book review Archives

Beginnings: Understanding How We Experience the New Birth

Conversion as a Process Author: Stephen Smallman As part of the C.S. Lewis Institute’s Fellowship program, the month of July was dedicated to understanding true conversion and what it is. One of our assigned readings was Stephen Smallman’s Beginnings: Understanding How We Experience the New Birth. Throughout Beginnings, Smallman examines the misnomer of conversion as a singular event: a once and done experience. Traditionally, in Christian culture, conversion is seen as a literal come-to-Jesus moment, usually a grand event, brought on by some sort of action, such as saying a prayer. But, Smallman argues, this is selling conversion short. Conversion is [...]

Frances Carden2023-11-01T15:44:01-07:00November 1st, 2023|Tags: book review, Christian, conversion, nonfiction, read, reading|

Vessel, The

Pagan Rituals, Creepy Old Ladies, and Toxic Relationships Author: Adam Nevill Jess McMachen is attempting to move on with her life, to escape her abusive ex-husband, Tony, and to raise her daughter, Izzy, in a safe environment. It’s nearly impossible. Between the demands of a new job – her last chance job – caring for a strange old woman (Flo) who has violent fits, attempting to keep Tony away from their impressionable daughter, and finding a new place to live, Jess is overwhelmed. She’s also having disturbing dreams lately, surrounded as she is by Flo’s decaying house with its dusty relics [...]

Frances Carden2023-10-31T16:13:06-07:00October 31st, 2023|Tags: book review, horror, read, reading|

Nettle & Bone

A Dark, Magical Quest Author: T. Kingfisher Princess Marra is stuck in a convent when she becomes aware of a hideous secret; her elder sister, the one who hates her, is trapped in an abusive marriage. She was married for politics, to secure the peace and safety of the family’s tiny port-side kingdom. She has no chance of escape, except through death, and that will come soon enough if the evil prince continues to have his way unchecked. He’s killed wives before, after all, and children. Once Marra’s sister finally produces an heir that lives, her own life is forfeit. It’s [...]

Frances Carden2023-10-29T11:03:54-07:00October 29th, 2023|Tags: book review, fantasy, horror, read, reading|