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shelfreflectionofficial's Reviews (844)
Fast-paced psychological thriller. Which woman is the good liar? McKenzie gives clues along the way and I wouldn’t say the ending shocked me- I had my suspicions- but it was still a great entertaining read. For the most part, she writes believable characters with realistic dialogue. (Minus the 3 year olds- having a two year old I think they should have been able to speak better, but I digress) It was a unique plot line that actually brought up some thought provoking hypotheticals- something I enjoy discussing with my husband. I wouldn’t say the characters were likable, but the story was intriguing and worth the read! Now, having read two of her books I think I’ll pick up another one at some point. She has earned her place on my To-read shelf.
See more of my reviews at www.shelfreflection.com!
See more of my reviews at www.shelfreflection.com!
"He was a man of black and white. And she was color. All the color he had."
I loved this story. The tender, comfortable, simple, and fierce love of a man who is battling loss. I really enjoyed the writing style, it was beautiful and humorous. I also appreciated that the author didn't draw out the story unnecessarily as some writers do. It was a fairly fast read and it was pleasantly enough.
See more of my reviews at www.shelfreflection.com!
I loved this story. The tender, comfortable, simple, and fierce love of a man who is battling loss. I really enjoyed the writing style, it was beautiful and humorous. I also appreciated that the author didn't draw out the story unnecessarily as some writers do. It was a fairly fast read and it was pleasantly enough.
See more of my reviews at www.shelfreflection.com!
Highly recommend! Very fast and easy read with great things to say, especially for young people who are constantly asked what they're going to do with their lives. It’s become our tradition to give this book to high school grads who so often face anxiety about the big decisions in their futures.
It's a freeing book that reassures you that you don't really have to have a plan- you just have to get off your butt, make a decision, and do something.
I’m about as indecisive as they come. I like to analyze all the data, consider all the options, and make the best choice. But that often causes paralysis. If we live our lives like this we often find ourselves not doing much because we don’t want to choose wrong, or make a mistake, or do something God doesn’t want us to.
So many of life’s choices are hard to determine a “right” choice because they aren’t necessarily ‘moral’ choices: what school to go to, what career to pursue, where to move, whether/when/who to marry, how to spend money, where to go to church?, etc.
It is biblical to desire to follow God’s will, but are we questioning ourselves into inaction?
“Too many of us have passed off our instability, inconsistency, and endless self-exploration as ‘looking for God’s will,’ as if not making up our minds and meandering through life were marks of spiritual sensitivity.”
‘God’s will’ has become somewhat an enigma of a phrase in Christian circles. Kevin DeYoung differentiates a few ‘sides’ of this capturing the tension of God’s soveriengty and human responsibility: the decree and the desire of God’s will.. Though to flesh it out is out of the scope of this book, he says, “If the will of decree is how things are, the will of desire is how things ought to be… Both sides of God’s will are in Scripture. God’s will of decree—what he has predetermined from eternity past—cannot be thwarted. God’s will of desire— the way He wants us to live—can be disregarded.”
So is it up to us to decipher this mysterious ‘will’ so that God is not disappointed with the lives we live? DeYoung says, “Yes, God has a specific plan for our lives. And yes, we can be assured that He works things for our good in Christ Jesus. And yes, looking back we will often be able to trace God’s hand in bringing us to where we are. But while we are free to ask God for wisdom, He does not burden us with the task of divining His will of direction for our lives ahead of time.”
He talks about reasons we’re obsessed with finding out what God’s direction of our lives, why it’s wrong, and what it should be. He highlights the dangers of laziness and of terminology that could take away accountability in our decision making. He affirms the importance of prayer and seeking God’s guidance as we make choices, touching on discerning God’s voice from ‘intuition’, and how to properly utilize wisdom.
And then, because work and marriage tend to be the two biggest questions, the last chapter is devoted to addressing those specifically.
Full of Scripture, this is the best, concise look at God’s will and how we can free ourselves from seeking a “perfect” life and trust God with all of our decisions, knowing we can follow God’s desire for our life wherever we are.
“So go marry someone, provided you’re equally yoked and you actually like being with each other. Go get a job, provided it’s not wicked. Go live somewhere in something with somebody or nobody. But put aside the passivity and the quest for complete fulfillment and the perfectionism and the preoccupation with the future, and for God’s sake start making some decisions in your life. Don’t wait for the liver-shiver. If you are seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, you will be in God’s will, so just go out and do something.”
“The only chains God wants us to wear are the chains of righteousness—not the chains of hopeless subjectivism, not the shackles of risk-free living, not the fetters of horoscope decision making— just the chains befitting a bond servant of Christ Jesus. Die to self. Live for Christ. And then do what you want, and go where you want, for God’s glory.”
See more of my reviews at www.shelfreflection.com!
It's a freeing book that reassures you that you don't really have to have a plan- you just have to get off your butt, make a decision, and do something.
I’m about as indecisive as they come. I like to analyze all the data, consider all the options, and make the best choice. But that often causes paralysis. If we live our lives like this we often find ourselves not doing much because we don’t want to choose wrong, or make a mistake, or do something God doesn’t want us to.
So many of life’s choices are hard to determine a “right” choice because they aren’t necessarily ‘moral’ choices: what school to go to, what career to pursue, where to move, whether/when/who to marry, how to spend money, where to go to church?, etc.
It is biblical to desire to follow God’s will, but are we questioning ourselves into inaction?
“Too many of us have passed off our instability, inconsistency, and endless self-exploration as ‘looking for God’s will,’ as if not making up our minds and meandering through life were marks of spiritual sensitivity.”
‘God’s will’ has become somewhat an enigma of a phrase in Christian circles. Kevin DeYoung differentiates a few ‘sides’ of this capturing the tension of God’s soveriengty and human responsibility: the decree and the desire of God’s will.. Though to flesh it out is out of the scope of this book, he says, “If the will of decree is how things are, the will of desire is how things ought to be… Both sides of God’s will are in Scripture. God’s will of decree—what he has predetermined from eternity past—cannot be thwarted. God’s will of desire— the way He wants us to live—can be disregarded.”
So is it up to us to decipher this mysterious ‘will’ so that God is not disappointed with the lives we live? DeYoung says, “Yes, God has a specific plan for our lives. And yes, we can be assured that He works things for our good in Christ Jesus. And yes, looking back we will often be able to trace God’s hand in bringing us to where we are. But while we are free to ask God for wisdom, He does not burden us with the task of divining His will of direction for our lives ahead of time.”
He talks about reasons we’re obsessed with finding out what God’s direction of our lives, why it’s wrong, and what it should be. He highlights the dangers of laziness and of terminology that could take away accountability in our decision making. He affirms the importance of prayer and seeking God’s guidance as we make choices, touching on discerning God’s voice from ‘intuition’, and how to properly utilize wisdom.
And then, because work and marriage tend to be the two biggest questions, the last chapter is devoted to addressing those specifically.
Full of Scripture, this is the best, concise look at God’s will and how we can free ourselves from seeking a “perfect” life and trust God with all of our decisions, knowing we can follow God’s desire for our life wherever we are.
“So go marry someone, provided you’re equally yoked and you actually like being with each other. Go get a job, provided it’s not wicked. Go live somewhere in something with somebody or nobody. But put aside the passivity and the quest for complete fulfillment and the perfectionism and the preoccupation with the future, and for God’s sake start making some decisions in your life. Don’t wait for the liver-shiver. If you are seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, you will be in God’s will, so just go out and do something.”
“The only chains God wants us to wear are the chains of righteousness—not the chains of hopeless subjectivism, not the shackles of risk-free living, not the fetters of horoscope decision making— just the chains befitting a bond servant of Christ Jesus. Die to self. Live for Christ. And then do what you want, and go where you want, for God’s glory.”
See more of my reviews at www.shelfreflection.com!
I really liked this book, but it is a long and dense read. I was ready for it to be over about halfway through though as it felt repetitive.
It was a well-researched book rich with Scripture and quotations from people and other books.
I gained a lot from reading this and will be a great reference in the future, but I think I would have had the same opinion and review if it had been shorter and more condensed.
A lot of good insights to happiness and how the Bible uses that word and defines it versus how culture or even the church uses and defines it.
It answers questions like- What’s the difference between happiness and joy? Is God happy? Is it okay to find pleasure in earthly things? How can we be happy when there is so much pain and sin in the world? Is pleasure an idol?
Here, feast your eyes!:
“Celebration and gladness of heart have characterized the church, including the suffering church, throughout history. Scripturally, the culture of God's people is one of joy, happiness, gratitude, eating and drinking, singing and dancing, and making music. It's not the people who know God who have reason to be miserable- it's those who don't. When our face to the world is one of anger, misery, shame, cowardice, or defensiveness, the gospel we speak of doesn't appear to be the good news of happiness. And we shouldn't be surprised if people, both outside and inside the church, aren't attracted to it. Why should they be?”
“...we're right to oppose the superficial self-centered happiness of prosperity theology. But we're wrong to suppose that God doesn't care about our happines.”
“Anyone who has tasted rotten fruit is right to object to rottenness. But they're wrong to object to fruit itself! There's good fruit and bad fruit. There's righteous happiness and sinful happiness.”
“Those who say 'It's my turn to be happy now' can rationalize nearly any sin.”
“John Piper writes, ‘If you have nice little categories for 'joy is what Christians have' and 'happiness is what the world has' you can scrap those when you go to the Bible, because the Bible is indiscriminate in its uses of the language of happiness and joy and contentment and satisfaction.’”
“God created not only our minds but also our hearts. Sure, emotions can be manipulated, but so can intellects. God designed us to have emotions, and he doesn't want us to shun or disregard them. “
“To declare joy sacred and happiness secular closes the door to dialogue with unbelievers.”
“If we buy into, even subconsciously, the misguided perspective that bodies, the Earth, material things, and anything 'secular' are automatically unspiritual, we will inevitably reject or spiritualize any biblical revelation about bodily resurrection or finding joy in God's physical creation.”
"Accepting Jesus is not just adding Jesus. It is also subtracting the idols." - Ray Ortlund
“Tim Keller says, ‘to live for anything else but God leads to breakdown and decay. When a fish leaves the water, which he was built for, he is not free, but dead. Worshiping other things...cannot deliver satisfaction, because they were never meant to be 'gods.' They were never meant to replace God.’”
Puritan Jeremiah Burroughs spoke about the futility of finding happiness in anything other than God: "That is just as if a man were hungry, and to satisfy his craving stomach he should gape and hold open his mouth to take in the wind, and then should think that the reason why he is not satisfied is because he has not got enough of the wind; no, the reason is because the thing is not suitable to a craving stomach."
“It's fine for me to say that my wife, my children, my grandchildren, and my friends are joys if I remember that God made them and works through them to bring me happiness. They're not lesser joys to me, but greater ones- precisely because I know whom these gifts come from!”
J.R.R Tolkien put it beautifully in the Fellowship of the Ring: "The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places, but still there is much that is fair, and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater."
