Now closed GIVEAWAY: "Creating With God: The Holy Confusing Blessedness of Pregnancy"

Winner has been notified. Thanks!

FROM THE PUBLISHER:
Creating with God by Sarah Jobe is a boldly truthful, sometimes funny, and deeply spiritual account of where babies come from and where babies take us. Jobe reads the Bible through the lens of her back-to-back pregnancies and finds that God shows up in pregnancy when we least expect it. Weaving together biblical reflections, her own story, and the stories of the moms around her, Jobe reveals the ways in which pregnancy is at the heart of God's work in the world. She invites her reads to see the image of Jesus in pregnant women, feel God abiding in the work of pregnancy, and to consider the ways that pregnancy can train us in the very practices we need to live a life of faith.

GIVEAWAY!

You could win a copy of Creating with God.

Open to Canadian and USA address only. 

Just leave a comment on this post telling me your favourite pregnancy book along with an email address (or way to contact you) if you win.

That's it! If you want to Tweet it or Facebook the link or otherwise share it for this giveaway, that's great - just leave another comment telling me that you did so and you'll get another entry.

Contest closes December 1 at midnight. I'll draw a winner using Random.org.

Good luck!

GIVEAWAY: "Jesus, My Father, The CIA and Me" (Updated with winner!)

Giveaway now closed! 

Winner is 

Norse, Jesica, and Boden said...

Wow, how lame am I that I can't think of a memoir I've read. Maybe this book will be my first! Here's hoping.

July 14, 2011 7:59 PM 

Thanks everyone!

******

Reviewing: Jesus, My Father, The CIA and Me: A Memoir ... of Sorts by Ian Morgan Cron.

Publishers Summary:
An entertaining, touching memoir of life with an alcoholic father who secretly works for the CIA, a dark pilgrimage through the valley of depression and addiction, and finding a faith to redeem, and a strength to forgive. At the age of sixteen, Ian Morgan Cron was told that his stockbroker father actually worked for the CIA. The story of this world-rocking discovery is the stepping-off point into a fascinating exploration of one mans alternately heartbreaking and humorous journey to faith and spiritual growth. Born into a family of privilege and power, Ians life is populated with colorful people and stories including the account of an alcoholic father who takes his family on a wild roller-coaster ride through wealth and poverty and back again. Includes tales of a nearly blind English nanny who teaches him what love means, a famous New York radio personality who saves his life, a simple carpenter who leads him to faith in Jesus, and his own personal journey from addiction to twenty-three years of sobriety. Believers and seekers alike will be moved by how Ian uncovers and honors what is sacred in his story, how he discovers God in the struggle to find redemption, and how the mysterious movement and presence of God is woven throughout the adventure of his life.


My Review:
Excellent, excellent book. I like to read memoirs quite a bit but this is one of my favourites so far. It's funny, sad and universal in its longings. The book is beautiful but last three or four chapters in particular tell such a gorgeous, God-breathed story of redemption that it takes it from being a good book to being a great book. I liked Ian and his voice is crisp and funny, self-deprecating and full of pathos without being sappy. He writes without a lot of sentimentality but with tremendous feeling - a hard line to walk. 


And the writing - the writing is fantastic. Even the most mundane things are infused with a different view: for instance, he describes feeling suffocated as "having a dry-cleaner bag over his mouth" and it just locks into your mind and you get it. He does that throughout the book. He's relatable and yet a fresh writer. And the story is beautiful and sad.


Verdict:
Highly recommend.

Read an excerpt here.

GIVEAWAY!
I have one copy to giveaway!

Open to Canadian and USA mailing addresses. Just leave a comment on this post telling me the last memoir you read (and liked). Thats it! If you want to Tweet it or Facebook the link for this giveaway out, that's great - just leave another comment telling me that you did so and you'll get another entry.

Contest closes July 20 at midnight. I'll draw a winner using Random.org.

Good luck!

GIVEAWAY: In which I review "Half the Church"

GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED. Thanks for entering!




