Book Review: Cinematic Faith

Cinematic Faith
A Christian Perspective on Movies and Meaning
by William D. Romanowski
Baker Academic & Brazos Press
Baker Academic
Christian , Entertainment
Pub Date 21 May 2019

From the start of the film industry at the turn of the twentieth century the church has played a role in the industry. Catholics, Christians and Evangelicals have all played various roles at different times in helping to allow the Industry to be looked at as a legitimate one.

Various Church groups at various times also worked to get the industry to act in a way they saw more appropriate going as far as to boycott the Industry.

This books shows us how Christians can benefit critically , reading, hearing and reviewing popular film. William Romanowski shows us the benefits of a faith based approach that centers on art and perspective showing how the Christian faith contribute to the movie going experience, allowing us a deeper understanding of movies and life. The author draws examples from classic and contemporary movies to bring these lessons to light.

Cinematic. Faith was a unique, thought provoking look at the Film Industry in the context of the Christian perspective and I find it worthy of five out of five stars!

Happy Reading!

Book Review: Camp Club Girls: Kate

Camp Club Girls: Kate
by Janice Thompson

Barbour Publishing, Inc.

Barbour Books

Children’s Fiction , Christian

Pub Date 01 Mar 2019

I am reviewing a copy of Camp Club Girls: Kate through Barbour Books and Netgalley:

Someone is framing the shortstop of the Philadelphia Phillies but who is it? Kate’s Friend, Andrew faces the fear of his life when this smear campaign threatens to end his Fathers career and destroy him. Will the Camp Clib girls be able to stop this smear campaign and save the day for Andrew and his family?

There are rats at Mad River Creamery but where did they come from? Kate and Sydney are visiting a small Vermont town during winter break. Along with their plans to go skiing and enjoy some relaxation, turmoil breaks out at the local creamery. Will the Camp Club Girls triumph in vanquishing the vermin of Vermont?

Whose responsible for the phony fossils? When Kate’s former teacher becomes the Curator at a small science museum, Kate is invited to help out at the museum….A drink accidentally getting spilled leads Kate and McKenzie on a quick quest to a Quarry Fossil Camp called Stone’s throw. Will their suspicions prove right or wrong?

Why are the pretzels going flat? When Kate is chosen to attend a Junior Inventors showcase in Hershey Pennsylvania, while there she is able to partner with a local pretzel factory, that is willing to test her invention. Unfortunately Alexis and Kate notice a problem with the twisted treats. Can they get to the bottom of their pretzel predicament?

The four stories in this book would be a great read for eight to twelve year old girls who enjoy adventure stories.

I give Camp Club Girls: Kate five out of five stars!

Happy Reading!

Book Review: When the Lights Went Out

When the Light Went Out
by Bridget Morrissey

SOURCEBOOKS Fire

Sourcebooks Fire

Teens & YA

Pub Date 01 Jun 2019

I am reviewing a copy of When the Lights Went Out Through Sourcebooks Fire and Netgalley:

I wanted to love this book, I really did, but there were just parts of this book that didn’t mesh. It was okay, but certainly not what I was expecting!

Sixteen year old Marley, the oldest of eight neighborhood friends commands Nick only eleven at the time to shoot her with her Fathers gun, a gun she assured Nick
was not loaded. Did Marley really believe the gun was not loaded or did she commit suicide by having her younger friend pull the trigger?

Olivia whose only eleven at the time Marley is killed witnesses it all, and of course it changes her. She can no longer talk to Nick or the others really, that day changed her.

There had been the Marley her friends knew and the one her family knew. There was the Marley her friends thought of as strong and the one Olivia discovered needed help and didn’t know how to ask for it she discovered this five years after Marley’s death.

When the Lights Went Out had some good parts to it, and as I stated earlier the idea was a good one, a teenage girl struggling until the end, secretly struggling, therefore I found this book to be worthy of four out of five stars!

Happy Reading!

