When a Woman Lets Go of the Lies by Cheryl Brodersen

Rating

Did-not-finish

The book's description from the publisher's website:

Author and speaker Cheryl Brodersen encouraged thousands of women to cast their worries to God’s care in her book When a Woman Lets Go of Her Fears. Now she inspires them to embrace their identity and fulfillment in Christ by shedding the lies that have plagued women since Eve: “I’m not good enough.” “God isn’t strong enough.” “I’m too flawed to be loved.” “God can’t use me.”
Cheryl presents engaging teaching, relevant examples from women today and from the Bible, and biblical, practical guidance to help women believe in God’s

• sufficiency to meet their needs
• promises and power through His Word
• plans for goodness and fruitfulness
• blessings that follow obedience

Since Eden first blossomed, God has offered women love, guidance, fellowship, and purpose. Cheryl helps today’s woman exchange the burden of deception and pretense for the abundance, freedom, and fruitfulness God intended from the very beginning.

 
I got through 24% of this book and out of courtesy decided to read no more. After the initial disappointment at the superficiality of insight and at the simplistic metaphors, I realized that I was reading just to find more to complain about. And this is not the reason why I chose to read this book or any other book, for that matter.
Just to give you an example of what I mean, when I say that the metaphors were simplistic and in effect, quite erroneous:

When talking to a particular woman who was going through difficult times (although what they were is not mentioned, which I think is another shortcoming) about trusting in God's promises, the author compared it to the process of baking a cake.

'I gave her the illustration of baking a cake. If I follow the recipe I can have the assurance of a delicious dessert. However, if I decide to omit a step like sifting or beating, or I choose to leave out an ingredient, I can't blame the recipe if the cake is a failure.' (location 472 in Kindle edition)

In other words, if we do everything God tells us to do, we'll receive the fulfillment of His promises, we'll enjoy 'a delicious dessert'. But we cannot disobey Him in any one of the rules (omit an ingredient or skip a step in baking), because then there will be no cake.

It couldn't get any simpler than that. My mind formed two questions immediately, however.

Has Ms. Brodersen life been really that easy, free of major complications, struggles and/or tragedies, that she could afford such a naive comparison?

What happens when I bake a cake, follow instructions to a dot, do not omit any ingredients, and the result is still a failure? This is not a hypothetical question, either. I happen to fail at baking every single time, no matter how much effort and time I put into it.

By resorting to such simplistic comparisons, the author automatically excludes people like me.

I reach out for such books to find advice and comfort, and some insight on how to proceed with my life riddled with struggles. I couldn't find it in When a Woman Lets Go of the Lies and at the danger of adding even more unanswered questions to my repertoire, I gave up.

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FTC: I received an e-galley of the book from the publisher, Harvest House Publishers via NetGalley.

When a Woman Lets Go of the Lies by Cheryl Brodersen will be published and available for purchase on October 1st, 2012.

The River by Michael Neale

Rating

*

The book's description from the publisher's website:

“You were made for The River . . .”

Gabriel Clarke is mysteriously drawn to The River, a ribbon of frothy white water carving its way through steep canyons high in the Colorado Rockies. The rushing waters beckon him to experience freedom and adventure.
But something holds him back—the memory of the terrible event he witnessed on The River when he was just five years old—something no child should ever see.
Chains of fear and resentment imprison Gabriel, keeping him from discovering the treasures of The River. He remains trapped, afraid to take hold of the life awaiting him.
When he returns to The River after years away, his heart knows he is finally home. His destiny is within reach. Claiming that destiny will be the hardest—and bravest—thing he has ever done.

One of the most frustrating books I've read. The most frustrating spiritual book I've read.There really isn't much to say, because unfortunately there wasn't much to this book.

My expectations were much higher than what I found in The River. They were based on what others were saying about it.

 Michael Neale writes an amazing story that—I believe—will change lives.

The inspirational read encourages readers to evaluate themselves, their motives and the toxic issue of forgiveness in a fascinating story of daring adventure, letting go of the past and finding courage to step into the future.

 I think everyone can relate to the protagonist's experience of having to let go of the pain from his past in order to embrace the future for which he's destined. *

I'm looking for a better direction in my life. I have been a seeker for a very long time, for complicated reasons. I thought Neale's book could help me be inspired, if nothing else. As it is, The River is changing no one's life any time soon.

I may be a skeptic and need some convincing but who are such books written for, if not for people like me. If your intended audience is that which already agrees with what you preach, then there's no justifiable reason to not market your book as such.

