A fun story, but lacking in the spiritual department
359045
Gold of Kings is one of those books that is easy to read and hard to put down. The characters are believable and the plot is intriguing. The leading man, Harry, is a real man's man, but still flawed enough to be real. Storm and Emma are complex characters with sides to them that are only revealed by reading the entire book. The story line is a bit predictable, in that you assume they will find whatever treasure they are after, but there are lots of twists I didn't expect. Overall, I give the book a 4 stars, simply because I expected more spiritual content from Davis Bunn.
4577088
The story is pretty good, and it has nothing to do with golf. I know the other reviews make it sound like a golf book. However, it's about finding transcendence in an unlikely place. It's more of a philosophical book, than anything else.
1229445
I still think this book could have been more than it ended up being. Frazee does a decent job of getting to some of the motifs of the Upper Story, but I disagree with him about the true heart of The Story. Frazee gives his version away on the back cover of The Story: "God goes to great lengths to rescue lost and hurting people. That is what The Story is all about -- the story of the Bible, God's great love affair with humanity." This book largely follows that conception of The Story, which I consider crucial but not quite big enough. It is not just humanity that got lost and subjected to death in the fall, but all of creation. And it is creation itself -- including humanity, which is made in God's image and intended to represent him and his interests in the world -- that is being redeemed. Christ not only makes /us/ new creatures -- he is making ALL things new, and /that/ is the heart of The Story.
4803063
The book was very well written and I enjoyed it quite a bit, but I was very disappointed because I found it under Christian Romance and there is absolutely NO romantic relationship or even a hint of one anywhere in the story!  I think I would have enjoyed the story more if I hadn't approached every new male character wondering if maybe he was the one that she was going to fall in love with.  I should also point out that it's not a very religious book, either, though the allegory between the king and God, his son and Jesus were all very clear.

The characters were developed well and at a good pace, though I kept wondering when the heroine was going to "get it" about the love of the king and her worth.  Of course, God may well watch me on a day to day basis and wonder the same thing, so I guess that was where I most identified with her.

I was left with a good overall feeling from this book, but I do have to say that it was very difficult to get past expecting a romance and that never happening.  Don't buy this if you want clear religious reference or a romance, do buy it if you want a well written and uplifting story with characters that are easy to love and identify with.
2094376
This is  "A Novel" (see frontpage).  In other words, it is fiction.  Some reviewers here have made too much of her claim (see Afterword) that the novel benefits from historical research.  She makes the same claim for her Vampire novels, so what does that say to you?

The story is told from the first-person perspective of the child Jesus.  It begins with his departure from Egypt at age 7 (from Matthew's gospel) and follows him up to about age 8.  It is presumably meant to be the first in a series of novels, or (perhaps) the first episode of a much longer novel.  This Jesus, whether divine or not, is nonetheless fully human.  He is therefore limited in perspective, lacks access to divine omniscience, and must decipher certain mysteries regarding his birth and destiny with little help from his protective and secretive family.

There is not much in the way of story here.  Rice's intriguing idea is to attempt to identify with Jesus and see things from his perspective, which seems to be an end in itself.  Much of the detail we are exposed to has little relevance to the mystery Jesus must solve, but rather represents an attempt to immerse the reader in various aspects of ancient Jewish culture that Jesus may have been exposed to.

Possibly, much of this will serve to lay some needed groundwork for more-exciting future episodes.  In the meantime, I expect most readers will be bored to death.  You will need a sincere interest in the subject matter to persevere.  Rice can write "evil" well enough, and the story becomes animated for a brief spurt when a certain Bad Guy makes an appearance towards the end.  No doubt we shall see more of this fellow.  It is perhaps unfortunate that the story is largely devoid of humor, but Rice's writing, even at its best, has never been particularly funny.

The story is quite reverent and not very controversial.  But she remains on safe ground with his childhood years.  I remain a bit intrigued to see what she will do with his adult years.
2011422
This is a lovely book, well written, and an easy quick read.  However:  it really is not a bio, per se.  I disagree with other reviewers that you don't have a window into the man.  I think this is exactly what he provides, but the focus is less on events, other 'characters' and a story of a celebrity than a personal story of spirituality.

