Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Treasured and God Gave Us Series

Thanks to WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for providing me these books for review!



The treasures you keep reveal a lot about you. At least, that is the premise in Treasured: Knowing God by the Things He Keeps by Leigh McLeroy. A fig leaf, a olive sprig, a scarlet cord, and eight other objects are highlighted. Like learning about her grandfather by what was inside his cigar box, the author tries to see what she can learn about God from these objects.

The writing and personal reflections are moving and drew me in during the introduction. I enjoyed the focus of desiring to know the God that loves us so much. Recently, I’ve found that my relationship with God is enhanced more when I read the Bible with the lenses of wanting to know who He is and more about Him rather than a what-should-I-be-doing slant. This book only enhanced that perspective. Yet, there weren’t very many revelations throughout the reading of “Treasured”, at least for me. Instead, I felt I was reading the author’s personal journey as she read the well-known Bible stories. And there is some worth and enjoyment in sharing that journey. Ideally, I’d see this book as a Book Club choice – there is an impressive group discussion in the guide that would make for fun conversation over a cup of coffee. Otherwise, if opting to get the Christmas package, send it to someone who enjoys having a good coffee-table book or likes to read only one chapter at a time.

Overall, I give Treasured 3 out of 5 book lights.

God Gave Us Christmas and God Gave Us Love by Lisa Tawn Bergren follow a family of cubs. The Little Cub wants answers and either the parents or grandparents provide them. First off, I have a bias towards picture books – they have to be entertaining or humorous. If they’re not either of those, then there should at least be some poetic value that keeps me engaged during the reading of the text. Unfortunately, neither of these titles showed promise for me. The story lines were very sweet, sappy, and in my humble opinion, verbose. The art was attractive but not enough to hold my little girl’s attention.

Lisa Tawn Bergren has written fiction for adults that I have enjoyed in the past, but for this child and parent offering I’m afraid I can only give it 1 book light out of 5.



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