Timebound by Rysa Walker (Chronos Files #1)

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I am reposting this review because the kindle edition of Timebound on sale for $1.99 is part of the Oct $3.99 or less sale. Also the rest of the series is on sale as well.
Timebound by Rysa WalkerSummary: Sixteen year old Kate must time travel to restore the timeline and stop her Grandfather and Aunt from taking over the world.

One of the things I like most about Amazon is their willingness to experiment.  Amazon started the Breakthrough Novel contest several years ago and it has really generated some good books.  Timebound is the overall winner and the young adult category winner for 2013.

But that is only one part of the experimentation of this book.  Amazon also has started pre-releasing 4 books a month to Amazon Prime members with their Kindle First program. If you are an Amazon Prime member you can pick one of those four books to keep for free (and buy the others if you want.)  Timebound was part of the December offering.  I picked the kindle version up for free, and then used some promotional credit at Audible to get the audiobook (it was only $1.99 with purchase of the kindle book.)

Amazon’s experiment seems to have worked.  After only a month from its official release, Timebound has over 1300 reviews and more than 1200 of them are 4 or 5 star reviews.

Timebound is about a 16 year old girl that discovers that her grandmother (whom her Mother does not get along with and whom Kate barely knows) is dying of cancer.  Her Grandmother (Katherine) has moved to DC to be near Kate and wants Kate to move into her home part time so they can get to know one another.  Kate will inherit the house and the entire estate when Katherine dies.

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The Normal Christian Life by Watchman Nee

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The Normal Christian LifeSummary: A discussion of the first half of Romans and how we are to live as Christians.

Every month Christianaudio.com gives away a free MP3 audiobook.  I am trying to actually listen and review the books before the end of the month that the books are free.  I barely made it this month.

Many of these books are current, but some of them are older Christian classics. The Normal Christian Life is of the classics variety.  It was originally published in English in 1957, but was based on a series of lectures given in Europe in 1938-39.  Watchman Nee was a Chinese Christian leader that spent the last 20 years of his life in prison both for his faith and because he was a business owner during the cultural revolution.

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Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

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Howl's Moving CastleHowl’s Moving Castle is a fantasy novel written by Diana Wynne Jones.  The story is about a young girl who lives in a world where magic, which is a very real aspect of life, can be taught, learned, possessed and used to one’s advantage and the good or ill will of others. Sophie crosses paths with the evil and powerful Witch of the Waste and is cursed so that she suddenly progresses to the age of 90.  She then runs away from her town and ends up living in the magical moving castle that belongs to Howl, another magician who is less feared but just as powerful as the Witch of the Waste.

In the story, we find that even witches and magicians are human with human faults and human desires. Their ability to practice magic does not necessarily set them apart from others but it merely helps to make up who they are, similar to an accent or a personality trait.  The story is about how Sophie tries to break her own curse while attempting to help and interact with the others around her, magical or otherwise.

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Basic Christianity by John Stott

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Basic Christianity by John Stott

Summary: A book of basic discipleship.  Not apologetics or evangelism as much as teaching.

As I get older (alway a bad way to start out a review), I am continually struck by how important good discipleship is to Christianity.  And how little emphasis is put into discipling young believers not only among Evangelicals, but also among many streams of Christianity.

Basic Christianity is mostly a book of discipleship.  Because it was originally written in 1958, it is a little dated and I think Stott’s later Radical Disciple written 50 years later shows how he changed his approach over time.  The structure is in four parts, the person of Jesus (and some confirmation of Jesus’ historical reality and divine nature), our need for God, how Christ’s work changes us, and then how we should respond to God.  The structure is straightforward and clear, although dated.

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Room of Marvels by James Bryan Smith

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I am reposting this 2011 review because the Kindle Edition is currently on sale for $1.99 as part of the Big Deal Sale
Room of MarvelsTakeaway: Heaven is not just a promised place (fire insurance), but really is a place we should look forward to.

This is a short semi-fictional novel by a primarily non-fiction author and professor, James Bryan Smith.  In his book, The Good and Beautiful God (my review), Smith shares that in a short period of time his good friend (and renter of his attic apartment) Rich Mullins, his 2-year-old severely disabled daughter and his mother all die in pretty quick succession.  Smith was devastated and mad at God.

In the novel, an author is in the same situation and goes on a five-day spiritual retreat.  During the retreat, the main character has a dream and is taken to heaven to visit with the three that were the cause of the spiritual quandary but also others that help him understand more of the purpose of God.  The epilogue says that while the setting is fictional and that Smith did not have a dream like character in the book, he did have a ‘waking dream’ writing exercise with many of the same features.

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