Tag Archives: Books

Review: On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness

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Dark Sea of Darkness

On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness is the first in the four-part Wingfeather Series by Andrew Peterson. Amazon recommends it for children in third through seventh grades

The story takes place in the mythical land of Skree, which has been taken over by life-size lizard-like people called Fangs, whose leader is Gnag the Nameless.

The book’s main focus is the Igiby family: mother Nia, grandfather Podo, and children Janner, Tink, and Leeli. Podo is an old pirate with a pegleg, but he’s amazingly agile. Leeli’s leg is crooked, and she walks with a crutch. The children’s father died some time ago, and Janner is disturbed that his grandfather and mother won’t allow questions about him.

Despite the oppressive Fangs, life is fairly peaceful in Skree.

Oh, yes, the people of Skree were quite free, as long as they were in their homes by midnight. And as long as they bore no weapons, and they didn’t complain when their fellow Skreeans were occasionally taken away across the sea, never to be seen again. But other than the cruel Fangs and the constant threat of death and torture, there wasn’t much to fear in Skree (p. 3).

But then the children have an altercation with one of the Fangs, Slarb. The children are put in jail but released when their mother gives the commander some of her jewels.

But now they are on Slarb’s radar.

And Janner didn’t even know his mother had jewels. Between that and the secrets surrounding his father, Janner wonders what else his mother is hiding.

The tension escalates into a classic battle of good-vs.evil with a surprise revelation at the end.

Alongside this plot, the children have normal fusses with each other and learn to face fears.

There seems to be some symbolism or allusions to Christian themes like in the Chronicles of Narnia. The family prays to “the Maker.”

One GoodReads reviewer said “Peterson intended this to be the ‘vastness of Lord of the Rings’ with the ‘whimsey of the Princess Bride.'” I don’t know if she read that in an interview: if so, I’d love to find it. It does help understand the tone of the story.

Some of the animals that live in Skree and the nearby forest are skonks, toothy cows (like our cows except they have long fangs and are omnivores), thwaps–like squirrels, a menace to gardens, and flabbits–like rabbits bur hairless with exceptionally long ears..

The danger is real and scary, but humor is sprinkled throughout. In fact, there seemed too much humor in the first part of the book.

I had a hard time getting into the book at first. But once the action picked up and some of the things hinted at came to light, I thought it was very good.

Some of my favorite quotes:

Blood was shed that you three might breathe the good air of life, and if that means you have to miss out on a Zibzy game, then so be it. Part of being a man is putting others’ needs before your own (pp. 23-24),.

There’s just something about the way he sings. It makes me think of when it snows outside, and the fire is warm, and Podo is telling us a story while you’re cooking, and there’s no place I’d rather be–but for some reason I still feel… homesick (p. 70).

Even if hope is just a low ember at night, in the morning you can still start a fire.

An animated series has been made of the books–at least the first two, I think. I have not seen it but want to with my son’s family. It appears to be very well done.

(Sharing with Bookish Bliss)

Review: This Promised Land

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This Promised Land

In Cathy Gohlke’s latest novel, This Promised Land, Ginny Pickering Boyden is finally about to realize her dream of traveling to her family’s ancestral home in England. Decades earlier, she had run away to marry her boyfriend before he shipped out to WWII. Her mother and brother disowned her; she lost the baby she was expecting; and her husband came back maimed in body and mind. She cared for him as long as she could, and then he spent the rest of his years in a nursing home. When he died, Ginny spent years recovering and paying off her debts so she could travel.

Now she has just retired from her job when she gets a letter from a lawyer in New Scrivelsby, VA–the town where her family owned a Christmas tree farm for generations. The letter says her brother has died and there is a problem with his will. She needs to come and settle the family business.

Ginny doesn’t want to go, but doesn’t seem to have a choice. She plans for a quick trip to sign whatever papers are needed, see her parents’ graves, and then get on with her life.

But the situation is more complicated than she thought. Her mother, who had died long before, had actually left the Christmas tree farm and family home to her. Her brother, Harold, had told his sons he was leaving everything to them, but he couldn’t since he didn’t rightfully own it.

On top of that, Harold was not in his right mind his last few years. Despite his son’s efforts, Harold took out a sizeable loan and didn’t pay two years worth of taxes.

Even if Ginny wanted the farm, there’s no way she could pay its debts. She has no choice but to sell.

Harold’s son, Luke, has been running the farm almost single-handedly. He believes his father’s lies about Ginny and figures she’s swooping to claim everything and sell it all, leaving him high and dry.

And then Harold’s other son, Mark shows up. A Vietnam veteran, Mark has been in and out of trouble with drugs and alcohol. He did some time in jail while his three children were placed in separate foster homes. All he wants is to sell out his part of the farm to his brother so he can try to make a new start with his children. He’s stunned to learn that his brother doesn’t own the farm.

