theseasoul's reviews
466 reviews

|| 4 ⭐️ ||

A graphic novel is such an unexpected format for the telling of this famous friendship story, but surprisingly it worked so well! The narrators were a bit too goofy at times, but some of the goofy moments did make me laugh. 

Loads of historical context is given in regards to the times Lewis and Tolkien were living in, and each of their lives are chronicled very cohesively. I’d heard snippets of their life stories here and there, but it was cool to see it all compiled together like this. Theirs was such a sweet, authentic friendship; not without its rough spots, but that just makes it all the more meaningful. The world remains thankful for how these men spurred each other on to write some of the most influential novels of all time.

|| 4.5 ⭐️ ||

I’m very encouraged by Jinger’s testimony. It’s such a clear example of the indwelling Holy Spirit working in someone’s life and orchestrating things. There’s no human reason why she should’ve decided to remain a Christian and gone through all that arduous “disintangling” work, other than God being the sole one sustaining her faith. And now she’s using her story as a way to proclaim the gospel in its beautiful simplicity. I hope this book continues to reach and help people who grew up in the fear and guilt of man-made legalism.

It was interesting learning a bit more about Bill Gothard and IBLP from her perspective; I believe I’ve only ever read stories of people coming out of legalistic cults and outright rejecting their faith and all religion as a result, so this was quite different. She’s very graceful in the way she speaks about her family and friends caught up in IBLP teachings, but also still bold regarding where the teachings go wrong and what the Bible really says about Christian freedom and God’s true character.

|| 3.5 ⭐️ ||

Since I’m not a feminist, I was so curious to know what the deal is with this book.

As a literary work, if you simply read it as another dystopian novel, it’s not bad. The plot is fairly interesting. Aside from the sexual references which seem to dominate a lot of dystopian novels; I guess because every Godless society seems to be driven purely by unfettered human impulses, and this is no exception. Indeed, this is a story about a Godless society, no matter what Atwood tries to frame it as with her out-of-context Bible verses. It’s like she believes that all Christians read about the situation that happened between Abraham, Sarah and Hagar… and then condone it as a prescriptive passage in the Bible. This is not at all a story about a godly, conservative, complimentarian society gone too far. It’s very cult-like and incredibly sad, full of evil and people stripped of all their dignity: not just women, but men too. It’s a society where satan would be having a heyday, and no genuine believer would advocate for any of it. None of the sides represented in this book are aligned with God or His word.

So in summary, if you take God out of things and use random Scriptures to indulge the flesh, if you think surrogacy is a good thing, if men have no authority over them nor accountability for their actions, if humans are all just clumps of cells who evolved from nothing and have no God-given value, then you get The Handmaid’s Tale.

|| 3.5 ⭐️ ||

I hadn’t really thought much before about the sheer amount of brain mechanisms that have to work together in order for us to read, comprehend, and apply what we are reading to reality. It blows me away how intricately God designed our brains. Now it makes more sense why reading is such a beneficial and constructive activity—I knew this, but not exactly why to this extent—and why it’s so important to preserve the act of reading in the following generations.

Many of the author’s thoughts on the effects of technology in regards to reading comprehension, attention span, deep thinking, and so on weren’t new to me. I’ve read several books on the subject, and felt that the information was more clear-cut in some of those. 

But then again, maybe that’s just me favouring books on this topic that are easier to digest precisely because I grew up with the digital reading brain that the author addresses. I certainly feel called out—I do know that I read for efficiency more than I probably should, and have the tendency to move onto the next thing so fast that I don’t leave enough time for contemplation. Part of me is addicted to the fast reading pace and happy enough with the half-baked information I do retain, but another part of me always longs to slow down and leave more space to integrate new insights from what I am reading into my life. 

|| 2 ⭐️ ||

Written with an emphasis on Roman Catholicism (though Protestantism was touched on too), this was mostly really weird. While there were some occasional good insights into femininity vs. masculinity and what that means in the context of the family, gospel and church, most of it was full of philosophical ideas that don’t line up with Scripture and/or oppose who God has revealed Himself to be through his word. There was lots about bridal mysticism, feminine characteristics of the Trinity, how Mary fits into the Trinity, etc… eventually I found myself phasing out, because some of the ideas presented were bothering me and I didn’t care to see them fleshed out further. 

|| 5 ⭐️ ||

Screwtape Letters for women? Thoroughly brilliant!! I loved The Screwtape Letters and got tons out of it, but this being specific to how satan often deceives women, I found it even richer. This is a book I’d like to revisit throughout my life. Some chapters were more relevant than others for the season of life I’m in (the book follows the “patient” through her singleness, then marriage, children, middle age and beyond). Some of the chapters were so convicting that I had to put the book down for a few days, pray, confess, and make changes in my life. And even though I don’t know what it’s like being married or having kids, I could recognize some of the pitfalls I might be tempted to fall into in the future, knowing myself. So even the less immediately relevant chapters were rich with wisdom and really made me think. In summary, this is a really great tool for recognizing subtle but deadly sins and growing in godliness and holiness as a woman.

Read this for Sheologians book club and also really enjoyed the discussions that were had there.

|| 4 ⭐️ ||

Not every book that claims to be “simple and frugal” actually lives up to that—it’s all relative, I guess—but this one certainly did meet my expectations. She had dozens upon dozens of recipes for household, body and food items that used a lot of similar, affordable ingredients. Not only that, but she concluded the book with a long list of potential substitutions if you don’t have a certain ingredient on hand, as well as lists of other uses for ingredients you have excess of or need to use up. It was very thorough and inspiring.

The body/household recipes will probably be the most useful to me, but perusing the recipes did give me some inspiration too. 

|| 4.5 ⭐️ ||

A fantastic introductory book for pro-metabolic eating. I found the explanations about how each of the macronutrients contribute to the body’s functioning to be quite clear and helpful, especially in the case of carbs (which are unfairly demonized in most nutrition books). The information was organized well. 

I’ve personally followed some combination of a pro-metabolic diet combined with an ancestral diet for the past two years, developed through a lot of trial and error while trying to heal from chronic health issues and now just maintaining my health and vitality. There are certain things in this book that I personally haven’t found to be helpful for me on my food/health journey, just as there are certain things on the ancestral side that don’t work for me. I doubt I’ll ever 100% agree/resonate with one nutrition camp due to bioindividuality, but the concepts in this one are pretty close. Having been on keto in the past, I can definitely relate to the drop in energy, hormone function, muscle/bone mass, sluggishness, etc. that comes with depriving the body of its preferred energy source… and the healing that can happen when that source is brought back. Carbs rock (when paired with enough saturated fats and protein).

I do wish she’d mentioned nature’s effect on metabolism—especially sunlight! That’s such a foundational factor too!

|| 5 ⭐️ ||

Simply phenomenal. Calls out the sin of discontentment in every conscious and subconscious sense, debunks every possible excuse for not being content as a Christian, and re-emphasizes the sovereignty of God and His care for us at every turn. A very relevant read for me as I work on growing in contentment and my trust in the Lord.

We could all use a little more reading of the Puritans and a little less wishy-washy therapeutic Christian living books. This was incredibly rich.

|| 4 ⭐️ ||

I keep my expectations pretty low when it comes to Victorian literature… it’s not my favourite. I usually find the characters incredibly shallow. So I was surprised when I ended up mostly enjoying this (though the women in the story still felt very shallow; I’m sure glad the majority of the book wasn’t romance). Lord Henry’s dialogue was always entertaining to read. The storyline was very dark and… Shakespearean tragedy-esque. Not bad.