“If we see God as happy, suddenly the command for us to "find your joy in him at all times" (Philippians 4:4) makes sense. God is saying, in essence, "Be as I am." Paralleling "Be holy because I am holy" (1 Peter 1:16), the answer to the question 'Why should God's children be happy?' is 'Because our Father is happy.'“
“The logic is that since people are full of sin, God must be full of unhappiness. But this logic begins in the wrong place- with ourselves. We flatter ourselves by imagining we're the primary source of God's happiness, tilting him one way or the other by what we think, do, and say…”
“As believers we need to laugh a great deal more and a great deal less: more at ourselves and the incongruities of life, and less at immorality and mockery of what pleases God.”
“If you believe in the God of the Bible, if you've placed your faith in Jesus Christ as your Redeemer, then the following things are true: The price for your happiness has been paid; The basis for your happiness is secure; The resources for your happiness are provided daily; The assurance of your eternal happiness is absolute, providing an objective reason for your happiness today.”
“Happiness researchers have found that circumstances can contribute about 10 percent to our happiness...internal makeup, including genetic factors and temperament can account for 50 percent...final 40 percent is entirely within our control: our choices, behaviors, thoughts… God is sovereign over circumstances, genetics, background, and temperaments. So even the 60 percent of happiness factors we can't change are used by God to accomplish his purpose. And the 40 percent under our control are subject to the Holy Spirit's influence.”
“We should be wary of trendy reinterpretation of Scripture that just happen to correspond with popular culture's latest ideas. Culture, with its always- changing opinions, is not worthy of our trust.”
Spurgeon said, "There is nothing in the Law of God that will rob you of happiness- it only denies you that which would cost you sorrow."
“When duty is a joy and not a burden, love transcends obligation, and what's right becomes what's pleasing.”
“Prosperity theology isn't wrong because it values happiness. It's wrong because it tries to obtain happiness in secondary things rather than in God. It lays claim to out-of-context Scriptures while ignoring all the passages that expose its errors.”
“These two premises– that God is the source of all happiness and that sin separates us from God- lead to this conclusion: sin separates us from happiness.”
“Too often, in the name of love, we assist people in taking wrong actions which, because they are wrong, will rob them of happiness. We may congratulate ourselves for being "loving," but what good does our love do them if it encourages their self-destruction?”
John 1:16 "Grace after grace" is like the tide as we walk the shoreline. It comes in and goes out, but it's always either there or about to be.
**I received this book on a Goodreads giveaway**
See more of my reviews at www.shelfreflection.com!
It was a well-researched book rich with Scripture and quotations from people and other books.
I gained a lot from reading this and will be a great reference in the future, but I think I would have had the same opinion and review if it had been shorter and more condensed.
A lot of good insights to happiness and how the Bible uses that word and defines it versus how culture or even the church uses and defines it.
It answers questions like- What’s the difference between happiness and joy? Is God happy? Is it okay to find pleasure in earthly things? How can we be happy when there is so much pain and sin in the world? Is pleasure an idol?
Here, feast your eyes!:
“Celebration and gladness of heart have characterized the church, including the suffering church, throughout history. Scripturally, the culture of God's people is one of joy, happiness, gratitude, eating and drinking, singing and dancing, and making music. It's not the people who know God who have reason to be miserable- it's those who don't. When our face to the world is one of anger, misery, shame, cowardice, or defensiveness, the gospel we speak of doesn't appear to be the good news of happiness. And we shouldn't be surprised if people, both outside and inside the church, aren't attracted to it. Why should they be?”
“...we're right to oppose the superficial self-centered happiness of prosperity theology. But we're wrong to suppose that God doesn't care about our happines.”
“Anyone who has tasted rotten fruit is right to object to rottenness. But they're wrong to object to fruit itself! There's good fruit and bad fruit. There's righteous happiness and sinful happiness.”
“Those who say 'It's my turn to be happy now' can rationalize nearly any sin.”
“John Piper writes, ‘If you have nice little categories for 'joy is what Christians have' and 'happiness is what the world has' you can scrap those when you go to the Bible, because the Bible is indiscriminate in its uses of the language of happiness and joy and contentment and satisfaction.’”
“God created not only our minds but also our hearts. Sure, emotions can be manipulated, but so can intellects. God designed us to have emotions, and he doesn't want us to shun or disregard them. “
“To declare joy sacred and happiness secular closes the door to dialogue with unbelievers.”
“If we buy into, even subconsciously, the misguided perspective that bodies, the Earth, material things, and anything 'secular' are automatically unspiritual, we will inevitably reject or spiritualize any biblical revelation about bodily resurrection or finding joy in God's physical creation.”
"Accepting Jesus is not just adding Jesus. It is also subtracting the idols." - Ray Ortlund
“Tim Keller says, ‘to live for anything else but God leads to breakdown and decay. When a fish leaves the water, which he was built for, he is not free, but dead. Worshiping other things...cannot deliver satisfaction, because they were never meant to be 'gods.' They were never meant to replace God.’”
Puritan Jeremiah Burroughs spoke about the futility of finding happiness in anything other than God: "That is just as if a man were hungry, and to satisfy his craving stomach he should gape and hold open his mouth to take in the wind, and then should think that the reason why he is not satisfied is because he has not got enough of the wind; no, the reason is because the thing is not suitable to a craving stomach."
“It's fine for me to say that my wife, my children, my grandchildren, and my friends are joys if I remember that God made them and works through them to bring me happiness. They're not lesser joys to me, but greater ones- precisely because I know whom these gifts come from!”
J.R.R Tolkien put it beautifully in the Fellowship of the Ring: "The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places, but still there is much that is fair, and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater."
“If we see God as happy, suddenly the command for us to "find your joy in him at all times" (Philippians 4:4) makes sense. God is saying, in essence, "Be as I am." Paralleling "Be holy because I am holy" (1 Peter 1:16), the answer to the question 'Why should God's children be happy?' is 'Because our Father is happy.'“
“The logic is that since people are full of sin, God must be full of unhappiness. But this logic begins in the wrong place- with ourselves. We flatter ourselves by imagining we're the primary source of God's happiness, tilting him one way or the other by what we think, do, and say…”
“As believers we need to laugh a great deal more and a great deal less: more at ourselves and the incongruities of life, and less at immorality and mockery of what pleases God.”
“If you believe in the God of the Bible, if you've placed your faith in Jesus Christ as your Redeemer, then the following things are true: The price for your happiness has been paid; The basis for your happiness is secure; The resources for your happiness are provided daily; The assurance of your eternal happiness is absolute, providing an objective reason for your happiness today.”
“Happiness researchers have found that circumstances can contribute about 10 percent to our happiness...internal makeup, including genetic factors and temperament can account for 50 percent...final 40 percent is entirely within our control: our choices, behaviors, thoughts… God is sovereign over circumstances, genetics, background, and temperaments. So even the 60 percent of happiness factors we can't change are used by God to accomplish his purpose. And the 40 percent under our control are subject to the Holy Spirit's influence.”
“We should be wary of trendy reinterpretation of Scripture that just happen to correspond with popular culture's latest ideas. Culture, with its always- changing opinions, is not worthy of our trust.”
Spurgeon said, "There is nothing in the Law of God that will rob you of happiness- it only denies you that which would cost you sorrow."
“When duty is a joy and not a burden, love transcends obligation, and what's right becomes what's pleasing.”
“Prosperity theology isn't wrong because it values happiness. It's wrong because it tries to obtain happiness in secondary things rather than in God. It lays claim to out-of-context Scriptures while ignoring all the passages that expose its errors.”
“These two premises– that God is the source of all happiness and that sin separates us from God- lead to this conclusion: sin separates us from happiness.”
“Too often, in the name of love, we assist people in taking wrong actions which, because they are wrong, will rob them of happiness. We may congratulate ourselves for being "loving," but what good does our love do them if it encourages their self-destruction?”
John 1:16 "Grace after grace" is like the tide as we walk the shoreline. It comes in and goes out, but it's always either there or about to be.
**I received this book on a Goodreads giveaway**
See more of my reviews at www.shelfreflection.com!
Kevin DeYoung begins his book with his conclusion: “I want to convince you that the Bible makes no mistakes, can be understood, cannot be overturned, and is the most important word in your life, the most relevant thing you can read each day.” His desire is that we would all read our Bibles with the zeal of the Psalmist who wrote Psalm 119, i.e. “The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple. I open my mouth and pant, because I long for your commandments.”
Whether you’ve never read the Bible in your life, or you read it every day, this book will explain, why the Bible is clear, authoritative, relevant, and sufficient.
I grew up in a Christian home and attended a conservative Christian college. I was confronted with a lot of questions about the Bible there that I didn’t readily have answers for. After four years there, I had seen several friends, when asked hard questions or things they’d never thought about, just reject the Bible altogether or reject their faith entirely. I was disheartened by this because instead of throwing out a faith I couldn’t defend to a T, I sought the truth and I looked for answers.
Just because a question is hard or new to you, does not mean it’s never been asked before or that it doesn’t have an explanation.
This book is such a valuable resource to give you confidence in the very book that connects us with the truths of our Lord and Savior.
DeYoung is quick to clarify that ‘Taking God at His Word’ is not meant to be exhaustive— at just over 100 pages there is much more to be covered when regarding the authenticity and historicity of Scripture—and so he includes a list of 30 books in the appendix to provide you with resources to conduct a more in-depth study if you so desire.
He does not address the canonization of Scripture (how it was put together and organized) and does not discuss in detail the manuscripts, translations, authorship, or historical and archeological support for the Bible and its contents. Those can all be found within the appendixed (new word?) books.
Things he does cover include:
- What does the Bible say about itself?
- What does Jesus believe about the Bible?
- Is the Bible just myth or metaphor for a more general, abstract understanding of God’s power and how to relate to him?
- Doesn’t the Bible have discrepancies?
- What about different interpretations?
- How can we trust something written by sinful humans?
If this isn’t a reasonable and powerful passage of Scripture to defend Christianity and the Bible itself, I don’t know what is:
2 Peter 1:16-21 “For we do not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”
Many have claimed that conservative Christians believe the inspiration of Scripture means that God dictated each word to be written down and that that’s why we believe it’s infallible. However, this is not the case. “The phrase “concursive operation” is often used to describe the process of inspiration, meaning that God used the intellect, skills, and personality of fallible men to write down what was divine and infallible. The Bible is, in one sense, both a human and a divine book. But this in no way implies any fallibility in the Scriptures. The dual authorship of Scripture does not necessitate imperfection any more than the two natures of Christ mean our Savior must have sinned.”
The core of the book follows the nifty little acronym, SCAN, which is explained below (and subtitled above).
Sufficiency: The Scriptures contain everything we need for knowledge of salvation and godly living. We don’t need any new revelation from heaven.
Clarity: The saving message of Jesus Christ is plainly taught in the Scriptures and can be understood by all who have ears to hear it. We don’t need an official magisterium to tell us what the Bible means.
