Somewhere More Holy by Tony Woodlief

It says something about the book when the introduction moves me to tears. Somewhere More Holy is a book every father and potential parent must read.

Tony Woodlief's daughter died of brain cancer when she was very young. The despair that followed sent Tony into drinking and having an affair.

Years later, he and his wife Celeste are still married with four boys. This book is Tony giving us a tour of his house while explaining life as a parent after the death of a daughter.

We walk through the doorstep on our way to the living room. Next we stop at the dinning room table before checking out the bathroom. We visit the bedrooms and outdoors before stopping at the doorstep of heaven.

In each chapter, Tony shares some hilarious stories involving each room mixed with the struggles he has dealt with as a parent.

You won't find the shallow cliches in Tony's excellent reminiscences. But you will gain a better understanding of parenthood, the serious pain of outliving a child and God's redeeming grace.

This book is simply terrific.

This book was provided for review by Zondervan Publishing.

Nudge by Leonard Sweet

I opened this latest Sweet book with great anticipation. I loved Jesus Manifesto. So when I began reading Nudge: Awakening Each Other to the God Who's Already There I was hoping for another dose of author-goodness.

Sweet has a way with words. You will read many comments about his use of metaphor. However, this gift of words is my biggest issue with Nudge.
There are too many of them.

While I enjoyed reading about how to reveal a God who is already here, I found it difficult to finish each chapter. There was just so much going on.

Perhaps if some of the ideas were trimmed down, the book would be more readable.

Having said that, you will get a new viewpoint in evangelism. You will appreciate the idea of nudging people.

You'll learn how to use:
Your ears: listening to God
Your stomach: tasting Jesus
Your eyes: seeing the Kingdom
Your hands: touching Jesus
Your nose: breathing Jesus

It's not about taking Jesus to people, as Sweet writes, He's already there. We get to open their eyes to His work.

Bottom line: Lots of words for a refreshing idea.


This book was provided for review by David Cook Publishing

The Overton Window by Glenn Beck

Does anyone actually believe that Beck wrote this? It may be some of his ideas (the inclusion of Faith, Hope and Charity) but we all know this was done by a ghost writer.

The Overton Window is a warning to what Glenn Beck sees may happen if we allow current policies and policy-makers to run pell mell.

Noah Gardner is a PR man for a powerful corporation run by his father. Noah meets Molly, a girl who believes something is horribly wrong with The United States.

She is part of a group designed to return the country to its Constitutional beginnings.

Noah and Molly befriend each other and Noah is taking for quite the ride in conspiracy theories. The ultimate truth may take him back to his own dad.

The Overton Window isn't so much an action thriller as it describes the build up to the cataclysmic event that will alter the makeup of The United States.

This is a fiction story built around Beck's worries and philosophy of government.

It's a fine breeze read (really easy to finish in one day) but too many people will see Glenn Beck and fail it without reading this.

Seeds of Turmoil by Bryant Wright

Bryant Wright provides a pastoral overview of the conflict in the Middle East with Seeds of Turmoil.

This book is broken into two parts: The Founders of the Conflict and Conflicting Perspectives.

In part one, Wright reviews the characters (Abraham, Sarah, Hagar, and their children) who are deemed responsible for the mess in the Middle East. He explains how Sarah's impatience with God brought about the birth of Ishmael. This birth would result in the Arab people who will always be in conflict with the children of Isaac.

As you read the first part, you can imagine how these chapters might have been part of a sermon series. There is a lot of overlap and repetition between the chapters.

The ideas and descriptions are very down to earth and easy to understand. Wright even provides maps to enhance his explanations.

In part two, he gives us the perspective from Judaism, Islam and Christianity. The three perspectives aren't exactly given in an open, unbiased way. Wright is clearly a Christian and while he attempts to shine light on the thinking of other religions, he does leave a layer of bias against Islam.

Seeds of Turmoil: The Biblical Roots of the Inevitable Crisis in the Middle East is a nice introduction for anyone who desires a basic understanding of the Middle East conflict.


This book was provided for review by Thomas Nelson Publishing.

