Sarah

Amory is an interesting character, one that I found hard to relate to but still found intriguing. I hoped to see change or something greater come of his life than simply knowing himself. As Amory states in the end, “I know myself, but that is all.” I enjoyed reading this novel, although it does not compare to The Great Gatsby, in my opinion. I think I much prefer the first half of the book than the second, but I am also an optimist and am never opposed to seeing a character like Amory become aware of his flaws and then do something about it and come out much improved in the end. Then again, that is not real life and not what Fitzgerald was hoping to achieve, I don't think. If you're a fan of Fitzgerald, I would definitely recommend reading it as it was his first novel and gives an interesting perspective of morality and youth around the time before and after World War I.

Quicker and easier read than some of the other literature on marriage from biblical perspective. Can see myself using this book to work with Christian couples wanting to work on their marriage. Found myself as an unmarried person who is dating someone able to apply most concepts to my own life and my own relationships because the principles are based on the gospel and the gospel is always applicable to my life and my relationships.

Good, brief overview that can be easily referenced in maintaining familiarity with Bowen family theory. “If I know theory I can use it, if I don't, I can't” (p. 113). This book is somewhat dated though - wish more updated work (and even research) was available!

Loved the perspective this book provided - all things work together for the good of those who love God and who are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). The author focuses on this verse but also draws on the context of Romans, connects this verse to other scripture, and ultimately points to the sovereignty and goodness of God. God has perspective and understanding that we do not have and may not understand or see this side of heaven. I heard in a sermon recently that if we knew all that God knows, we would answer our prayers the very same way He does. He knows what discipline and training we need. He knows what we need and how this may be distinct from what we want. Reading this book helped walk me through comprehending the weight and truth of Romans 8:28 and better appreciate God's sovereignty.

This is a great devotional that was helpful for me to read through in coming to better understand my identity in Christ (which all always be a work in progress) and challenging wrongful ideas I have about myself and about who God is (e.g., God is a punisher, thinking too low and too high of myself). The devotional consists of 3 different parts: 1)Who you really are... at first, 2)Your life is Christ, and 3)Three pillars of your new identity to be read through in 40 days. (Per usual, it took me almost a year to get through it.) Each day consists of questions and scripture to facilitate further reflection. While I was not crazy that Myers used a number of different versions of the Bible when referencing scripture, I like that she uses God's word as the ultimate place we should turn to in digging deeper into who we are and whose we are. I could see this particular devotional appealing more to women than men, but Myers does not explicitly orient the text to men or women. It will be interesting to come back to this devotional in a few years and see what stands out, what is most challenging, and what is most affirming at that time.

Peterson quite nearly addresses 10,000 different facets of Christianity in a manner that is deep and at times heady but still impacting and thought-provoking. I started reading this book in 2011 and just now am finishing it (but attribute this to being in grad school more so than a lack of interest in the book). I probably need to reread this book one day, particularly as my own understanding of theology has changed and grown over the past 3 years. In flipping back through the book, however, I have many a page dog eared and many a line underlined with notes in the margins - I was challenged throughout the reading to think deeper and examine my own understanding of who Jesus was and is. I also really like how Peterson emphasizes the interconnectedness of the church community, our duty to love one another, the call for us to be active participants in God's work, and the personal nature of our triune God who very much is relational and works relationally. If I were to recommend this book to anyone, I would be sure to forewarn the reader about how heady Peterson's writing can be and needing to be patient in reading through slowly so as to soak in what he is discussing (even if to disagree with his views).

This was required reading for my job with Youth Villages, and I'm glad to have had such an in-depth and helpful exploration of multi-systemic therapy (MST). This book reads like one of my grad school textbooks but gives great case examples and interventions to help apply what you're reading. I would not suggest this book for someone looking for a fun read, but if you are looking for a better understanding of MST as a clinician, this is your go-to book! It's been helpful as a reference with treatment planning and thinking of where to go next with families and I'm sure I'll continue to reference back to it in the future.

This is one of the best devotionals I have ever read. Myers has a wonderful way of presenting gospel truths from scripture in a relatable and still challenging way. The book lives up to its title and encourages the reader all throughout to work out what it means to have a satisfied heart - that is, a heart satisfied in God and God alone.

I appreciated the encouragement at the end of each chapter to meditate on scripture allowing for further reflection on who God is and what His “words of love” for us are. I also enjoyed the supplemental quotes, poems, and lyrics throughout the book from the likes of C. S. Lewis and A. W. Tozer, among others.

Overall, excellent read whether you're looking for an every day kind of devotional or one that you can pick up and put down at any time. I received this as a gift and want to be able to pass on the encouragement to others as well because of how much I enjoyed this devotional.

Such an inspiring and motivating book, written in a way that is relatable, easy to read and Biblically-founded. I was also pleased that Furtick had a vision for this novel, used Joshua as the main biblical parallel and did not stay from this vision or Joshua's audacious faith example.

Parts of this book led me to tears in recognizing God's goodness and at other times because of how much I know I need to change in my own life.

I've been following Christ for more than several years now and found this to be a beneficial read, one that I am and have been looking to apply practically in my own life.

