The Christian Book Report

  My Rating: 3.5 Stars Mary and Martha are two very different sisters. Mary loves to learn, study prophecies, and even lingers outside the synagogue in the hopes of catching pieces of knowledge unavailable to women of her time. Martha keenly feels her responsibilities at home and places great emphasis on fulfilling her duties. Both sisters live with their brother Lazarus, who is a wealthy olive oil merchant, and his young family. Then one day, amidst the toil and bustle of small village life, Jesus Christ enters their lives and things take a turn. Discipleship brings unexpected friendships and unexpected challenges. Each sibling must learn for themselves how Jesus' teachings apply personally to them, and the hope and healing that only He can provide. For anyone who enjoys a nice biblical retelling, I would give this book a 4-Star rating. For my own personal tastes though, I give it a 3-Star rating. I'm going to be completely open here--Scriptural fiction is not really my cup of...

My Rating: 3 Stars Piper Green: noun. Spunky and big-hearted female 2nd grader who misses her 14-year-old brother terribly. She manifests this ache in her heart by insisting on wearing green monkey earmuffs and playing hooky from school. After some misadventures, all is made right in the end. She manifests this ache in her heart by insisting on wearing green monkey earmuffs and playing hooky from school. After some misadventures, all is made right in the end. I just have to say, Tavia Gilbert does a phenomenal job narrating this book. She really brings the book to life and makes it interesting. Her voices for each character are so distinct, I actually listened to parts of the book over again specifically to figure out if there really was just one person narrating the book or if there was a full cast that, for whatever reason, wasn’t listed in the credits. Her voices for each character really are that distinct from one another! It blew me away. Her voice for Piper Green is mildly nasal-...

My Rating: 4 Stars Confident and daring Rebecca Rowley has carefully crafted a plan that will simultaneously bring her lifelong happiness and get to the bottom of her family's fifteen-year-old fallout with her father's former business partner. However, as Rebecca begins to investigate her father's old business journal and in the meantime becomes acquainted with principled and dashing Lieutenant Avery next door, she finds that her carefully laid plans begin to unravel. In order to make sense of her heart and her family, she must learn what it means to truly love and truly forgive.  At a Glance:  I liked this book a lot. The writing is delightfully witty--it had me laughing throughout the whole story! There is situational humor and no end of witty banter between all characters. Joanna Barker's writing is fluid and engaging. She weaves a story that is both light and deliberate in tone, much like Rebecca Rowley's personality. I found the characters are well-developed an...

  My Rating:   Four Stars "I don't think we fully comprehend what our purposes are, but we can be sure we all have one. And each is different. Even though we do not know, is it not true that we are stronger together?"  Europe, 1900. Molly Cooper is on holiday with her family in Europe, but this isn't an ordinary holiday. Her twin brother, sickly from birth, is faltering in health. Molly is accompanying her brother and their parents as they travel to the Black Sea via the Orient Express to seek treatment for her brother's physical condition. Molly has become near-obsessed with the book Dracula  and her obsession has given birth to a secret plan that will not only cure her brother of his physical ailments, but will also require her to leave the Orient Express and the companionship of her family in the secret of night, to travel through the mountains of Transylvania--alone. At a glance: I liked this book! It had something for everyone--adventure, suspense, danger, ...

  My Age Range: Birth to 6 years This is a beautifully illustrated children's book that follows a girl who takes matters into her own hands after finding her parents are too busy to spend time with her.  The writing in this book is spare and it makes for a very quick read. It would be suitable to read to an infant all the way up to a young school-aged child. The illustrations are beautifully done and worth taking time to digest.  I found this book to be particularly interesting on a few points--first, that the girl is brave enough to spend the night by herself in the woods, and secondly, that her parents find her at her favorite place in the end. This book feels instructive to both children and parents alike. It highlights courage and initiative in children to find their own constructive entertainment. The book seems to caution parents to give proper time and attention to their children or else they may turn to other sources for comfort and entertainment. The final emotio...

My Rating: 5 Stars  I really enjoyed this book! Not only is it fun because I'm familiar with the area where it takes place, but it is a sweet romance set amidst adventure, mystery, and suspense. Madison Bloom is is a very relatable main character, what with personal shortcomings, a dysfunctional family, and general feelings of self-doubt.  It is very fun and very clean--there is no language nor passionate displays of affection. Madison's relationship with her boyfriend, Nathan, is both supportive and uplifting. There is one scene where Nathan's shirt is unbuttoned, but there is nothing sensational about it. This book has a little of a Cinderella feel where the underdog hits the relationship jackpot and in turn she learns to see her own self-worth. I give this book five stars because of its engaging plot,  squeaky-cleanness, and good character development.

Welcome to The Christian Book Report! I am so glad that you are here. The purpose of this blog is to help people connect to uplifting media to support them on their path in following Jesus Christ. I have a firm belief that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ inspire people to create beautiful things and that They want us to enjoy and appreciate beauty. Some time ago I found a book I wanted to read in our library catalog, but because it was a new release there were only a handful of reviews on it. I also wanted a specifically Christian perspective on this book because I consider myself to have strict standards for my media selections and I really didn't want to run into any immorality or particularly strong language. I couldn't find what I was looking for, but I figured there had to be other people out there that would appreciate a resource for book reviews from a morally conservative standpoint. Thus, The Christian Book Report was born. I recognize there are near numberless Christ...