Religion & Spirituality Books - Page 11

Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith

Jon Krakauer

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 729 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Jon Krakauer’s literary reputation rests on insightful chronicles of lives conducted at the outer limits. He now shifts his focus from extremes of physical adventure to extremes of religious belief within our own borders, taking readers inside isolated American communities where some 40,000 Mormon Fundamentalists still practice polygamy. Defying both civil authorities and the Mormon establishment in Salt Lake City, the renegade leaders of these Taliban-like theocracies are zealots who answer only to God.

At the core of Krakauer’s book are brothers Ron and Dan Lafferty, who insist they received a commandment from God to kill a blameless woman and her baby girl. Beginning with a meticulously researched account of this appalling double murder, Krakauer constructs a multi-layered, bone-chilling narrative of messianic delusion, polygamy, savage violence, and unyielding faith. Along the way he uncovers a shadowy offshoot of America’s fastest growing religion, and raises provocative questions about the nature of religious belief.

Christmas Jars

Jason F. Wright

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 105 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Worth the hour of your time 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This is a small book, but the story is captivating, heartwarming, and inspiring without being gag me with a straw sappy. I loved how there was a plot with twists, characters with imperfections (because I really hate a perfect character, they just aren't real) and a heart warming message that would be easily achieved by all who read it, regardless of ANYTHING. I was a little skeptical when I read that the main character's name is Hope, because that kind of sets the character up to be fabulous and perfect and sickening, but she isn't like that. She is hard working, trying to make her way in the journalist industry, meets her trials head on, but still has her flaws, tough decisions and accountability for her actions.

This probably took me an hour to read, maybe a little less, and with everything that is going on in the world, you really can afford an hour to feel like the world isn't all bad, to realize there are still good people, and remember that no good deed goes unrecognized.

Editorial Review:

Hope Jensen is a young, single woman and an aspiring newspaper writer, and when she receives a much-needed but anonymous Christmas gift, she's determined to find her benefactor. That search leads her to an unusual family with a longstanding Christmas tradition. Sensing a front-page feature article, Hope desperately wants to publish their story, but doing so would be a breach of trust. What she decides to do will change her life forever.

Dead Heat (Political Thrillers Series #5)

Joel C. Rosenberg

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 171 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

The "end"...? 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This was the first book in a long time where I actually put off reading too fast it because I didn't want it to end. I loved this book from start to "finish". I say "finish" because I keep hearing that this is the last book in the series but I hope it isn't. Joel did leave the ending open in the spirit of `The Lady or the Tiger'. This book had the classic storytelling of Joel written all over it. The pace is non-stop, the destruction is great and brutal, the enemies are satanically evil, and the "point-of-no-return" world changing events are jaw dropping!

This was a magnificent "ending" to a MAGNIFICENT SERIES!! I was wary about reading it because I didn't want to be hit in the face with "Jesus said this" and "Jesus said that" but Joel didn't do that. Does this series have an obvious religious message? Absolutely. And I'm ok with that; I just don't like being preached at. In `The Ezekiel Option' we find out that God destroys Israel's enemies and thus starts the prophecy about the end of the world. `The Copper Scroll' continues this and in this book I was wondering how in the world he would write it and how it would "end". This was a very, very good read but as I got to the end I was wondering how it would wrap up. There was so much story left and I was running out of pages!! That is why I'm hoping that this is NOT the end of the series because...well... I don't want it to be! :-)

I loved how Joel put pieces of the apocalypse in the story and you literally have to go back and re-read it because you're like "huh?, what?". It must have taken me as long to read the final few chapters as it did the whole book because of everything that was going on and because of the magnitude of everything going on. But Joel has a way of writing so that the story isn't crowded with all the action and angles. This book is very, very sad because some of my friends that have been with me since book #1 have some very bad things happen to them and people around them. Joel tells the story and does not spare anyone when the story called for it. This book is also pretty brutal and cut-throat. The violence is high but not gratuitous. The bloodshed is here but it's doesn't drive the story.