Frankly, I can't imagine who will read The River and find it exceptional, with a powerful message and a potential to change lives. There was nothing revelatory in this book. The message of the value of forgiveness is rather simplistic and frankly, insulting, especially to those readers who need true inspiration and know that real life rarely serves such easy solutions as the author would have us believe. Also, contrary to what is said by the endorsers, Michael Neale is not a very gifted storyteller, at least where the written word is concerned (people stating that may be intellectually dishonest or just plain dishonest, I'm not sure which one is worse).

If I seem a little harsh, it's because I care about spirituality and inspiration, and I especially want to find them in Christian writings. Unfortunately, more and more often these books are written in a style of an 8th-grade essay, as if Christians couldn't possibly comprehend anything more complex. The River is no exception. It made me angry. I wanted to write a lot worse opinion on this book when I first finished it. I doubt I'll harm the sales any, though. I already have a feeling it will be the next The Shack, regardless of what this reader's inconsequential opinion is.

* The quotes are from several Goodreads reviews.

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FTC: I received The River from NetGalley for review.

Traveling with Pomegranates by Sue Monk Kidd & Ann Kidd Taylor

My relationship with my mom has never been one full of warm feelings or deep understanding. It gets better as I get older and while I will never be emotionally close to my mom, I am glad for what we have today. On the other hand, I am also a mother myself and I have to admit that it’s probably one of the most difficult roles in a woman’s life. I am a daughter and a mother, and I reached out for Traveling with Pomegranates because it’s a mother-daughter memoir and I think I am having the most difficulty with coming to terms with what motherhood and daughter-hood entail.

Sue Monk Kidd is probably known to most readers as the author of The Secret Life of Bees and The Mermaid Chair. That’s how I knew about her even though I have yet to read both these books. Traveling with Pomegranates is Sue’s and her daughter Ann’s story recounting their travels to Greece and France and their life in between. It starts with their first trip to Greece as Sue’s birthday present (she turns 50) and Ann’s graduation present (she graduated from college). Beginning with this trip forward, both Sue and Ann learn a lot about each other and about themselves. Ann is struggling with depression and trying to hide it from her mom even though she knows that her mom will know without ever being told. Sue is struggling with her identity, with her ageing, and with her desire to be a fiction writer. The memoir covers a few years of self-discovery and mother-daughter efforts to understand what their destinies are and where exactly it is these two women are heading.

Traveling with Pomegranates moved me on several levels, especially when I least expected it. Sue is already an accomplished writer but this memoir is Ann’s first attempt at writing and I must say that she is a very talented author. I really couldn’t tell the difference in quality between mother and daughter. And honestly, I don’t think I was supposed to. What both of these women wrote was beautiful and emotional because they both put their hearts into it. Their love for each other emanated from the pages of the book and therefore to experience their deeply emotional yet very lonely struggles was all the more heartbreaking. The best part for me was that I could identify with both of them. With Ann because we are close in age and because I also suffer from depression (even though that’s one issue I had a slight problem with, which I will elaborate on) and with Sue because I am a mother and I also struggle with my identity as a woman, mainly I don’t want to be seen as a mom only. Just like Sue, I want to be a woman, breathing, living, beautiful woman with my own goals, my own dreams, separate from those of a mother.

Besides the spiritual side, I also really liked reading about the travel part. All the Greek mythology weaved into the pages of Traveling with Pomegranates got me once again interesting in this topic and also brought on a little bit of nostalgia, as I remember being fascinated by this subject in my late teens and early twenties. Ann especially has a talent for writing about all the places they visited and all the experiences they went through caused by history of those places. I really wish I could go to Greece one day.

As I mentioned, the only problem I had was with Ann’s struggle and eventual recovery? from depression. From the way she described this malady (that’s how I see it) I knew it was genuine, as I have felt the same way countless times. What upset me was the fact that Ann either all of a sudden recovered from it after the three trips with her mom or simply stopped talking about it, as if it was a non-issue all of a sudden. It upset me because I know you can’t recover from depression simply because you get to go to Greece with your mom and maybe Ann wasn’t as truthful about it as I would have liked. The other thing might be that I am just jealous and she did conquer depression (jealous that I don’t seem to progress at all after many, many years of living with it). I guess it’s up to individual readers how they want to perceive it. It certainly didn’t stop me from enjoying this book and crying many times when reading about Sue’s and Ann’s doubts about life, spirituality and their futures. If you are a sucker for memoirs like I am, I think Traveling with Pomegranates deserves a place in your library.