The God Hater by Bill Myers

The God Hater is about Nicholas Mackenzi, a philosopher professor who hates religion. He is contacted by his brother Travis who has created possibly the greatest AI community in the world. Travis needs the help of a brilliant mind in order to make his community function for the corporates and who better than Nicholas.

Happening with the brother's story, is the tale of those who desire to steal the invention for their own money-making purposes.

Bill Myers has always been a favorite author of mine. He has a way with storytelling that quickly pulls you close to the characters and shoots you on a roller coaster ride.


You won't know who to trust in this tale of suspense and heart.

The latest Myers offering will open your eyes to Jesus in a fresh way.

This would be the perfect book to give your friends who consider themselves to be intellectual and opposed to the belief in God. It isn't preachy but rather familiar in tone.



This book was provided for review by Howard Books.

Solitary by Travis Thrasher

Solitary is the first book of the Solitary Tales Series.

Chris Buckley and his mother move to Solitary, North Carolina after an ugly divorce. Originally from Chicago, Chris struggles with the small-town vibe while he explores the bizarre characters at school.

He befriends three girls, Rachel, Poe and Jocelyn and begin what seems to be a typical high school life: full of bullies, confusion over girls, and the little nerd who always gets beat up.

But there are secrets in this town of Solitary. And Jocelyn, who has won Chris' affection, may carry the darkest one.

Solitary reads part Breakfast Club, part Scream and it is a fantastic ride. Thrasher has his finger on the pulse of teenage angst. You grow with the characters and believe you could see them in the hall of your own school.

I was kept guessing throughout the story until the answers were revealed. While I did my fair share of guessing, I was always a step behind.

Good guys may be bad and the villains might be the closest of allies.

Being the first part of a series, I expected an ending to lead into book 2, but Thrasher caught me by complete surprise. I finished the book, closed the cover and screamed, "What?!?!"

Book 2 cannot come soon enough.


You can read more on The Solitary Tales and more books by Travis Thrasher by going to his website: www.travisthrasher.com

This book was provided for review by David C Cook Publishing.

Claiming Abraham by Michael Lodahl

Michael Lodahl has written the perfect book to introduce ideas in comparing the writings of Islam, Christianity and Judaism.

Claiming Abraham is scholarly yet written in a way everyone can understand. You will be surprised at the similarities between the three religions that have been stereotyped as arch rivals.

With 12 chapters, Lodahl dives into the differences with regards to:

Abraham
Israel and Christianity
The God of Creation
The actual Word of God
Adam and what it means to be human
Cain and Abe
The truth behind the Noah story
What happened at Sinai
Mary the mother of Jesus
Who Jesus really was
The idea behind Allah or Adonai
and the end of the world.

I found it fascinating to read that it's possible Mohammad gained some of his beliefs from the Jewish commentators of his time. It's also fun to read how a few Christian stories have some of their points originating from the Qur-an and Islamic thought rather than the Bible.

Claiming Abraham is a terrific book for anyone interested in learning more about Islam, Christianity and how other religions view similar stories.

A great read.


This book was provided for review by Brazos Press.

Rumble! Zap! Pow! by Diane Stortz

A hard cover, cartoon Bible for pre-schoolers is what you will find in Rumble! Zap! Pow!: Mighty Stories of God.

Diane Stortz has included 40 stories from the Bible (20 Old Testament, 20 New Testament) with illustrations by Luke Daab.

Each story is laid out in large "comic book" panels. The illustrations are very colorful with the artwork resembling a kind of anime that has been all the rage for some time.

Each story provides a Mighty Thought along with the Scripture reference.

At the end of each story, you'll discover the Power Words (another Scripture reference) and a fun activity to help bring the story to life for your toddler.

As with the title of this book, some of the fun is in the Batman-style use of action words: "BAM" "THUD" and "Clip-Clop Clip-Clop".

You'll interact with your son/daughter with all the power words in these Bible stories.



This book was provided for review by Tyndale Publishing.

Outlive Your Life by Max Lucado

Max Lucado is giving 100% of his royalties to World Vision. Outlive Your Life: You Were Made to Make A Difference is the latest Lucado book.