All the branches of the family tree are fractured and barely holding on. Harold is angry and barely gives Ginny or Mark a chance. His longsuffering wife, Bethany, urges patience and grace. Mark’s children desperately need stability, but his addiction recovery is fragile.

They decide to try to maintain the farm through one more Christmas season to see if they can recover their losses. If not, Ginny will sell and divide the proceeds between them. Though keeping the farm is uncertain, Ginny hopes the rifts can heal and they can become a true family, something they all need.

Unbeknownst to them all, they have enemies without as well as within.

The Bible story of the prodigal son comes up often in this story, with Ginny realizing she has been in the place of both the prodigal and the resentful older brother. Now she wants to be like the welcoming father. But all the family’s problem make it difficult.

Ginny enjoys the hobby of pressing flowers and making pictures with the dried blooms. She shares this with the children and even uses their creations to make framed art to sell to help the farm. Along with the interesting process of how flowers are dried and pressed, the process symbolized that “something so pretty and permanent could come out of something as short-lived as a rose” and “life was not done–simply waiting to bloom again.”

I have enjoyed all of Cathy’s books that I have read, and this one is no exception. The characters are well-developed, and the faith element is woven in naturally. It’s easy to sympathize with all the characters and their struggles. I like how the author brought everything together in the end.

I listened to the audiobook, nicely read by Sarah Zimmerman.

(Sharing with Bookish Bliss)

Review: Crimson Roses

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Crimson Roses

In Grace Livingston Hill’s novel, Crimson Roses, Marion Warren has been taking care of her ill father for five years. They had always planned that she would go to normal college and become a teacher, until his accident.

Now he has passed away. They had discussed that she would have the house and her brother the life insurance money. But a will can’t be found. So her brother, Tom, feels the best thing to do is sell the house and buy a farm in Vermont (which his wife strongly wants to do). They plan that Marion will always have a home with them, where she can help with the housecleaning and teach their children (basically, act as unpaid live-in help).

Marion’s practical mother, who died years before, always called her husband a visionary, not necessarily meaning it as a compliment. Marion takes after her father, while Tom is more like their mother. Marion mildly protests that she doesn’t want to live on a farm in Vermont, she wants to stay in the city, go to school, attend lectures and concerts and such. Tom says these are “foolish notions,” and she’s too old to go to school now anyway. Tom and his wife, Jennie, think that Marion is just being grumpy and will come around by the time they leave.

As Marion considers her options, she truly feels it’s best for her to stay in the city. Since Tom and Jenny won’t listen, Marion finds a job and small apartment on her own. She plans not to take any of her father’s assets so they will be able to buy their farm.

When they find out her plans, there is a big blow-up. Jennie (who gets my nomination for worst sister-in-law ever) feels Marion is being selfish. Tom finally concedes that the only way Marion will learn is to let her have her way. In time, when she realizes she can’t make it on her own, she’ll come to the farm with them.

But Marion thrives in her new situation. She’s been out of circulation for several years while caring for her father, and some of her coworkers help her update her look and clothes. Marion draws a line at some of their suggestions, though, not wanting to look like a “flapper.”

Marion’s intense loneliness almost sends her to Vermont. But she hears of a local weekly symphony concert series. If she manages her money carefully, she can afford it.

On the night of the second concert, Marion finds a beauitful crimson rose on her seat. Thinking the rose has been placed there by mistake, she tries to find who it belongs to. But no one claims it. She decides to take it home and enjoy it.

But the next week, a crimson rose is again at her seat. And the next week, and so on throughout the concert series.

Later in the book, when a young man shows interest in Marion, some “mean girls” in the church think Marion’s station is beneath his and act unkindly toward her (fueled by the interest in one of the girls in the young man).

This book was published in 1928, and, of course, is very old-fashioned in style and content. It’s a clean, sweet story–maybe a smidgen too sweet, but just a smidgen. Some of the 20s slang is amusing.

Marion seems a little naive for a twenty-three year old young woman. But that might have been the case in those times. Plus she had been mostly at home for five years.

The theme of the story might be that faithfulness wins out in the end. Through all her tribulations, though Marion struggles, she remains humble and sweet and tries to do the right thing.

I listened to the audiobook nicely read by Anne Hancock. Though the audiobook was released in 2024, the narrator’s style and accent matched the setting in the book.

(Sharing with Bookish Bliss)

Ruth by Elizabeth Gaskell

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Ruth is a novel written by Elizabeth Gaskell (sometimes listed as Elizabeth Cleghorne Gaskell) in the 1850s.

Ruth’s mother died when she was twelve. Her father, absorbed in his own grief, did not pay much attention to Ruth and died when she was fifteen. The man named as Ruth’s guardian had never met her before, but obtains a postilion for her with a dressmaker.

