Book Reviews

This page is dedicated to the review of books mostly of a religious nature.

Books like Tuesdays with Morrie of course are not strictly religious. The theme of death with which the book deals is of interest to those of a religious bent.

So look around. New books will be added regularly.

The first book which we will review is

The Five People
You Meet in Heaven

You probably were surprised when a sports writer came up with a best seller about a dying man. Tuesdays with Morrie not only topped the New York Times’ best seller list. It also was made into a movie.

Now you will enjoy Mitch Albom’s new book having nothing to do with sports. It, too, has topped the New York Times’ best seller list. Although the title is The Five People You Meet in Heaven<. the content is mostly about how your life is lived on earth.

You are introduced to the book’s hero, Eddie, in the book’s first sentence.

You are introduced to the theme of the book in the dedication to my uncle, and others like him–people who felt unimportant here on earth–realize, finally, how much they mattered and how they were loved.

Each of the five people Eddy meets shows him something of his importance. You don’t realize it, but the book builds to a crescendo that leaves you breathless and inspired.

It is an easy read, less than 200 pages long. My wife and I took turns reading to each other as we had spare moments together. It was an enjoyable exercise and the half dozen or so sessions we took to read it were gone too fast.

Larry Winebrenner

Sometimes Homework is to
write a Book Review

There are three good reason not to do this.

1. It is dishonest. 'Nuff said.

2. You're likely to get caught. Teachers these days also have computers. They can take any unique line from your report and run a search on it. It doesn't take a Microsoft wizard to find plagiarized book reviews.

3. It belittles you in your own eyes. It might seem a smart trick, but inside there is your inner self saying

->Aren't you smart enough to do this yourself?
->I thought you were more honest than that.
->This simply makes you a cheat.

And so on. You can actually learn to dispise yourself by dishonest acts.

And there is another reason not to copy book reviews. It's not hard to do--once you've read the book.

1. Read the book.

2. Identify the theme of the book. What is the author trying to say? If, for example, it is an adventure of survival in the wilderness, the author may be trying to say it is possible to overcome odds and survive. The author might be trying to say trust in God and God will lead you to safety. Or the theme may be if you just keep on trying you can win.

3. Identify the major character or characters.

4. Pick out three passages you especially liked. It could be the writing. It could be the excitement. It could be a special meaning you got from the passage.

5. Use the format given by the teacher. If there is no foormat given, find a book review you liked. Follow that format--not the content, mind you. The format.

6. Use the material in steps 2, 3, and 4 to put the book review together.

You can find tips on doing homework of all kinds at Homework Help.


Our next review is going to be on The Da Vinci Code. Come back soon to read the theological implications, and the theological fictions, found in the book.