The Printer and the Preacher by Randy Petersen

Subtitled “Ben Franklin, George Whitefield, and the Surprising Friendship that Invented America”, the biography written by Randy Petersen chronicles the lives and influence of two great men. Franklin, of course, is renowned. Whitefield, America’s first great evangelist, is not nearly as well known. Petersen effectively narrates the early years of both subjects and then demonstrates how their lives intertwined, largely due to the fact that Franklin published Whitefield’s sermons. The two men became great friends who influenced and even shaped America as she became a nation. For the most part, the book is well written, but one jarring habit of the author’s will, in my opinion, keep this book from being timeless and classic: Petersen occasionally uses current jargon which is too casual. For example, in talking about Whitefield, Petersen said, “George suddenly had to share his mother’s attention with a new, strange man. That would have been difficult even if Capel Longden turned out to be a good guy.” Chapter titles often use direct or oblique references to modern culture: “Boy, Interrupted”, “Georgia on My Mind”, and “Love, Maybe” were sprinkled among the timeless language used for other chapter titles, such as “The Education of George Whitefield,” “A Better Place”, and “The Awakeners”. This book was interesting, taught me much about Franklin, and introduced me to Whitefield. I would recommend it. I received this book for free in exchange for my unbiased reviewed through the Thomas Nelson BookSneeze Program.

Soul Friends by Dr. Leslie Parrott

This book said little about friends but much about the journey, about lessons learned from daily incidents. Occasionally arose the topic of the importance of friends, their support, comfort and influence. A better name for the book might have been “Soul Quest,” as the book’s theme seems to be about traveling well through life, mining all that experiences offer to hearts and souls. That said, it was a thought-provoking book about being mindful and intentional in present circumstances, having eyes to see and an open heart, willing hands, and dedicated mind to meet the needs of those around us, even and especially if the people and needs are unconventional. “Soul Friends” is an interesting, well written and personal book, revealing much about the author’s life. I would recommend it to anyone wishing to examine how they spend their time, energy and resources. I received this book for free in exchange for my unbiased review through the Thomas Nelson BookSneeze Program.

Loved Back to Life by Sheila Walsh

The author writes openly about the events which led to her hospitalization on a psychiatric ward while hosting The 700 Club in the 1990s. She talks in depth about her mental and emotional state, laying out the thoughts and feelings which brought her to a place where she felt she could not go on. Sheila Walsh describes the helping process provided at the hospital and beyond that brought insight and healing. She talks about her life after the hospital, how she felt and what she did. In chronological order, she lays out the events that brought her forward from major mental illness to fully functioning wife, mother, and women’s ministry leader. Her narration ends mainly in the late 1990s, with a nod toward the Women of Faith ministry she has had since then. The book also provides encouragement to others suffering from depression. It is honest and hopeful. Scripture is referenced often, and biblical principles are emphasized throughout the book. This book was interesting and encouraging. I would recommend it to anyone interested in Sheila Walsh or depression. It is a book I will reread because it is so well written. I received this book for free in exchange for my unbiased review through the Thomas Nelson BookSneeze Program.

The Daniel Plan by Rick Warren, Daniel Amen and Mark Hyman

If you are looking to go from being physically unhealthy to physical health, you probably can find no better book than this to be your guide. It seems sound in its approach and written to gear one toward success. It approaches the subject with a five-pronged approach: faith, food, fitness, focus, and friends, encouraging you in its core chapters to consider each of those factors in becoming successful. Faith means relying on God’s power, not your own willpower, for the changes you seek. One of the longest chapters focuses on food. Simply put, The Daniel Plan, espouses choosing the bulk of your diet from things that grow, avoiding processed and overprocessed foods. This is, on its face, an easy diet to follow. The challenge is that it is so countercultural that it will involve, for most people, a major shift. Fitness is an important component to health, and this book offers a wide range of activity in order to make exercise a natural part of one’s life. Focus concerns your mental attitude, which is to be truth-based, rooted in the Word of God. Friends, this book says, are essential to success in the fight for physical health. Likeminded people will help keep you on track. Biblical principles are sprinkled throughout this book, which presents both the theoretical and practical. It is hard for me to think of a downside to reading and implementing the principles laid out in this book. More than ten years ago, I used this approach to lose weight and ward off impending diabetes. To my knowledge, it was not called The Daniel Plan yet, but it was plant based and avoided processed foods, and it worked and continues to work. I received this book for free in exchange for my unbiased review through the Thomas Nelson BookSneeze Program.