Ruth is naive and immature, not having had her mother’s instruction as she became a young woman. When she accidentally meets a Henry Bellingham, a well-to-do young man in his twenties, he is struck by her beauty. He observes that she goes to church alone on Sundays and arranges to be where he can interact with her afterwards. After several weeks of meetings, he offers to walk with her to where she used to live, as she has often described how much she loved the area.

Ruth’s boss sees her so far from home with a young man, draws the wrong conclusion, and tells Ruth she is fired. Distressed and alone in the world, Ruth succumbs to Bellingham’s persuasion to accompany him to London.

Some time later, Ruth and Bellingham are visiting Wales when he falls seriously ill. The inn’s proprietor sends for his mother, who disgustedly ousts Ruth.

A Mr. Benson is a dissenting minister visiting the same area who ascertains Ruth’s situation. He intercepts her as she plans to attempt suicide and persuades her to live with him and his sister, Faith, and their crusty but kind-hearted housekeeper, Sally.

Faith and Sally don’t think well of Ruth at first. But her sweetness and humbleness win them over.

None of them realize that Ruth is with child at first–not even Ruth. When Ruth’s pregnancy is discovered, Mr. Benson’s sister, Faith, persuades him to say that Ruth is a distant relative who has recently been widowed. They want to give Ruth a fresh start but also want to protect her child.

As Ruth attends Mr. Benson’s church, she realizes she has done wrong and repents.

Eventually she becomes a governess to the daughters of the town’s leading citizen. But then her secret becomes known.

Mrs. Gaskell is one of the first authors to make a “fallen woman” the heroine of her story (The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne came a few years earlier; Tess of the d’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy came a few decades later). The book was controversial in its Victorian era. Gaskell rightly asserted that sometimes the fallen woman is the wronged party, that grace and forgiveness are available to all who have sinned, and that the child born of such a situation does not deserve to be branded.

Gaskell comes from a Unitarian background, which, from what I have read, I would not agree with. But much of what is said of Christ in this book seems accurate. However, there’s also talk about penance and “self-redemption,” which I don’t think are scriptural concepts.

Besides the themes of forgiveness and compassion, the book deals with the dangers of gossip and hypocrisy.

This novel is a product of its times. It’s wordy, with a lot of detailed description. Ruth is presented as almost too perfect. Some interactions are a bit overwrought.

But I loved the story. And I loved what Gaskell conveyed through the story. Both the main and secondary characters were well-developed.

I listened to the audiobook, nicely read by Eve Matheson.

(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)

Review: He Should Have Told the Bees

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He Should Have Told the Bees by Amanda Cox tells the story of two young women whose lives intersect unexpectedly.

Beckett Walsh kept bees with her father until he died unexpectedly. Her mother had left them when Beckett was small. Though memories of her mother are hazy, her leaving sent Beckett into nightmares of monsters when she was a child and panic attacks as a young person and adult. Her father had left his job as a banker to homestead, start an apiary, and accommodate Beckett’s needs. But now he’s gone. Still, Beckett thinks she can do just fine, despite her aunt’s attempts to manage her life.

Callie Peterson grew up with an unstable alcoholic mother who went through a series of men. Now Callie has distanced herself and bought a building to start a new business making candles, lotions, etc. But the building is going to need more work than she thought. And then her mother shows up on her doorstep, claiming she’s ready to seek help. When Callie takes her to a rehab center, she’s unaware that her mother named her as the person responsible for the finances needed.

Both women get a summons about a hearing for a trust that Beckett’s father had set up, naming them both as co-owners of the farm. The two women never knew each other before. Beckett can’t fathom why her father would name this stranger a co-owner when he knows Beckett’s needs and problems. Callie doesn’t, either. But she wonders if selling the farm could help her financial problems. But doing so would oust Beckett from the only safe place she knows.

Both women try to understand why Beckett’s father named Callie in the trust. Their search leads them to secrets and connections they never knew about. Will both their lives be upended–or fulfilled?

I enjoyed this story quite a lot. It was easy to sympathize with each woman’s journey and pain.

The side characters are delightful. Beck is unexpectedly visited by a neighbor in the form of a young girl who says she is an alien. Callie’s booth neighbor in the markets where they sell their wares turns out to be a stabilizing factor in her life.

The book opens with an excerpt of a poem by John Greenleaf Whittier titled “Telling the Bees,” in which beehives are draped in black as the bees are told their keeper has died. Evidently, according to Wikipedia, this is a custom in many European countries. It was even done when Queen Elizabeth died in 2022.

At one point, Callie’s friend points out some sunbeams and says:

They’re called crepuscular rays. And they happen because of light hitting dust. It’s just ordinary, boring particulate floating all around us like it always does, and then bam, the light hits it and suddenly it’s something that makes people stop and take pictures. If that’s not a miracle, then I guess I don’t know what a miracle is (p. 54).

That becomes an underlying theme.