It may be disappointing for some, but if a spiritual focus appeals to you, it's a beautiful book, and it will cause you to reflect, and probably learn from it.

With that head's up:  enjoy!
1704564
This novel can be read on two levels: as an very entertaining story and to a lesser degree as social commentary.

Amberlin is a special person, one with a divine destiny according to her grandfather.  When the story opens, she is 7 years old and already displaying magical powers.  As she grows, an underlying goodness -- a seeking -- becomes apparent, which is in conflict with the leaders of her community.  Opposites clash.

The cast consists of contrasting characters: those seeking goodness and truth (but not always aware of that objective), those filled with distortion of goodness resulting in greed and selfishness, and the narrow minded, intellectually blind followers.  This is a story of discovery, of buried power, and destiny (although that is not fully developed in Book 1).  It is about evil cloaked in delusion masquerading as goodness.  What does the mind know that consciousness does not?

The novel ends on a promise that the story will be continued in the next volume.  Although the ending is acceptable, all issues were not resolved.  This is a practice becoming common but disappointing to some of us.  A novel should be complete in itself.  Regardless, very enjoyable.  Reviewed by the author of The Children's Story, About Good and Evil.
1327467
3 stars for writing-style and entertainment value.
As for the contents of this spiritual adventure story: Rampa portrays himself as a young Tibetan monk in training, but there is very little of authentic Tibetan teachings to be found here. Rather,this is a wild mixture of Ascended Master's teachings, some Christian ideas, hypnosis, new-age clairvoyance, remote-viewing, some UFO-logy,etc. Though almost none of it in itself is completely wrong, on one occasion there is a dangerous confusion between relative = dualistic and absolute = non-dualistic reality: here Rampa states that hell was invented to keep people in check, but that hell does not actually exist, or that earth already is hell. The TRUTH however is obvious: as long as we live with a dualistic mindset (good/evil), there logically is a hell indeed and heaven is its dualistic twin. Only when a truly non-dualistic mindset is attained (easier said than done), hell ceases to exist. Authentic Tibetan teachings make this point also very clear.
For a really breathtakingly fascinating spiritual adventure story that also accurately portrays Tibetan teachings, I highly recommend David Michie's "The Magician of Lhasa".
4761113
The Search by James F Foster is about a man named Tony who is looking for a spiritual guide named John. He is shown a fable about a woman named Louise who is searching for her own spiritual enlightenment. In this tale, evil is overcome by circumstances. Enlightenment is attained by losing the desire for worldly possessions and family ties.
I give this story a three out of a possible five. Louises journey did capture me as the story progressed, but it failed to pull all the parts together and I was not sure what conclusions I should draw from it to apply to Tonys situation.
1015002
If you're looking for a religious horror story, this one's for you. This book even has a comical side to it, where the character of Lucifer is portrayed as a jolly Irishman who comes to the rescue. I really wanted to give it a 2-1/2 star because even though the book was easy to read, I didn't quite find the story that interesting nor frightful. Sorry, but everyone dies in the end!
4469972
Not sure about angels, but it was a fun story.
898208
The spiritual aspects of the story line and the main character's struggles with faith are universal and ones I could relate to. The main character is looking for "Mr. Right" and has 2 men to "choose" from. Each possesses unique qualities and I think every Christian can relate to her struggle with the decision at some point in their lives. However, the story falls off a cliff near the end and just didn't make sense to me. I was disappointed with how the contest between the 2 men was portrayed. If you are ok with a good beginning and middle, and can skip over what I thought was a poorly created situation towards the end, then read the book. Otherwise, I would skip it. I would recommend "The One Who Waits for Me" by the same author. I read that one first and really enjoyed it, and that encouraged me to purchase this one.
1552719
I was intrigued by the premise of this novel: a young American woman of Italian ancestry believes that she has had visions from God telling her that she is called to become a Catholic priest and pursues this calling all the way to the Vatican.

As a Protestant and member of a denomination that has been ordaining women for several decades, I was sympathetic to the cause and thought it would be interesting to see what the author did with this idea.

