Christian Book Reviews hosteb by Bring It On! communications

April 9, 2013—Hello bloggers, reviewers, and book lovers!

We know-this site is looking a little rusty. We had to set aside our book reviews for several months in 2012, but we are back and hoping that you will join us!

In the weeks to come, many new reviews will be rolling in and when they do, we will be posting them to our new site which is nearly ready to launch. You can visit us at www.TellUsTheTruthReviews.com

So....out with the old.....in with the new! Thank you for being a fan of books! We love what you have to say!

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

"...Just because you go to church doesn't mean you are a 'good Christian'."

Love's Tangled Web, a Novel by Keren Franklin

My 1st official book review By - Amy

 
 "...Just because you go to church doesn't mean you are a 'good Christian'."
 
If any of you are olden readers, you would know that I attempted to review a book last summer (I won't speak the name, you have to look it up if you care that much). But it was so horrible that I never ended up actually posting a review on my blog, but instead just submitted a review to the publisher as I had agreed. I was too embarassed because I had NO idea what to write and it just wasn' for me at all. The book was chosen for me....

So this time around, about 6 weeks ago, when the publisher contacted me again (I was positive I'd never hear back) I wasn't so sure, BUT it was one of my goals this summer to read a few books, since I rarely find the time during the year. Also, this time I got to choose the books to review and after reading their summaries, I found two I thought would fit my style. Nevertheless, here goes.....

BTW, I read this book in a little more than week, which if you know me, speaks volumes to the readability. I am a very slow reader.
 
Love's Tangled Web, written by Keren Franklin, immediately caught my attention because it was written so simply and easy to read. Now don't get me wrong, I know some people like to read and think critically, but for me, I think reading should just be super easy and require little thought process. It's what I like to do to relax. In any case, the book was a little under 200 pages and in my opinion was the perfect size.

This book follows the story of a 30 something cookie cutter all-American family super involved in their church and super involved in the perception everyone has of their family. Bridgette, the main character, has a not-so-perfect sister who attempts to rock her world by sleeping with her husband. Bridgette's husband complies, as he realizes his marriage is not as perfect as everyone thinks. About 90% of the book follows this plotline and the drama that ensues afterwards. It is then that the book takes a very God-centered standpoint and suddenly Bridgette has a conversation with a fellow parishoner that seems to change her life forever. The ending is not the happiest you could come up with, but I definitely think, the most realistic.

As I said, I really enjoyed reading this book because it was easy to get through and not too 'preachy'. I did find the ending of the book, while comforting and a true ephiphany, quite abrupt and a little too 'all-of-a-sudden'. I feel that if that was the understanding the main character was going to come to it should've taken more than a few pages and should have been more gradual. While I understand that things like that happen, I think more often than not they would happen at a slower pace.

This book, as most things I read like this, do make me wish that at times I had greater faith and realize that people in such situations really can find forgiveness through God. However, at the same time, it allows me to remember that some churches aren't as they seem and that the outward appearance is not always accurate. I do commend Franklin, the author, for portraying this, as I think sometimes it's hard for people to see that just because you go to church doesn't mean you are a 'good Christian'. You know, just because you stand in a garage, doesn't make you a car, kinda thing.

Although I don't really judge a book by it's cover....ha ha, the summary on the back was enticing enough that I chose the book to review. It gives you enough information, but not too much to ruin the plot line. I would be interested in reading more of Franklin's book to see what else she could write about. They are easy readers and I think she has a promising future. I would recommend this book to someone who is looking for a quick, light-hearted, but Christian read!

To purchase this book for as little as $12.50 ($9.99 for a Kindle/Nook version), you can visit Amazon, Barnes and Noble or Deep River Books.
ISBN-10: 1937756076

"...It took me to another place where I could learn and grow with the characters..."

Love's Tangled Web, a Novel by Keren Franklin
Review By Cara
 
"...It took me to another place where I could learn and grow with the characters..."
 