A few other quotes that stood out to me:

If she could stack up all the hurt in the world and sort the kind inflicted with malicious intent from the hurt inflicted by carelessness, how would the two compare? Was there really any difference when the result was the same? (p. 216).

It was a hard lesson to learn—that you couldn’t be the one to fill the holes in another person’s life. Working through dysfunctional patterns, finding healthy coping skills, and letting God heal the wounds the past left behind, those were things you couldn’t do for another person. No matter how much you wanted to (p. 251).

It’s possible for treasured things to come out of the brokenness. Even if it doesn’t happen the way any of us would have wanted. Even if it comes through loss (p. 299).

On a humorous note, it’s fun to notice a particular author’s unique repeated words. In this book and others, Amanda uses the word “scrubbed” a lot (eight times in this book)–she scrubbed her eyes, he scrubbed his hand over his face. And hearts tend to “stutter-step” when upset. And people “worry” their bottom lips.

Amanda doesn’t have end notes about the story, but there is an interview here where she discusses the book.

All in all, I’m happy to recommend this book.

(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)

Laudable Linkage

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Laudable Linkage

I found several noteworthy blog posts this week:

The Good We Cannot See, HT to Challies. “I wanted to see the purpose of the suffering; at least a small glimpse. I wanted to understand even a small piece of why God allowed it. I wanted to see the man that Ezra would become because of the pain he endured. I wanted to see a piece of redemption. I wanted to experience the tangible comfort of knowing that God intended the suffering for good with good defined by me. Therein lies the trouble.”

All the Books I’ll Never Read, HT to Linda. This resonated with me so much! “Not only will I never read all the books I wish I could, but I’ll never be all the things that I want to be, or do all the things that I want to do. When this realization first hit me, I have to confess I did not roll with it well.”

What We Miss When We Skip the Prophets. “The prophetic books of the Old Testament make up 250 of the Bible’s 1189 chapters. That’s about 21% of the Bible! And I think those books are sorely neglected.”

Big Heads or Big Hearts, HT to Knowable Word. “Truth and love ought not be thought of as if they are opposites — as if the pursuit of one will automatically detract from the pursuit of the other. Even in specific situations, we shouldn’t think that we need to decide between standing for the truth and loving. We can always do both!”

Beware Toxic Servant Leadership, HT to Challies. “Sometimes, what people mean by servant leadership is not leadership at all. If I only understand leadership as deferring to others and not stepping on people’s toes, then I’m at risk of ignoring what God has called me to do. We have become so allergic to authority that anytime someone expresses any authority at all we immediately recoil. This is not good.”

Why Does John Mention That He Outran Peter to Jesus’ Tomb? HT to Challies. I don’t remember if I ever wondered about this, but I appreciate this answer.

The 15-Minute Block, HT to Redeeming Productivity. “I am obsessed with this idea of the 15-minute block. Anything and everything becomes possible when you break it down into a manageable chunk.”

Should We Capitalize Divine Pronouns? I’ve been taught all my life that capitalizing pronouns referring to God was a sign of respect to Him. But lately I’ve found several sources saying that capitalizing divine pronouns is not necessary–partly because they are not capitalized in the original languages nor in many Bible translations. I’m glad Tim categorizes this as a conscience issue. Author and editor Lori Hatcher discusses the same question in To Capitalize or not to Capitalize: Exploring the Deity Pronoun Question.

Dead Man Talking. Bob Roberts is frequent camp speaker and the founder of Kids4Truth Clubs. We attended the same church for several years. Bob had cancer a few years ago, which went into remission. But now it’s back in his liver, and the prognosis is not good. While undergoing some experimental treatments as a last effort, Bob didn’t want to “waste” his cancer. So he began a podcast with five men who have been his friends for 30+ years to discuss what God is doing in his life. The one I linked to is the third, where he discusses the first half of his “bucket list.” The first one was more general; the second one discussed friendship and the impact of the group potentially losing one member. These are available wherever one listens to podcasts and on YouTube.

If I listened to the wretched talk of proud men, I might sometimes fancy sin was not so very sinful! But I cannot think little of sin, when I look at the cross of Christ. — J. C. Ryle

Review: An Ocean of Grace

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Ocean of Grace

Tim Chester collected collected thoughtful writings about Christ’s death and resurrection and edited them into An Ocean of Grace: A Journey to Easter with Great Voices of the Past.

Some of the selections are from familiar pens: Augustine, Martin Luther, and Charles Spurgeon. Others are more obscure: Cyril of Alexander from the fifth century, Gregory of Myssa from the fourth, Cyprian of the third, and many others. I was delighted to see a piece by Anne Steele, an eighteenth-century female hymn writer. And I was surprised to see a selection from Catherine Parr, Henry VIII’s last wife, leading me to read a little more about her online. I think Spurgeon is the most recent of the authors included.