Authority: The last word always goes to the word of God. We must never allow the teachings of science, of human experience, or of church councils to take precedence over Scripture.
Necessity: General revelation is not enough to save us. We cannot know God savingly by means of personal experience and human reason. We need God’s word to tell us how to live, who Christ is, and how to be saved.
Or to put simply, the Bible is final, understandable, necessary, and enough.
Sufficiency keeps traditions from subverting God’s words, keeps us from adding to it, even with good intentions, and it means it’s always relevant.
Clarity doesn’t mean every single verse can be read once and instantly understood in every sense, but rather “ordinary people using ordinary means can accurately understand enough of what must be known.” DeYoung addresses some objections to clarity that propose: God is too mysterious to really understand and the Bible falls short; if the Bible was so clear, why do we still disagree on interpretations or use the Bible to justify wrong things; some parts need to be further supplemented or explained through tradition (per Catholics). He then imparts what is at stake if we compromise the clarity of Scripture.
Authority has to do with where we make our final appeal as to what is truth when it comes down to it? Tradition, our feelings, science, another book, our parents, our teachers, logic, culture, the government? Or is it the Bible?
Necessity speaks to the idea of spirituality. Many view spirituality as something within ourselves that we need to tap into, but true spirituality must be outside of ourselves. We need God’s revelation to know God and that can only be found in Scripture.
While I would still highly suggest a full reading of this short book, here are some quotes:
“The authority of God’s word resides in the written text—the words, the sentences, the paragraphs—of Scripture, not merely in our existential experience of the truth in our hearts… the inspiration of holy Scripture is an objective reality outside of us.”
“Inerrancy means the word of God always stands over us and we never stand over the word of God. When we reject inerrancy we put ourselves in judgment over God’s word. We claim the right to determine which parts of God’s revelation can be trusted and which cannot. When we deny the complete trustworthiness of the Scriptures—in its claims with regard to history; its teachings on the material world; its miracles; in the tiniest ‘jots and tittles’ of all that it affirms—then we are forced to accept one of two conclusions: either Scripture is not all from God, or God is not always dependable.”
“Scripture is enough because the work of Christ is enough. They stand or fall together.”
“No doubt, some people reject the gospel and the Bible because of genuine intellectual concerns, but just as often, I’m convinced, pride and personal prejudice are to blame. We don’t like the people teaching the Bible, and we don’t like what the Bible teaches.”
“God’s people should be testing everything against God’s word…[The Bereans (in Acts)] would accept something new—if it could be supported in the Scriptures. They would believe something controversial—if it was based in the Scripture. They were willing to follow Christ for the rest of their lives, provided they were, in the process, following the Scriptures.”
“When interpreted correctly—paying attention to the original context, considering the literary genre, thinking through authorial intent—the Bible is never wrong in what it affirms and must never be marginalized as anything less than the last word on everything it teaches.”
“We have no reason to be intimidated by difficulties and apparent discrepancies in the Bible. Many of them are easily explained. Most of the rest of them have good, plausible solutions. And for the few humdingers that are left, there are possible explanations, even if we aren’t sure that we’ve found the right one yet. Our confidence in the Bible is not an irrational confidence. The findings of history, archaeology, and textual criticism give us many reasons to trust the Old and New Testaments.”
And this gem of a quote from J.I. Packer:
“God, then, does not profess to answer in Scripture all the questions that we, in our boundless curiosity, would like to ask about Scripture. He tells us merely as much as He sees we need to know as a basis for our life of faith. And he leaves unsolved some of the problems raised by what He tells us, in order to teach us a humble trust in His veracity. The question, therefore, that we must ask ourselves when faced with these puzzles is not, is it reasonable to imagine that this is so? but, is it reasonable to accept God’s assurance that this is so? Is it reasonable to take God’s word and believe that He has spoken the truth, even though I cannot fully comprehend what He has said? The question carries its own answer. We should not abandon faith in anything God has taught us merely because we cannot solve all the problems which it raises. Our own intellectual competence is not the test and measure of divine truth. It is not for us to stop believing because we lack understanding, but to believe in order that we may understand.”
Don’t let hard questions cause you to trash your Bible and discard your faith. Christianity is not a blind, unreasonable faith. Search it out for yourself. Read this book. Read some others. Put in the work. It’s of utmost importance.
In addition to the books DeYoung lists in the back of ‘Taking God at His Word,’ here are a few additional (though not specifically about the trustworthiness of Scripture and probably less scholarly) options:
Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus by Nabeel Qureshi (seeking to defend Islam he studies the person of Jesus and comes to believe in Christianity)
The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism by Tim Keller
Confronting Christianity: 12 Hard Questions for the World’s Largest Religion by Rebecca McLaughlin
Read more of my reviews at www.shelfreflection.com!
Whether you’ve never read the Bible in your life, or you read it every day, this book will explain, why the Bible is clear, authoritative, relevant, and sufficient.
I grew up in a Christian home and attended a conservative Christian college. I was confronted with a lot of questions about the Bible there that I didn’t readily have answers for. After four years there, I had seen several friends, when asked hard questions or things they’d never thought about, just reject the Bible altogether or reject their faith entirely. I was disheartened by this because instead of throwing out a faith I couldn’t defend to a T, I sought the truth and I looked for answers.
Just because a question is hard or new to you, does not mean it’s never been asked before or that it doesn’t have an explanation.
This book is such a valuable resource to give you confidence in the very book that connects us with the truths of our Lord and Savior.
DeYoung is quick to clarify that ‘Taking God at His Word’ is not meant to be exhaustive— at just over 100 pages there is much more to be covered when regarding the authenticity and historicity of Scripture—and so he includes a list of 30 books in the appendix to provide you with resources to conduct a more in-depth study if you so desire.
He does not address the canonization of Scripture (how it was put together and organized) and does not discuss in detail the manuscripts, translations, authorship, or historical and archeological support for the Bible and its contents. Those can all be found within the appendixed (new word?) books.
Things he does cover include:
- What does the Bible say about itself?
- What does Jesus believe about the Bible?
- Is the Bible just myth or metaphor for a more general, abstract understanding of God’s power and how to relate to him?
- Doesn’t the Bible have discrepancies?
- What about different interpretations?
- How can we trust something written by sinful humans?
If this isn’t a reasonable and powerful passage of Scripture to defend Christianity and the Bible itself, I don’t know what is:
2 Peter 1:16-21 “For we do not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”
Many have claimed that conservative Christians believe the inspiration of Scripture means that God dictated each word to be written down and that that’s why we believe it’s infallible. However, this is not the case. “The phrase “concursive operation” is often used to describe the process of inspiration, meaning that God used the intellect, skills, and personality of fallible men to write down what was divine and infallible. The Bible is, in one sense, both a human and a divine book. But this in no way implies any fallibility in the Scriptures. The dual authorship of Scripture does not necessitate imperfection any more than the two natures of Christ mean our Savior must have sinned.”
The core of the book follows the nifty little acronym, SCAN, which is explained below (and subtitled above).
Sufficiency: The Scriptures contain everything we need for knowledge of salvation and godly living. We don’t need any new revelation from heaven.
Clarity: The saving message of Jesus Christ is plainly taught in the Scriptures and can be understood by all who have ears to hear it. We don’t need an official magisterium to tell us what the Bible means.
Authority: The last word always goes to the word of God. We must never allow the teachings of science, of human experience, or of church councils to take precedence over Scripture.
Necessity: General revelation is not enough to save us. We cannot know God savingly by means of personal experience and human reason. We need God’s word to tell us how to live, who Christ is, and how to be saved.
Or to put simply, the Bible is final, understandable, necessary, and enough.
Sufficiency keeps traditions from subverting God’s words, keeps us from adding to it, even with good intentions, and it means it’s always relevant.
Clarity doesn’t mean every single verse can be read once and instantly understood in every sense, but rather “ordinary people using ordinary means can accurately understand enough of what must be known.” DeYoung addresses some objections to clarity that propose: God is too mysterious to really understand and the Bible falls short; if the Bible was so clear, why do we still disagree on interpretations or use the Bible to justify wrong things; some parts need to be further supplemented or explained through tradition (per Catholics). He then imparts what is at stake if we compromise the clarity of Scripture.
Authority has to do with where we make our final appeal as to what is truth when it comes down to it? Tradition, our feelings, science, another book, our parents, our teachers, logic, culture, the government? Or is it the Bible?
Necessity speaks to the idea of spirituality. Many view spirituality as something within ourselves that we need to tap into, but true spirituality must be outside of ourselves. We need God’s revelation to know God and that can only be found in Scripture.
While I would still highly suggest a full reading of this short book, here are some quotes:
“The authority of God’s word resides in the written text—the words, the sentences, the paragraphs—of Scripture, not merely in our existential experience of the truth in our hearts… the inspiration of holy Scripture is an objective reality outside of us.”
“Inerrancy means the word of God always stands over us and we never stand over the word of God. When we reject inerrancy we put ourselves in judgment over God’s word. We claim the right to determine which parts of God’s revelation can be trusted and which cannot. When we deny the complete trustworthiness of the Scriptures—in its claims with regard to history; its teachings on the material world; its miracles; in the tiniest ‘jots and tittles’ of all that it affirms—then we are forced to accept one of two conclusions: either Scripture is not all from God, or God is not always dependable.”
“Scripture is enough because the work of Christ is enough. They stand or fall together.”
“No doubt, some people reject the gospel and the Bible because of genuine intellectual concerns, but just as often, I’m convinced, pride and personal prejudice are to blame. We don’t like the people teaching the Bible, and we don’t like what the Bible teaches.”
“God’s people should be testing everything against God’s word…[The Bereans (in Acts)] would accept something new—if it could be supported in the Scriptures. They would believe something controversial—if it was based in the Scripture. They were willing to follow Christ for the rest of their lives, provided they were, in the process, following the Scriptures.”
“When interpreted correctly—paying attention to the original context, considering the literary genre, thinking through authorial intent—the Bible is never wrong in what it affirms and must never be marginalized as anything less than the last word on everything it teaches.”
“We have no reason to be intimidated by difficulties and apparent discrepancies in the Bible. Many of them are easily explained. Most of the rest of them have good, plausible solutions. And for the few humdingers that are left, there are possible explanations, even if we aren’t sure that we’ve found the right one yet. Our confidence in the Bible is not an irrational confidence. The findings of history, archaeology, and textual criticism give us many reasons to trust the Old and New Testaments.”
And this gem of a quote from J.I. Packer:
“God, then, does not profess to answer in Scripture all the questions that we, in our boundless curiosity, would like to ask about Scripture. He tells us merely as much as He sees we need to know as a basis for our life of faith. And he leaves unsolved some of the problems raised by what He tells us, in order to teach us a humble trust in His veracity. The question, therefore, that we must ask ourselves when faced with these puzzles is not, is it reasonable to imagine that this is so? but, is it reasonable to accept God’s assurance that this is so? Is it reasonable to take God’s word and believe that He has spoken the truth, even though I cannot fully comprehend what He has said? The question carries its own answer. We should not abandon faith in anything God has taught us merely because we cannot solve all the problems which it raises. Our own intellectual competence is not the test and measure of divine truth. It is not for us to stop believing because we lack understanding, but to believe in order that we may understand.”