I was skeptical at first with the U2 and Bono references, but upon finishing this book, I can't wait to hand this book off to someone else to read!

I am so glad there are more books to come. It has been a while since I have felt as interested by a series and would perhaps compare this one to A Series of Unfortunate Events because of how the main character is a child but the content is just as interesting for adults (if not more appropriate for them too). Flavia de Luce is a fascinating character, and I look forward to reading more about her and her (mis)adventures.

This book made me cry - the good kind of tears feeling the weight of Kara's suffering and yet the freedom that grace and embracing gospel truths provides as well. Her story is a beautiful one, not because she seems to love her family well, not because she inserts thought-provoking and relevant quotes and verses throughout the book, and certainly not because she writes to glorify herself and how she has persevered through her struggles. Rather, her story is beautiful because it reflects the gospel and what it means to lean in and trust God even when life does not end up the way you hoped or planned it would.

Kara's story points to a God who is with us during our moments of weakness, sadness, hurt, sickness, suffering, illness, disease, cancer. A God who sent His Son to die a painful death as the propitiation for our sins so that we might know true love, forgiveness, and grace in a broken world and one day see His glory and goodness face to face.

A truly wonderful read for anyone who has ever suffered (i.e. everyone) full of such encouragement and needed reminders of the greatness and love of God, no matter what our life circumstances may be.

I read this for a class as part of a project on Generalized Anxiety Disorder and am glad this is the memoir I ended up reading. What an incredible story! What's even more incredible is L.A. Nicholson's honesty and bravery in sharing such a personal and traumatic story. Her story is helping me better understand this mental illness, and I hope stays with me as I move closer toward becoming a mental health professional who very well may come across individuals struggling with anxiety, depression, and suicide. This book is full of moments that are happy, sad, scary, frustrating, and shocking but in a way that can only lead one to having a better idea of what Nicholson went through and what others may be experiencing as well. It ends with hope and promise of a brighter future, as well as my own personal conviction of being a therapist who is encouraging and kind and able to offer such hope and promise perhaps to my own clients one day.

I was supposed to read this book a year and a half ago or so as part of a spiritual discipleship/church internship experience. Unfortunately, life got busy and I never made it past page 30. Let me tell you - I am so glad I picked this book up again and finally finished it! Perhaps now is the exact time I was meant to read through it anyhow. Initially, I thought the book would be another one of the cheesy Christian books encouraging you to be just who God made you to be because you're great! The end. I now stand corrected and was really surprised by how much I enjoyed reading this book. John Ortberg writes in an entertaining manner while also spewing out some knowledge and much needed reminders of how we are to be who God created you to be. There is depth to what he says as well, which I appreciated and felt challenged by all throughout the book. I also found it incredibly encouraging! This is a book I'm most certainly going to hang onto.

Definitely a page turner with some unexpected twists - also aptly described as a psychological thriller. I'm interested to read other novels by Mackintosh, as there is something to say about an author who can write a book you do not want to put down to find out what happens next. At times, it was not an easy read because of the content for me, hence the 3 stars, but I would be willing to read other books of hers.

While I may not aspire to be preaching and I view the role of pastor/preacher as being exclusive to men in the church, I was encouraged by this book and challenged myself to keep an open mind as to practical application in my own life. Note: this was required reading for a seminary class on bible exposition. Piper punctuates and asserts the relationship that must exist between God's supremacy and preaching, how the “majesty and truth and holiness and righteousness and wisdom and faithfulness and sovereignty and grace” of God is still absolutely relevant and must be evident in preaching today (17). Reading this book and taking this class have increased my respect for those who are in pastoral roles or aspire to be because of the weightiness, the gravity of a role requiring the handling of God's Word rightly and for the glory of God and not self. I am all the more grateful for those who preach at the church I attend and want to be more intentional to pray for them that they would see the link between God's supremacy and preaching, which God uses for the purposes of salvation for the lost and perseverance of the saints.

While the book may appear to be short, it is not lacking in depth, and I found myself rereading sentences, paragraphs, and even chapters to ensure I was grasping the depth of what Piper wrote and at times was not sure of his meaning (e.g., the chapter on concept creation for some reason took me a few reads). I have not read anything by him before, and perhaps this and not having a personal calling to preaching may have been barriers to the writing clicking as easily as other books I have read in seminary so far. However, I did greatly appreciate the frequent references to scripture not only in the “addresses” of the verses but whole verses themselves as well as references to other theologians, preachers, and believers. It was as if Piper was seeking to assert truths he believes to be universal with regard to preaching because of how he understands scripture and God's character rather than wanting to spout off his own thoughts and feelings in a self-important way.

I would highly recommend this book for anyone wanting to better understand the why and what behind biblically-oriented and tethered preaching, especially if pursuing pastoral ministry or any ministry involving preaching.

I read this book as requested by my operator for my job (Director of Sales & Brand Growth). Definitely an interesting read for anyone involved in marketing - it's full of personal anecdotes from the authors, quotes from myriad symbols and producers of “cool”, and examples of the pursuit of cool gone right and wrong.

