The Faith of Barrack Obama, by Stephen Mansfield

 

Book Title: The Faith of Barrack Obama

Author: Stephen Mansfield

Published By: Thomas Nelson Publishers

Date Published: August 1, 2008

Genre: Biography

Pages: 192

Recommended Age: adults

Read & Reviewed By: Me

Rating: C/3

I borrowed this book from the library.

Summary:

In "The Faith of Barack Obama," "New York Times "bestselling author Stephen Mansfield takes readers inside the mind, heart, and soul of presidential hopeful Barack Obama--as a person of faith, as a man, as an American, and possibly as our future commander in chief.""

My Thoughts:

 I enjoyed reading this account of our President’s faith.  I believe President Obama’s path to Christianity shows God’s hand.  Here he was raised by a mother who was an atheist but taught him to respect all religions and people’s differences.  He was a lost soul. President Obama says he didn’t fit in with African-Americans or with the white population.  He didn’t even have a faith to call his own. It wasn’t until he stumbled into a Christian church on the east side of Chicago did he find the peace he was always looking for. He found something bigger than himself to say he was part of.  He could call himself a Christian.

Stephen Mansfield did a fine job of telling a story of our president’s faith and stitching the president’s background story so you can get the full picture of who President Obama truly is.  If you are curious about the faith our president, or are one of the population who believes the president is a Muslim, I recommend reading The Faith of Barrack Obama by Stephen Mansfield.

Parents:

Language: none

Adult Content: none

Violence: none

The Long Loneliness: An Autobiography, by Dorothy Day

 

Book Title: The Long Loneliness: An Autobiography

Author: Dorothy Day

Published By:  Harper and Row Publishers

Date Published: 1952

Genre: Autobiography; Memoirs

Pages: 286

Recommended Age: Adults

Read & Reviewed By: Me

Rating: B/4

I borrowed it from the Sisters of Notre Dame Educational Center.

Summary:

In her own words, Dorothy Day tells of her early life as a young journalist in the 1920s, and her conversion to Catholicism, which ended her common-law marriage.  It also tells of her meeting Peter Maurin and the start of the Catholic Worker

My Thoughts:

I did enjoy hearing Ms. Day’s life through her words. I also enjoyed hearing her impressions of Peter Maurin and how she took his ideas and tweaked them.  I just found it lacking in some details and aspects of her life, which made me seek out a biography about her to learn more. For these reasons, I gave The Long Loneliness four stars and a grade of “B”. I do encourage people to read Dorothy Day’s autobiography. She is a formidable woman.

Parents:

Language: None

Adult Content: None

Violence: None

Home for the Holidays, by Johanna Lindsey

 

Home for the Holidays

Author: Johanna Lindsey

Published By:  Harper Collins

Date Published: October 7, 2000

Genre: Holiday; Historical Romance 

Pages: 256

Recommended Age: Adults

Read &Reviewed By:  Me

Rating: C/3

I borrowed it from the library.

Summary:

Vincent Everett, the Baron of Windsor is seeking revenge against Larissa Ascot’s father.  He ruins the Ascots’ credit with the merchants in town and buys out the mortgage on the Ascot home and evicts them.  He does all this while Larissa’s father is away at sea so he can’t fix what the Baron has undone. When Vincent lays on the beautiful Larissa he is determined to have her out all cost and ruins her reputation. He has a plan.  Will it work or will it back fire on him.

My Thoughts:

I liked Home for the Holidays, but it was lacking in some areas.   I felt it was quite predictable.  Larissa was very gullible and Vincent such a devious rogue.  It did make for a good story to read during the Christmas season, although the only way one knew the story was set around Christmas was the book’s title and a couple references to the season.

For these reasons I give Home for the Holidays three stars and a grade of “C”.  If you enjoy Johanna Lindsey’s novels I recommend checking out Home for the Holidays at Christmas time.

Parents:

Language: None

Adult Content: some sexual scenes

Violence: none

A Season of Angels, by Debbie Macomber

 

 

Book Title: A Season of Angels

Author: Debbie Macomber

Published By: Avon

Date Published:  June 28, 2011 (first published December 1993)
Genre: Holiday; Christian Romance

Pages: 358

Recommended Age: Adults

Read & Reviewed By:  Me

Rating:B/ 4

I borrowed this book from the library

Summary:

Shirley, Goodness, and Mercy--three willing but sometimes wayward angels--are each given someone's prayer to answer . . .

Shirley is assigned to help nine year old Timmy Potter.  He longs for a father, although his mother is determined to never trust another man.

Goodness is assigned Monica Fisher, who longs for a husband of her own, but she has given up finding the right man.

Mercy is assigned to bring hope and peace back into Leah Lundberg’s life.  The maternity nurse desperately wants a child with her husband, Andrew.  Can Mercy succeed where other angels have failed?

My Thoughts:

I enjoyed reading this book. Debbie Macomber told a well written story about three silly angels and three women with real life issues. I felt I could relate to Leah and Monica in some aspects. I just couldn’t relate to or understand Timmy Potter’s mother.  I kept thinking just because your husband died is no reason to distrust men all together.  Her husband never cheated on her or anything; he just died.  I think she was just scared of giving up her heart again.

Oh my! That Monica Fisher was a hard person to like with her holier-than-thou attitude.  She sat in judgment of everyone from them wearing make-up and joy in a joke. It’s no wonder she did not have any friends.

Then there was Leah Lundberg. My heart cried out for her. Desiring child of my own, I was able to feel her pain.  I know I couldn’t do her job day in and day out.  I think she was a lot stronger than she allowed herself to be.

With my belief that there are angels out there and everyone is assigned a guardian angel, I had no trouble believing that this could be happening to people out in the world as I read Macomber’s tale and right now as I write this review. This was a fantastic story to read during the Christmas season.  I recommend A Season of Angels by Debbie Macomber. You won’t be disappointed.

Did you like it? What did you like? Was it well written? Things that bothered you? Characters Pros and Cons? Was it appropriate for the audience it is marketed towards?

Parents:

Language: none

Adult Content: none

Violence: none