Don’t let hard questions cause you to trash your Bible and discard your faith. Christianity is not a blind, unreasonable faith. Search it out for yourself. Read this book. Read some others. Put in the work. It’s of utmost importance.
In addition to the books DeYoung lists in the back of ‘Taking God at His Word,’ here are a few additional (though not specifically about the trustworthiness of Scripture and probably less scholarly) options:
Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus by Nabeel Qureshi (seeking to defend Islam he studies the person of Jesus and comes to believe in Christianity)
The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism by Tim Keller
Confronting Christianity: 12 Hard Questions for the World’s Largest Religion by Rebecca McLaughlin
Read more of my reviews at www.shelfreflection.com!
“Rishi couldn’t hide his real life from his parents forever, and doing so had potentially ruined the one thing he’d ever had that was real.”
The Marriage Code is a love story based mostly in India and is partially representative of the author’s own love story—she (an American) met her husband in India and lived there for 3 years. This adds a lot of authenticity to the setting and what the characters go through while navigating a non-traditional relationship (though I am not qualified to fact check any of it).
In short: The love boat that is two IT coworkers from different parts of the world is tossed to and fro by the waves of initial mutual hatred, tradition, an I’m-going-to-find-you-a-wife mission, you-are-the-air-I-breathe lust, culture, and straight up you-lied-to-me drama. Can their relationship, with all its ups and downs, weather the storm of their worlds colliding?
I don’t usually like to read Romance novels (because I often get bored or because I don’t like to read about people having sex). I picked this one for the following reasons in chronological order: it was an Amazon First Reads book; it took place in India; it seemed like a rom/com type of romance.
I have a few family members who have been to India several times (namely Hydrabad), a couple friends who spent months there, and one who met her husband there and currently lives there. So I have some knowledge of the culture, but was really interested to see another side of the vibrant culture and country. This book definitely provided that. Well at least in terms of Rishi’s particular caste (Brahmin) and how traditional marriages typically work. It was interesting to see how even traditional marriages are adapting to more progressive times. It also made me curious about all the other castes.
And it provides much knowledge on food. There is a LOT of food eating, discussing, describing, etc. Having not really eaten much Indian food (I’m a picky, child-like eater at times), it made me interested to try some of it. The descriptions sounded really good and different than how I pictured a lot of Indian food. But, you say the word ‘butter’ and I’m here for it.
So this book had a lot of potential: an exploration in interracial relationships, a discovery of a new culture, the added complication of an internet algorithm designed to find the perfect mate, and ideally some humor. Unfortunately, for me, this book did not meet my expectations.
There was a lot of swearing (including f-words), sexual innuendo, and sexual tension—like so much. Like every other page.
Those things alone dock my rating of a book, but it was compounded by a couple other shortcomings.
For one, it was too long. It dragged quite a bit and I think it could have been condensed significantly. Although, I don’t read a lot of romance so maybe most people want all that?
For two, it wasn’t really that funny.
For three, I didn’t particularly like the characters. In the beginning when Emma and Rishi are workplace enemies because Emma got the job Rishi wanted, Emma is described (through Rishi’s eyes) as being immature and childish: “Amazing how Emma could morph from domineering project lead into a hungry toddler in the span of a few hours.” And this filter kinda stuck with me throughout the book. Even though Rishi became endeared to Emma as their story progresses, it was hard for me to view her through a different lens. As for Rishi, he really wasn’t given much personality. Of the two of them, he seemed to have more humor, but it still wasn’t much. So there wasn’t much to like or dislike, he was just a bit ambiguous.
For a book about two people learning about each other and falling in love, I really don’t feel like I know them as people other than Emma being an independent, red-headed foodie and coffee addict without many friends and Rishi being a motorcyle-driving, weightlifter who has hidden his tradition-shirking from his high-expectations family.
Even when Emma is describing how different her feelings for Rishi are than what she had for her very recent ex-almost-fiance Jeremy she says, “She and Jeremy had been perfect on paper, but that thing that said I can see myself discovering you for the rest of my life just hadn’t been there. But Rishi had goals. He had a sister. He had a plan to get married, and soon.”
Seems odd to contrast ‘perfect on paper’ with ‘having goals’ (i.e. marriage I guess?) and ‘having a sister.’ There is no substance to that. It’s not a convincing ‘upgrade.’
This was a common theme in Emma’s thoughts throughout the book- her and Jeremy had so much in common and would be a theoretical perfect match, but she just didn’t have chemistry with him. Rishi, on the other hand—sparks flying everywhere. Yet, I don’t think their relationship consisted of much more than first being passive-aggressive with each other, then having extreme sexual tension mixed with hatred, then a lot of eating out together, then just a lot of sex, and then wanting to get married.
I get that you need to be attracted to your spouse, but you kinda need to have more than that. Especially in a relationship that already has an uphill battle with cultural and traditional differences. In that way, the authenticity was missing.
Oh and there was an interesting side-theme regarding fate. It’s hard to write a love-story without talking about ‘fate’ bringing people together. But Emma has an aversion to the word: “The only people who used fate were people who’d never had anything bad happen to them. Who didn’t know heartache. Who didn’t understand what hurt down to the bone felt like… Fate was the antithesis of her life—this idea that how you made yourself meant nothing in the face of the things that just happened to you, that your life was sorted and predestined.”
Add to that her cyclical struggle with questioning God and fate and reflecting on her grandma’s words: “When a freak accident like that takes away your daughter [Emma’s parents], praying to the God that makes the universe function like clockwork just doesn’t make sense. And fate doesn’t make sense. And the world doesn’t make sense.”
And now you have something worth talking about.
Fate is not comforting. Sure it sounds romantic at times, but Emma is right- how do you square ‘fate’ with senseless tragedies? You can’t. It sure doesn’t make the world or your future feel very safe. To trust ‘fate’ feels out of control and heartless.
But there is something, or rather Someone, that we can trust. And her grandma, though her pain is not misplaced, got that wrong. God is not some high-in-the-sky deity that just keeps the world moving like clockwork, completely separated from our lives, our pain, our futures. And actually, believing in the God of the Bible and the truths of Scripture gives way more sense to the world than any other explanation I’ve found.
We don’t have to entrust our lives to unfeeling, arbitrary fate. We can put our trust in God who created each of us on purpose with a purpose, who is lovingly involved with every aspect of our lives. It’s not a ‘predestination’ by some unidentified force, it’s a plan by God who is very much in control and invested. Reliable. Trustworthy. And when bad things happen we may not get all the answers we seek, but we know the reason is not because we are unloved. Jesus went to the cross to save us from our sin before we did anything deserving of such a sacrifice. That’s real love. And that’s what gives us the confidence that whatever pain God allows, it’s not due to absence, inability, or apathy. We don’t have to accept that things indiscriminately happen to us. We know that our pain is not wasted and that we are not alone.
Fate is not comforting. But God is.
Okay. I couldn’t pass up the chance to address that theme with a very real and true hope that I desire everyone to know, but I shall move on and wrap this up.
In summation: Though it didn’t hit the mark for me, I don’t think it’s a terrible book. If language and sexual innuendo don’t bother you, the other things aren’t too distracting and you might enjoy this cross-cultural story—especially if you are an adventurous eater.
The Marriage Code is a love story based mostly in India and is partially representative of the author’s own love story—she (an American) met her husband in India and lived there for 3 years. This adds a lot of authenticity to the setting and what the characters go through while navigating a non-traditional relationship (though I am not qualified to fact check any of it).
In short: The love boat that is two IT coworkers from different parts of the world is tossed to and fro by the waves of initial mutual hatred, tradition, an I’m-going-to-find-you-a-wife mission, you-are-the-air-I-breathe lust, culture, and straight up you-lied-to-me drama. Can their relationship, with all its ups and downs, weather the storm of their worlds colliding?
I don’t usually like to read Romance novels (because I often get bored or because I don’t like to read about people having sex). I picked this one for the following reasons in chronological order: it was an Amazon First Reads book; it took place in India; it seemed like a rom/com type of romance.
I have a few family members who have been to India several times (namely Hydrabad), a couple friends who spent months there, and one who met her husband there and currently lives there. So I have some knowledge of the culture, but was really interested to see another side of the vibrant culture and country. This book definitely provided that. Well at least in terms of Rishi’s particular caste (Brahmin) and how traditional marriages typically work. It was interesting to see how even traditional marriages are adapting to more progressive times. It also made me curious about all the other castes.
And it provides much knowledge on food. There is a LOT of food eating, discussing, describing, etc. Having not really eaten much Indian food (I’m a picky, child-like eater at times), it made me interested to try some of it. The descriptions sounded really good and different than how I pictured a lot of Indian food. But, you say the word ‘butter’ and I’m here for it.
So this book had a lot of potential: an exploration in interracial relationships, a discovery of a new culture, the added complication of an internet algorithm designed to find the perfect mate, and ideally some humor. Unfortunately, for me, this book did not meet my expectations.
There was a lot of swearing (including f-words), sexual innuendo, and sexual tension—like so much. Like every other page.
Those things alone dock my rating of a book, but it was compounded by a couple other shortcomings.
For one, it was too long. It dragged quite a bit and I think it could have been condensed significantly. Although, I don’t read a lot of romance so maybe most people want all that?
For two, it wasn’t really that funny.
For three, I didn’t particularly like the characters. In the beginning when Emma and Rishi are workplace enemies because Emma got the job Rishi wanted, Emma is described (through Rishi’s eyes) as being immature and childish: “Amazing how Emma could morph from domineering project lead into a hungry toddler in the span of a few hours.” And this filter kinda stuck with me throughout the book. Even though Rishi became endeared to Emma as their story progresses, it was hard for me to view her through a different lens. As for Rishi, he really wasn’t given much personality. Of the two of them, he seemed to have more humor, but it still wasn’t much. So there wasn’t much to like or dislike, he was just a bit ambiguous.
For a book about two people learning about each other and falling in love, I really don’t feel like I know them as people other than Emma being an independent, red-headed foodie and coffee addict without many friends and Rishi being a motorcyle-driving, weightlifter who has hidden his tradition-shirking from his high-expectations family.
Even when Emma is describing how different her feelings for Rishi are than what she had for her very recent ex-almost-fiance Jeremy she says, “She and Jeremy had been perfect on paper, but that thing that said I can see myself discovering you for the rest of my life just hadn’t been there. But Rishi had goals. He had a sister. He had a plan to get married, and soon.”
Seems odd to contrast ‘perfect on paper’ with ‘having goals’ (i.e. marriage I guess?) and ‘having a sister.’ There is no substance to that. It’s not a convincing ‘upgrade.’