The big idea is what we do with our faith now that we have salvation.

Following the trend of Lucado's best works, Outlive Your Life is full of inspirational stories meant to draw you closer to the spiritual aspects of life.

Lucado is the expert in crafting simple stories that entertain as well as build your enthusiasm for being a follower of God.

You'll find chapters such as: Calling Mr Pot Roast, Let God Unshell You, Do Good, Quietly, Stable the High Horse and many others.

This book is a terrific addition for your Lucado library. It will almost erase the bad taste that 3:16 left in my mouth.

Having 25 years worth of books under his name, Max Lucado should rightfully be known and America's Pastor.

At least, America's Inspirational Author.

Get this book and be prepared to do something with your beliefs.



This book was provided for review by Thomas Nelson Publishing.

Reborn To Be Wild by Ed Underwood

Reborn to be Wild reads much like a memoir of the wild days of long ago. Sadly, I do not remember the days of the 60s and 70s as I was not born yet.

Ed Underwood takes you on a path that explains where the Jesus "Hippies" came from, what course they took that led them to where the suburbanites are today and what can be done to return to the "wild" times of yore.

His book is broken into 3 parts: A Revolution Takes Off, A Revolution Stalls, A Revolution Reborn.

With a society raised on bigger is better and "Show Me The Money" it isn't hard to imagine what happened to our radical elders.

Within these pages you'll get a vision from one man, self-proclaimed Jesus-Freak, as to how we can reignite the revival.

For those who aren't turned on by thick books, this one has a few black and white photos in the middle. You can never go wrong with photos in the middle...

Want to be "Crazy for Christ?!"


This book was provided for review by David C. Cook publishing.

The Skin Map by Stephen Lawhead

The Skin Map is the first book in a new "alternate worlds/time travel" series by Stephen Lawhead.

You're introduced to Kit Livingstone and his grandfather, Cosimo. This grandfather claims to have found ways to travel between dimensions and time through things called Ley Lines.

It is important to note that this story takes place in England. (This created some problems for me to get invested in the story as I really don't care about places with which I'm not familiar)

Kit and his grandfather step through a line and find themselves in a new time. Kit decides to be adventurous and drags his squirrelly girlfriend, Wilhelmina, on a trip. This becomes a disaster as Kit and his girlfriend are separated by worlds and time.

It's up to Kit and his grandfather to rescue Wilhelmina and find a map that will guide them in their journey. Of course there are villains about who would like nothing less than to get their hands on the map by way of Kit.

Lawhead weaves an intriguing tale involving a number of characters which takes a while to figure out who's who. By the end of this first book, however, you realize the stories all connect in some way and create a very nice launching pad for the rest of the series.

I felt like I was reading an adult version of Liparulo's Dreamhouse Kings books. It has promise, but I'm still not a sold out Lawhead fan.


This book was provided for review by Thomas Nelson Publishing.

The Lovely Bones

I hated The Lovely Bones. I haven't read the book and I don't have a single desire to open it after watching this horror.

The Lovely Bones tells the story of Jack (Mark Wahlberg) and Abigail (Rachel Weisz) Salmon and their daughter Susie (Saoirse Ronan). Susie gets abducted by mean neighbor George (Stanley Tucci) who leads her to a bunker underneath a corn field where he murders her.

The rest of the movie is Susie in "the in-between place" as she watches her family deal with the tragedy.

The real-world story - involving Jack endlessly pursuing George - is the best part of this movie. The Susie-after-death story is too long and boring.

I'm beginning to think Peter Jackson is only as good as The Lord of the Rings. All of his movies are either too long or feel too long. This one feels too long. Near the end of the movie, George is pushing his safe (in which Susie's body lays) closer and closer to a land fill. This takes, what feels like, 45 minutes.

And nevermind the horrible plot of a child abducted and murdered; the family never has true closure. George dies at the end because an icicle falls onto his shoulder which causes him to fall off a cliff.

Incredibly stupid and a waste of my time.

Don't spend yours on this film.