Keepers of the Covenant

How do I begin? The story itself is a bookfull! Let me start by saying this is the book of Ezra personified for the contemporary reader.  Lynn Austin has written Book 2 of the Restoration Chronicles with an eye to the human story behind the story.  God's story, as recorded in the two books I mentioned has so many lessons for us about His covenant relationship, his mercy, obedience to God's law, but it also documents the history of the return of all the of Jews from exile and captivity in Babylon.  Keepers of the Covenant relates the return of that remnant that did not go back the first time.  It is filled with God's people trying to do the right thing.  The author writes believable characters that speak to the reader in their human flaws and foibles.  It reads easily and moves smoothly from chapter to chapter.  I had a difficult time reading the story of Reuben, a Jewish boy who's father is killed in the battle on the 13th of Adar.  The story begins with Haman convincing King Xerxes to have all Jews annihilated.  A second decree allows the Jews to defend themselves.  None the less, Reuben's father is killed in that battle.  The ensuing anger on Reuben's part was hard to read but very convincing.  He turns to a life of thievery and drinking.  Ms. Austin writes this book as it may have been (probably was) lived.  She does a good job of writing so we can relate to it.  My only criticism would be that the author sometimes writes the dialogue and situations in a modern frame of mind and language making it a little confusing.
It stands out as an example of God's mercy and grace.She draws a clear picture of how we can sometimes drift into the way of the world without noticing it, just as some of the Jews did after living in Babylon for several generations.  Living in the world as a Christian is a hard thing to do and not be drawn in.  The main character, Ezra, says the following to his wife about that when talking about the earlier battle; "...believe there was a genuine spiritual renewal going on.  It was easy to rise up in faith and heroism when we faced a clear-cut enemy.  It's much harder to resist the enemy of gradualism and assimilation, much harder to maintain a passion for God when we're bogged down in the daily routine of life."  Amen!  Ain't it the truth?!  This reminded me that faithful people since the beginning of time have faced the same struggles we face today.  While not a blockbusting, all consuming read, I enjoyed this enough to think I would like to go back and read Book 1 of the Restoration Chronicles.  I give Keepers of the Covenant four stars.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Bethany House, the publisher, in exchange for my honest review.  These words are my opinion.

Unbroken

Unbroken is the true story of Louis Zamperini's survival at sea after he was shot down in World War II in the Pacific.  You may be familiar with the author's other story, Seabiscuit, written about a horse that came from an unremarkable background to win the Kentucky Derby and become a national legend.  Laura Hillenbrand is the name of the lady who wrote both of these stories.  I did not read Seabiscuit.  I saw the movie and was moved to tears.  Absolutely excellent.  Unbroken, not so much.  It is a horrific story of a WWII catastrophe, and true for sure.  The book includes pictures. (who had a camera for this?) And yes, my heart goes out to our survivors and grieves for our lost.  I live in a family with military history, all four branches of the service including my husband, son, brothers, and others. This account is not lost on me.  I get it.  It is a story extravagant in its scope and pretty well written.  It covers Zamparini's life from childhood to his 81st birthday when he is one of the carriers of the Olympic Torch, in Japan no less in 1998.  This book was published in 2010.  I read it about two years ago.  A friend had recommended it right after it came out.  I did not get around to reading it until my son gave me a Barnes and Noble gift card for Christmas in 2012.  I remember, and you may as well, when this came out it had mediocre reviews from some who thought that the minute detail was too detailed for someone his age to remember so many years later and be able to recall especially with the emotional and mental trauma that had occurred. Thus, it was said the story was too good to be true.  And it goes on a long time.  I think it is true but I think she should have stuck to the WWII disaster that was his life during that time.  That was the story.  This is a biography.  The bibliography alone takes up 65 pages. She did her research.  And she interviewed Louis about 75 times.  She spent seven years writing this book.  This was obviously a labor of love for Ms. Hillenbrand.  I give the narrative and the writing five stars.  I give the finished product  3.5 stars.  It is worth the time it will take to read it, but you may find yourself wondering is this embellished for the sake of story telling?  Or, does he just have a fantastic memory and she is a fantastic writer with the raw material before her?  I really don't know.
This quote is at the front of the book  "What stays with you latest and deepest?  of curious panics, Of  hard-fought engagements or sieges tremendous what deepest remains?"    ---  Walt Whitman, "The Wound-Dresser"