This was a common theme in Emma’s thoughts throughout the book- her and Jeremy had so much in common and would be a theoretical perfect match, but she just didn’t have chemistry with him. Rishi, on the other hand—sparks flying everywhere. Yet, I don’t think their relationship consisted of much more than first being passive-aggressive with each other, then having extreme sexual tension mixed with hatred, then a lot of eating out together, then just a lot of sex, and then wanting to get married.
I get that you need to be attracted to your spouse, but you kinda need to have more than that. Especially in a relationship that already has an uphill battle with cultural and traditional differences. In that way, the authenticity was missing.
Oh and there was an interesting side-theme regarding fate. It’s hard to write a love-story without talking about ‘fate’ bringing people together. But Emma has an aversion to the word: “The only people who used fate were people who’d never had anything bad happen to them. Who didn’t know heartache. Who didn’t understand what hurt down to the bone felt like… Fate was the antithesis of her life—this idea that how you made yourself meant nothing in the face of the things that just happened to you, that your life was sorted and predestined.”
Add to that her cyclical struggle with questioning God and fate and reflecting on her grandma’s words: “When a freak accident like that takes away your daughter [Emma’s parents], praying to the God that makes the universe function like clockwork just doesn’t make sense. And fate doesn’t make sense. And the world doesn’t make sense.”
And now you have something worth talking about.
Fate is not comforting. Sure it sounds romantic at times, but Emma is right- how do you square ‘fate’ with senseless tragedies? You can’t. It sure doesn’t make the world or your future feel very safe. To trust ‘fate’ feels out of control and heartless.
But there is something, or rather Someone, that we can trust. And her grandma, though her pain is not misplaced, got that wrong. God is not some high-in-the-sky deity that just keeps the world moving like clockwork, completely separated from our lives, our pain, our futures. And actually, believing in the God of the Bible and the truths of Scripture gives way more sense to the world than any other explanation I’ve found.
We don’t have to entrust our lives to unfeeling, arbitrary fate. We can put our trust in God who created each of us on purpose with a purpose, who is lovingly involved with every aspect of our lives. It’s not a ‘predestination’ by some unidentified force, it’s a plan by God who is very much in control and invested. Reliable. Trustworthy. And when bad things happen we may not get all the answers we seek, but we know the reason is not because we are unloved. Jesus went to the cross to save us from our sin before we did anything deserving of such a sacrifice. That’s real love. And that’s what gives us the confidence that whatever pain God allows, it’s not due to absence, inability, or apathy. We don’t have to accept that things indiscriminately happen to us. We know that our pain is not wasted and that we are not alone.
Fate is not comforting. But God is.
Okay. I couldn’t pass up the chance to address that theme with a very real and true hope that I desire everyone to know, but I shall move on and wrap this up.
In summation: Though it didn’t hit the mark for me, I don’t think it’s a terrible book. If language and sexual innuendo don’t bother you, the other things aren’t too distracting and you might enjoy this cross-cultural story—especially if you are an adventurous eater.
“Sisterly relationships are so strange. The way I can be mad at her but still want to please her. Be terrified of her and also want to run to her. Hate her and love her, both at the same time. Maybe when it comes to sisters, boundaries are always a little bit blurry. Blurred boundaries, I think, are what sisters do best.”
Fern and Rose. Twins. With a close sisterly bond forged in a traumatic childhood. Plus a pretty cute relationship between one of the sisters and a stranger that resembles ‘Where's Wally?’ (aka Waldo-this is set in Australia) who lives in a big orange van. But there is a foreboding cloud hovering over all of them. I had my suspicions near the beginning but the situation is more sinister than I had first imagined.
The book has alternating chapters— present day from Fern’s POV and a mix of past and present told through the pages of Rose’s therapy journal.
We find out right away that Fern did something bad when they were 12. More and more is revealed as the book progresses. But we know from the outset it’s bad enough that they must keep it a secret.
While this book has several dimensions of story, the story is moved along by the plot that Fern finds out Rose is having a hard time conceiving a child and Fern decides to surprise her with a gift. A baby.
This drastically raises the stakes as we learn more about the sisters’ relationship and how Fern plans to accomplish her goal. There are hidden motives, a new romance, and the sinking feeling that things aren’t what they seem:
“I hate the feeling of not knowing my own mind, not trusting myself, even if the fact is that I’m not to be trusted.”
I think Fern is a pretty powerful character for Hepworth to depict. Though it’s not directly stated, her sensory sensitivities and struggles with understanding others’ feelings or certain social situations implies that she is probably somewhere on the Asberger’s spectrum. Since her chapters are told from her POV we get to be in her mind and see how she processes information and dialogue. I thought the author did a fantastic job helping readers understand her.
Fern’s inner processing also adds humor and charm to the story as we spend days in the library with her as she goes about her typical day interacting with coworkers and library patrons.
[For all the book lovers out there, I’m throwing in this snippet we get about Fern’s previous boss at the library: “Janet had read every book in the library and told staff that our job was to be a frontline soldier in the war against illiteracy and lack of imagination.” Thanks librarians for fighting the fight! People need books!]
The beginning is actually a little slow-moving— it lulled me into a false sense that maybe this was more of a rom/com/drama type of story. But by 40-50% through, the intensity grows and the subtle panic sets in. The trap has been triggered...
I highly recommend this book!
This is a psychological thriller you’ll probably finish in one day- two tops.
“My sister holds the key to my sanity (even though I never gave it to her).”
And. That. Last. Page.
Read more of my reviews at www.shelfreflection.com!
**Received an ARC via NetGalley**
Fern and Rose. Twins. With a close sisterly bond forged in a traumatic childhood. Plus a pretty cute relationship between one of the sisters and a stranger that resembles ‘Where's Wally?’ (aka Waldo-this is set in Australia) who lives in a big orange van. But there is a foreboding cloud hovering over all of them. I had my suspicions near the beginning but the situation is more sinister than I had first imagined.
The book has alternating chapters— present day from Fern’s POV and a mix of past and present told through the pages of Rose’s therapy journal.
We find out right away that Fern did something bad when they were 12. More and more is revealed as the book progresses. But we know from the outset it’s bad enough that they must keep it a secret.
While this book has several dimensions of story, the story is moved along by the plot that Fern finds out Rose is having a hard time conceiving a child and Fern decides to surprise her with a gift. A baby.
This drastically raises the stakes as we learn more about the sisters’ relationship and how Fern plans to accomplish her goal. There are hidden motives, a new romance, and the sinking feeling that things aren’t what they seem:
“I hate the feeling of not knowing my own mind, not trusting myself, even if the fact is that I’m not to be trusted.”
I think Fern is a pretty powerful character for Hepworth to depict. Though it’s not directly stated, her sensory sensitivities and struggles with understanding others’ feelings or certain social situations implies that she is probably somewhere on the Asberger’s spectrum. Since her chapters are told from her POV we get to be in her mind and see how she processes information and dialogue. I thought the author did a fantastic job helping readers understand her.
Fern’s inner processing also adds humor and charm to the story as we spend days in the library with her as she goes about her typical day interacting with coworkers and library patrons.
[For all the book lovers out there, I’m throwing in this snippet we get about Fern’s previous boss at the library: “Janet had read every book in the library and told staff that our job was to be a frontline soldier in the war against illiteracy and lack of imagination.” Thanks librarians for fighting the fight! People need books!]
The beginning is actually a little slow-moving— it lulled me into a false sense that maybe this was more of a rom/com/drama type of story. But by 40-50% through, the intensity grows and the subtle panic sets in. The trap has been triggered...
I highly recommend this book!
This is a psychological thriller you’ll probably finish in one day- two tops.
“My sister holds the key to my sanity (even though I never gave it to her).”
And. That. Last. Page.
Read more of my reviews at www.shelfreflection.com!
**Received an ARC via NetGalley**
“I’d be lying if I didn’t tell you that walking out that door, leaving these cases unsolved, will be both the hardest and the easiest thing I’ve ever done.”
“Why the hardest?”
“Because I always believe I’m one phone call, one DNA hit away from solving another case.”
“And why the easiest?”
“Because I’m tired of lying to myself.”
Another installment of Robert Dugoni’s Tracy Crosswhite series, of which I’ve read #1 (unreviewed) and #7. Tracy Crosswhite is a great character and I love how we get to see her be a mom and wife and a BA detective.
Coming off of the last book, Tracy had to take some time off work from the trauma. Upon her return to work she finds herself out of her A team detective job and relegated to the Cold Case department. Not one to give up or give in, she accepts the less-than-desirable lot she has been given by her captain/nemesis and dives all in.
We end up with a multi-level plot as Tracy re-opens a cold case file on an abducted little girl, the files of two abducted prostitutes, and, due to low personnel, joins her friend Kins on an active missing person’s case—a young female runner.
Will Tracy’s new job description keep her away from the action? Can she overcome the hopelessness of closed case files? Is she really just one phone call away from solving another case, or is it a self-concocted lie to boost morale?
One of Tracy’s defining characteristics is her life obsession with saving young girls the way she couldn’t do for her sister (see book one- My Sister’s Grave). Looking at her cases’ victims, we see that theme playing out again in this book. But her passion and drive, inspired by her sister’s death, is what makes her such a good detective.
A typical police procedural book, we follow Tracy on her clue-finding, question-asking, gut-following, deduction-making investigations. To my pleasant surprise, what seems to be pretty straightforward at the beginning, became a lot more convoluted than I expected by the time I was halfway through the book.
I will say, the book begins with the child’s abduction, but the majority of the book focuses more on the active missing person’s case. The child abduction case is not forgotten by any means, it just isn’t the prominent thread like you would think with it being the opening scene.
I thought this was a great book and I read it pretty fast. If you’ve never read a Tracy Crosswhite book, I would recommend starting at the beginning. If you’re already a fan, this one will be reminiscent of the previous books, offering a page-turning mystery with likable characters, a little humor, and a relatively clean bill of content.
I’ve read several from Dugoni’s series, and I’ve found I really like his books. You can check out his David Sloane series (unreviewed so far) and his Charles Jenkins series as well. Both I would recommend.
One other side note: Dugoni included a blurb in the back of the book indicating that this book was written during the Covid-19 quarantine. He said he received numerous emails from readers thanking him for allowing them to “escape their homes and the difficulties and loneliness they were enduring.” He chose not to include the Covid pandemic in this novel because he believes the primary purpose of a novel is to “entertain.” And I agree! I think there are a lot of us who are tired of hearing about Covid. We don’t want to have to read it in our novels too! I appreciated this sentiment to maintain some normalcy and escapism in his novels in this sense.
**Received an ARC via NetGalley**
For more reviews on books of all genres, check out my website: www.shelfreflection.com!
“Why the hardest?”
“Because I always believe I’m one phone call, one DNA hit away from solving another case.”
“And why the easiest?”
“Because I’m tired of lying to myself.”
