theseasoul's reviews
454 reviews

|| 4 ⭐️ || 

I seem to remember reading this book for school in Jr. High or sometime around then. The general gist of the plot was familiar, and I remembered it being really thought-provoking. And it really was. It was also pretty sad, though. 

It’s amazing how Keyes managed to communicate Charlie’s rise in his IQ with almost imperceptible changes from journal entry to entry. That must’ve taken a lot of skill!

|| Content warnings ||
Part of Charlie’s journey to intelligence involves discovering sexual feelings. He sleeps with two women out of wedlock, and there are references to nudity. It’s not too graphic, but it’s a fairly big part of the plot. Enough to get on my nerves.

|| 4.5 ⭐️ ||

I recently had a conversation with a friend about whether babies and those who have never had the capacity or chance to understand the gospel go to heaven or not. I always figured they did, because of God’s merciful character; but I lacked support from Scripture to articulate exactly why. I came across this book and it was very helpful in understanding why God chooses to save infants, whether they die in a mother’s womb or in their early childhood. In addition to building a good case for this, MacArthur also reminds us repeatedly of God’s sovereignty, the purpose in our suffering, and the wonders we have to look forward to in heaven. It’s an encouraging read for parents who have lost a little one, but also for those looking to comfort and support grieving parents.

|| 4.5 ⭐️ ||

A solid book on what exactly God’s institution of marriage is all about. It touches on a lot of things including the biblical roles of husband and wife, a correct order of affections, leadership and sanctification, common pitfalls and misunderstandings, questions to consider and be clear on before marrying, beauty, children, and a lot more. There were a couple theological notions I didn’t agree with (infant baptism being one of them!), but ultimately it was very helpful and practical. It would probably make a good wedding gift for an engaged or newlywed couple. 

|| 5 ⭐️ ||

I think I may have discovered my new favourite tea book! Incredibly thorough overview of tea history, tea regions, and famous varieties/cultivars with the most lovely-sounding descriptions of tasting notes I’ve ever read. Instead of dissolving into nothing but information about British tea traditions and teabags (as many tea books tend to do), this book digs deep into the rich history and culture of tea-growing nations and represents them well. Very informative. I even managed to learn some things I didn’t know before—such as the common use of fans over tea crops in Japan to disperse fog, retain soil warmth and prevent dew formation. I’d never heard of this. 

There’s a section on learning how to properly analyze the taste and aroma of tea, including a lovely flavour wheel to reference (even though the writing in it is very small). 

Finally, all the high quality photographs make it a delightful coffee table book for company to flip through. I’ll be adding this one to my wish list; I’d love to add it to my collection of tea books. 

|| 5 ⭐️ ||

Incredibly helpful! Living in a world where AI is very rapidly becoming a major part of life, whether we like it or not, I’ve been increasingly intimidated by it and not really sure what to think. It turns out the Bible has a lot to say about it in terms of the men and women being made in the image of God, human value, materialism, the incarnation, etc. even if it doesn’t explicitly talk about AI—and that’s more than enough for constructing a cohesive worldview regarding this issue. I was very encouraged by the reminder here that God sustains His creation and His people, and laughs at human efforts to become gods over creation themselves. It’s important to know how to operate in this modern world in a way that glorifies God and values mankind; but there’s no need to worry about machines taking over the world, because God is still Lord over all. So many great points were made about human consciousness, emotion, creativity, trust, etc. All the things that set humans apart from machines no matter how hard they try to make machines a perfect substitute in various realms of life. We have assurance that they won’t succeed, because only God can create life. 

I listened to this on audiobook (the only way i could read it for free), but I wish I had read it—it was pretty philosophically dense and it can be hard to grasp everything through listening to it.

|| 2.5 ⭐️ ||

This is basically a book full of Bible stories from the Old and New Testaments, and the author draws parallels between these stories and the names of God. The only problem was that some of the stories actually have little to do with the names of God that were chosen for that story, and it felt like the story had to be watered down, twisted, added to or taken away from in order for the name to fit. Even some of the stories where the name did fit had important details left out. I think parents would be better off reading most of these stories to their kids straight from the Bible, and explaining it to them in simpler terms if their brains aren’t quite ready for certain details yet.

|| 5 ⭐️ ||

Possibly the most beautiful and inspiring book I’ve read on homemaking/hospitality through different seasons. It’s overflowing with candid ideas and advice for creating a home that people—family and outsiders alike—feel drawn to. Sally and her husband raised their children to deeply appreciate the written word, art, music, culture, thought; diligently teaching them how the beautiful things of everyday life reflect the beauty and glory of Christ. I went into this expecting some homemaking tips, but it also ended up broadening my vision for raising a family to the glory of God and the day-to-day faithfulness involved in that. Sally and her daughter both have individual, yet such exquisite writing styles that made me simply appreciate life, creation and my Saviour just a little bit more.

I believe the Clarkson family is Anglican, so there were some minor things in the context of this topic that I didn’t agree with; but even in disregarding those, there was still so much to glean. 

|| 4 ⭐️ ||

Well that was interesting. Who knew the history of the world’s most beloved fruit was so depressing, and its future so seemingly bleak? I’d be curious to learn about where the banana situation is at now, since this book was published back in 2007; but I’m guessing not a whole lot has changed. We’re still eating Cavendish bananas and they’re not yet being lab-grown. They haven’t gone extinct just yet. 

It was pretty sad to learn about all the human exploitation still going on in many banana plantations. Chemicals may keep the banana diseases from completely taking over the world, but the trade-off is it makes plantation workers sick and/or sterile. Wages are often awfully low. And as far as I know, this is still an issue. Paying the few extra dollars for organic/fair-trade bananas has always been worth it, and now I have even more reason to.

Ultimately a very fun microhistory. I wish bananas the best and I hope they can somehow hang in there for years to come. 

|| 3.5 ⭐️ ||

The dialogue was pretty cheesy and unrealistic, but the message of the story was solid enough. It briefly outlines the difference in roles between men and women as told in Genesis in a very age-appropriate way, and goes through a clear presentation of the gospel—surprisingly thorough for a book for young kids. There are reflection questions and extra Scripture references at the end of each little chapter, encouraging further discussion between parents and kids and a deeper understanding of the topic.

|| 4 ⭐️ ||

A great book that outlines some of the biggest questions about Christianity that believers dread being confronted with. It was organized very nicely, making it a good basic resource to remind us why we can be fully confident in what the Bible says and what we believe while sharing our faith with others. There weren’t many questions that I hadn’t previously been equipped to answer, but it’s very easy for me to forget some of the specifics and therefore books like this are always a helpful reminder. And it’s always good to be reminded that sharing our faith isn’t all about winning the argument, but ultimately about presenting the gospel and allowing the Lord to work in their hearts through that.