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Special Thanks to Katrina A. from Wiredset for sending me this book for review.

Also check out this nice widget about Traveling with Pomegranates which includes an exclusive video of Sue and Ann:

Nine Ways God Always Speaks by Mark Herringshaw & Jennifer Schuchmann

I am one of the people who yearn for spiritual peace but get instead spiritual turmoil. There have been times in my life when I was absolutely certain of my faith and of God’s existence, and His benevolent love towards me. Then, there have been times when I lost all my faith in a loving God (although I never lost my belief that God does indeed exist) and replaced with thoughts of Him being there for others but not for me. My difficult spiritual life, my quest for peace and contentment is probably my biggest struggle. It is therefore no wonder that I quickly reach for books such as Nine Ways God Always Speaks that may offer me some insight, something I can always hold on to, especially in times when I turn into ‘doubting Thomas’.

Nine Ways God Always Speaks by Mark Herringshaw & Jennifer Schuchmann is exactly what the title says it is: nine ways in which God communicates His will and existence to us. Each chapter directs reader’s attention to quite often very simple occurrences that might very well be in front of us all the time but we just don’t see them. We want to hear God speak to us and are so concentrated on looking for the mystical experiences that we don’t notice the everyday, ordinary events and surroundings such as nature or people we meet or we blatantly refuse to acknowledge that they are God’s messengers (even though they might not know it themselves). One interesting aspect was that God speaks to us via dreams. Dreams are still subject of many tests, analyses and theories and it was very curious for me to read about God sending us messages while we’re sleeping. Considering the serious and important premise of the book, I think that above all it was very entertaining and quite humorous. Mark and Jennifer did their best to convey the message of many people they came across by making this book very enjoyable and approachable despite the seriousness of the topic.

Was it all convincing to me? I’m not sure. Reading this book was a mini example of the struggle I talked about in the beginning. I would all of a sudden start looking for messages from God in nature after a particular chapter only to get discouraged after not finding anything that would apply directly to me. Some chapters would fill me with hope and others with complete despair. I want to believe that one of the ways God speaks is giving people like Mark & Jennifer a talent for writing and inspiration to write such a book as Nine Ways God Always Speaks. In turn, the finished product will end up in the hands of a person who desperately needs to hear the exact words that are written there. Who knows, maybe one of my blog visitors is such a person. I can objectively see how this book has a potential to open people’s minds and eyes to what’s around them and teach them how to tune in to the right frequency. Now, subjectively speaking, Nine Ways God Always Speaks added just nine more ways God does not speak to me. Sadly it did not have any revelatory value for me, only caused me to be even more discouraged. When I read about all these people, including the authors, experiencing the ‘eureka!’ moments all I felt was anger with a tinge of jealousy. It’s all nice and dandy for them but I have yet to find that crucial moment in my life where I feel the presence of God and which will influence the course of my life. I realize that I may be wallowing in self-pity here, but hey, I’m honest and I will not pretend that my life changed completely or at all after having read this book if it didn’t.

'Elijah's Coin' by Steve O'Brien

My life, just like, I suspect, everybody else’s, has been filled with many hardships. Some of them resolved and others still lingering. Because of those unresolved misfortunes, I need a lot of encouragement and support to keep going and trying to do the next right thing. Books I read provide me with a certain acceptance and a feeling that not all is lost, and, most importantly, with solutions. Elijah’s Coin by Steve O’Brien turned out to be one such book.

The novel is about a college-age boy, Tom who seems to have lost all hope for a meaningful life the day his mom was murdered. He is now preparing to live a life of a criminal as a way of rebellion and empty showing off that he will become a thief because he can. This kind of thinking takes a 180° turn when Tom meets Elijah King, a night watchman in a sporting goods store Tom planned to rob. Elijah gives Tom a mysterious coin and with that coin and a lesson on meaningful living, he sets Tom off on a journey that will change his life. And Tom’s life changes in ways he never thought possible.

Elijah’s Coin is a short book with a simple message: “Give to Get”. But as I have personally experienced, sometimes complicated people need simple messages. Mr. O’Brien’s style is very convincing and adds a thrill to the story, which makes it that much more interesting. There are a lot of life lessons to be taught but it takes a skilled writer to show us, students the right way to learn them. And I think that Steve O’Brien accomplished this task. Will the book transform its readers? I think that it has that capability but only if the readers are willing to be transformed. As they say, “where there’s a will, there’s a way”, and Elijah’s Coin might just show some people the way. One thing is certain: the book has a lot of spiritual depth and core messages contained within it are meaningful and important. I would definitely recommend this book, whether your life is just peachy at the moment or an absolute hell. It may open your eyes to something that was right in front of you all the time but you simply refused to see it.

