The first week of April was still Lent, so I finished up reading some religious books to start the month. Then, I moved on to some books that I’d been waiting to read for a long time, but had to keep on hold during Lent. Almost everything I read this month had a strong theme to it – freedom, calling, faith, dangers of technology, growing up. Here’s what I read in April:
While Time Remains is Yeonmi Park’s second book and it’s a very important read. She talks about her life in college in America after escaping from North Korea. She warns about the dangers America is facing as she sees things happening here that she saw back in North Korea growing up. I would highly encourage everyone high school age and up to read both her books. Her first book is In Order To Live.
Most everyone is curious about the end times, especially if you’re religious. Dr. Taylor Marshall talks about his perspective (a Catholic perspective) of the book of Revelation in Antichrist and Apocalypse. I found some interesting points in the book, but it was highly academic and was definitely geared toward a specific traditional Catholic audience instead of a wide audience.
The Call is a 30-year-old message that still applies to today. If you’re wondering at all what your purpose is in life, especially as a Christian, Guiness makes it clear in this book based on a series of talks he gave about your general calling vs. your specific calling in life. It was a short book to listen to and I really think it might be better as an audiobook since you can hear his original talk.
Love Amid the Ashes is a Biblical historical fiction novel that tells the stories of Dinah and Job. I’ve read of few of Andrews books and really enjoyed them, but this one stuck with me the most so far. I didn’t quite realize that Joseph and Dinah were siblings until this book put them together. It really brings Job’s suffering to life as well. I would highly recommend this book.
I think Reasons to Believe is one of Scott Hahn’s earlier books as it goes over how he came to believe in the Catholic faith and talks about life in college. It was an easy book to read. It’s written at a very basic level so it’s geared more toward a high school/college age or someone who is newer to the faith.
I’m writing a book about virtual reality, so I was looking at books out there that involve virtual reality and came across Otherworld. It’s about medical technology and virtual reality being tied together. The program starts out with good intentions, but as soon as people see how money could be made, the program goes astray. I found it very interesting and not too sci-fi-y. It’s the first in the series and I’ll probably keep reading the series eventually.
Be Healed is a book about finding a way to heal wounds of the soul. It has good points, but I ended up skimming most of the book. It has really good points and tips for someone who is dealing with a very had time or hurting over a past wound that just won’t go away.
Unspeakable is a very powerful, but hard book to read. Jessica Willis Fisher suffered sexual abuse by her father at a very young age and spiritual/emotional abuse by both of her parents, siblings and religious community. As an adult, her father’s abuse got more physical and she was finally able to break away with the help of her boyfriend, now husband. She humbly tells her story as she remembers it and gives a voice to those who have stayed silent too long.
“Fish” and “Bread” are two young boys facing an unbelievably hard situation in Raft of Stars. Bread’s father is abusing him and when Fish happens to come across the scene, he shoots him. The boys start running away, thinking they have committed a crime. They plan to run to Fish’s father, but Bread doesn’t know that Fish’s father was killed during a deployment. Now both fatherless, they try to find a way to survive the river without help – but help is on the way. They are not alone.
At 44, Vincent (female) has left her husband and has gone to Paris. He has published a book in secret that gives away his deepest secret that he never told her – he has a son in Ireland that he never met. She loves him, but is angry and forgiveness is the farthest thing from her mind. She doesn’t intend to have an affair, but she meets a young man of 25 who captures her heart. She has to navigate toward a decision between the two men by her son’s wedding when she’ll see her husband again. The plot of Half-Blown Rose is interesting but the intimate scenes were a bit graphic and too often.
Counterfeit Kingdom is about the New Apostolic Reformation movement happening in Protestant churches. The movement uses New Age practices to present religious ideas of apostleship, healing and revival. The book does a great job delving into the details and provides examples, stories and Biblical text to show how the movement is not based on true Christianity. It also gives tips for parents in how to help children identify false theology in songs and preaching. Very good book for Christians today.
After reading Becoming Mrs. Lewis, I wanted to read a book mentioned that Joy and C.S. Lewis both read and enjoyed – Phantastes. It’s a fairy world story about a young man who wakes up one morning and enters the fairy world. He’s only allowed because someone in his ancestry was a fairy. He falls in love, rescues a town from giants and learns about loyalty. It was an interesting read, but is written in a higher English than most people are used to today.
What good books have you read lately? Share them below in the comments!