Reviewing: Half the Church: Recapturing God's Global Vision for Women
By Carolyn Custis James

Publisher Summary:
Women comprise at least half the world and usually more than half the church. But so often Christian teaching for women either fails to move beyond a discussion of roles or assumes a particular economic situation or stage of life. This shuts a lot of women out from contributing to God's kingdom as they were designed to do. Furthermore, the plight of women in the Majority World demands a Christian response, a holistic embrace of all that God calls women and men to be in his world. The strongest voices speaking into women's lives in the twenty-first century are Islam and Feminism--systems that reside at opposite ends of the spectrum. Does the church's message for women stake out the middle ground or lead the way to something much better?  Is that message strong enough to withstand the worst realities women suffer in this broken world?  Carolyn Custis James unpacks three transformative themes the Bible presents that invest the lives of every woman and girl with cosmic significance that nothing can destroy.  These new images of what can be in Christ come with a blazing call for them to join their brothers in advancing God's gracious kingdom on earth.  Carolyn offers readers a positive, kingdom approach to the changes, challenges, and opportunities facing women throughout the world today.

My review:

Most of you know that the issues of women in the church is of particular interest and passion for me. It's something I've written about at Emerging Mummy often. So I was a bit nervous when I received the book for review.

But by the time I was finished the first chapter, I was nearly standing on my couch, waving my little charismatic white hankie and shrieking "Preach, sister!"

For instance (from page 40-41):

"Instead of addressing the wide range of questions and situations women are facing today, we focus mainly on marriage and motherhood, and that within a two-parent, single-income family. We overlook all the other seasons of a woman's life - which impacts every girl and adult woman, and excludes entirely women whose lives follow a different path."

It was equal parts inspiration and challenge. Myself, I felt convicted at how narrowly I had been looking at the issues for women in the church (my view being decidedly western and particularly north American). This book helped to open my eyes and my heart.

My interest and focus in social justice has primarily followed a feminine projection - my work with Mercy Ministries as well as other advocacy, giving and time for other ministries has focused almost entirely on women and children. And yet, I felt like this book was eye-opening, challenging, sobering and inspiring.

I'd like to hear what Idelette or Rachel have to say about this book.

Fortunately, better reviews were also done by two of my other favourites: Megan and Nish. So you can also check there if you aren't quite sure.


Verdict:
Highly recommend. Especially if you have been discouraged by the tone of the debate regarding women in church/leadership/the home/the world lately. It will broaden your views in the best ways possible without degenerating into nit-picky text-proofing.


Giveaway!
I have one copy to give away, courtesy of Zondervan.

To enter to win, just leave a comment on this post.

That's it (I'm not too into making things complicated these days.) I'll draw a winner using Random.org.

Contest closes: 1 June 2011
Shipping: USA or Canadian addresses only please.



** Disclosure: I received a copy of the book for review purposes as well as one for giveaway. I am paying for shipping to the winner and no monetary compensation was exchanged. 

In which I review Bonhoeffer

Well, that sounds rather pretentious, doesn't it?

No, I am not reviewing the life's work of one of the greatest and most inspiring Christians of the 20th century. 

I am however reviewing the recent biography, "Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy, A Righteous Gentile vs. The Third Reich" by Eric Metaxa of the man.

From the Publisher:

From the New York Times bestselling author of Amazing Grace, a groundbreaking biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, one of the greatest heroes of the twentieth century, the man who stood up to Hitler. A definitive, deeply moving narrative, Bonhoeffer is a story of moral courage in the face of the monstrous evil that was Nazism. After discovering the fire of true faith in a Harlem church, Bonhoeffer returned to Germany and became one of the first to speak out against Hitler. As a double-agent, he joined the plot to assassinate the Fuhrer, and was hanged in Flossenberg concentration camp at age 39. Since his death, Bonhoeffer has grown to be one of the most fascinating, complex figures of the 20th century. 

Bonhoeffer presents a profoundly orthodox Christian theologian whose faith led him to boldly confront the greatest evil of the 20th century, and uncovers never-before-revealed facts, including the story of his passionate romance.

Review:

I first read Bonhoeffer through his works "Life Together" and "The Cost of Discipleship" in adulthood. But since my faith background didn't include much Bonhoeffer, I remained relatively (and sadly) ignorant of his life and legacy.  This historical biography is amazingly readable and inspiring. His understanding of Jesus, the Gospel and discipleship (vs. conversion) has deep roots in his background, his family and his own journey. And then the unfolding of his commitment to others manifested in his defiance of Nazi Germany is nothing short of inspiring and brilliant.

Verdict: 
Recommend

Links:
Amazon.ca