None Like Him | Jen Wilkin

Title: None Like Him

Author: Jen Wilkin

Length: 163 pages

Publication date: April 30, 2016

Genre: Christian non-fiction

Rating: 4.5/5

I have an interesting relationship with reading books about Christian growth. I always want to read more, because I don't read much non-fiction at all, but I'm always leery in the back of my mind about the content of them, in terms of what kind of view the author has of God and the Bible. I was very pleased to read None Like Him, because this is a book I can very readily recommend!

In None Like Him, the author Jen Wilkin explores 10 different ways that God is different from us. I loved this take on exploring God's character, because I know I very often start to feel really good about myself as a Christian and think that I am well on my way to perfection. Well, if you read this book you're going to get a reality check. You're also going to grow in the fear of the Lord, which is always a good thing. In Wilkin's comparisons of God's character and human character, I realized that there were indeed some areas where I had made God more like me in my mind. (I'm sure you know exactly what I'm talking about.) The good news is that God is very much not like me, and praise Him for that! I think Jen Wilkin has a very Biblical view of God and a right understanding of the Bible. I feel like there may have been one statement that gave me pause, but now I can't even remember what it was so it couldn't have been that bad.) Her reflections of God and our relation to Him was really insightful.

At the end of the chapters there are devotional questions and Scripture passages for reflection and meditation, as well as a guided prayer to close. I listened to this book on audio at work (side note, it's narrated by Wilkin herself) so I wasn't able to engage with those sections, but I'm itching to buy a physical copy so that I can have this wonderful resource in my collection! I definitely see myself coming back to this book often. I also want to pick up her other book, Women of the Word, because I can tell by her passion about the Bible in this book that it will be just as good.

4 Things I Liked About Wild in the Hollow by Amber C. Haines.

Title: Wild in the Hollow

Author: Amber C. Haines

Length: 208 pages

Publication date: July 28, 2015

Genre: memoir

Rating: 4/5 stars

I had heard literally zero things about Wild in the Hollow, and I'd never heard about Amber C. Haines either, but I saw the cover on Netgalley and decided that I wanted to read it. I am so glad that I did. I'm not going to say that the book was perfect, but it was definitely enjoyable and gave me a lot to think about.

1. The writing of the book was extremely poetic, which was a nice change of pace for me. I have read books that try to weave a faith story, trying to be poetic and meaningful, but it ends up feeling forced and fake. I did not find this to be the case (in general) with this book. Haines' writing is legitimately poetic. I will admit, there were times when her usage of metaphor was a bit much - in one instance, she was speaking of something literally, and I thought she was using a metaphor! But the writing style did grow on me. It was nice to see someone's life through such a poetic lens.

God's love is before my eyes, and it is staid. It is my hope. I keep my eyes on him. If I do not see his love, it is my eyes that have moved.

2. Haine's life has been very tumultuous. There have been a lot of pains and hurts in her life, and the honesty with which she wrote about them was very refreshing. Even though my hurts have been different from hers, I still felt like I could connect with her on a deeper level because of her honesty.

3. One of my favourite things about the book was seeing the emphasis she places on community in her life. So often I see that the god of individualism and self in our society has lead us to believe that community is not important, but that is such a lie. I was so refreshed to see someone praising community and the importance of it in our lives.

4. The whole story was constantly a reminder that God can take all of the ugly, broken things in our lives, and somehow give us beauty and joy in the midst of it.

I wouldn't say that I agreed with every viewpoint that Haine's has, but through the book you can also see how her viewpoint on things changed over her life. If you are looking to read a moving memoir, I would recommend this one!


I received a digital copy of this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

Colliding With Destiny || Sarah Jakes

Title: Colliding With Destiny

Author: Sarah Jakes

Length: 215 pages

Publication date: September 2, 2014

Genre: Christian inspirational

Rating: 2/5 stars

Way back in 2014 I received and read Colliding With Destiny. I had been excited about the premise, but ultimately it fell flat for me. I just had a look at the book on Goodreads, however, and apparently only 2 other people felt the same way as me about this book. So maybe you'll feel differently, who knows?!

Colliding With Destiny is an exploration through the life of Ruth. Sarah Jakes uses her own stories from life to guide you through the trials and heartaches that Ruth faced, and by doing so brings this well-known story to another light. The goal is to inspire you to collide with your divine destiny, allowing God to lead you there.

The Meh:

- So much of this book felt repetitive and forced. I think the whole book would have been a lot shorter if she hadn't kept making the same statement over and over, just phrased in another way. The structure of the book is looking at a section from the book of Ruth, and then the author connecting things that happened in her own life to what happened to Ruth. In my opinion, the connections were often quite forced. It also seemed like the author made generalizations to serve her own purposes, just adding to the forced feeling through a lot of it.

- There was a journal section at the end of each chapter, and they often felt disjointed from the rest of the chapter. Often I didn't even find anything in the prompt that I could journal about! I didn't think they made a lot of sense or impact in a devotional sense. 

The Good:

- Sarah Jakes has had a hard life, and her honesty about it was very encouraging and refreshing. She makes it clear that she made bad choices, and that obedience to God has made all the difference in her life. 

- I found this book more motivating or meditative, rather than devotional. The author made a lot of statements that made me think a little bit longer, which I appreciated. A couple examples:

"We make life so much more difficult that it has to be, all because we make God an option instead of a priority." - pg. 138, Colliding With Destiny

"Those called by God must be willing to have faith strong enough to withstand the rejection of others around them." - pg. 170, Colliding With Destiny 

I would not recommend reading this book as a devotional, but rather as a motivational/inspirational book. There are good lessons to be learned from Sarah Jakes' life, and the overall message of the book was solid.

I received a digital copy of this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

The Fangirl's Guide to the Galaxy || Sam Maggs

Title: The Fangirl's Guide to the Galaxy: A Handbook for Girl Geeks

Author: Sam Maggs

Length: 208 pages

Publication date: May 12, 2015

Genre: non-fiction

Rating: 2/5

I heard about this book last winter, and I thought it sounded really cool. I definitely consider myself a fangirl and a geek, so this sounded like it would be right up my alley. Plus the cover was adorable! So I was pretty excited when I was able to receive an ARC of this book from Netgalley.

This book is basically an introduction on how to be a lady geek. The author lists many things that have extensive fandoms online, such as Harry Potter, Doctor Who, Supernatural, and many more. There are chapters on fan fiction, conventions and how to navigate them, feminism in the geek world, and other things.

Unfortunately, this book fell very flat for me. The beginning of the book was a list of swag that members of certain fandoms can be seen wearing or owning. That's really all it was. And the book stayed at that shallow level. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I was really hoping for something more in-depth. This really just felt like a book for people who want to be geeks because it's trendy. I also felt like some of the author's points were contradictory, and the whole book felt like a boring mess. I skimmed so much of it because it just wasn't interesting, or it was old information to me as a longtime fangirl.

AND THERE WEREN'T EVEN ANY REFERENCES TO THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY! What?? You copy the title and don't even talk about it at all??

There were some short interviews with well-known girl geeks, and that was neat to see their different perspectives on what being a fangirl means to them. For me that was the only good part of the book. And I had it as a galley, so the formatting on those pages was really messed up and it was hard to read! Sad.

In the end, I would give this book a pass, but make your own life choices!



I received a digital copy of this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.