Thanks for being here.  See you soon!
Jeri~

Agents of the Apocalypse

Rarely do I read anything unfolding the book of Revelation that helps me understand what it is all about.  This book however, does just that. It is subtitled A Riveting Look at the Key Players of the End Times which describes it well.  Dr. David Jeremiah has laid out the major themes in Revelation that we all know of but may not understand well.  This book is arranged so that each chapter begins with a story for the prophecy that makes the subject matter more real.  The author then follows that story with a section he calls “The Scripture Behind the Story” in which he brings to light the real-world application of each end-times prophecy.  All of the key players are here, from The Exile to The Two Witnesses to The Dragon, The Victor , The Judge, and more.  This is a chilling call to awareness and accountability.  The thought comes to mind that this is Revelation for Dummies-and I say that with all due respect.  This book gives the reader no reason to think that they cannot understand what is happening in the Revelation as given to John the Apostle on the Isle of Patmos;  which also calls us to let no excuse keep us from fulfilling the Great Commission, as we are commanded to do.  Agents of the Apocalypse is a call to be ready for the end times.  I give this book five stars!

Visit Dr. Jeremiah at his website David Jeremiah.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher, Tyndale in exchange for my honest review.  These words are my opinion.

Escape Under the Kenyan Moon

Carol Myrick has truly been tested and refined.  God has a way of doing that when you seek Him out for total dependence on His strength.  She was a typical mid-western young woman at a large University during the time the story she relates to us took place.  She tells of meeting a man she fell in love with, and continued to love for many years, even through the nightmare of domestic abuse.  This is her life simply and beautifully written much as she would tell you if you were sitting down to have coffee with her.  The beginning of what would eventually be her Escape Under a Kenyan Moon was really in 1976, when she met her future husband.  Carol writes with a clarity and completeness that can only come from personal experience.  She met and fell in love with Otieno Habembe while they were students at O.S.U.  Otieno came from Sigulu Island, a small primitive island in Lake Victoria in East Africa.  He was given a UN scholarship to come to America to study and obtain a degree, which he did in Food Science and Nutrition.  She married him causing a rift between her and her family.  They moved to Africa and he accepted a job at Kenya Canners, a company owned by DelMonte.  All was well for a time and then his growing dissatisfaction eventually evolved into physical abuse of Carol.  She continued to love him and hope that he would not release his temper on her.  She realized, through the candid and loving declarations from close friends, that she must leave or she would lose her life.  She began to pray and God began to work.  Through a series of truly miraculous events, her friends, an American couple who were missionaries, helped her obtain all necessary paperwork to leave the country in an unbeliveable 48 hours, and this was no easy task!  Only with God's divine intervention was she able to take her children and board a plane to come back home.  Her flight from Africa came in March of 1982.  This is a heart-wrenching account of heartbreak and hope, of despair and miracles.  Escape Under the Kenyan Moon is easy to read and written with everything necessary to complete the story for the reader, making it a truly good book.  I wholly recommend you pick this up and read it.  I give Escape Under the Kenyan Moon five stars!
Visit Carol at her website Carol Myrick

Kill Alex Cross

James Patterson is a New York Times bestselling author.  I can see why.  This was my first experience with one of his novels.  Kill Alex Cross has the things that make a good political thriller.  It opens up with kidnapping, then leads into a terror plot.  Along the way we get to see the family drama of the main character, Alex Cross.  There are two separate story lines that are not interrelated but that does not hurt the plot line as a whole.  This book was easy to read but deep enough to be interesting.  Just what I like in a good read.  The copy I read was a loaner from a friend who reads pretty much all of James Patterson.  I will be reading more of his work.  I enjoyed seeing how the character of Alex was all cop but his human foibles were evident too.  That made him a likable person.  The drama is set in Washington D.C. which is a prime location for a political  thriller and just added to the excitement.  I enjoyed this book and I give Kill Alex Cross five stars!  If you have not read it, you should.  I highly recommend!