Leon On Me by Anne Marie Miller

“Lean on Me,” subtitled “Finding Intentional, Vulnerable and Consistent Community,” is badly misnamed. It should have been named, “Let Me Lean on You, How I Formed a Support Group with Whom I Was Intentional, Vulnerable and Consistent.” It is really only about the author’s pursuit and finding of her own community, presented as people on whom she called when she needed support; it was not said to be a give-and-take group. Unfortunately for the reader, on page 150 is this disclaimer: “People who like very practical things and how-to guides and instructions for living in better community may be frustrated at this memoir.” That was an understatement. So if you are looking for memoir about how a hand-picked group of people helped a young woman through a trying time, giving her encouragement and support of every kind, challenging her thinking and feelings, and helping her to health and wholeness, then this book is for you. This book chronicles in great detail the author’s thoughts and feelings, sometimes repetitively. The author went through a traumatic divorce and relocated, then realized she was in a bad place emotionally. She called on friends to support her, and they promised to do that. She moved in with an older couple, longtime friends of hers, and began to heal. Here’s a sample of this writer’s style, from page 92: “Healing is disorganized and chaotic and unpredictable. Even after my time in Lincoln, I would feel happy and invincible and whole and my elated heart would sing through my skin. There are the days where I put on a little extra makeup or wore a new shirt or painted my toenails because everything felt right on the inside and somehow I believed my new pink pedicure was representative of the lightness I felt.” First, the reader must tolerate writing that breaks the rules we learned in grammar school, using not enough commas but too many “and”s and “or”s, and, second, be able to stomach all the personal details the author thinks communicate her state of mind with pseudo-articulate phrases such as “my elated heart would sing through my skin” (whatever that means). Also, the word “I” occurs so many times your eyes and even your ears weary of it. Here’s a sample: “I didn’t want to die, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to live. I went to Dose, the coffee shop down the road from my house, and before I ordered, I would walk back to my car in tears. I craved isolation.” I would recommend this book only to those who love the author, as only they would be fascinated by every event and narrative, able to overlook the many annoyances to which the objective reader is subjected with regard to both content and style. I received this book for free in exchange for my unbiased review through the Thomas Nelson BookSneeze Program.

52 Little Lessons from Les Miserables by Bob Welch

This well-written book does an excellent job of personalizing the author's insights into Victor Hugo's masterful novel. If you enjoy the novel, the musical, and/or the 2012 film version, there is enough of each reflected in this book that you will come away thinking about the deep issues of the story could affect you. If you have not read the novel or seen the musical or movie, no matter. Bob Welch starts his book by telling the story in five short pages, no small feat. Then in chapters that are two to four pages long, the author thoughtfully gleans from various scenes a lesson and a challenge, sometimes adding something from his own experience that drives the point home. Some of the challenges concern our behavior, such as doing good unnoticed, and others ask us to consider things deeply, such as whether something is robbing us of our soul. If you are anywhere on the spectrum of being curious about or wholeheartedly loving Les Miserables, this book is a great companion to the novel, the musical or the movie. I received this book for free in exchange for my unbiased review through the Thomas Nelson BookSneeze Program.

Move On by Vicki Courtney

The bottom-line point of this book is that God's mercy comes to meet you in your situation, whatever it may be; and everyone needs mercy. The book's message starts with getting real with yourself, God and others--telling the truth about who you are and where you are. So far, so good. The author then veers off into the topic of how we are to take God's mercy to others, as we are said to see others in one of two groups: Us and Them. We are encouraged to evaluate how we are part of the divide and how we can be part of the bridge. Vicki Courtney comes back to the topic of receiving God's mercy by understanding deeply that Christ paid for ALL of our sins and addresses allowing mercy to reach our unresolved shame, encouraging us to share our burdens with a few trusted others in order to shed light on our darkness. The author then veers off again into the topic of legalism and how we shouldn't impose our standards on others, an intense chapter that parallels the one on Us and Them. The book talks about the need for approval with a giant acknowledgement of how many females have come to use social media to measure their worth. One chapter is about, in a word, idolatry. This is an exceptional chapter, written very thoughtfully. The last couple of chapters end with owning up to the fact that we sin and encourages us to fall forward, not down. The author makes the excellent point that if Christians identify themselves as sinners saved by grace, the emphasis is on sin. If Christians see that the Bible says they are saints who sin, the focus will be on pursuing holiness. For the most part, I found this book challenging and thought provoking. It used the Bible, sometimes more effectively than others. The chapters on Us and Them and on legalism were, however, jarring. They both addressed how we can bring mercy to others and so did not fit with the flow of the book. I also found some of the author's illustrations too specific. For example, she used a conversation with a former houseguest as an illustration of legalism, and a friend's daughter's suitemate as an illustration of shame. It seems to me it would be easy for certain people in the author's circle to pinpoint themselves or others in these illustrations. I don't know that I would recommend this book to others. At this point, the things that stood out to me were not the positive aspects of the book; perhaps if the things that were jarring about the book fade, that will change. I received this book for free in exchange for my unbiased review through the Thomas Nelson BookSneeze Program.