This is Joel's fictional account of the last days based on teachings that have been around for over 2,000 years and it's equally fascinating and frightening. Religious or not this series needs to be on your list.

Editorial Review:

For Jon and Erin Bennett, the world seems to be spinning dangerously out of control. A new dictator is rising in Iraq. China is making threatening new moves toward Taiwan. North Korean forces appear ready to strike south. Israel is feverishly trying to complete the Third Temple. Oil prices are surging. And in the wake of an horrific war in the Middle East, President James MacPherson's second term is coming to an end. Now the battle to succeed him is heating up into one of the most fiercely contested presidential elections in American history, and the Bennetts realize the stakes could not be higher. Who will lead a bitterly divided country over the next four years? What can the U.S. do to shape the new world order? And just what role--if any--does the U.S. play in the last days? As the presidential campaign narrows into a dead heat, the Secret Service learns of a catastrophic plot to assassinate one of the candidates--but which one, and can the terrorists be stopped in time?

The Five Love Languages of Children

Gary Chapman

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 58 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

I'll admit I was skeptical 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Ordinarily, the follow-on books are kind of flat. The Elizabeth George "After God's Own Heart" books seemed this way, although the first one, "A Woman After God's Own Heart" was excellent.

I was expecting the same sort of flatness from this book. I found a lot to apply in the original Love Languages book, and I'm still sneaking it into my marriage. It's one thing to tell your Quality-Time husband that you are a TOUCH wife, and a whole different thing to gently convince him to touch touch touch touch touch touch. It has brought me to a whole new level of positive reinforcement.

So I figured this one for kids would be a couple of hundred pages of telling parents that kids need *every* love language. And indeed, there was some of that.

But the book was full of clues for how to recognize your child's love language, how it may change over time, and how to communicate.

The book offered a lot. I thought the chapters on conflict were very worthwhile, and even on how to discipline in the different love languages. My kids are so different that I needed all the pointers I could get. And surprise -- thinking about love languages across generations has helped me communicate better with my parents, too -- off to a good start, anyway.

I read this 6 months ago. My eldest started talking more, to me and to other people, NOTICEABLY more, and it's bringing me some relief from one of my biggest parenting worries -- how remote this child has been. That has been the biggest and most immediate change in our family recently, and I can trace it to this book.

I would recommend you read the first Love Languages book first, and then this one to think specifically about your kids.

Oh, and for moms, definitely read A Woman After God's Own Heart by Elizabeth George. It's family-enhancing.

Editorial Review:

Two Christian parenting educators describe five ways we can connect with our children: physical touch, quality time, words of affirmation, gifts, and acts of service. These initiatives, when geared to the preferences of each child, make them feel loved and, thus, more receptive to guidance and redirection when needed. The authors are inspiring writers whose examples and quotes from children and parents are instructive. Gary Chapman's uplifting reading makes the effort that some of these approaches will require seem natural and right. This is a program that helps listeners make their children central in their lives and that provides them with specific tools to stay connected.

The Prince

Niccolo Machiavelli

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 284 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

A Poor Translation 2 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

This review was submitted on the web page presenting Mansfield's translation.

I have been using Wootton's translation of The Prince in a university program where the texts are set by the faculty. This year we changed to the Mansfield translation and I've requested that we return to Wootton's.

In his attempt to provide an "accurate" translation of the Italian, Mansfield made the mistake of many translators in overlooking the clarity of his English prose.

For example, where Wootton writes, "he increased the strength of one of the most powerful Italian states," Mansfield writes, "he . . . increased the power of a power in Italy." (15) There are other odd uses of diction in Mansfield, for example, where Wootton speaks of a "founder," Mansfield uses the word "introducer." (23) And though concise in places, Mansfield has a tendency to write long sentences, perhaps in imitation of the Italian, where Wootton is more to the point.