Another installment of Robert Dugoni’s Tracy Crosswhite series, of which I’ve read #1 (unreviewed) and #7. Tracy Crosswhite is a great character and I love how we get to see her be a mom and wife and a BA detective.
Coming off of the last book, Tracy had to take some time off work from the trauma. Upon her return to work she finds herself out of her A team detective job and relegated to the Cold Case department. Not one to give up or give in, she accepts the less-than-desirable lot she has been given by her captain/nemesis and dives all in.
We end up with a multi-level plot as Tracy re-opens a cold case file on an abducted little girl, the files of two abducted prostitutes, and, due to low personnel, joins her friend Kins on an active missing person’s case—a young female runner.
Will Tracy’s new job description keep her away from the action? Can she overcome the hopelessness of closed case files? Is she really just one phone call away from solving another case, or is it a self-concocted lie to boost morale?
One of Tracy’s defining characteristics is her life obsession with saving young girls the way she couldn’t do for her sister (see book one- My Sister’s Grave). Looking at her cases’ victims, we see that theme playing out again in this book. But her passion and drive, inspired by her sister’s death, is what makes her such a good detective.
A typical police procedural book, we follow Tracy on her clue-finding, question-asking, gut-following, deduction-making investigations. To my pleasant surprise, what seems to be pretty straightforward at the beginning, became a lot more convoluted than I expected by the time I was halfway through the book.
I will say, the book begins with the child’s abduction, but the majority of the book focuses more on the active missing person’s case. The child abduction case is not forgotten by any means, it just isn’t the prominent thread like you would think with it being the opening scene.
I thought this was a great book and I read it pretty fast. If you’ve never read a Tracy Crosswhite book, I would recommend starting at the beginning. If you’re already a fan, this one will be reminiscent of the previous books, offering a page-turning mystery with likable characters, a little humor, and a relatively clean bill of content.
I’ve read several from Dugoni’s series, and I’ve found I really like his books. You can check out his David Sloane series (unreviewed so far) and his Charles Jenkins series as well. Both I would recommend.
One other side note: Dugoni included a blurb in the back of the book indicating that this book was written during the Covid-19 quarantine. He said he received numerous emails from readers thanking him for allowing them to “escape their homes and the difficulties and loneliness they were enduring.” He chose not to include the Covid pandemic in this novel because he believes the primary purpose of a novel is to “entertain.” And I agree! I think there are a lot of us who are tired of hearing about Covid. We don’t want to have to read it in our novels too! I appreciated this sentiment to maintain some normalcy and escapism in his novels in this sense.
**Received an ARC via NetGalley**
For more reviews on books of all genres, check out my website: www.shelfreflection.com!
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(3.5)
“We need James Bond with a library science degree.”
Their mission, should they choose to accept it, is to smuggle out ‘the book’ that’s locked in guarded subterranean chamber, decode the encryption, and discover the key to immortality. (I know this is more Mission Impossible than Die Another Day- so sue me.)
The scene: A skinny little mysterious bookstore with the ‘Waybacklist’—the back shelves containing thick, old, encrypted books only “members” (who are all weird, old people) can reserve.
The caveat: These books are not ordinary books. They hold secrets. They are part of a historic and elaborate puzzle that is thought to hold the key to immortality.
I think this book endeared me from the start because I love books. But after a little further reflection I have to be realistic about some of its downfalls. And by reflection, I mean reading other people’s reviews and thinking, “Yeah… they have a point there… right next to the hole in their head. But that’s beside the point.”
But first, our cast of characters:
Clay- our main protagonist and narrator
Neel- “a bright haze of loyalty”
Kat- “the spark of life” also “most of her calories come from Google”
Oliver“casually aware of what was happening in 1000 BC and what it all looked like”
Mat- “a secret weapon—he makes things that are beautiful”
Ms. Lapin- “the little eccentric that could”
Kindle- Ok, fine, I’ll tell you. It’s an Amazon e-reader. (You should know this)
and the infamous…
Mr. Penumbra- “his gray hair rises up around his head like a cloud of stray thoughts” also “teetering between charmingly weird old guy and disturbingly weird old guy”
So Clay, coder and designer, is unemployed and seeking a job. When he comes across Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore, his curiosity gets the best of him and as fate would have it, he now has a job— climbing bookshelf ladders and helping the handful of oddball customers that come to request the mysterious books.
“The message is clear: do your job, and don’t ask questions.”
Obviously Clay does not heed the message. Who would?
Using a mind-boggling technological method using 3D simulations et cetera et cetera…
“If this sounds amazing to you, you’re probably over 30.” Touché, Clay Jannon. Touché.
…Clay solves the ‘Founder’s Puzzle,’ which is basically a gateway to all of this encryption stuff.
His discovery via tech-cheats triggers the aforementioned mission.
Using his team (see cast of characters), and their corporate Google connections, can he find the ever elusive immortality key or will this secret sect of peculiar book binders be disappointed once again?
In case you haven’t picked up on this yet, this is not a thriller suspense novel. It’s a bizarre story with intrigue, some wit, and a desire to marry technology with books. It’s not pulse-pounding but it is entertaining.
But alas, I had mentioned harrowing revelations.
Yes.
There are a few things that prohibit this book from topping charts.
For one: there is not a lot of depth to the characters. Sloan gave creative and endearing descriptions of everyone, but we don’t really get to know anyone. Especially Clay, the main character. We’re inside his head but we don’t gather much about his personality other than his affinity for tech, D&D, and… well that’s kinda it.
For two: It’s fairly anti-climactic in the end. Without giving too much away, the concluding message is weaksauce. All that build up and nothing to show for it. Sloan probably could have figured out something better if he was going to go through all the work of decoding it. (Oops. Okay… yeah. They decode it. But since this is more YA than suspense, you already knew that right?)
For three: Clay refers to his spider-sense. Which we all know is incorrect. It’s spidey-sense. Unless that’s trademarked. Anyone?
For four: There’s not a whole lot of ‘dire’ situations. For having a hodgepodge team, they rarely come against anything that challenging. Thanks to Google, I guess. It’s not far-fetched but it makes for a less interesting story. As readers we like to feel the tension. We like to wonder- Are they going to do it? Can they make it through? But I was always pretty much fully on my seat.
For five: The book cover totally should have been a picture of Mr. Penumbra’s book store from outside looking in. The cover with yellow books on shelves is more ‘Google’ and less ‘mysterious encrypted books.’ Plus then we could get a glimpse of the famous (fictitious) Gerritszoon typeface used on the door and discussed so much in this book.
Do I think you should still read this?
Actually yes. I still enjoyed reading it. I think it was an interesting enough story and did provide enough anticipation that you wanted to see what happens at the end. While I wasn’t impressed with the decoded message I did find the method of decoding pretty clever and creative. And I liked the thread of actual history woven in- more of that would have been nice.
If you go in with right expectations: that this is a light-hearted read with the simplicity of a YA fiction novel and the tenderness of a book lover, I think you’ll find yourself enjoying Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore, too!
To their credit:
“The books I love most are like open cities, with all sorts of ways to wander in.”
P.S. I just found out this book was made into a movie. But I was wrong. It was just a book trailer. False alarm. Sorry everyone. It’s just a book. Also, what is a book trailer??
“We need James Bond with a library science degree.”
Their mission, should they choose to accept it, is to smuggle out ‘the book’ that’s locked in guarded subterranean chamber, decode the encryption, and discover the key to immortality. (I know this is more Mission Impossible than Die Another Day- so sue me.)
The scene: A skinny little mysterious bookstore with the ‘Waybacklist’—the back shelves containing thick, old, encrypted books only “members” (who are all weird, old people) can reserve.
The caveat: These books are not ordinary books. They hold secrets. They are part of a historic and elaborate puzzle that is thought to hold the key to immortality.
I think this book endeared me from the start because I love books. But after a little further reflection I have to be realistic about some of its downfalls. And by reflection, I mean reading other people’s reviews and thinking, “Yeah… they have a point there… right next to the hole in their head. But that’s beside the point.”
But first, our cast of characters:
Clay- our main protagonist and narrator
Neel- “a bright haze of loyalty”
Kat- “the spark of life” also “most of her calories come from Google”
Oliver“casually aware of what was happening in 1000 BC and what it all looked like”
Mat- “a secret weapon—he makes things that are beautiful”
Ms. Lapin- “the little eccentric that could”
Kindle- Ok, fine, I’ll tell you. It’s an Amazon e-reader. (You should know this)
and the infamous…
Mr. Penumbra- “his gray hair rises up around his head like a cloud of stray thoughts” also “teetering between charmingly weird old guy and disturbingly weird old guy”
So Clay, coder and designer, is unemployed and seeking a job. When he comes across Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore, his curiosity gets the best of him and as fate would have it, he now has a job— climbing bookshelf ladders and helping the handful of oddball customers that come to request the mysterious books.
“The message is clear: do your job, and don’t ask questions.”
Obviously Clay does not heed the message. Who would?
Using a mind-boggling technological method using 3D simulations et cetera et cetera…
“If this sounds amazing to you, you’re probably over 30.” Touché, Clay Jannon. Touché.
…Clay solves the ‘Founder’s Puzzle,’ which is basically a gateway to all of this encryption stuff.
His discovery via tech-cheats triggers the aforementioned mission.
Using his team (see cast of characters), and their corporate Google connections, can he find the ever elusive immortality key or will this secret sect of peculiar book binders be disappointed once again?
In case you haven’t picked up on this yet, this is not a thriller suspense novel. It’s a bizarre story with intrigue, some wit, and a desire to marry technology with books. It’s not pulse-pounding but it is entertaining.
But alas, I had mentioned harrowing revelations.
Yes.
There are a few things that prohibit this book from topping charts.
For one: there is not a lot of depth to the characters. Sloan gave creative and endearing descriptions of everyone, but we don’t really get to know anyone. Especially Clay, the main character. We’re inside his head but we don’t gather much about his personality other than his affinity for tech, D&D, and… well that’s kinda it.
For two: It’s fairly anti-climactic in the end. Without giving too much away, the concluding message is weaksauce. All that build up and nothing to show for it. Sloan probably could have figured out something better if he was going to go through all the work of decoding it. (Oops. Okay… yeah. They decode it. But since this is more YA than suspense, you already knew that right?)
For three: Clay refers to his spider-sense. Which we all know is incorrect. It’s spidey-sense. Unless that’s trademarked. Anyone?
For four: There’s not a whole lot of ‘dire’ situations. For having a hodgepodge team, they rarely come against anything that challenging. Thanks to Google, I guess. It’s not far-fetched but it makes for a less interesting story. As readers we like to feel the tension. We like to wonder- Are they going to do it? Can they make it through? But I was always pretty much fully on my seat.
For five: The book cover totally should have been a picture of Mr. Penumbra’s book store from outside looking in. The cover with yellow books on shelves is more ‘Google’ and less ‘mysterious encrypted books.’ Plus then we could get a glimpse of the famous (fictitious) Gerritszoon typeface used on the door and discussed so much in this book.
