Deeanne Gist is my go-to author for historical romance with a dash of humor and taste of adventure. With a book by her, I just know I’m guaranteed several hours of reading enjoyment.

Gist’s strength is creating characters that are so natural: she paints them vividly from their dress to their demeanor and dialog that they simply come alive. And Love on the Line promises to be another proof of that.

Here we have an adorably headstrong heroine up against a no-nonsense alpha-male lead. In the backdrop is the dawn of technology (meaning telephones just got invented) and a modern day Robin Hood on the loose.

It’s fun following the story unfold, the characters bumping heads and clashing on just about everything till sparks fly.

My only beef with Gist’s writing is this: when romance starts blooming, the descriptions can be a tad gratuitous. The more the couple denies their true feelings, the more the attraction grows, and the more liberal Gist becomes with descriptions of stolen kisses, ardent longing, and reigned-in passion. Often, the couple’s assessment of one another can make a reader just blush. I wonder if it’s all necessary, or if it only serves to feed the imagination in ways it shouldn’t.

View all my reviews

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I like John Maxwell. His leadership skills are widely recognized not just within Christian circles but beyond it. His books read effortlessly: it’s like listening to one of his motivational talks. It’s hard not to be energized by it.

But I think I prefer Maxwell’s quotable quotes rather than entire books. The 360 Degree Leader is just one example why.

The first few chapters sound great; the principles aren’t mind-numbingly awesome, but you can’t really disagree with them either. But after a while, it starts to sound repetitive and even a bit cliché. I couldn’t finish it; it just felt like the book didn’t have anything more to offer.

View all my reviews

Related articles

• The 360 Degree Leader: Developing Your Influence from Anywhere in the Organization Reviews (pro2sell.com)
• 3 Things I Learned from “The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership” by John C. Maxwell (fictionfromthefuture.wordpress.com)
• The 360 Degree Leader Workbook: Developing Your Influence from Anywhere in the Organization (pro2sell.com)

I love the idea of this book, it’s perfect for people like me who can’t sit still for one minute, let alone fifteen minutes of quiet time. I thought it would give me practical, step-by-step solutions, but it didn’t. That was a bit of a disappointment, since I was looking for some sort of paracetamol for my spiritual headache. But I realized there might not be an easy, over-the-counter prescription for what ails me.

The book is a lot about the author’s own experience, which made me realize my spiritual ADHD didn’t make me such a freak of nature after all. It made me stop flogging myself for what I perceived to be bad discipleship traits. Instead, I started thinking of how I can live close to God according to how He designed me.

So now I understand why this book doesn’t give me a panacea–there’s no such thing. We’re all probably wired in different ways, and cultivate our relationship with Christ through different means. I’ll just have to keep plodding on, discovering new things about myself and God as I go along, with helpful books such as this.

View all my reviews

Related articles

• Your Spiritual Life Depends Upon Killing Sin (challies.com)

I’m most comfortable reading the Bible in the NIV and NLT versions, but love switching to other translations every now and then. A familiar verse worded differently can have a fresh impact and reveal something new to tired eyes.

So I welcome the new Common English Bible translation. I’ve explored some of the passages and found it easy to read, with short sentences and simple sentence structures. I won’t hesitate to gift this version to friends who are younger, or just starting out in their Christian faith, or still studying basic English.

Honestly, I probably won’t make the switch to CEB. While I admire the goal of making it accessible to the everyman, I think it’s just not for me.

In the effort to make it simpler, using typical everyday English, the translators, unfortunately, sacrificed poetry. And I love reading the Bible for its beautiful lyrical flow, especially passages in Isaiah, the Psalms, and even the epistles.

View all my reviews

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is a pretty interesting book: it’s not a graphic novel, but the words are designed as graphics. Big letters emphasize screams, etc. Interesting story, too. A bunch of kids travel through time on an accidental mission. It reminds me of my Choose Your Own Adventure days.

A good gift for kids 10 and below, especially little boys.

My only thing about it is that I started reading page one and couldn’t shake off the feeling that I missed half the book. It just started in the middle of everything and didn’t give me any context. (In fairness, I think this is the nth book in the series, so other readers might not be as clueless as me.) I don’t mind starting off a book right smack in the middle of the action, just as long as somewhere I’m given a point of reference.

View all my reviews