The story is told from the point of view of the main character, Cynthia Clare Piantedosi, who states in the first chapter "the God I imagine and worship, the Being I give thanks to for every breath and pulse, doesn't care as much about labels as about love; and my style of prayer isn't so much about asking for things (although I sometimes ask) as it is about searching, in an interior silence, for my truest self, my reason for being here in this place, in this body, at this particular point in the endless sweep of time."

All righty! At this point I asked myself whether the heroine is really a Roman Catholic or part of the Church of Oprah because the last time I checked the point of Christianity in whatever flavor isn't a search for self but a search for relationship with God.

The narrative is choppy and often devolves into detailed explanations of why the Catholic church should ordain women (which I favor but then I'm not Catholic).  Characters are not well developed either. However, I kept reading because I wanted to see how the author would resolve the storyline.

> SPOILER ALERT< My response to the last chapter--which seemed to come out of nowhere--is that the author has pulled a classic bait and switch by revealing that Cynthia has misinterpreted her visions. Instead of being called to be a priest  she is called to the most traditional role imaginable--a sharp contrast to the rest of the novel.  I can't recommend Vatican Waltz.
4314595
The story was good and easy to read. I know now that Terri Blackstock likes to inject religion into her stories. I was unaware of this when I bought the book. I did not particularly like all the faith based references. It did not add to the story.
1968269
This was a fun, quick read, but it wasn't a great book.  The story is really about Joan finding herself (and God).  Ken doesn't even ask her out until the book is 3/4 over.  Part of the story is told from Ken's point of view - which is annoying in a story of self-discovery.  While the Christian content didn't bother me, I felt like it detracted from what I wanted to be the purpose of the story - Joan's developing relationship with Ken.
969899
First of all, the three star rating is because I do not think first-person was the best character-to-reader impression for this novel.  We could have known everything Libby was thinking without going first-person.  I also would have loved less predictable scenarios in the search.  That said, I very seldom give five stars and I wish Amazon did a 3.5 and 3.75 rating, I wold use it here.

'They Almost Always Come Home' attracted me because the description featured it as a 'faith-based read' and I truly appreciate spirituality fiction. To me, life is about faith... we get through no other way.  I could have enjoyed the story's movement with less religious references, but that is just me, as I was expecting 'faith' through spirituality verses religious foundations.  Still, I just read faith and guidance of the light and I was fine with the spiritual foundation of Libby.

I also (morbidly, I suppose) love books about death, grief, relationships, endings and the Divine connection we have with one another.  I felt that connection was tight for Libby and Greg, but their pain created the division that made it impossible to touch one another in a heartfelt way. The spiritual connection they need to heal needs to be almost severed so they can find their way back.  I am not saying the connection was severed by death (is it ever, really) or by leaving one another, however as the title leads us to understand, 'They Almost Always Come Home' means the connection will prevail.

I would recommend this book to my family and friends of Christian faith. I would read it again. I admire the author for all her endeavors and magnetic personality.  Love the cover, love the title, even could see the novel as a movie.

Essa Adams
<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/A-Breath-Floats-By-Spirituality-Fiction/dp/B003DXAC3G/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">A Breath Floats By (Spirituality Fiction)</a>
KINDLE and paperback
828852
I received a complimentary copy of this ebook for review.

This was a very spiritual young adult book, mostly centered on the Egyptian culture.  I liked how it used a current event in its story line.  The recent uprising in Egypt was the beginning of a spiritual journey for a teenage girl who lost her parents and her twin brother.  The bloodshed was just the beginning of a plot to destroy the world and Aya had to call upon her new found abilities and strength to stop it.
The background and setup for the story delved deep into Egyptian mythology, so much so that I felt like I had just taken an intro class.  It made it sometimes hard to follow and complicated.  It was interesting how the author imparted her own interpretations of the true nature and origins of the Egyptian gods.  The mythos seemed to be the focus of this story so it was hard to sympathize with the protagonist, I just wasn't given enough about the characters to really connect with them and it made me not really care about the struggle as much as I think I should have.