These selections are divided into daily readings from Ash Wednesday to Easter. They are grouped into themes for each week: The Light of Love, The Welcome of Grace, The Exchange of Places; The Assurance of Faith, The Gift of Christ, and The Victory of God.

In his introduction, Chester says he removed archaic language except for poetry and hymns while trying to retain the “voice” of the original authors. He also says many “descriptions have been turned into a prayer addressed to God or an exhortation addressed to our own souls.” He doesn’t say why, but he also turned what I think were prose selections into a free-verse style of poetry. I wish he had kept the selections closer to the originals–but then maybe I wouldn’t think so if I read the originals.

I began reading this book late in the season due to finishing a previous study. Because of that, and because the selections were fairly short, I read two or three a day. I think that may have lessened the impact of them. If I read this book again, I’ll plan to read one a day as the author intended.

Nevertheless, I did receive much food for thought and warmth for heart by reading this book. I have many places marked, but I will try not to overwhelm you with quotes.

In an excerpt from Catherine Parr’s The Lamentations of a Sinner, she spends several lines listing her sins and Christ’s merits. She concludes:

Shall I fall in desperation?
No, I will call upon Christ,
 the Light of the world,
  the Fountain of life,
   the relief of all careful consciences,
    the Peacemaker between God and man,
     and the only health and comfort of all true repentant sinners.

By his almighty power he can save me
and deliver me out of this miserable state.
For this is the life everlasting, O Lord,
 to believe you to be the true God,
 and him whom you sent, Jesus Christ.
By this faith I am assured,
and by this assurance I feel the forgiveness of my sins:
 this is what gives me confidence,
 this is what comforts me,
 this is what quenches all despair (p. 10).

This line of Puritan Stephen Charnock’s “A Discourse of the Knowledge of Christ Crucified” stood out to me: “May all the charms of sin be overcome by this ravishing love” (p. 27). He goes on to say:

How can we, with thoughts of the cross alive in our hearts, sin against so much tenderness, compassion and grace, and all the other perfections of you, our God, which sound so loud in our ears from the cross of Jesus? Shall we consider him hanging there to deliver us from hell and stain, and retain any desire to walk in the way which led him there? Can we take any pleasure in that which caused so much pain for our best friend? Can we love that which brought a curse better than him who bore the curse for us?” (pp. 26-27. I put this in paragraph form just to save time formatting).

This from Isaac Ambrose also stood out to me: “Surely his death is more satisfactory to God than all your sins can possibly be displeasing to God” (p. 94).

This was from Thomas Watson: “We cannot lift up Christ higher in heaven, but we may lift up him in our hearts. So let us believe him, adore him and love him, and exalt him in our lives, for all the doxologies and prayers in the world do not exalt Christ as much as a holy life” (p. 132).

I loved this closing poem from Henry Vaughan titled “Easter Hymn”:

Death, and darkness get you packing,
Nothing now to man is lacking,
All your triumphs now are ended,
And what Adam marred, is mended;
Graves are beds now for the weary,
Death a nap, to wake more merry;
Youth now, full of pious duty,
Seeks in thee for perfect beauty;
The weak and aged tired, with length
Of days, from thee look for new strength;
And infants with thy pangs contest
As pleasant, as if with the breast.
Then, unto him, who thus hath thrown
Even to contempt thy kingdom down,
And by his blood did us advance
Unto his own inheritance,
To him be glory, power, praise,
From this, unto the last of days! (p. 154).

I had a couple of formatting complaints in the book. Chester writes verse references as, for example, Isaiah 61 v 10 rather than Isaiah 61:10. The latter has been used for centuries. I have never seen the former except in Chester’s books. I wondered if perhaps it’s done that way in the UK, but I have read several books from authors from various countries without having seen this way of writing Bible references. I Googled “how to write Bible verse references” just to see if this is a new style, and I didn’t see it mentioned in any source I looked at. It’s not a big deal in the grand scheme of things. It’s more a commentary on my heart to say it irritated me. But I tried to overlook it

The other complaint is not unique to Mr. Chester, but is to all the books I have from The Good Book Company. They put the table of contents in the back of the book rather than in the front after the title page. That doesn’t make sense to me. I use the Table of Contents to look at where a book is going, not where it has been. When I am considering a new book, I look at the front cover, the back cover, the description, the table of contents, and the first few paragraphs or pages. If I look at a sample on Amazon, they usually only include the first several pages. If the Table of Contents is in the back, I am not able to see it in the sample.

I also wish Chester had listed the titles of all the readings in the Table of Contents rather than just the main section headings.

Again, these are minor issues compared to the content of the book.

There were just two or three places where I put a question mark or didn’t quite agree with how something was worded. But overall, I enjoyed this book and plan to use it again for Lenten reading in the future.

