Evan

This book took me a while to get through, but it was well worth taking my time. It provides a very thorough and insightful history of spirituality and religion across all regions of the world. I feel like I have a much more well-rounded understanding of religion since reading this. It's a heavy read, very dense, not something you can just pick up and read if you're unfamiliar with religion, theology, or philosophy, but if you've dabbled in the fields and want to go deeper I would recommend.

There's some decently insightful advice in here, it's just buried amongst a lot of clutter. This should have been '50 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think' because the further into the book you get, the more repetitive it gets. It's evident the author came up with the title first and wrote the content to fit the title. It's worth skimming through, but honestly once you get 2/3 through it you've read it all.

Really eye-opening and jaw dropping read. I couldn't put this one down until I was done. If you're looking for an easy but captivating read, look no further.

Took a while to chip through this book but it was so worth going slow. Easily one of the most insightful books I've read about salvation, or any aspect of Christian theology for that matter. This book completely transformed my understanding of Jesus and the gospel message.

funny and digestible while also being incredibly informative

a fascinating autobiography that is very well organized and told. If true, it is revolutionary, but I can't help but think that some of it is a little fantastical. Nevertheless, a thought-provoking read.

So much to love about this book. The slower you read it, the more you get out of each little entry. These poems are beautifully vulnerable while simultaneously being beautifully cryptic. Very easy read that you can get so much out of. Highly recommend. Especially if you're also a cripplingly deep thinker.

This book will land with some, and miss with others. The plot doesn't really go anywhere, it's more just a brief insight into Harry Morgan's rough life. In my opinion, the absence of meaningful plot tragically but beautifully reflects the world's indifference to the events that take place in the book. Everything is so graphic and tragic yet painted in such an insignificant light, and that's what made this book stick with me personally. Again, not gonna be for everyone, but I found it a worthwhile read.

Millard >

A very scholarly work. You'll learn loads about apocryphal texts and extra-canonical gospels. I think this book provides a very fair analysis of available evidence, without making unsupported claims or conclusions. While this book didn't revitalize my perception of Jesus in the way I hoped it would, I still learned a lot and would strongly recommend to anyone who is interested in the historical side of Christianity and Jesus' ministry.

Very approachably academic. Vince and Ravi pack this book with high quality research and reference but still manage to deliver in a very "easy-read" manner. (I should clarify, it's an easy read if you've already studied these topics. If this is your introduction to secular ideologies, you'll still get a lot out of it, you just may have to play catch-up on a bit of the terminology, would still recommend to anyone looking to educate themselves on any of the worldviews discussed in this book)

Just another fantastic Mitch Albom novel. The man doesn't miss.

This is one of the greatest pieces of literature I've ever read. It conveys a crucial, profound message in the most enjoyable, humorous, witty way. This is authorship at its finest. I couldn't recommend this book enough to literally anyone. There is no target demographic. If you've got two feet and a heartbeat this book can change your life.

The concept of this book is phenomenal, and the actual topics and regrets discussed are really valuable to be aware of, but the book itself is quite bloated, with the author often repeating herself and yapping on about "healing" and other 'self-helpy' buzz words when they aren't remotely relevant. Overall, would still recommend. There is incredibly valuable wisdom in this book, you just gotta dig through some fluff to get to it.

I really enjoyed the scenery of fantasized Oregon, I really like the characters in the book, but I was disappointed in the plot. It just didn't really seem to go anywhere. Specifically the main character's "gift" the book is named after is hardly mentioned let alone explored or explained. Started strong but failed to hold up.

In my opinion, this book pales in comparison to some of Backman's other novels, but it's still a solid read that made me chuckle at times.

This book was definitely not what I thought it was going to be, but I appreciate that. It's easy to see why it's one of the most adored surfing books out there. Definitely one of the more unique books I've read.

I love how this book explores the double edged nature of loyalty. How such an admirable trait can also cause so much destruction. Backman is one of my favourite authors and this book is another reason why. Looking forward to getting my hands on the sequel.

I can't help but think the world would be just a liiittttlle better if everyone took the time to read this book. It's nothing groundbreaking but just a nice reset of perspective, with re-emphasizing basic principles we're all taught as kids but for some reason grow out of as we "mature".

to put it simply, it's extraordinary.

Such an interesting idea of heaven, really makes you sit back and evaluate what you're doing with your life and where your priorities are. I was really impacted by it, and it's scattered with great quotes to hold onto. My personal favourite comes right away on the fourth page:

"Had he known his death was imminent, he might have gone somewhere else. Instead, he did what we all do: He went about his dull routine as if all the days in the world were still to come." (pg. 4)

This book is a guilty pleasure of mine. It's like a Hallmark movie, it's corny, at times feels super cheap and shallow, yet I also can't put it down. Maddie McElwees is a W character tho. All the homies rock with Madison McElwees.

I can't cap I didn't realize it was a true story til like halfway through. Instantly made the story 10x cooler. Super interesting read. Gonna go steal the Mona Lisa now fr.

I really wanted to like this book. The foreword and title and whatnot had me excited, expecting something truly miraculous, and while Eben's survival was a miracle, in my opinion he really fails to make his claim believable. He explains potential justifications for his experience, but then quickly writes them off with little explanation, always defaulting to the fact that each theory couldn't explain the "realness" of his experience.

This may be the funniest book I've ever read while simultaneously impacting my outlook on life in a way that few books ever have. I love how the book is structured, the characters are all so easy to get behind (especially Ove of course). It's the perfect balance of hilarious and meaningful while remaining believable and interesting. Can't recommend this book enough.