Do I think you should still read this?
Actually yes. I still enjoyed reading it. I think it was an interesting enough story and did provide enough anticipation that you wanted to see what happens at the end. While I wasn’t impressed with the decoded message I did find the method of decoding pretty clever and creative. And I liked the thread of actual history woven in- more of that would have been nice.
If you go in with right expectations: that this is a light-hearted read with the simplicity of a YA fiction novel and the tenderness of a book lover, I think you’ll find yourself enjoying Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore, too!
To their credit:
“The books I love most are like open cities, with all sorts of ways to wander in.”
P.S. I just found out this book was made into a movie. But I was wrong. It was just a book trailer. False alarm. Sorry everyone. It’s just a book. Also, what is a book trailer??
(2.5 rounded up to 3 because I'm probably not her intended audience)
I had vaguely heard good things about the blog this book came from so when I saw it at Half Price Books for $3, I thought, ‘Why not?’ And then it sat on my shelf for the next 3 years.
Thanks to the aforementioned reading challenge I created, I was forced to actually read it!
Having just read Jenny Lawson’s book Broken (in the best possible way), Hyperbole and a Half felt very similar in humor and writing style. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that Jenny Lawson gave an endorsement and blurb on the back of this book. Maybe they’re best friends!
If you are familiar with Allie Brosh’s popular blog (with the same title) then you already know what to expect in this book and you’ll probably love the book. [You may not need this review but keep reading for something unexpected I found in her book]
If you are new to the scene, I’ll tell slash show you some things to help you know if it’s worth your time.
First- the book is mostly pictures interspersed between short text to illustrate her stories and introspection about motivation, animals, cake, hot sauce, getting lost, and adulting. To see a few examples of these pictures, check out the full review on my blog here.
Although there were some that I found funny and entertaining, generally, the drawings didn’t really keep me engaged. Based on the FAQs of her blog website, she creates all of the drawings in MS Paintbrush and they are all done very deliberately. To her credit, the consistency in the drawings is pretty incredible.
I’m a big fan of Nathan W. Pyle’s Strange Planet drawings, and I find those more humorous than these. I can’t really put my finger on why. Maybe it’s that, here, her ponytail always looks like a birthday hat and as an artist I, personally, find it a terrible rendering choice. Maybe because they’re a smidge on the creepy side. I don’t know.
As for content, there are a lot of dog stories. I don’t have a dog and don’t particularly desire to, so I didn’t connect with those chapters, however, I feel like most dog-owners/lovers would find them highly relatable.
It is similar to Lawson’s book in that it is all random, crazy experiences she has had with a few chapters here and there talking about mental illness. Both Lawson and Brosh deal with severe depression.
I found her transparency in talking about her thoughts and feelings with depression very enlightening. Having not experienced depression before, it was really interesting to understand more of what might go on in the head of someone struggling with depression.
One particular example she gave (complete with corresponding drawings) was that she says “My fish are dead.” And people are saying things like “I’ll help you find your fish. They must be around here somewhere!” or “Can’t you just make them not dead?” or “Have you tried feeding them?” or “Fish are always deadest before dawn.” To which she says, “WHY CAN’T ANYONE SEE HOW DEAD THESE ARE?!” “You’re maybe just looking for someone to say ‘Sorry about how dead your fish are,’ or ‘Wow, those are super dead. I still like you though.’”
She definitely helps you understand how crippling depression can be and the inner turmoil of trying to fight it but not being able to, or fighting it in little ways at a time.
I think the main thing that was a turn off for me was the swearing. Also like Lawson’s book, there is quite a bit of it (including s- and f-words). On her blog, she says, “I like swear words. I think they can be really funny. I try to use them sparingly because I know that some people don't feel the same way. If I've used a swear word, I have probably thought long and hard about whether it was necessary and decided that it was. In my opinion, they are just words and should not be given so much power.”
So, while I think the drawings and story content could grow on me and could become more humorous the more I read, the regular swearing will always be there and I’d rather find other funny things to read. Allie Brosh is fine with that.
I do want to address something I found very fascinating, though.
Her last two chapters are titled Identity Part One and Identity Part Two. She begins saying that she would like to believe she’d “behave heroically in a disaster situation” but that she doesn’t think she would. She says her ego (identity) wants to be great and do great things but has to constantly deal with the bad parts of her and that her ego can’t overpower them. She then talks in length about how she has urges to do weird or mean things to people and that she doesn’t know what’s wrong with her.
She also explains how she tries to find loopholes to being a good person or feeling like a good person by just ‘thinking’ about doing good things because thinking about them almost feels like you actually did them.
(Don’t worry, I am going somewhere with this. Stay with me…)
She says:
“When I look at myself, I don’t want to see the horrible, loophole-abusing monster that I am. I want to see a better person. Someone who is genuinely good and doesn’t need to resort to lies and manipulation. Because deep down, I feel like I’m better than this.”
“I don’t just want to do the right thing, I want to WANT to do the right thing. This might seem like a noble goal to strive for, but I don’t actually care about adhering to morality.”
“Every day—against my will—I am bombarded by all these [crappy], selfish thoughts, and I don’t want to find out that the reason I have them is because that’s what I’m really like.”
“Unfortunately, the source of my [crappiness] is the fact that I’m [crappy]. I just am. It is not possible for me to not be that way. I can prevent myself from being actively [crappy]. I can do things that a not-[crappy] person would do. But the [crappiness] is always going to be there, just beneath the surface, straining to get out.”
Hello sin nature! She nailed it.
She has discovered what people in general are trying so hard to avoid knowing, or are trying so hard to justify. Our natural tendencies are towards sin. We think, do, and say things we wish we didn’t. And sometimes it’s hard to want to do good things.
Paul identifies with these sentiments. He says in Romans 7:
“What I don’t understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise… I don’t have what it takes. I can will it, but I can’t do it. I decide to do good, but I don’t really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don’t result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time.” [The Message translation]
People like to think that humanity is inherently good, that deep down everyone is a decent human being. But like Allie has transparently admitted— and like we see exhibited even in young children uninfluenced by society— we are not good people. We are selfish. We want to do whatever we want and we want it to be okay.
Romans 3:11-12 says:
““None is righteous, no, not one;
no one understands;
no one seeks for God.
All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
no one does good,
not even one.””
‘Wow,’ you might be thinking, ‘Way to keep the positive vibes going. Thanks for telling us we’re all bad people. See ya later.’
But keep reading!! I have Good News! Awesome news!
There is a hope for us crappy people that is not dependent upon us doing enough good things to get it. We’ve already established that even when we want to do good things, we don’t always do them. So really, the only hope for us to become good people, or ‘justified’ people, is if there was a way that didn’t require us to achieve it. Because when it comes down to it, we never could.
And there IS a way.
His name is Jesus.
Allie Brosh hates that she is this way and doesn’t understand what’s wrong with her. She ends her book saying that she just tricks herself into believing she’s a good person. Is that real hope? No, it’s not, because she knows the truth.
Allie might not be asking for an answer to her dilemma, and maybe you don’t care either. And maybe tricking yourself or hoping against hope is enough for you to live your life, but I don’t want to continue living every day knowing I’m a “horrible, loophole-abusing monster” and not looking for true hope.
And so I am happy and compelled to share with you true hope for you and me.
Romans 8 says,
“For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly… God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him…we also celebrate in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.”
Continuing down our own path of self-destruction leads to death. “The wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23) As soon as we are born, we are running down this path of sin, as Allie said, “The [crappiness] is always going to be there.”
Yet. Yet, Jesus loved us, even in our sin, and died on the cross, rising again and defeating death, because he wanted to pay the price of our sin and make us right with God. We didn’t have to choose the right things enough times to convince Jesus we were worth dying for. He already loved us.
“If you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)
“Whoever comes to me [Jesus], I will never cast out.” (John 6:37)
There you have it. Our hope is to believe and trust in Jesus. If our lives are hidden in Christ, there is no sin that can separate us from him, his Spirit working in us, and our eternity in heaven.
While there are many factors at work when someone struggles with depression, one thing I would bet Allie would love to know about is that our identity and worth is not determined by our sin nature. God is in the business of restoring and our identity and worth is found in being a new creation in Christ.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
That doesn’t mean we will never feel depressed, but it does mean that we understand our crappiness, and it means we are not slaves to it. We have hope outside of ourselves.
I can’t help but be reminded of Jared Wilson’s book, ‘The Imperfect Disciple.’ Wilson also struggles with depression. He wrestles with hating himself for the things he does that he doesn’t want to do. And so he wrote a book telling the truth about how Romans 8 frees us from having to be good enough for heaven. He says:
“Here’s the good news. That real you, the you inside that you hide, the you that you try to protect, the you that you hope nobody sees or knows—that’s the you that God loves. No, he doesn’t love your sin, of course. But he loves your true self. Without pretense, without façade, without image management without the religious makeup. You the sinner, you the idolater, you the worshiper of false gods—that’s the you Jesus loves… God loves sinners. Jesus died for sinners. He didn’t wait for us to get our act together. (He knew we never could!)”
“Every other religion in the world has man in the gutter trying to figure out how to get to heaven; only Christianity has heaven coming down to the gutter.”
“I take a look at my messed-up soul every day. I feel completely overwhelmed and under-equipped. And so I hold on to the gospel. I pour some gospel into my soul. I am good to go another day. I might be crawling through that day or I might be balled up in my bed, unwilling to charge the Valley of Elah that is my life, but the smile of God is over me continually. Day and night his steadfast love sustains me.”
We are “following Jesus not on some religious quest to become bigger, better, or faster but to become more trusting of his mercy toward our total inability to become those things.”
I know you came here for a book of laughs, and if you read Brosh’s book, you’ll probably have that. But if you don’t mind, I’d like to encourage you to also read Wilson’s book, post-Brosh. He takes up where she leaves off and I think you’ll find it food for your soul!
Thank you for letting me continue the incomplete gospel message that Allie Brosh started in the final pages of her book, Hyperbole and a Half, but didn’t finish. [Maybe she should have called her book ‘Hyperbole and Half a Gospel’?]
Her last pages embody a note of sadness, and if I truly believe the Good News I’ve just shared with you, I couldn’t talk about her book without contributing a note of hope. When we accept what Jesus did for us on the cross, there is freedom from our crappiness. And it is no hyperbole. The astonishing truth of the gospel is wholly true.
Wilson reminds us that “the key to following Jesus not as a defeated person but as a person of confidence, of hope, of glory” is that “you are free to own up to your true sinful self because you are set free from your true sinful self.”
I hope Allie Brosh finds the rest of the gospel, and I hope this for you too. I appreciate Allie’s honesty; we would do well to follow her example in recognizing our own sinfulness. And to go one step further—accept our Savior.