"A picture-perfect marriage. A little harmless flirting. Two sisters, with lifelong resentments. The ultimate betrayal. Bridgette’s life, on the sun-drenched west coast of Australia, appears perfect – married to a successful lawyer, Joel, with two beautiful daughters and a leadership position in church. She even has herself fooled into thinking she’s got it all together. But there’s a perfect storm brewing, a wave of events that will sweep away Bridgette’s superficial world forever. Joel is harboring frustrations which his self-centered wife won’t acknowledge, and Bridgette’s sister is nursing an old grudge against her. When dangerous passions erupt between the two, Bridgette is blind-sided and humiliated. As destruction falls on everyone she loves, Bridgette must finally get real with herself… and with God. In the aftermath, an attractive younger man offers her his heart, but can Bridgette build a new life and a stronger love amid the rubble? Or is it possible to forgive the unforgivable? Keren Franklin spins a gripping, cautionary tale about the tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive… ourselves."

This book sounded so intriguing to me, because I love to learn from other people how difficult situations and life, in general, affect and change them. I especially love to see how they grow and become stronger or smarter because of challenges and trials.

I started this book out hoping it would take me to another place, one where I could learn and grow with the characters, and it did not disappoint me! Once I started reading, the author kept me so captivated, I could hardly put it down. Since it wasn't a super long book, I had it read in a few short days. I was actually sad when it was coming to an end, because I didn't want to leave these characters!

Keren Franklin did a great job at developing the characters, helping me feel what the characters were experiencing, while also letting me imagine myself in their situation, wondering how I would respond.

I learned some valuable lessons from Love's Tangled Web, even though it was a "for pleasure" book. I was reminded again how much work marriage takes and what can happen when both partners put their marriage on the back burner. I was also reminded about what a difference a strong, real faith in our Savior can make, especially when you know His perfect love and follow his example of love and forgiveness in your own life.

I highly recommend this book to everyone! It was entertaining, impactful and a great little escape for me at the end of a long day. Get your copy from Amazon or other online retailers today.

Posted By Cara Nitz

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

"...all her life she’s been living the “motions” of a Christian but not truly relying on Him "


Love’s Tangled Web,  a Novel by Keren Franklin
Review by Erica K





"...all her life she’s been living the “motions” of a Christian but not truly relying on Him. "

Bridgette was living the life we all dream of. She’s a leader of her Bible study, her husband is an elder at their church, he has also been promoted as a partner to the law firm, they have two beautiful kids and all the fancy things we’d love to have. She never imagined her husband would cheat on her. But when he does her whole world is turned upside down. She blames God, her family and her husband. She becomes bitter and angry. It’s affecting her life and her children’s life. She soon discovers she needs to be turning to God. That all her life she’s been living the “motions” of a Christian but not truly relying on Him or being pleasing to Him. Once she starts to read her Bible and changes her focus from herself to God she starts to see things change in her life.
I really loved this book. I read it in one day, I just couldn’t put it down. I saw a lot of myself in Bridgette and with all the Scripture and prayers written in this book I felt like I was doing a mini Bible study for myself. I see many things that need to change in my life and more I need to be doing to be a better child of God. I’ve turned my back on Him like Bridgette did. I feel like He has abandoned me, like she did too. I know I have a lot of work to do in the next coming days-months-years to help improve my life and attitude towards everything. I’m glad to have read this book. Without it I think I would personally be lost/bitter. Plus the story is really well written to keep you wanting to read and not put it down. One thing I really loved was that the book didn’t end with “and they all lived happily ever after.” It ended with things looking better but not perfect, it reflects the reality of life which made the book more enjoyable.

Synopsis-
“A picture-perfect marriage. A little harmless flirting. Two sisters, with lifelong resentments. The ultimate betrayal. In the aftermath, a younger man offers his heart, but can Bridgette build a new life and a stronger love

"where the life-long, soul-deep cravings of every man and woman can at last be satisfied"

Paradise Calling by Ilze Henderson,  Fiction Review By Erica


"...Where the life-long, soul-deep cravings of every man and woman can at last be satisfied."


Donovan is woken up in the middle of the night by Professor Harvey. It’s highly unusual for him to be calling that late at night and soon Donovan’s life is changed forever by responding to this call. He is sent on an adventure with Professor Harvey’s daughter, Jennifer. They need to find a secret world her father discovered and find the missing link. Little did they know that other people are looking for this world too and will do anything, even kill, to get it.
I was really into this book. It’s got a lot of adventure, a bit of romance and at the end presents the Gospel and what God has done for us with Jesus. Although the story may be a bit of fanciful, it still gets the point across that God's spirit is in us all, in our blood. It was fun to close my eyes and try to image what this world that Donovan and Jennifer experienced. When Donovan and Jennifer were challenged with where their heart was with God it really challenged me to think more about where my life is with God.
If you like adventure, and or Christian romance books I think you will love this one. It’s a fast paced read that really sucks you in.

