When Donkeys Talk by Tyler Blanski

I chose this book for a couple of reasons. I thought it would be interesting and it was available in print. I have a more difficult time reading books in e-format. Even in print format, I did not find this an easy read.

Tyler sets out to rediscover the saints, stars, and beauty of Christianity (back cover). He has discussions with his neighbor, Stephen the Philistine about his crazy-ass theory. His neighbor knows about Christianity but doesn’t believe. He talks about Atomland and Christendom and I’m completely lost. It reminds me of reading a science book. Some of it is interesting but then I have to reread the sentence to see what it means.

The book is broken down into seven sections: A Crazy-Ass Theory, Atomland, The Coherency of Creation, In Thrall to the Heavens, The Sanctification of Time, You Are What You Eat, and Final Participation.

If you like reading about the Middle Ages, you may love the book. I would recommend the book to someone who likes heavy reading and who knows the bible forward and backward. I would suggest reading the other reviews and decide whether or not the book is for you. I think there is a specific audience for this book, but it’s not for a new Christian.

I was given this book free through Thomas Nelson BookSneeze program. 

Firsthand: Ditching Secondhand Religion for a Faith of Your Own by Ryan and Josh Shook

Do you ever feel like you are just mimicking the religion that you grew up with? This book appears to be primarily geared toward the twenty-something group. What I’ve found is the parents can be over-protective and sometimes (hate to say this) but shove religion down their kids throat. Later on, some of these kids rebel. They go to parties and live the life they finally have been waiting for all these years.

This book hits the nail on the head. They (the authors) grew up in a Christian home and were even leaders in a youth group. You’d think they were the perfect Christian brothers. But, they strayed and lived the life. Parties, video games, and even pornography invaded their lives. They gave up on the Christian faith. Or, they felt that their faith wasn’t really theirs but their parents. And that’s the heart of this book – making your faith your own. It’s not just their story. At the end of each chapter, they make it real by making it real by including other voices (people who have shared similar experiences).

Eight main topics are tackled. They include: Why Firsthand Matters, Soul Thirst, Sick of Secrets, Real Faith-Real Change, Trashing the Checklist, Question Everything, Divine Disturbance and Firsthand Community.

I recommend this book to the early twenty-something crowd as well as youth pastors. I was given a copy of this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review.