If you're still not convinced, compare the following passages:

Wootton: "So, too, with those who, having been private citizens, were made emperors of Rome because they had corrupted the soldiers. Such rulers are entirely dependent on the goodwill and good fortune of whoever has given them power. Good will and good fortune are totally unreliable and capricious."

Mansfield: ". . . as also those emperors were made who from private individual [sic] attained the empire through corrupting soldiers. These persons rest simply on the will and fortune of whoever has given a state to them, which are two very inconstant and unstable things."

Editorial Review:

"This political science classic still has the power to shock, just as it did when first published almost five hundred years ago. Fritz Weaver reads in an appropriately detached manner, for it is this air of objectivity regarding the ruthless pursuit of political power that has made Machiavelli's name synonymous with evil. This quality recording begins and ends with ceremonial music, which sets the right tone for a treatise directed to royalty.

A masterpiece of prophecy, psychological insight, and forceful prose, The Prince is a classic of realpolitik, stunningly relevant to our times.

Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, a Young Man, and Life's Greatest Lesson

Mitch Albom

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2121 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

It’s been ten years since Mitch Albom first shared the wisdom of Morrie Schwartz with the world. Now–twelve million copies later–in a new afterword, Mitch Albom reflects again on the meaning of Morrie’s life lessons and the gentle, irrevocable impact of their Tuesday sessions all those years ago. . .

_____

Maybe it was a grandparent, or a teacher, or a colleague. Someone older, patient and wise, who understood you when you were young and searching, helped you see the world as a more profound place, gave you sound advice to help you make your way through it.

For Mitch Albom, that person was Morrie Schwartz, his college professor from nearly twenty years ago.

Maybe, like Mitch, you lost track of this mentor as you made your way, and the insights faded, and the world seemed colder. Wouldn't you like to see that person again, ask the bigger questions that still haunt you, receive wisdom for your busy life today the way you once did when you were younger?

Mitch Albom had that second chance. He rediscovered Morrie in the last months of the older man's life. Knowing he was dying, Morrie visited with Mitch in his study every Tuesday, just as they used to back in college. Their rekindled relationship turned into one final “class”: lessons in how to live.

Tuesdays with Morrie is a magical chronicle of their time together, through which Mitch shares Morrie's lasting gift with the world.

The Artist's Way

Julia Cameron

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 281 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

brilliant! a great guide book 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Julia Cameron's book was the reason I've been able to create plays, acting jobs! I can only say this: IT WORKS! I'm living proof! For anyone who is blocked, these tools used over years creates a strong powerful base upon which to create work!The Green Room

This book is the best friend you can ever have 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Just get it.

The first chapter as I remember was a little bit boring for me and when I start complaining to my friend, she told me :"Just read it."
And that was the best advice she ever gave me.
I gained a lot of self-confidence as an artist and person, came to conclusion in a lot of things that bothered me for a long time, it truly gave me a peace of mind.

So, for you, my friend:"Just ge-e-et it".

The Artist's Way 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This is my second copy of this book. I've worn one out already. I cannot recommend this book strongly enough. It is life altering!

A must read for anyone interested in being more creative, just being creative or living life to the fullest 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I can't even explain how much change I've made in my life since reading this book. Julia Cameron says things that every artist wants to hear. The main things I've taken from this book are Morning Pages, Artist Dates and going on walks - those three simple things have totally centered me. I wasn't even necessarily diligent with all the other worksheets.

Even if you don't care to increase your creativity, it will help anyone to live life!

Editorial Review:

NOW AVAILABLE _ Digitally remastered, and on CD for the first time

Read by the author

Shadow of the Wind

Carlos Ruiz Zafon

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 516 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Fantastic read! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I loved this book. Have recommended it to a number of my friends who also loved it!

The Shadow of the Wind 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This is a wonderful novel built in a candid and poetic rithm that almost reinvents the art to tell a story. If you are that kind of people that sometimes miss old good books, this is a mordern one that for sure it will make you feel rewarded. Take your time very consciouly, after the first few chapters, I dare you are able to give it up and then...enjoy the surprising story end.

