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Not so good books... A few thoughts

Sometimes it can be a very good that I have to press on to the end of a book that I have agreed to review. Sometimes it can be a very discouraging thing.

This week, it is the latter. Last night, I finished a Christian fiction book that I will be posting a review about in 2 weeks. It really wasn't very good. Honestly, I respect authors for writing books. But, I think that we are still supposed to be discerning about what we fill our minds with. And I am going to be a little more reticent to request books that I don't feel very sure about.

8Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Philippians 4:8 NIV

I know that there are going to be times when we read a book and there's going to be hard parts in it--amidst the conflict and struggles of the characters. I do expect that. But, I don't expect a book to be filled with characters who have all engaged in premarital sex and couples who are engaged (but not yet married) and living together and all are attending church (and have for years) and are seeking the Lord. Only one time in the book was there one line when a character (who isn't in the rest of the book) mentions the word "chastity" and then its blown off.

Will this book be enjoyable to anyone to read? I don't know. It wasn't for me. It didn't point me towards God or provide any fun, relaxing reading. I struggled through it and made it to the end. Sadly, I still have a bad taste in my mouth as I puzzle about the book.

And you know one of the funniest things about this book, it isn't until the end that the author actually gives some description of how the people look physically (and it's completely different than the pictures on the front and back covers of the book). Isn't that strange?
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Comments

Deb said…
Well said.

As for the covers, the folks who choose them don't even read the books.
January 20, 2010 at 9:17 PM
CoffeeShopBloggers said…
Can I also add how much I detest the Bob books! There is no story, no plot. The illustrations are also crummy. No wonder my kids refused to read them!

I blog on children's literature. If you want great picture books, see my entry "Favorite Picture Books You've Never Heard of." My kids loved these books; we read these instead of those Bob type books.

http://pragmaticmom.com

Pragmatic Mom
January 21, 2010 at 9:17 AM
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