by Jason Joyner | Jan 10, 2007 | Blog, Uncategorized
This week’s blog tour is on the book, A Pagan’s Nightmare by author Ray Blackston.
This will be the first time I’ve give a negative recommendation as part of the CFBA Tour. I have enjoyed each book that I’ve read so far (I haven’t read all the books on the tour). I want my blog to be a reliable place for people to come on reviews about Christian fiction. I know it is just my opinion, and everyone has different tastes in books. However, I do try to give an analysis of what makes a book good, weak points, and hope that the info I give helps people decide whether to spend their money on the featured project.
I was intrigued by the premise of APN. The cover is delightful and grabbed my eye right away. (Tried to upload a picture of the cover, but Blogger doesn’t like pictures lately. Anyone else have the problem?) It is written as a story within a story. An author conceives of a religious parody and pitches it to his agent, who loves it. The agent’s Southern Baptist wife doesn’t find it amusing. We follow the story of the author and agent interspersed with the novel in question: a world where almost the whole world has been “converted”, and a few unlucky pagans deal with the new world. Gas for believers is 12 cents a gallon, while the pagans pay $6.66. McDonalds serves McScriptures fries. The holiest around speak in King James English.
Unfortunately, the book doesn’t work. The parody story is just not very funny. I am all for tipping over the church’s sacred cows. Evangelicals in particular are ripe for the picking as far as poking fun at their antics. The jokes just fall flat. Popular songs have their lyrics rewritten, such as the Beatles “I Wanna Hold Your Tithe”, but they’re not very creative. The pagans in the story’s “novel” are looking for a girlfriend of one of them, but there is no tension in it. Similarly, the conflict between the agent, his wife, and the author also disappoints.
I normally don’t think I should review a work if I haven’t finished it. I made it over half way through, but I couldn’t ever get into the book. Since it was a struggle to get that far, I thought I ought to offer my opinion so people don’t end up with something they don’t like. Take what I post with a grain of salt. I do encourage you to go to the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance website and see the reviews and comments of other members to make an informed decision. I thought the idea was clever – just the execution of it doesn’t make it a worthwhile read.
by Jason Joyner | Jan 4, 2007 | Blog, Uncategorized
Over the past few years I have become more aware of the great problem of modern-day slavery and sex trafficking. We think that we live in a world without such things, or that they occur in far away places. It is true that a lot of the torrid stories that do make the news are in places like South Asia or Eastern Europe. However, even here in Idaho we have people basically put into situations of forced labor, where they work to try and pay off their debts, only to have debts continually incurring in the process of working them off.
I am glad to see more publicity for these horrible crimes coming from more and more avenues. I’ve seen features on these subjects from Dateline NBC to my local paper. I think this is an issue that anyone can be against, but it should be particularly critical to Christians. We have a holy injunction to keep watch over “the least of these”. We are to provide for widows and orphans. The Bible talks gravely about any who would cause a little one to stumble.
I have a link to International Justice Mission on my sidebar. They are a Christian organization that works with countries around the world to enforce their own laws in order to protect their citizens. (Some complain that Westerners are trying to impose their morality on this issue. First, as I said it does not require any faith to see that this is an evil practice, and secondly IJM specifically works within the legal framework of any country they’re in.) They have a wonderful book discussing this issue in World Vision. Please check them out, and find out what is being done to combat this evil. We can make a difference through prayer and supporting the people who fight on the front lines, if nothing else.
Red-Light Rescue
Child Sex Tours
Sex Isn’t Work
by Jason Joyner | Jan 4, 2007 | Blog, Uncategorized
Over the past few years I have become more aware of the great problem of modern-day slavery and sex trafficking. We think that we live in a world without such things, or that they occur in far away places. It is true that a lot of the torrid stories that do make the news are in places like South Asia or Eastern Europe. However, even here in Idaho we have people basically put into situations of forced labor, where they work to try and pay off their debts, only to have debts continually incurring in the process of working them off.
I am glad to see more publicity for these horrible crimes coming from more and more avenues. I’ve seen features on these subjects from Dateline NBC to my local paper. I think this is an issue that anyone can be against, but it should be particularly critical to Christians. We have a holy injunction to keep watch over “the least of these”. We are to provide for widows and orphans. The Bible talks gravely about any who would cause a little one to stumble.