(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)

Hebrews for You

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Hebrews for You

Most New Testament epistles begin with who wrote the letter and who the audience is. The author of Hebrews does neither. He appears to be someone familiar with the apostles’ teaching. He might even have been an apostle himself. He references the Old Testament. and seems to assume his audience would be familiar with it. Thus we believe he’s writing primarily to Jewish Christians. Many were undergoing persecution for their belief in Jesus and the prophesied Messiah. Some felt maybe they should go back to the Jewish traditions they had been taught.

The main theme of the book is that Jesus is better: better than angels, better than Moses, better than God’s previous revelations. His priesthood, according to the line of Melchizedek Psalm 110:4), is better because it’s eternal. His sacrifice is better because He only had to offer it once; He didn’t have to offer sacrifices for His own sin because He didn’t have any sin.

There are stern warnings at the end of each section–warnings against apostasy, against failing to enter God’s rest.

Probably most people who know anything about Hebrews are familiar with the “hall of faith” in Hebrews 11: the detailed list of people in the Bible who did follow Jesus in faith. They weren’t perfect; some on the list are a surprise. They are an encouragement to us to keep following.

This chapter also tells us, “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him” (verse 6).

Chapter 12 urges readers to endure God’s discipline as a loving father and reminds us of the coming kingdom that cannot be shaken. Chapter 13 ends with practical instructions and applications.

One of my favorite verses in the book comes near the end in chapter 13, verses 20-21: “Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.” What a magnificent prayer that we can pray today.

Even though the first audience was Jewish, we Gentiles benefit from reading the book today. The truth it contains is applicable to all. We’re spiritual children of Abraham by faith (Galatians 3:7-9) and we’ve been grafted in (Romans 11). We don’t replace Israel. But we’re part of God’s family. So all this truth pertains to us, too.

If you’ve read through the first five books of the Bible, especially if you’ve gotten lost in Leviticus, reading Hebrews will really help in understanding.

Our ladies’ Bible study has been reading Hebrews this semester using Michael Kruger’s book, Hebrews for You: Giving You an Anchor for Your Soul as an aid. I appreciated the author’s thoughtful insights as he went verse by verse through the book.

Some of the quotes I marked:

The old covenant was not false or wrong. But it was provisional and partial. “The law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities [Hebrews 10:1]” (p. 136).

Since God’s word is empowered by the Holy Spirit, when we encounter the word, we encounter God. It is through God’s word that we meet him, learn from him, and have fellowship with him (p. 61).

The word of God is not just a way to get to know God but also a way to get to know yourself. When you read the Bible and let it penetrate your heart, you will see things about yourself that you never saw before. You will see your real intentions, your real motives, and your real character. This is a good thing because there is rot and mildew built up in our hearts which need to be exposed (p. 65).

People in our world today sometimes embrace doubt and uncertainty as things worth striving for in themselves; Christians, by contrast, believe that there are certainties, even though we may find it difficult to hold on to them. So, when we have those struggles with doubt, we fight them. We look for reassurance from God (p. 164).

God does not promise that if we follow him we will have health and wealth—becoming successful or rich. There is a sad trend in evangelicalism today of teachers claiming that if you follow God it will make your life better in earthly ways. Of course, it is better to follow Jesus; but that does not mean bigger bank accounts or more popularity. This is not your best life now (p. 190).

Hebrews has some difficult passages, but Kruger’s commentary helped shed light on them.

I’m happy to recommend this book.

(I often link up with some of these bloggers.)

Two Books by Patti Callahan Henry

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I’ll say upfront that I have mixed emotions about these two books by Patti Callahan Henry. I’ll explain why a little later.

In the first one, The Story She Left Behind, Clara Harrington lives in Bluffton, SC in 1952. Her mother, Bronwyn, was a child prodigy who wrote a best-selling book at the age of twelve. But Bronwyn disappeared twenty-five years ago, taking her dictionary of a language she had created with her. The family’s boat was found, but Bronwyn and her dictionary were not. Most assumed both were at the bottom of the sea.

Clara was eight when her mother disappeared, and she lived under the shadow of that event all her life. Now she’s a divorced mom with an eight-year-old daughter. They live with Clara’s father. Clara is a successful children’s book illustrator who is about to receive the Caldecott medal.

Then one day, out of the blue, Clara receives a phone call from England. A man tying up his father’s affairs found an old satchel in his father’s study. Inside was a stack of papers with words he couldn’t understand, along with a note and a sealed letter addressed to Clara. The note said the contents of the satchel were to be given only to Clara in person. They must not be mailed.

At first, Clara thinks the caller is another scammer, looking for information or seeking remuneration for false information. But as the man, Charlie, describes the satchel and reads the note, Clara realizes they are truly her mother’s.

With her father’s help, Clara and her daughter, Wynnie, take a ship and then a train to England.

The story was inspired by a true one concerning Barbara Newhall Follett, a child prodigy who wrote a book at age eight and had it published at age twelve. She also developed a language for her stories. And she disappeared at age 28. But the comparisons seem to end there. She didn’t have a daughter, and nothing is known about her since her disappearance.