Book Review: Blonde Rattlesnake

Blonde Rattlesnake
Burmah Adams, Tom White, and the 1933 Crime Spree that Terrorized Los Angeles

by Julia Bricklin

Rowman & Littlefield

Lyons Press

History , True Crime

Pub Date 01 Jun 2019

I am reviewing a copy of Blonde Rattlesnake through Rowan Littlefield and Netgalley:

Burmah Adam’s was born in January of 1914 leaving her only nineteen at the time of the crime spree that terrorized Los Angeles. Tom White was born in July of 1897, and was also part of this devastating, terrorizing crime spree.

At the time of the crime spree Burmah was on her honeymoon, she had attended Sant Anna High school and was formally a hairdresser, she and her ex con husband White had been married for less than a week.

Burmah’s husband of only five days was killed by the cops after he and Burmah’s two day run of terror over Los Angeles!

The worst of their crimes was shooting the popular elementary school teacher Cora Withington and former publisher Cromblie Allen Who was teaching Cora to drive his new car. A few days after the pair were shot, two detectives dressed as mechanics kept an eye on the apartment Build they stayed at until Burmah and white showed up one day. Burmah tried to throw herself out a window while White shot at officers and was gunned down. Ultimately Burmah would go to prison but she would spend less than eight years there to be released in 1941.

I found Blonde Rattlesnake to be an interesting historical true crime story and find it to be worthy of five out of five stars!

Happy Reading!

Book Review: Blood Oath

Blood Oath
A Novel

by Linda Fairstein

PENGUIN GROUP Dutton

Dutton

Mystery & Thrillers

Pub Date 26 Mar 2019

I am reviewing a copy of Blood Oath through Penguin Group Dutton and Netgalley:

If you are looking for a good suspenseful read I recommend Blood Oath by Linda Fairstein.

Alexandra Cooper the Assistant DA of the Manhattan Sex Crimes Unit is finally back to work after she had to take a leave of absence and it’s not a moment too soon. More women are willing to turn in their abusers so Alex is eager to get back to the Courtroom to do what she does best. What she can’t do is anticipate how complex her first case back is going to be. She meets Lucy a young woman who testified at a landmark federal trial earlier, and now reveals she was sexually assaulted by a prominent official during the time of the Federal trial.

Lucy is not the only secret Alex must uncover as rumors start going around about a colleague’s actions behind closed doorstep well as another violent mysterious crash. As the seemingly different cases of her client, adversary and friend start to intertwine. Alex finds herself in uncharted territory with NYPD detectives Mike Chapman and Mercer Wallace within the Manhattan Rockefeller University, a premier research institute, hospital, and cornerstone of higher learning. But not even the greatest minds in the city can help her when unearthed secrets begin to collide in dangerous ways.

Blood Oath was a compelling read, full of intrigue and suspense, one that I feel is worthy of five out of five stars!

Happy Reading!

Book Review: Trickster

Trickster
by Sam Michaels
Aria

Mystery & Thrillers , Women’s Fiction

Pub Date 16 Apr 2019

I am reviewing a copy of Trickster through Aria and Netgalley:

Georgina Garrett is born just as the First World War is announced. People have no idea that someday she will grow up to rule the streets of Battersea.

A tragic event in her early childhood will leave her Father to make a decision he will raise Georgina as George.

When you come from a deeply impoverished family the only way to survive is street smarts.

When you are raised by a Father who steals, and a Grandmother of the night
and a Mother long dead you have anything but an easy life.

I found Trickster to be worthy of three out of five stars!

Happy Reading!

Book Review: Seasoned Speech

Seasoned Speech
Rhetoric in the Life of the Church

by James E. Beitler III

InterVarsity Press

IVP Academic

Christian , Religion & Spirituality

Pub Date 07 May 2019

I am reviewing a copy of Seasoned Speech through Intervarsity Press and Netgalley:

Seasoned Speech points out that the Christian Faith requires a degree of persuasion.

