"River to Redemption" Book Review

I'm sitting here trying how to be fair with this review.  "River by Redemption" wasn't horrible but it wasn't great either.  To be honest, the part of this book I found the most fascinating was the 'Author's Notes' at the end where I discovered the book was based on a real person.

I appreciate that author Ann H. Gabhart highlighted the evil of slavery without getting graphic. And certainly, if you're looking for a book where you don't have to worry about feeling uptight, this would be a good one.  Perhaps that's the reason I wasn't gripped by this story line - there didn't seem to be much of one. Sure there were some conflicts but nothing really surprised me. In fact, I almost stopped reading it altogether numerous times. The only thing that kept me going was knowing I had to write a review.  Thankfully, the last couple of chapters became engrossing but it was hard for me to get there.

I can't say I recommend this book only because I found it to be a tad dull and the character's conversations and thoughts were a bit cyclical.  If you're looking for fluff, this might be a book for you but if you're looking to be pulled into a wild ride of a tale, keep looking elsewhere.

Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.

"Rise of the Mystics" Book Review

If being bitten by a spider turned Peter Parker into Spiderman, than I'm pretty sure Ted Dekker was bitten by a unicorn. The imagination on this guy! "Rise of the Mystics" is definitely in my top three books of the year. Not only was it engrossing and entertaining, it catapulted my faith light years ahead.

I'm not making that last statement lightly. By the end of reading "Rise of the Mystics" I honestly felt like God had used it to tear away a veil from my eyes and I was free to love and trust. One of my co-workers had been giving me a hard time regardless of the kindness I showed her and suddenly, it didn't matter anymore. I was free to love her.

For better or worse, "Rise of the Mystics" is book two of the "Beyond the Circle" series and in all truthfulness, if you're going to grasp what's going on, you need to read the "Circle" series first. That means to get to this book, I highly recommend you read 5 others first. But don't dismay - those 5 books are amazing too. I LOVED the Circle series. Because they are an allegory for the story of God and Man, it gave me an appreciation for what we lost at the Fall and what we gained at the cross in a new way. Plus, they are fantastically entertaining.

Don't let the title make you think this is a New Age novel. Not even close. This is a novel that invites you to rise above what your eyes see and understand the huge inheritance we have as Children of God - an inheritance that starts now, not after we die.

I can not recommend this book highly enough!!! Two extremely enthusiastic thumbs up.

"Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc."