Book Review: The Alchemist

No matter what he does, every person on earth plays a central role in the history of the world. And normally he doesn’t know it. The Alchemist, pg 163 warning: spoilers ahead. also a lot of honesty/negativity because this book was essentially garbage. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho was the first book I began and […]

Book Review: The Great Divorce

If we insist on keeping Hell (or even earth) we shall not see Heaven: if we accept Heaven we shall not be able to retain even the smallest and most intimate souvenirs of Hell. preface, The Great Divorce The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis was one of the most interesting books I read this year […]

Book Review: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

I don’t know if you know this or not, but I am a fan of dystopian novels and movies. And my favorite so far is The Hunger Games. I picked it up nearly eight years ago at a recommendation from my librarian. When I checked it out, she said, “You know, the movie adaptation is […]

Book Review: Women of the Word

The heart cannot love what the mind does not know. Yes, it is sinful to acquire knowledge for knowledge’s sake, but acquiring knowledge about One we love, for the sake of loving him more deeply, will always be for our transformation. We must love God with our minds, allowing our intellect to inform our emotions, […]

Book Review: The Chronicles of Narnia

They looked into a room that was quite empty except for one big wardrobe; the sort that has a looking-glass in the door. There was nothing else in the room at all except a dead blue-bottle on the window-sill. “Nothing here!” said Peter, and they all trooped out again – all except Lucy. the lion, […]

Book Review: The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry

Ultimately, nothing in this life, apart from God, can satisfy our desires. Tragically, we continue to chase after our desires ad infinitum. The result? A chronic state of restlessness or, worse, angst, anger, anxiety, disillusionment, depression – all of which lead to a life of hurry, a life of busyness, overload, shopping, materialism, careerism, a […]

Book Review: Letters to the Church

I can’t help but see our own lameness in failing to see the beauty in God’s design for the Church. Heavenly beings are shocked by God’s Church, while many on earth yawn. The early church didn’t need the energetic music, great videos, attractive leaders, or elaborate lighting to be excited about being a part of […]

Book Review: Tolkien’s Ordinary Virtues

If simplicity is a virtue, then living simple lives and cherishing simple pleasures are all that is required for our lives to have value. We need not feel guilty when we suspect we should be doing more for God’s kingdom, for when he needs us he will call us, and until then we can be […]

Book Review: Why Her?

When a woman struggles to understand the goodness of God in her life, she will always look at the success of another woman as a threat to her success. Listen, just like Rachel and Leah, God’s goodness is surrounding you. Even if it feels like everyone else is winning and you’re losing, the goodness of […]

Book Review: Tolkien: A Biography

After a while, Tolkien is satisfied he has judged the exam paper fairly and places it on the right-hand pile before plucking another from the pile to his left. For a further few minutes he reads the opening pages of this new paper and then, turning the page, he is surprised to see before him […]

Book Review: Fahrenheit 451

“You must understand that our civilization is so vast that we can’t have our minorities upset and stirred. Ask yourself, What do we want in this country, above all? People want to be happy, isn’t that right? Haven’t you heard it all your life? I want to be happy, people say. Well, aren’t they? Don’t […]

Book Review: The Magician’s Nephew

Wow guys, I started and finished this book within 24 hours. No joke. I think this happened for a couple reasons. Allow me to share them with you. First of all, and this is the same reason I chose to read this book when I did, I have been so hungry for fiction! I had […]

Book Review: What Happens When Women Pray

Even though He Himself was God incarnate, He thought it necessary to withdraw to a mountain to pray all night . . . If He, why not us? pg 82 What Happens When Women Pray by Evelyn Christenson is an older book, originally published in 1975. But the principles and truths contained within this book […]

Audiobook Review: The Road Back to You

Audiobook number two is complete! I enjoyed this one as an audiobook more than I enjoyed Real Food for Pregnancy as an audiobook. (That does not necessarily mean I prefer the book itself over the other.) The Road Back to You by Ian Morgan Cron and Suzanne Stabile is fairly well-known, since it is about […]

Audiobook Review: Real Food for Pregnancy

Real Food for Pregnancy by Lily Nichols, RDN was my first audiobook! And I have to say. . . I don’t think I like audiobooks. That being said, I already started another one and I’m enjoying it more than I enjoyed Real Food for Pregnancy as an audiobook. So I think that audiobooks aren’t for […]

Book Review: Destination Simple

So much of simple living is in the art of noticing. . . if I had to sum this book up in one idea it would be this: become a noticer. Brooke McAlary is a blogger and podcaster at Slow Your Home. She wrote this tiny book as a great place to start for simplifying […]

Book review: Awe

Forgetting the awesome and glorious One Who made it all and holds it all together by the sheer power of His magnificent will, will always insert me into the center. This means that no story will be more important to me than my story. . . Awe of self, worship of self, underlies every form […]

Book Review: ordinary

My thesis in this book is that we must turn from the frantic search for “something more” to “something more sustainable.” We need to stop adding something more of ourselves to the gospel. We need to be content with the gospel as God’s power for salvation. We also need to be content with his ordinary […]

challenge for 2020: a blog post to make it official

The start of a new decade is upon us! *insert gasping emoji* First of all, I have been putting a lot of pressure on myself to start a bunch of new things – goals or resolutions, as it were – at the start of the new year. I sat at Zeke’s for almost five hours […]