I have a link to International Justice Mission on my sidebar. They are a Christian organization that works with countries around the world to enforce their own laws in order to protect their citizens. (Some complain that Westerners are trying to impose their morality on this issue. First, as I said it does not require any faith to see that this is an evil practice, and secondly IJM specifically works within the legal framework of any country they’re in.) They have a wonderful book discussing this issue in World Vision. Please check them out, and find out what is being done to combat this evil. We can make a difference through prayer and supporting the people who fight on the front lines, if nothing else.
Red-Light Rescue
Child Sex Tours
Sex Isn’t Work
by Jason Joyner | Jan 4, 2007 | Blog, Uncategorized
This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is posting about Tangerine (Revell, January 2007) by Marilynn Griffith (fellow CFBA member, blogger, writer, and mother of *GULP* seven!)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Marilynn Griffith is wife to a deacon, mom to a tribe and proof that God gives second chances. Her novels include Made of Honor (Steeple Hill, Jan. 2006), Pink (Revell, Feb. 2006), Jade (Revell, June 2006), and If the Shoe Fits (Revell, 2007). Her other credits include Chicken Soup for the Christian Woman’s Soul, Cup of Comfort Devotionals and her Shades of Style series (Revell, 2006). She lives in Florida with her husband and children.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Tangerine is the third book in the Shades of Style Novels.
Fans of Pink and Jade will eat up Tangerine, the third book in the cutting-edge Shades of Style series. Jean Guerra, a designer at Garments of Praise design firm, doesn’t like surprises. These days though, the unexpected meets her everywhere. Since Jean’s return to the church a year ago, her God-encounters occur with increasing frequency, along with thoughts of her husband-the one she vowed to divorce and gave up on long ago. The one nobody at work knows about, not even her best friend, Lily, or her boss, Chenille. But when the designer assigned to work with Jean on a line of men’s suits shows up, her heart flips. It’s her husband, Nigel Salvador. Jean is finally rendered speechless. Can her bruised heart become whole enough to love again? Or will she remain in the trenches of loneliness forever?
by Jason Joyner | Jan 4, 2007 | Blog, Uncategorized
This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is posting about Tangerine (Revell, January 2007) by Marilynn Griffith (fellow CFBA member, blogger, writer, and mother of *GULP* seven!)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Marilynn Griffith is wife to a deacon, mom to a tribe and proof that God gives second chances. Her novels include Made of Honor (Steeple Hill, Jan. 2006), Pink (Revell, Feb. 2006), Jade (Revell, June 2006), and If the Shoe Fits (Revell, 2007). Her other credits include Chicken Soup for the Christian Woman’s Soul, Cup of Comfort Devotionals and her Shades of Style series (Revell, 2006). She lives in Florida with her husband and children.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Tangerine is the third book in the Shades of Style Novels.
Fans of Pink and Jade will eat up Tangerine, the third book in the cutting-edge Shades of Style series. Jean Guerra, a designer at Garments of Praise design firm, doesn’t like surprises. These days though, the unexpected meets her everywhere. Since Jean’s return to the church a year ago, her God-encounters occur with increasing frequency, along with thoughts of her husband-the one she vowed to divorce and gave up on long ago. The one nobody at work knows about, not even her best friend, Lily, or her boss, Chenille. But when the designer assigned to work with Jean on a line of men’s suits shows up, her heart flips. It’s her husband, Nigel Salvador. Jean is finally rendered speechless. Can her bruised heart become whole enough to love again? Or will she remain in the trenches of loneliness forever?
by Jason Joyner | Jan 3, 2007 | Blog, Uncategorized
Go Broncos!!!
No, not the Denver variety, the ones who dropped out of the playoffs on Sunday (my condolences for your fallen teammate – a tragedy).
Boise State University, of Smurf Turf fame, went and made all of Idaho proud, and shocked the big power-makers of college football. And they did it in the most imaginative, entertaining way possible.
Hook and ladder on 4th and 18 for a touchdown. Halfback option pass in overtime for a TD. The ol’ Statue of Liberty play for the gutsy 2 point conversion that sealed the win.
Boise State proved against Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl that they can play with the big boys. So here’s a shout out online for the boys in blue! Way to go guys. For an excellent article describing the Boise State win, click here.
Oh, and if all this wasn’t enough, the running back who scored the winning 2 points proposed to his cheerleader girlfriend while on national TV. Dude!
AP Photo/Ted S. Warren