Synopsis-
“A secret project is uncovered revealing a hidden portal to a breathtaking realm where the life-long, soul-deep cravings of every man and woman can at last be satisfied. Paradise Calling takes readers on an Avatar-like

Thursday, August 2, 2012

"Questioning evolution’s complete silence on how life arose from non-life..."

 The Dawkins Deficiency by Wayne Talbot   Review By:  Scott Diekmann


               "Questioning evolution’s complete silence on how life arose from non-life..."


Wayne Talbot’s recently published book The Dawkins Deficiency: Why Evolution Is Not the Greatest Show on Earth (Deep River Books, 2011) is definitely worth reading if you’re a laymen -- and who isn’t when you’re talking about evolution and related fields? Mr. Talbot’s modest goal is to critically examine new atheist Richard Dawkins’ book The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution (Free Press, 2009) and “comment on the validity of his assertions as evidence and what, if anything, such evidence proves” (xvi).

Judging from the title, you might expect this book to be a Bible thumping zealot’s response to a misguided attempt to question the authority of the Bible, and you’d be completely off base. Talbot does an excellent job of presenting well reasoned, impersonal arguments that will appeal to a general audience. As he states on page 37,
My goal is not to disprove evolution theory, my goal is to evaluate the truth of the claim that the evidence for it is incontrovertible, that evolution theory has been scientifically proven, and that the book under review provides that evidence.
And again on page xix:
In this book, I do not advance an alternate explanation of origins. Dawkins opens the door to discussion on both Creationism and Intelligent Design, and I do seek to correct his assertions and arguments where I believe he has it wrong, but I am not herein advocating any particular theory of origins despite my personal views. The issue is the validity of the theory of evolution; the alternatives can be argued elsewhere.
He lets you know right up front where he’s headed:
While I am not attempting to disprove evolution theory, I am claiming that there are numerous problems with the general theory—that much of the science is predicated upon unproven assumptions which have led to numerous errors; that there is a substantial body of scientific evidence that throws doubt on the theory; and that there is more unexplained than explained. The major proof points for the theory, namely, abiogenesis (chemical evolution), and that genetic mutation and natural selection have the development power claimed for them, have not been scientifically demonstrated, and there is inadequate substantive evidence for their assumed capability (xix).
Talbot has a background in Information Technology, which allows him to look at things from a slightly different perspective than other authors in areas such as irreducible complexity. He demonstrates a thorough understanding of evolution’s complexities, yet does a good job of explaining things without losing the average reader in the process. By comparison, this book is an easier read than Michael Behe’s book Darwin’s Black Box, but no less helpful. The author systematically goes through Dawkins’ book, covering the majority of the chapters. While there are a few spots where having Dawkins’ book in hand would be helpful, there’s no need to have a previous familiarity.

If you’re familiar with logic, you will appreciate Talbot’s analysis of things, and if not, this is a good learning opportunity to hone your reasoning skills. He demonstrates over and over Dawkins’ logical fallacies, including category errors, appealing to the law of the excluded middle, unwarranted generalization, circular arguments, affirming the consequent, and appeal to consequence. Don’t worry, all of these errors in logic are laid out in an easily understandable fashion.

In the book, Talbot points out numerous areas where Dawkins’ position on various facts have been proven by the scientific community to be in error. Some of these include his claim that embryological development proceeds by the application of local rules without reference to a master plan, that single-point mutations are heritable, that ontogeny repeats phylogeny, and that the untranslated regions of the genome serve no purpose. The author’s reasoned conclusion to Dawkins’ missteps:
This leads me to conclude that the author is simply holding onto disproved assumptions because they conveniently fit the observed phenomenon when interpreted within the paradigm of evolution. Far from being evidence of evolution, it presents as evidence of desperation (138).
He deconstructs so many of Dawkins’ arguments in fact, that this book can serve as a useful reference to debunk many of the now fashionable pro-evolution arguments. And since many of the arguments you see in the media are by laymen who have been schooled by Dawkins and others like him, this is a helpful addition to your bookshelf. It also illustrates the one weakness of the book, there’s no index, which makes it difficult to reference valuable points that you know are in there somewhere.