In one of Apostle Paul’s early letters to the church he wrote “Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer everyone” (Col. 4:6) Still Rhetoric and the art of persuasion has been largely ignored by most Christians.

In Seasoned Speech James Beitler seeks to renew an interest in Christian Rhetoric by looking closely at the works of five Christian Communicators which include C.S Lewis, Dorothy L Sayers, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Desmond Tutu, as well as Marilyne Robinson.

This book reminds us that being an authentic Christian includes using Rhetoric.

I give Seasoned Speech five out of five stars!

Happy Reading!

Book Review: A Web Of Silk

A Web of Silk
by Fiona Buckley

Severn House

Crème de la Crime

Mystery & Thrillers

Pub Date 01 Jun 2019

I am reviewing a copy of A Web of Silk through Severn House and Netgalley:

This book takes us back in time to August of 1582. The queen’s spymaster Sir Francis Walsingham has ordered Ursula to keep an eye on her new neighbor, Giles Frost, who it is rumored has been spying for King Phillip of Spain. Ursula arrives st the Knoll House on the pretext of teaching his two daughters embroidery. But Ursula’s secret mission is in fact to feed false information to frost to pass on to the Spanish. Walsingham has assured Ursula she would not be in danger but that changes when events take a sinister turn when a body is found in the woods near Ursula’s home, a stained glass window is smashed and a bridal dowry stolen!

What secrets does the Knoll house hold?

I found A Web Of Silk to be an engaging read, a book that I did not want to set down until I finished so I give it five out of five stars!

Happy Reading!

Book Review: Finding Beautiful

Finding Beautiful
Discovering Authentic Beauty around the World

by Rebecca Friedlander

Baker Books

Christian

Pub Date 30 Apr 2019

I am reviewing a copy of Finding Beautiful through Baker Books and Netgalley:

Americans spend millions on products to make them more beautiful, or to help them loose weight as well as medical treatments that are meant to make them look younger. We set impossible standards setting ourselves up for failure and when we do fail we become angry with ourselves. Is beauty that difficult to obtain or are we perhaps looking at it in the wrong way?

This book includes engaging personal stories as well as before and after photography. Filmmaker Rebecca Friedlander shows the beauty of twelve women of various ethnicities and backgrounds empowering us to shatter the lies of rejection, doubt and low self esteem. Friendlander encourages us to utilize compelling biblical truth and questions.

I found Finding Beautiful to be a necessary book, one that helps us to define beautiful far beyond outward appearances and look inwardly. I find this book to be worthy of five out of five stars!

Happy Reading!

Book Review: Summer By the Tides

Summer by the Tides
by Denise Hunter

Thomas Nelson–FICTION

Thomas Nelson

Christian , Romance

Pub Date 21 May 2019

I am reviewing a copy of Summer by the Tides through Thomas Nelson Fiction and Netgalley:

If you are looking for a perfect read for the Beach, or simply on a long warm day I recommend Summer by the Tides.

Maddy’s Grandmother goes missing from the family beach house in Sea Haven North Carolina where she and her estranged sisters converge to try to figure out the mystery of where there Grandmother could have gone without having any bags packed or anything! Being with Nora who is uptight and Emma who is free spirited in the Home their family split apart in is not something Maddy wants to deal with especially with Nora and Emma often butting heads.

As the girls wait for news on their Grandmother the girls begin to pack up family belongings and unpack memories of the idyllic summers of their childhood. But the memories also bring up long buried secrets. Maddy soon discovers things were not as she had thought they had been the last summer her family had spent together in Sea Haven. In the meantime Gram’s neighbor Connor Sullivan seems overly interested in their Grandmothers whereabouts, and Maddy is drawn to his quick smile and steady gaze.

Jealousy and resentment threaten to pull the family apart once again and this time it might be forever. With tensions rising each girl must accept the women they have become.

I found Summer by the Tides to be a story that pulled me in and didn’t let go, a story that was relatable in many ways therefore I give it five out of five stars!

Happy Reading!