Editorial Review:

Barcelona, 1945—A great world city lies shrouded in secrets after the war, and a boy mourning the loss of his mother finds solace in his love for an extraordinary book called The Shadow of the Wind, by an author named Julian Carax. When the boy searches for Carax’s other books, it begins to dawn on him, to his horror, that someone has been systematically destroying every copy of every book the man has ever written. Soon the boy realizes that The Shadow of the Wind is as dangerous to own as it is impossible to forget, for the mystery of its author’s identity holds the key to an epic story of murder, madness, and doomed love that someone will go to any lengths to keep secret.

Ask and It Is Given - Part 1: The Law of Attraction (Ask and It Is Given)

Esther Hicks, Jerry Hicks

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 444 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Feeling good is all that matters! 1 out of 5 stars.
2 of 3 people found this review helpful.

This is yet another book that professes to know the way to riches. Good news! it's easy, I mean it is REALLY easy. Basically; think positive, visualize the 'things' you want, get your vibration all lined up and you're done.

Then add some selfishness, which is important and the more the better! In case you think that the world may need people who actually have empathy and compassion, they cover that one. Simply believe that all those poor sots suffering and disabled choose their lot in life. Got it? OK, let's focus back to feeling good!!!

The two 'leaders' are former Amway sales people (Source: NY TIMES ARTICLE)
This manifesting of success DOES WORK - it works for the people who convince people that it works.

Their law of attraction is true-ish. First, it's not a law. Second it is a small piece of the whole. It's like believing that eating vegetables is the way to health, which is correct, but so are many things IN CONJUNCTION. With this book, it's just vegetables or just LOA and that's all.

Shallow with tunnel vision and a desperate need to believe that things will be easy? Then this is the book for you!

Editorial Review:

Ask and It Is Given, by Esther and Jerry Hicks, which presents the teachings of the nonphysical entity Abraham, will help you learn how to manifest your desires so that you’re living the joyous and fulfilling life you deserve.

As you listen, you’ll come to understand how the Universal laws that govern your time/space reality influence your relationships, health issues, finances, career concerns, and more. It’s your birthright to live a life filled with everything that is good—and this CD set will show you how to make it so in every way!

Acedia & Me: A Marriage, Monks, and a Writer's Life

Kathleen Norris

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 37 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Kathleen Norris’s masterpiece: a personal and moving memoir that resurrects the ancient term acedia, or soul-weariness, and brilliantly explores its relevancy to the modern individual and culture.

Kathleen Norris had written several much loved books, yet she couldn’t drag herself out of bed in the morning, couldn’t summon the energy for daily tasks. Even as she struggled, Norris recognized her familiar battle with acedia. She had discovered the word in an early Church text when she was in her thirties. Having endured times of deep soul-weariness since she was a teenager, she immediately recognized that this passage described her affliction: sinking into a state of being unable to care. Fascinated by this “noonday demon,” so familiar to those in the early and medieval Church, Norris read intensively and knew she must restore this forgotten but utterly relevant and important concept to the modern world’s vernacular.

Like Norris’s bestselling The Cloister Walk, Acedia & me is part memoir and part meditation. As in her bestselling Amazing Grace, here Norris explicates and demystifies a spiritual concept, exploring acedia through the geography of her life as a writer; her marriage and the challenges of commitment in the midst of grave illness; and her keen interest in the monastic tradition. Unlike her earlier books, this one features a poignant narrative throughout of Norris’s and her husband’s bouts with acedia and its clinical cousin, depression. Moreover, her analysis of acedia reveals its burden not just on individuals but on whole societies— and that the “restless boredom, frantic escapism, commitment phobia, and enervating despair that we struggle with today are the ancient demon of acedia in modern dress.”

An examination of acedia in the light of theology, psychology, monastic spirituality, the healing powers of religious practice, and Norris’s own experience, Acedia & me is both intimate and historically sweeping, brimming with exasperation and reverence, sometimes funny, often provocative, and always important.