Keys to Successful Living by Derek Prince

If I could re-name this book I would call it, Getting Back to Basics.  Derek Prince has shown us how to study the Word deeply, and yet simply.  In this age of getting more and better, he takes us to the Scripture in a way that encourages the reader to simply take it the way it is written. The keys he speaks of are taken from the book of Hebrews.  For example, Key number 3, "Let Us Hold Fast Our Confession",  is taken from Hebrews 4:14 which says, "Since then we have a great High Priest which has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.  Stand by your confession and do not be distracted by the many choices in the world.  Or, Key number 1, "Let Us Fear,"  from Hebrews 4:1, Therefore, let us fear lest, while a promise remains, any one of you should seem to have come short of it.  The author relates it this way, "This is the attitude of reverent respect for God and His requirements.  Let me be clear: This is not slavish fear-God has not given us a spirit of slavish fear.  Instead, this is an attitude of reverence and respect for God, the opposite of self-confidence and presumptuousness..."
This is a well written book, with good information.  It is simple and timely in this age of choices and distractions we find ourselves in;  even within the church.  We have "boatloads" of books that interpret the Word for us, tell us what it means, tell us how to live it out every day, tell us how to apply it, tell us how to get motivated and "on fire for the Lord,"  tell us what the writer meant when he said such and such a verse, help us with context, describe the culture in the world when a certain book of the Bible was written, who it was written for.  Honestly, need I go on?  Everything we need is already there.  It is not rocket science, our Heavenly Father made sure of that.  God has preserved his Word through the generations so that even today, we may read it and understand.  We sometimes over-analyze in our zeal to obtain the most accurate meaning from a verse, from God's Word as a whole.  I recommend you get this book, clear your mind and just read it.  It is a much needed and refreshing read.  I give Keys To Successful Living five stars!

I was given a copy of this book from the publisher, Chosen, free of charge, in return for my honest review.  These words are my opinion.

The Story Keeper by Lisa Wingate

Jen Gibbs is a successful editor at Vida House publishing in New York.  She has just taken this job and is looking forward to continued success.  A manuscript mysteriously appears on her desk that she tries not to read, but cannot keep herself from looking at it.  It is twenty years old and she is certain that it comes from the “slush mountain”, a huge pile of unsolicited manuscripts that are destined never to be published.  As she begins to read, she becomes aware that it is from the Appalachian Mountains that she was raised in and called home until she went to college.  As she is drawn into the story, only eight chapters are in the manila envelope with no author’s name, she feels compelled to find the author and read the rest of the book and possibly get it published.  She makes a convincing plea to her boss, the intrepid George Vida.  Off she goes to the mountains, perilously close to her hometown where her family still lives.  She is in pursuit of just a few minutes of time with the man whom she believes to be the author of the novel.  The ensuing happenings that take place during her stay are the meat of the story.  The Story Keeper is filled with the connection between her past and the history of the characters in the manuscript.  Jen is pulled into the story of Sarra, a mixed-race Melungeon girl and Rand Champlain, the preacher who takes her safety to heart, which is also the heart of the story.  It was difficult for me to get into this book at the start.  It is an interweaving of the old manuscript and Jen’s modern day story.  The Blue Ridge dialect was difficult for me to read and understand.  I felt myself losing interest since I was not getting the full meaning from the parts with the dialect in them.  The hook came for me several chapters in when the story became personal for Jen.  As I read on, the dialect became easier and the writing more compelling so that, by the end of the book I was thoroughly involved and ended the story with a lump in my throat.  An excellent story, well told was my reward for staying with it.  Lisa Wingate has also given us a profound glimpse into the lives of the Appalachian people.  I give The Story Keeper four stars!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher Tyndale, in exchange for my honest review.  These words are my opinion.