Sunday, August 28, 2011

Day 28- A Book you wish you never read

I've read my share of head scratchers. My book journal is littered with "I can't recommend this book" reviews. I've covered some of those earlier in the month.

I'm going to pick this one as, first of all, a reason recommending a book to someone backfires. Secondly, for me, it fully fits the topic.

I look in my journal and note that I listed no less than 6 different people recommending I read this. I remember having doubts about it. "It's a retelling of the Christmas story as a war between Satan and God." Wait a minute. A war? My skepticism meter just started beeping.

My review says that while this might be an interesting premise, this was the sappiest Christmas book I'd ever read. I remember it being a small tome, about 8 inches high by 4 inches wide. It would take, maybe, 90 minutes to read. I remember the ending, when Jesus comes into the world and God has triumphed that the author tried ever so hard to tie this back to people's lives. Maybe it does, but I felt as if the author was patting me on the head saying, "Good girl. Now run along and play because everything's okay."

Lucado is a well-known preacher and author. He has dozens of what I would call "feel good" books available. Perhaps it's my jaded life talking but I find this kind of 'inspiration' very hollow. When asked, "Did you like it? Isn't it just wonderful?", all I could manage was a smile and an "It certainly is an interesting premise". C.S. Lewis has done the same topic with a better hand.

This just reinforced my resolve that what I read is what I like. You probably like something completely different. You might even like this book. I didn't. It's definitely a 'Dorothy Parker' book.

Beverage:  Boston Harbor tea

Deb

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