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Special Thanks to Paula K. from AME, Inc for providing me a copy of this book.

Borrowed Words

I have decided to introduce a weekly post to my blog. It is called "Borrowed Words" because I will be posting words said or written by other people, some famous, and some not so much. What they all will have in common is that they will be words of encouragement, inspiration, spirituality or life wisdom. I have embarked on a kind of spiritual journey this year and I think that this will be a fun part of it. I will post new ones on Mondays, but there was no particular thought process behind picking a day. It simply occurred to me today, today is Monday, and so Monday it is. I hope you'll enjoy it and maybe think it fun enough along the way to post your own on your blogs.

Today, I give you words of Nelson Mandela, borrowed from his 1994 Inaugural Speech.

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves, "Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?"

Actually, who are you not to be?

You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world.

There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.

We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is withing us.

It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.

And as we let our light shine we unconsciously give other people permission to be the same.

As we are liberated from our own fears, our presence automatically liberates others.

'Conan Doyle's Wallet' by Patrick McNamara

Horror, supernatural and paranormal fiction is among my favorite literary genres. It has been with me since I started to read on my own. First, there were fairies, magical creatures, talking animals and wishes-come-true. As I grew older, I started reading hard-core horror stories which never failed to scare me, but only for a little while and mostly just provided the thrill of being scared but not really taking any of it seriously. On the other hand, I have always stayed away from paranormal non-fiction. Precisely because it is non-fiction and what I would read may actually turn out to be true. Therefore, when Conan Doyle’s Wallet by Patrick McNamara landed in my hands I was wary about reading it, to say the least.

Mr. McNamara is a psychic-medium and his book, Conan Doyle’s Wallet is about his experiences as a medium/psychic. The idea for this book began to take shape after McNamara purchased Doyle’s wallet at Christie’s auction. Through the contents of the famous author’s wallet, Patrick established a spiritual connection with Arthur Conan Doyle. The book showcases Doyle’s revelations on spiritual life and provides a reader with deep questions about and equally deep answers to life on earth and life after death.

The ideas presented are definitely controversial and at times difficult to accept or comprehend. It is important to approach the book with an open-mind and as Mr. McNamara encourages, to at least be willing to question the improbable. The main concept is that of life after death and what happens to us when we die. As a psychic, Patrick gives a reader many examples and proofs that we are indeed spiritual beings, who take on a physical form and after death go back to being spirits. The book is very well written. The author uses simple language, which I personally appreciated the most. Without any convoluted phrases, difficult to understand words or sentences, it is much easier to allow oneself the possibility to comprehend and consider the supernatural concepts. My favorite was probably the wonderful in its simplicity explanation of the Law of Attraction. I have read countless books on that one and I could never quite get it, many writers struggled to write whole books about it and in the end I still thought: ‘Huh? That doesn’t make sense.’ Patrick McNamara’s explanation allowed me to finally breathe with relief, thinking instead: ‘Well, now that’s simple enough. Now I get it.’

Even leaving the paranormal experiences aside, Conan Doyle’s Wallet is very educational and informative. Mr. McNamara gives us a nice biography of Sherlock Holmes’s creator. I was amazed to find out all the facts about Doyle about which I had no idea before (that he wrote historical novels, that he spent most of his fortune on spiritual journey and discovery, just to name a few), I was given a glimpse into the life of the famous magician Houdini and his quest to disprove the afterlife and, as my personal best, I was given perhaps a little bit of reassurance that there is no need to fear the spiritual beings or ghosts.

Conan Doyle’s Wallet should be read by all, the skeptics, the believers or the spiritual seekers as myself because even if you do not agree with the concepts put forward in there as a whole, there are bits and pieces that you can pick out of it and use to your advantage. The idea of afterlife may give you hope that not all is lost, may give you a direction of where your life should be heading, and last but not least may compel you to practice the commonly repeated but not always taken seriously karma, the ‘what comes around, goes around’ attitude to life.

Favorite quote from the book:

"The imbalance is immense between the material and spiritual aspects of life. The material world carries much more weight these days. There is too much pressure and loss of innocence; young people are growing up too fast, leaving a vacuum of respect and self-discipline, and spiritual connections."

Challenges: 100+ Reading Challenge

Link: Patrick McNamara