Other major topics that Talbot reviews include Dawkins’ refusal to address evolution’s complete silence on how life arose from non-life, and evolution’s inability to explain how the immaterial information and coding system of the genome could have arisen by chance. He keenly points out that
In evaluating the evidence presented in Richard Dawkins’ book, we need to separate substance from style. The author claims that evolution is a scientific theory; thus, we must determine the validity of the theory based on the scientific evidence alone. Railing against Theists, Creationists, and Intelligent Design proponents is simply theatre; it is not evidence of anything other than the author’s trenchant atheistic polemic, and should, perhaps, even score against him in terms of his willingness to engage with alternate ideas and scientific evidence (253).
Another strength in the book is Talbot’s weaving in quotes by evolution supporters questioning their own theory, such as this one by Richard Lewontin:
“We take the side of science in spite of the patent absurdity of some of its constructs, in spite of its failure to fulfil many of its extravagant promises of health and life, in spite of the tolerance of the scientific community for unsubstantiated just-so stories, because we have a prior commitment, a commitment to materialism. It is not that the methods and institutions of science somehow compel us to accept a material explanation of the phenomenal world, but, on the contrary, that we are forced by our a priori adherence to material causes to create an apparatus of investigation and a set of concepts that produce material explanations, no matter how counter-intuitive, no matter how mystifying to the uninitiated. Moreover, that materialism is an absolute, for we cannot allow a Divine Foot in the door (8).”
The author concludes on page 265:
The theory may be true; at some point in the future research may uncover evidence that does prove to be substantive, in which case we can then deal with it, but as of now, based on the evidence presented, the case is not proven, and evolution ought to be described as a hypothesis only. It most certainly does not deserve the eminence of the appellation: scientific theory. …There is substantive scientific evidence that directly refutes Dawkins’ inferences, and as scientific proof, this must hold sway.
Dawkins, in his book, comments that “Evolution is a fact, and this book will demonstrate it. No reputable scientist disputes it, and no unbiased reader will close the book doubting it” (9). It seems unlikely that any reputable reader, after reading The Dawkins Deficiency, will close it without thinking that Richard Dawkins has failed to demonstrate that evolution is a fact. Wayne Talbot’s book is definitely worth a read.


The Dawkins Deficiency is available from major book distributors for $15.99, and less than that online. The Kindle version is available for $9.99. 

"A story of heartache, spiritual awakening, growth, and forgiveness"

Love's Tangled Web, a Novel by Keren Franklin
Review By Katie at  
                           "A story of heartache, spiritual awakening, growth, and forgiveness"

 

Quick Overview:

A picture-perfect marriage.
A little harmless flirting.
Two sisters, with lifelong resentments.
The ultimate betrayal. Bridgette’s life, on the sun-drenched west coast of Australia, appears perfect – married to a successful lawyer, Joel, with two beautiful daughters and a leadership position in church. She even has herself fooled into thinking she’s got it all together. But a perfect storm is brewing that will sweep away Bridgette’s superficial world forever. Joel harbors frustrations his self-centered wife won’t acknowledge, and Bridgette’s sister is nursing an old grudge. When dangerous passions erupt, Bridgette is blind-sided and humiliated. As destruction falls on everyone she loves, Bridgette must finally get real with herself… and with God.
In the aftermath, a younger man offers his heart, but can Bridgette build a new life and a stronger love amid the rubble? Or can she ever forgive the unforgivable?
My Thoughts:
I love stories that could be real. They just touch your heart more.
Stories that could really happen just draw you in and become a part of you. You learn from them, you grow in them, and then you apply what you read to your own life. Love’s Tangled Web is a story of heartache, spiritual awakening, growth, and forgiveness that could happen to anyone. All things anyone can use in their lives.
On top of all that, I couldn’t put it down, I had to know how it ended! I cried with Bridgette, grew angry with her and cheered when she allowed forgiveness to help her heal.
It is definitely a book I recommend to anyone looking for a good clean read. Just have some tissues handy!
Deep River Books: Whether you are looking for inspiration, Christian living, tips on parenting or a good fiction book-it is all right here.
I received this book free from Deep River Books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are mine and mine alone and are in no way influenced by receipt of this book.