Tag Archives: Books

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Book Review And Contest – As One Devil To Another by Richard Platt

As One Devil To AnotherTyndale House Publishers recently gave me a copy of As One Devil To Another to read and review here on JeffRandleman.com. They also sent me a certificate for a free copy of the book by Richard Platt to give away. I’ll explain how you can enter to win that in a moment.

The Scenario

I am a huge fan of most of the work of C. S. Lewis. I’ve found very little written by him that I don’t like. He was a literary genius, as well as a brilliant theologian. Some of my favorite works by Lewis include Mere Christianity, The Great Divorce, God In The Dock, and, of course, The Screwtape Letters.

The Review

When I first heard about As One Devil To Another, and that it was written in the same style as The Screwtape Letters, I was skeptical. I’ve read a few other books written in this genre made popular by Lewis, and was less than impressed with any of them. And so I wasn’t really expecting Richard Platt’s attempt to be any better.

However, once I started reading As One Devil To Another, I couldn’t put it down. It’s an easy read, which I finished in a couple of hours. But there is a lot of significant stuff floating beneath the surface of this collection of letters from a mentor demon to his protégé. Platt gives great insight to the subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) deceptions that the enemy often uses to keep us from growing closer to the One he calls the Adversary (meaning God, of course).

The young demon, Scardagger, has just graduated from Temptation University, and has been assigned a human target and is overseen by his uncle and mentor, Slashreap. Through a series of letters from Slashreap, we see Scardagger’s progress in bringing down his target. We see the deceptions used to trip her up, and the tactics applied to distracting her from any meaningful events or relationships in her life that could draw her closer to God.

Platt weaves a brilliant narrative through these letters; one that seems almost to have been written by Lewis himself. After finishing the book, I had to admit that it was the best attempt in this genre I’ve seen since Lewis’ own work. I was impressed, and still am.

The Conclusion

I was completely fascinated with As One Devil To Another. Although I’m not sure I could have immersed myself into the mindset of the deceits described here to write such a book myself, Richard Platt did a phenomenal job with this book! I highly recommend that you read it!

As One Devil To Another CertificateThe Contest

Tyndale has graciously given me a certificate good for one copy of As One Devil To Another, redeemable at any bookstore where this book is sold. Here is what you’ll need to do to be eligible to win:

  • Leave a comment below, telling me why you’d like a copy of this book.
  • Retweet a link to this post, or post it on Facebook.
  • On Friday, May 18, I will randomly select a winner from the comments.

That’s it. Easy enough. And if you don’t win a free copy of As One Devil To Another, you can buy a copy for yourself. I would suggest you do so. I’m sure you’ll like it.

Do you have a favorite book by C. S. Lewis? If so, what is it? If not, who is your favorite author? You can leave your thoughts in the comments section below.

If you are interested in reading As One Devil To Another, by Richard Platt, you can purchase it at Amazon.com.

Disclosure of Material Connection:
I received this book free from Tyndale House Publishers as part of their Blogger Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Also, some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links”. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.“

 

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Book Review: 4 Days To A Forever Marriage by Gary & Norma Smalley

4 Days To A Forever MarriageWhen New Leaf Press sent me a copy of Dr. Gary Smalley’s newest book, 4 Days To A Forever Marriage, I was pretty excited.

I had read a few reviews of the book already, and was looking forward to getting a copy of my own to read.

I was not disappointed.

While the idea of improving your marriage in four days seems overly optimistic, the principles found here are priceless. These four steps are essential to creating a marriage environment that will succeed. However, in my experience, it will take a lot longer than four days to implement them fully. It may take me closer to 40 days.

That being said, I loved the book for it’s excellent material, and it’s easy readability. Crafted in such a fashion that you can read each chapter quickly and easily, each chapter contains input and material from both Gary and Norma. And the publishers have taken key statements and phrases and made them tweetable.

Subtitled Choosing Love Or Anger, the Smalleys have developed four action steps that will help build any marriage: Loving Words and Actions, Communication and Resolving Anger, Affection and Intimacy, and Trials and Treasures.

While each of these four areas are excellent in and of themselves, there are treasure troves of information and resources included in the back of the book; everything from rules for fighting to romance on a tight budget.

4 Days To A Forever Marriage is excellent! It will definitely be one of my go-to books on marriage.

I recommend that you pick up a copy today. It will be an excellent resource for any marriage relationship, whether just starting off, or seasoned by time. Grab a copy and read it. You won’t be sorry!

What is the best book on marriage you’ve ever read? You can leave your thoughts in the comments section below.

If you are interested in reading 4 Days To A Forever Marriage, by Dr. Gary & Norma Smalley, you can purchase it at Amazon.com.

Disclosure of Material Connection:
I received this book free from New Leaf Press/Master Books as part of their Blogger Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Also, some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links”. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.“

 

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Book Review: In The Aerie Of The Wolf by Leonora Pruner

In The Aerie Of The WolfI’m not a big fan of romance novels, so when a friend of mine with Nordskog Publishing asked me to read and review In The Aerie Of The Wolf, I was skeptical. This is simply a genre I do not like, nor am I very interested in even trying to like it.

But I hesitantly agreed to read it, thinking it may be something my daughter would like to read.

I have to admit, it wasn’t exactly what I expected. Taking place in Victorian England, the story is about a young woman, anxious to be a godly woman like the one described in Proverbs 31, who is taken away from her family and the man she loves to be married to Lord Wolverton. Being torn from one she loves, can she learn to love another?

There were several positive elements to Pruner’s story:

In The Aerie Of The Wolf does a great job portraying what love is. The main character, Anne Crofton, leaves her childhood home, and her childhood, behind as she travels to be wed to a man she does not know, leaving behind the one she has loved since childhood. But, as she discovers what love is, her perspective is changed.

As a parallel, as you read In The Aerie Of The Wolf, you can easily see Christ’s love for his Bride, and how that is reflected within human marriage. Pruner even quotes extensively from the Song of Solomon, reinforcing the idea that human love and marriage is only but a reflection of God’s love for mankind and for the Church.

The story is well thought out. There are several plot twists that I didn’t expect. But since I don’t normally read this type of novel, maybe I’m just clueless in that regard. Whatever the case, the story line was intriguing.

Pruner also did an excellent job of defining and describing the allure of temptation and sin. Flirting with the forbidden is very dangerous, and Pruner’s description hits the nail on the head, uncomfortably well.

But there were a few things in the book that I didn’t like:

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Book Review: Go Big by Cory Cotton

Go BigHave you ever seen the shelf full of self-help books found in most book stores? Those shelves are stocked with books full of generic sounding advice and input concerning how to do whatever it is you want to find out how to do.

Go Big belongs on that shelf.

Let me amend that statement just a bit: If I had to rate Go Big on a scale of one to five, I would give it a two and a four.

I would give it a two.
The content is just weak. It’s the same stuff you hear from all the self-help gurus out there: “Do this, so you will be successful at this…” There wasn’t really anything new and enlightening in this book. And on top of that, reading it was difficult because it felt disjointed; it didn’t flow well.

I would give it a four.
The story of Dude Perfect told in Go Big was somewhat interesting, from a biographical perspective. But what was really fun were the QR codes scattered throughout the book that would take you to various websites and videos. I’m not much of a basketball fan, but watching their trick shots was pretty entertaining. And having the ability to scan the QR code with my iPhone and watch the video right then was pretty cool. However, there were more than a few links that either didn’t work at all, or linked to the same video as a previous one did.

Overall, I wasn’t greatly impressed with Go Big. If you’re into basketball or the trick shot scene, you might find it interesting, but otherwise, don’t spend the money for this book. You can get the same information from a lot of other places.

Now, I’m going to go out and shoot a few trick shots, just to see how hard it really is.

Have you read Go Big? What did you think? You can leave your thoughts in the comments section below.

Disclosure of Material Connection:
I received this book free from Tyndale House Publishers as part of their Blogger Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.“

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Book Review: Sherman: The Ruthless Victor by Agostino Von Hassell and Ed Breslin

Sherman: The Ruthless VictorThomas Nelson Publishing Company has released a series called The Generals, biographies of the great generals of American history. Several months ago, I read and reviewed Lee: A Life of Virtue.

I loved it. So when I had the chance to read and review another book in this series, I jumped at it.

