It's book review Thursday. Although, yes, I'm aware that I broke rank and posted a book review on Monday this week too. Thanks for allowing me to be a nonconformist. Today I have 2 books to share with you. Both are serious, yet very different from one another.
The first book is a little hardcover pocket-sized book from Cecil Murphey titled "Hope and Comfort for Every Season." At under 5 inches by 5 inches, it's short and to the point, the perfect gift book for someone who needs more than a greeting card but less than an encyclopedia of encouragement. Soothing photography on every other page makes this a book of beautiful words as well as beautiful pictures. With chapter titles such as "Crying and Laughing", "Scattering and Gathering", and "The Seasons of Life" it's a collection of anecdotes by the author, encouraging thoughts, and prayers. Each chapter begins with a quote from the Ecclesiastes 3, the chapter in the Bible that begins "to everything there is a season..."
When you don't know what to say, why not send a gift book?
Note: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher.
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The second book I'd like to share with you today is one that I purchased to add to my collection. I met James Pence when we were both on faculty at a writers conference and he's one of the kindest most down to earth people I've ever met. He's also a chalk artist and watching him perform was great! He told the true story which he has written in "Terror by Night" in which a page from Jim's novel "Blind Sight" played a role in turning around the life of Terry Caffey. The story of how Terry found a page from "Blind Sight" in his yard after fire destroyed his home and how that page changed his life direction after losing his family in the fire gave me chills. I just knew I had to read the book.
"Blind Sight" is a novel about a man who loses his family and how God uses a family he's never met to turn his life around while helping them to save theirs. It's an action packed drama that kept me up at night and kept me reading when I should have been cleaning house and prepping for a speaking engagement. Just when I thought everything was okay, a new twist wrenched its way into the plot.
"Blind Sight" shows how lethal a cult society can be and demonstrates how easily a needy person can get sucked right in with no means of getting out. Does it seem implausible that a powerful cult can so invade American society that a corrupt cult leader can rise to the rank of president? It could happen. Could they use technology to make it impossible to escape? Easily. Could cult leaders kill off dissenters making it look like nothing more than a freak accident or natural cause? Certainly. Jim knows how to tell a story and make it believable and this book had me looking over my own shoulder. If you like action or adventure, I highly recommend this book. It's like Ted Dekker without all the surreal and bizarre happenings.
In the back of the book, James Pence shares the story of how this novel touched the life of Terry Caffey. Now that I've read "Blind Sight" I'll be adding the true story of "Terror by Night" to my reading list.
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