought this would be a sort of easy-going philosophical book I could glide through and glean from. It is not. Finding Beauty in a Broken World is a dense work that requires you to set down your popcorn and pay attention.Terry Tempest Williams is a scholar and a scientist who relies on empirical evidence to reach a spiritual conclusion. After the...

Book Review: Glaucia the Greek Slave - A Tale of Athens in the First Century by Emma Leslie

Jennifer Bogart — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 13:13:47 EST

Darkness, confusion and loneliness give way to light and love as two forsaken adolescents find their way into God's welcoming arms in Ancient Greece.
Following the death of their Epicurean father -- a man following a hedonistic Greek philosophy that drove him into heavy debt -- young siblings Glaucia and Laon are removed from Greece and taken to Rome. The proceeds from their sale will be applied to a portion of their father's debt. Young Glaucia is sold into the service of the Gracchi family...

Book Review: Stepping Into Sunlight by Sharon Hinck

Violet Nesdoly — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 14:39:39 EST

When even a trip to buy gas brings on a panic attack, it�s Penny�s Project to the rescue.
Penny Sullivan has always been a capable, good natured, roll-with-the-punches kind of mom who had enough energy to hold down the fort at home, volunteer in Bryan's classroom and pitch in with the church youth group. But the August afternoon she goes to the corner store for a Coke and sees an innocent couple get shot changes all that. Soon she can't...

Book Review: Bible Illuminated - The Book New Testament

Jill Hart — Tue, 9 Dec 2008 05:24:34 EST

Displayed in a magazine-like format, the colors and imagery are striking and will keep the reader wanting to turn the pages.
Conceived by Swedish publishers Illuminated World as a way to get old-world texts into the hands of today's readers, Bible Illuminated: The Book New Testament does just that. From start to finish, Bible Illuminated delivers the words of the New Testament in paragraph format (no verses) interspersed with eye-catching images and photo...

Book Review: Why the Long Face - a Collection of Stories by Ron MacLean

Mary K. Williams — Mon, 8 Dec 2008 19:00:42 EST

The common thread in each story is the reality of human action and emotion.
This weekend I attended my third craft fair of the season. I do love these events, although what I love is not necessarily the same faux bayberry and pine wreathes that I might have bought seven years ago, or even the oh-so-adorable lampshade cover that I bought last year. Don’t get me wrong, those items – along with the doll clothes,...

Book Review: Until We Reach Home by Lynn Austin

Violet Nesdoly — Tue, 2 Dec 2008 05:40:40 EST

Travel with three beautiful Swedish sisters to a time and place 100 years ago.
The only way 19-year-old Elin Carlson can make sure her sisters are safe from Uncle Sven is to keep them in sight every moment or move away from their Swedish farm. When Uncle Lars sends tickets, she knows moving to America is the solution. But how will she convince shy 16-year-old Sofia and willful 18-year-old Kirsten that leaving home is best...

Graphic Novel Review: The First Escape (The Dopple Ganger Chronicles, Book 1) by G.P. Taylor

Jennifer Bogart — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 19:20:32 EST

Trench coats, voluminous trousers, black boots and the dim, nearly monochromatic palette contribute to a an impeccable fusion of design, art, and "illustra-novel."
Saskia and Sadie Dopple are a pair of trouble-making, rebellious 14-year-old identical twins, abandoned teenagers in the care of Isambard Dunstan’s School for Wayward Children. When Saskia is adopted by the wealthy and eccentric Muzz Elliot, Sadie finds herself on the run from the law as she searches for her sister, accompanied by Erik...