The bones of Henry’s story are very good. I enjoyed the unrolling of the mystery. I liked the historical references, including Beatrix Potter and T. S. Elliot. Clara and Wynnie arrive in London during the “great smog,” a period of several days in which London was covered in an unusually thick fog caused by weather conditions and coal used for heating. Some 4,000 people died and a hundred thousand more were made ill by the air. I had also read of this in Christmas with the Queen by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb. In Henry’s story, the smog causes a crisis for Wynnie, who has asthma.

In the two previous books by Henry that I have read, Becoming Mrs. Lewis and Once Upon a Wardrobe, the author expressed some Christian-ish beliefs. That may have been just because C. S. Lewis, a major character in each book, was a Christian. I don’t know what Mrs. Henry’s personal beliefs are. But this book was thoroughly secular. That’s not so much a problem in itself–I wouldn’t expect anything different from a non-Christian. But I was very sorry to see a sex scene in the book plus continued reference to two characters sleeping together. One is even concerned that the other will somehow think less of her because she had only been intimate with her husband until now.

There were a lot of references that made me think the book was going to delve into magical realism. Emjie is the main character in Clara’s mother’s book and also Wynnie’s invisible friend (Wynnie insists she is invisible, not imaginary). There’s talk of Emjie being “sent” to Wynnie. Gaelic curses are mentioned, plus a couple of times the author writes variations of “All things are one and we are all things.” I’m not sure what philosophy that comes from, but I disagree with it.

There was a lot of repeat information, a lot of convenient coincidences, a smattering of “damns” and similar words and way too much taking the Lord’s name in vain. The romance developing over ten days seems unrealistic.

I listened to the audiobook wonderfully narrated by Julia Whelan and Theo Solomon. And I appreciated that the author’s end notes were included, which isn’t often the case in an audiobook.

Wild Swan

Wild Swan is only available on Audible at this point, and is included with an Audible membership. It’s short, less than two hours. This book tells about Florence Nightingale’s “calling” to become a nurse in an era when cultured, privileged young ladies did not do such things.

When Florence accompanies a friend and her ailing husband on their travels, she spends two weeks at a religious medical community in Germany. The simple, almost spartan lifestyle appealed to her. She felt confirmed in her calling as a nurse.

But when she returned home, her mother and sister called her ambition selfish and said they needed her.

The rest of the story tells her inward struggles and her family’s eventual agreement to let her pursue her calling. A brief few paragraphs at the end tell of her accomplishments as well as a scene at the beginning when she meets with Queen Victoria.

This audiobook was narrated by Cynthia Erivo, who did a great job except for speaking a little too quietly sometimes.

I thought this story was very good. Mrs. Henry portrays Florence as a little too “Woe is me,” but then, she would have been greatly frustrated at being expected to fritter away her life in idle pastimes when she wanted to be useful.

The is the second book of Henry’s in which she compares mountains or hills to a resting woman’s breasts. I don’t see any need to inject a sensual element into such descriptions. It made a little more sense for Joy Davidman in Becoming Mrs. Lewis, but it doesn’t seem like Florence would think in those terms.

Several times, Henry has Florence referring to the Victorian era or Victorian women. I wondered if that term would have been used during Queen Victoria’s lifetime. Perhaps so. But it seems like people in later eras would have referred back to this time as Victorian rather than the people living during that time.

Henry is a gifted writer, and her books are wildly popular (the library’s waiting lists for both the print and Kindle versions of The Story She Left Behind had about thirty people each). Once Upon a Wardrobe was my favorite and had the fewest objectionable elements. Personally, though I liked the main stories in each book, I had reservations about some of the content.

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Review: The Return of the King

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The Return of the King

The Return of the King is the third in J. R. R. Tolkien’s trilogy, The Lord of the Rings.

If you’re not familiar with the story, the ring in question was created by Sauron, originally an angelic-type creature who rebelled against his creators. There were actually nine rings made, but that’s a different story. The “one ring” somehow had the power to influence those who had the other rings and would grant Sauron dominion over everyone in Middle Earth. The ring and its power could only be destroyed by being tossed back into the fires of Mordor, from which it was made.

The ring had been lost for thousands of years, but was found by Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit.

The Fellowship of the Ring told of a group of nine companions on a mission to take the ring to Mordor: Gandalf the wizard; Frodo, the designated ring-bearer and Bilbo’s nephew; Samwise Gamgee, his friend and servant; two more hobbits, Merry and Pippin; one elf, Legolas, a dwarf, Gimli; and two men, Boromir and Aragorn. Aragorn is also know as Strider and is the long-awaited heir to the throne of Gondor, though not everyone knows that at first.

The rest of FOTR and the second book, The Two Towers, tell what happened to the group on their long and dangerous journey.