And now to conclude this more-for-your-money review with a summary sentence that pertains more to the book in general, which I understand is what you came here for:
Overall, I give her credit for uniqueness, transparency, consistency, and some humor, but because the drawings didn’t engage me and the content was hit and miss, the swearing prevents it from being more than a mediocre read for me. But, then, I’m probably not really her target audience.
*For further reading on how God loves us even when we are crappy:
The Imperfect Disciple by Jared Wilson
Gentle and Lowly by Dane Ortlund
oh and The Bible, obviously.
For more reviews, check out my book review blog at www.shelfreflection.com!
I had vaguely heard good things about the blog this book came from so when I saw it at Half Price Books for $3, I thought, ‘Why not?’ And then it sat on my shelf for the next 3 years.
Thanks to the aforementioned reading challenge I created, I was forced to actually read it!
Having just read Jenny Lawson’s book Broken (in the best possible way), Hyperbole and a Half felt very similar in humor and writing style. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that Jenny Lawson gave an endorsement and blurb on the back of this book. Maybe they’re best friends!
If you are familiar with Allie Brosh’s popular blog (with the same title) then you already know what to expect in this book and you’ll probably love the book. [You may not need this review but keep reading for something unexpected I found in her book]
If you are new to the scene, I’ll tell slash show you some things to help you know if it’s worth your time.
First- the book is mostly pictures interspersed between short text to illustrate her stories and introspection about motivation, animals, cake, hot sauce, getting lost, and adulting. To see a few examples of these pictures, check out the full review on my blog here.
Although there were some that I found funny and entertaining, generally, the drawings didn’t really keep me engaged. Based on the FAQs of her blog website, she creates all of the drawings in MS Paintbrush and they are all done very deliberately. To her credit, the consistency in the drawings is pretty incredible.
I’m a big fan of Nathan W. Pyle’s Strange Planet drawings, and I find those more humorous than these. I can’t really put my finger on why. Maybe it’s that, here, her ponytail always looks like a birthday hat and as an artist I, personally, find it a terrible rendering choice. Maybe because they’re a smidge on the creepy side. I don’t know.
As for content, there are a lot of dog stories. I don’t have a dog and don’t particularly desire to, so I didn’t connect with those chapters, however, I feel like most dog-owners/lovers would find them highly relatable.
It is similar to Lawson’s book in that it is all random, crazy experiences she has had with a few chapters here and there talking about mental illness. Both Lawson and Brosh deal with severe depression.
I found her transparency in talking about her thoughts and feelings with depression very enlightening. Having not experienced depression before, it was really interesting to understand more of what might go on in the head of someone struggling with depression.
One particular example she gave (complete with corresponding drawings) was that she says “My fish are dead.” And people are saying things like “I’ll help you find your fish. They must be around here somewhere!” or “Can’t you just make them not dead?” or “Have you tried feeding them?” or “Fish are always deadest before dawn.” To which she says, “WHY CAN’T ANYONE SEE HOW DEAD THESE ARE?!” “You’re maybe just looking for someone to say ‘Sorry about how dead your fish are,’ or ‘Wow, those are super dead. I still like you though.’”
She definitely helps you understand how crippling depression can be and the inner turmoil of trying to fight it but not being able to, or fighting it in little ways at a time.
I think the main thing that was a turn off for me was the swearing. Also like Lawson’s book, there is quite a bit of it (including s- and f-words). On her blog, she says, “I like swear words. I think they can be really funny. I try to use them sparingly because I know that some people don't feel the same way. If I've used a swear word, I have probably thought long and hard about whether it was necessary and decided that it was. In my opinion, they are just words and should not be given so much power.”
So, while I think the drawings and story content could grow on me and could become more humorous the more I read, the regular swearing will always be there and I’d rather find other funny things to read. Allie Brosh is fine with that.
I do want to address something I found very fascinating, though.
Her last two chapters are titled Identity Part One and Identity Part Two. She begins saying that she would like to believe she’d “behave heroically in a disaster situation” but that she doesn’t think she would. She says her ego (identity) wants to be great and do great things but has to constantly deal with the bad parts of her and that her ego can’t overpower them. She then talks in length about how she has urges to do weird or mean things to people and that she doesn’t know what’s wrong with her.
She also explains how she tries to find loopholes to being a good person or feeling like a good person by just ‘thinking’ about doing good things because thinking about them almost feels like you actually did them.
(Don’t worry, I am going somewhere with this. Stay with me…)
She says:
“When I look at myself, I don’t want to see the horrible, loophole-abusing monster that I am. I want to see a better person. Someone who is genuinely good and doesn’t need to resort to lies and manipulation. Because deep down, I feel like I’m better than this.”
“I don’t just want to do the right thing, I want to WANT to do the right thing. This might seem like a noble goal to strive for, but I don’t actually care about adhering to morality.”
“Every day—against my will—I am bombarded by all these [crappy], selfish thoughts, and I don’t want to find out that the reason I have them is because that’s what I’m really like.”
“Unfortunately, the source of my [crappiness] is the fact that I’m [crappy]. I just am. It is not possible for me to not be that way. I can prevent myself from being actively [crappy]. I can do things that a not-[crappy] person would do. But the [crappiness] is always going to be there, just beneath the surface, straining to get out.”
Hello sin nature! She nailed it.
She has discovered what people in general are trying so hard to avoid knowing, or are trying so hard to justify. Our natural tendencies are towards sin. We think, do, and say things we wish we didn’t. And sometimes it’s hard to want to do good things.
Paul identifies with these sentiments. He says in Romans 7:
“What I don’t understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise… I don’t have what it takes. I can will it, but I can’t do it. I decide to do good, but I don’t really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don’t result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time.” [The Message translation]
People like to think that humanity is inherently good, that deep down everyone is a decent human being. But like Allie has transparently admitted— and like we see exhibited even in young children uninfluenced by society— we are not good people. We are selfish. We want to do whatever we want and we want it to be okay.
Romans 3:11-12 says:
““None is righteous, no, not one;
no one understands;
no one seeks for God.
All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
no one does good,
not even one.””
‘Wow,’ you might be thinking, ‘Way to keep the positive vibes going. Thanks for telling us we’re all bad people. See ya later.’
But keep reading!! I have Good News! Awesome news!
There is a hope for us crappy people that is not dependent upon us doing enough good things to get it. We’ve already established that even when we want to do good things, we don’t always do them. So really, the only hope for us to become good people, or ‘justified’ people, is if there was a way that didn’t require us to achieve it. Because when it comes down to it, we never could.
And there IS a way.
His name is Jesus.
Allie Brosh hates that she is this way and doesn’t understand what’s wrong with her. She ends her book saying that she just tricks herself into believing she’s a good person. Is that real hope? No, it’s not, because she knows the truth.
Allie might not be asking for an answer to her dilemma, and maybe you don’t care either. And maybe tricking yourself or hoping against hope is enough for you to live your life, but I don’t want to continue living every day knowing I’m a “horrible, loophole-abusing monster” and not looking for true hope.
And so I am happy and compelled to share with you true hope for you and me.
Romans 8 says,
“For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly… God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him…we also celebrate in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.”
Continuing down our own path of self-destruction leads to death. “The wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23) As soon as we are born, we are running down this path of sin, as Allie said, “The [crappiness] is always going to be there.”
Yet. Yet, Jesus loved us, even in our sin, and died on the cross, rising again and defeating death, because he wanted to pay the price of our sin and make us right with God. We didn’t have to choose the right things enough times to convince Jesus we were worth dying for. He already loved us.
“If you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)
“Whoever comes to me [Jesus], I will never cast out.” (John 6:37)
There you have it. Our hope is to believe and trust in Jesus. If our lives are hidden in Christ, there is no sin that can separate us from him, his Spirit working in us, and our eternity in heaven.
While there are many factors at work when someone struggles with depression, one thing I would bet Allie would love to know about is that our identity and worth is not determined by our sin nature. God is in the business of restoring and our identity and worth is found in being a new creation in Christ.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
That doesn’t mean we will never feel depressed, but it does mean that we understand our crappiness, and it means we are not slaves to it. We have hope outside of ourselves.
I can’t help but be reminded of Jared Wilson’s book, ‘The Imperfect Disciple.’ Wilson also struggles with depression. He wrestles with hating himself for the things he does that he doesn’t want to do. And so he wrote a book telling the truth about how Romans 8 frees us from having to be good enough for heaven. He says:
“Here’s the good news. That real you, the you inside that you hide, the you that you try to protect, the you that you hope nobody sees or knows—that’s the you that God loves. No, he doesn’t love your sin, of course. But he loves your true self. Without pretense, without façade, without image management without the religious makeup. You the sinner, you the idolater, you the worshiper of false gods—that’s the you Jesus loves… God loves sinners. Jesus died for sinners. He didn’t wait for us to get our act together. (He knew we never could!)”
“Every other religion in the world has man in the gutter trying to figure out how to get to heaven; only Christianity has heaven coming down to the gutter.”
“I take a look at my messed-up soul every day. I feel completely overwhelmed and under-equipped. And so I hold on to the gospel. I pour some gospel into my soul. I am good to go another day. I might be crawling through that day or I might be balled up in my bed, unwilling to charge the Valley of Elah that is my life, but the smile of God is over me continually. Day and night his steadfast love sustains me.”
We are “following Jesus not on some religious quest to become bigger, better, or faster but to become more trusting of his mercy toward our total inability to become those things.”
I know you came here for a book of laughs, and if you read Brosh’s book, you’ll probably have that. But if you don’t mind, I’d like to encourage you to also read Wilson’s book, post-Brosh. He takes up where she leaves off and I think you’ll find it food for your soul!
Thank you for letting me continue the incomplete gospel message that Allie Brosh started in the final pages of her book, Hyperbole and a Half, but didn’t finish. [Maybe she should have called her book ‘Hyperbole and Half a Gospel’?]
Her last pages embody a note of sadness, and if I truly believe the Good News I’ve just shared with you, I couldn’t talk about her book without contributing a note of hope. When we accept what Jesus did for us on the cross, there is freedom from our crappiness. And it is no hyperbole. The astonishing truth of the gospel is wholly true.
Wilson reminds us that “the key to following Jesus not as a defeated person but as a person of confidence, of hope, of glory” is that “you are free to own up to your true sinful self because you are set free from your true sinful self.”
I hope Allie Brosh finds the rest of the gospel, and I hope this for you too. I appreciate Allie’s honesty; we would do well to follow her example in recognizing our own sinfulness. And to go one step further—accept our Savior.
And now to conclude this more-for-your-money review with a summary sentence that pertains more to the book in general, which I understand is what you came here for:
Overall, I give her credit for uniqueness, transparency, consistency, and some humor, but because the drawings didn’t engage me and the content was hit and miss, the swearing prevents it from being more than a mediocre read for me. But, then, I’m probably not really her target audience.
*For further reading on how God loves us even when we are crappy:
The Imperfect Disciple by Jared Wilson
Gentle and Lowly by Dane Ortlund
oh and The Bible, obviously.
For more reviews, check out my book review blog at www.shelfreflection.com!