One takeaway from this book was avoiding the easy temptation to emulate someone else who is successful, as if there were a cookie cutter approach to cool and success. Take risks. Know your demographic. Be genuine and authentic. Have a vision and follow it, but don't shy away from adjusting that vision along the way.

Easy and mindless read that went on my “To-Read” list after hearing an interview with the author on a podcast. It was not quite what I was expecting, but I kept reading anyway because I'm one of those people who does not like to leave books unfinished. Initially, I was especially interested because of my background in working events, although I never worked any events close to the extent of what the character works on in this book. I still found some parts relatable, including that rush of working your first big event. This would be a good beach read, as it is semi-predictable, a quick read, and fairly entertaining. I didn't enjoy this book enough to want to read the rest in this series.

I am grateful to have been assigned this book as required reading for Dr. Reid's Evangelism: Practice and Nature class. Like Dr. Reid, his book exudes a passion and zeal for sharing the gospel with others, encouraging others to challenge whatever obstacles may get in the way of them living out the Great Commission. There are funny moments, plenty of interesting anecdotes, myriad nuggets of practical application, and the structure of the book is easy to follow. In no way does he condemn or attempt to guilt people who may not view themselves as equipped, ready, or proficient at sharing the gospel. Each of the eight principles he addresses made a lot of sense and helped me rethink how I view evangelism and what it means to live a lifestyle of evangelism. Especially thankful for the prayer he challenges readers to pray daily, “God, give me today (1) an opportunity to speak with someone about Jesus; (2) the wisdom to see it; and (3) the courage to take it.”

This book is a great read for individuals wanting to grow in sharing the gospel as well as groups wanting to study evangelism together, especially in light of the 8-week study outline available at the end of the book.

Such an interesting read. This book was required reading for a mission trip to London where we will be working with Muslim women.

Reading about Muslim culture (with emphasis on how it may differ nationally and regionally) challenged assumptions I had and opened my eyes to the many merits and fascinating aspects to such a rich and diverse culture. I am in awe of the degree of hospitality and kindness valued in these cultures, some ways the collectivistic mindset is demonstrated, and the weight of relationships.

Christine Mallouhi has written a book full of anecdotes, personal and otherwise, encapsulating 30+ years of living missionally amongst Muslims as an evangelical Christian. As Mallouhi states toward the end of the book, “These stories are not giving you the solutions. They are simply alerting you to the main issue I have chosen from among many, to address.”

In this way, this book is by no means exhaustive but is a great starter for anyone interested in learning more about Muslim culture from the perspective of an evangelical Christian and what it may look like “to live honorably among Muslims for Christ's sake”.

What an excellent read. Packer does an excellent job of connecting, as the title suggests, the sovereignty of God and evangelism. I won't attempt to summarize the book but rather will encourage anyone wanting to challenge their understanding of evangelism in light of who God is to read this great book. After reading this book, I feel encouraged to pray more, develop more meaningful relationships with others without such fear around sharing the gospel, and having patience in knowing salvation is in God's hands and not my own.

Excellent discussion on a topic absolutely deserving of further understanding for any and all Christians. Grateful there is a succinct, biblically-based, and practical book on discipleship available. I'm sure I will be recommending this book to others and will be reading other books in the 9Marks series.

Don't let the size or the cover of the book fool you - while small and seemingly simple, Gilbert uses this book to encourage Christians to recognize why we can and should trust the Bible. I was challenged to think through why I trust the Bible rather than simply saying something to the effect of, “I have faith it's true” or “I go to a church that tells me it's true”. I probably would benefit from reading this book again and will keep it handy as a reference and even see it as a beneficial recommendation for nonbelievers interested in understanding the Bible as trustworthy or not (as Gilbert addresses). The recommended resources at the end are also helpful. I further appreciated he had a specific goal in mind for this book, focused on it despite how this book could have easily been ten times as long, and provided other works that already have sought out to address other aspects he references.

An excellent resource for exploring and digging deeper into evangelism in a classroom, personal, or group study environment. One of just a handful of books on this topic I would readily recommend (including Dr. Reid's other book “Sharing Jesus without Freaking Out”).

What a fantastic devotional - one every woman should read! In fact, I could tell it was going to be a valuable read the first week in and ordered a copy for several friends without having finished it. The Lord used Brownback's words and scripture to peel back the layers of anxiety and lack of trust in the Lord in my life, reminding me continuously of who God is first and what that means for who I am secondly. Looking forward to reading the other devotional she's written!

Guthrie's book is truly a must-read for anyone wanting to know how to love and engage others well in the midst of grief. I've experienced loss but not to the extent of some friends and loved ones around me, and it was incredibly helpful to hear from Guthrie and many others she quotes as to what is helpful and what is not when engaging those who are grieving. She explores topics such as heaven, using Scripture, helpful things to say, hurtful things to say, normalization of grief, and others all the while avoiding overgeneralization and recognizing the personal nature of grief. There are examples of intentional questions to ask those who are grieving as well as encouragement to acknowledge the person's loss rather than pulling away for fear of saying the wrong thing.

This book may even be helpful for those who are grieving to give to friends and loved ones wanting to lean in and learn what really helps and what really hurts, as the title suggests.