This time around, I read Sherman: The Ruthless Victor. Again, I loved it. However, I have to say that I’m not a big fan of William Tecumseh Sherman.

Sherman was one of the first to implement the concept of “total war”, the goal being to leave your opponent unable to continue to fight. Early warfare was structured, armies facing each other across a field of battle, visible to one another. During the Revolutionary War, that started to change, as American colonists adopted native American methods of fighting.

By the time of the Civil War, this was becoming more accepted in war. But Sherman, along with Grant and a few others, began to take this concept one step farther: Not only did they use concealment as they fought; they attempted to annihilate the enemy’s ability to fight back. This meant destroying supply lines, ammunition stores, factories and industry, and anything else that would enable the enemy to continue to wage war.

Sherman took this too far by destroying homes and possessions that didn’t fit into this criteria.

While I’m not a fan of Sherman, I did love the book. It was well written and very informative. It was definitely worth reading. If you are a history buff, especially of the Civil War era, I suggest you pick up a copy and read it. You won’t be able to put it down.

Who is your favorite American general? You can leave your thoughts in the comments section below.

If you are interested in reading the Sherman:  The Ruthless Victor, by Agostino Von Hassell and Ed Breslin, you can purchase it at Amazon.com.

Disclosure of Material Connection:
I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze blogger review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Also, some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links”. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.“

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Book Review: Zombie Church by Tyler Edwards

Zombie ChurchOver the holidays I completed Zombie Church, by Tyler Edwards.

I was skeptical at first; what in the world could zombies have to do with the church? But I was intrigued.

And after the first couple of chapters, I was hooked, I was shocked, and I was scared.

I first met Tyler when he spoke at a week of junior high camp for us. His messages were excellent, but I was really impressed with him as a person. He stayed in the dean’s cabin with me and the other dean, Eric. We spent the hours after the campers went to bed playing Phase 10, laughing at Eric on no sleep, and having a great week. It was great. When he found out that week that I read and reviewed books, he asked if I would be interested in reading and reviewing Zombie Church. Like I said, I was intrigued.

Not too long after that, I received a copy of the book from his publisher.

I was intrigued…
My initial questions were centered around the idea of just how the church could have anything at all in common with zombies, or even B-level, cheesy zombie movies. I couldn’t see the connection at all. But, cheesy or not, I enjoy a good zombie flick as much as the next guy, most of the time. There have been a couple that I couldn’t bear to watch. He even references one of them later in the book, Undead Alive.

Since I couldn’t fathom how he’d connect zombies and the church, I knew I had to read on.

I was hooked…
It didn’t take long, in fact. It was on page 12 that I read a quote from Brennan Manning, one of my favorite authors:

The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips then walk out the door and deny them with their lifestyle.

All of a sudden, I could see the similarity between the church, or at least a portion of it, and zombiism. Just a few pages later, Edwards says this:

When the church neglects the commission of Jesus — stops ministering to the poor and the hurting and stops sharing the love of God with others — then it stops living.

So true.

And very frightening. But more on that in a moment.

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Book Review: Big Book Of History

Big Book Of HistoryAs a homeschool dad, I’m always on the lookout for excellent teaching resources.

The Big Book of History is one such resource. I was intrigued, and my kids were fascinated with it.

It’s simply this: a fold-out time line of history from Creation through today. With tons of information, and very visually captivating images, this resource will be incredibly useful in our history lessons.  Once unfolded, it extends to fifteen feet!  It’s extremely easy to follow and includes lots of sidebars and mini-timelines with additional information.

I’m extremely impressed with the Big Book of History. In fact, I’m considering buying another one to disassemble and hang up in our school room for our kids to access easily.

With access online to a study guide, the Big Book of History will make a great teaching tool for parents, as well as in the church.

I highly recommend that you add one of these to your library. It will definitely come in handy!

What resources do you use to teach history, if any? You can leave your thoughts in the comments section below.

If you are interested in utilizing the Big Book Of History, you can purchase it at Amazon.com, or you can order the panels only.

Disclosure of Material Connection:
I received this book free from New Leaf Press/Master Books as part of their Blogger Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Also, some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links”. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.“