At the beginning of The Return of the King, Frodo and Sam have been separated from the rest to continue their journey to Mordor. But Frodo had been captured and imprisoned. Sam braves various dangers to rescue him.

Meanwhile, Sauron has sent a great army or orcs (vile creatures) and other beings to Gondor. Gandalf and Pippin go there to warn the steward.

Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli gather help from an unusual source and Merry joins them to battle Sauron’s troups.

There are a number of subplots with the steward of Gondor and his son (Boromir, his favorite, died, and Faramir, his younger son, isn’t appreciated until almost too late); the area of Rohan with its famous riders and their joining in to help, Merry and the king of Rohan’s daughter being severely wounded, and all kinds of other things going on.

The one ring negatively affects those who have it, especially if they wear it for any length of time. The ring grants the wearer invisibility but builds a craven desire to keep it, plus awakens Sauron to its presence. Frodo is beyond weary with all he has suffered on his long journey plus the increasing influence of the ring the closer he gets to Mordor.

After the last great battle, the fellowship splits up and we see each one as he goes back to his land and people. I didn’t realize that there would be a fairly long section when the hobbits arrive back to the shire. It had been taken over by “ruffians,” and took some time and effort to set right again. The hobbits were not very adventurous folks, but Merry and Pippin had fought orcs and other evil beings. They were not about to put up with some ruffians!

Tolkien said he disliked allegory and didn’t write his saga of the rings that way. But he did feel fairy stories and myths could convey truth. It’s not hard to see Sauron as an instrument of Satan. And the king of Gondor coming into his long-awaited throne has some parallels with Christ, especially in this quote:

But when Aragorn arose all that beheld him gazed in silence, for it seemed to them that he was revealed to them now for the first time. Tall as the sea-kings of old, he stood above all that were near; ancient of days he seemed and yet in the flower of manhood; and wisdom sat upon his brow, and strength and healing were in his hands, and a light was about him (p. 121).

Some of my other favorite quotes:

Yet it is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succour of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till (p. 73).

In that hour of trial it was the love of his master that helped most to hold him firm; but also deep down in him lived still unconquered his plain hobbit-sense: he knew in the core of his heart that he was not large enough to bear such a burden, even if such visions were not a mere cheat to betray him (p. 83).

As a sweet rain will pass down a wind of spring and the sun will shine out the clearer, his tears ceased, and his laughter welled up, and laughing he sprang from his bed (p. 111).

It must often be so, Sam, when things are in danger: some one has to give them up, lose them, so that others may keep them (p. 154).

And this from the appendix: “Let us not be overthrown at the final test, who of old renounced the Shadow and the Ring. In sorrow we must go, but not in despair. Behold! we are not bound for ever to the circles of the world, and beyond them is more than memory” (p. 174).

My favorite quote of all comes when Frodo has reached the end of his strength, and Sam says, “Come, Mr. Frodo! I can’t carry [the ring] for you, but I can carry you and it as well” (p. 105).

On a side note, for many years, we avoided anything to do with witches, wizards, magic, etc., in stories and film. I had to think through those things when the LOTR films came out and the kids wanted to see them. I wrote more about that here, but I concluded most “fairy tale magic” is a different thing than the occult. Gandalf is more like a wise superhero than what we think of as a wizard. But these things require caution and discernment: I’ve seen some alarming aspects of some stories containing “magic.”

Both the audiobook (nicely read by Rob Inglis) and the Kindle version have appendixes at the back, but they are not the same. The audiobook has sections explaining the different races and their characteristics, a history of the kings, a more detailed account of Aragorn’s and Arwen’s lives and romance, a brief account of events in The Hobbit, and a few others. The Kindle ebook has “Annals of the Kings and Rulers,” family trees, a shire calendar, and information about writing and spelling in some of the languages of the book.

I read The Hobbit and the first two books of this trilogy years ago. I had started The Return of the King, but then didn’t finish it when the Peter Jackson films came out. I always meant to get back to it but never did. After I read The Silmarillion (Tolkien’s history and mythology of the world he created in these books), I thought about reading The Return of the King. I wasn’t sure I wanted to get into another lengthy foray into Middle Earth. But then I thought it might be good to read the last book while all the information in The Silmarillion was still fresh. That turned out to be true: I “got” many references that I think I would have otherwise missed.

I almost wish I had started again at The Hobbit and read all the books through. But I am sure I’ll read them again some time.

I thought it would take a little while to get back into Tolkien’s world. But it didn’t: I was caught up in it again right away.

There are many things to love about these books. Yes, they go into much more detail than if they had been written in modern times. But the older style of writing fits in with a story of ancient lore. Tolkien put so much time and thought into the stories, even inventing different languages for the different races.

But what I love most of all is the truth of human nature they contain, and the bravery, heroism, and overcoming evil as well as one’s own limits to accomplish a great quest. And the books contain a couple of sweet love stories as well.

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