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Beyond the Shadows

January 29, 2024 by Emma Filbrun · Leave a Comment

29 Jan

Title: Beyond the Shadows
Author: Robin Lee Hatcher
Series: Women of Hope
Major Themes: Alcoholism, Drinking, Idaho, Farm Life
Synopsis: When she discovered after marrying him that her second husband was a secret alcoholic, Deborah didn’t know what to do.

Apparently Beyond the Shadows is the second book I have read by Robin Lee Hatcher. Several years ago I read The Forgiving Hour. It was powerful enough that I still remember it well, but for some reason, I didn’t write a review of it. When I started reading this one, I was quite dubious about it, thinking it was just another romance. I kept reading…and dreading what I could see coming. Then I reached the end of the story, and as I thought about it more, I was quite impressed with what the author did with it.

Deborah’s husband Andy had just died when Gideon showed up to help her on the farm. Before long he had made it plain that he was in love with her, and she knew that she was in love with him. Her parents were overjoyed to see their daughter happy again, and if the pastor asked whether she had prayed about this—who cared? She was ready to move on!

Before their first baby was born, Deborah learned a devastating truth. She had married an alcoholic. Now what? And was there any way to regain the closeness she had once had to God? How could she continually forgive Gideon for his lapses into drunkenness? Should she listen to her parents telling her to leave him and move back with them? Or listen to God’s still small voice telling her to stay put? Would Gideon ever find healing?

I have watched a friend walk through a marriage with an alcoholic. I have seen the agony his problem caused in their family. Sadly, their story has not yet had a happy ending. I struggled to finish Beyond the Shadows because I was afraid to see the pain that Deborah had to go through. I’m glad I stuck it out, though! The insights into alcoholism and what can be done to help loved ones who struggle with it were helpful. This book has made an impression on me that I hope will stick.

WARNING: A miscarriage threatens through several chapters, and Gideon is frequently seen drinking or passed out drunk.

Age levels:

Reading Independently—Ages 15 and Above, Adults

Links to buy this book:

Amazon: Paperback | Kindle | Audible Audiobook (unabridged) | Audio CD (unabridged)
AbeBooks: View Choices on AbeBooks.com

Roman Diary

January 26, 2024 by Emma Filbrun · Leave a Comment

26 Jan

Title: Roman Diary
Author: Richard Platt
Series: Historical Diaries
Major Themes: Rome, Diaries, Slavery
Synopsis: After being captured by pirates while en route from Greece to Egypt, Iliona and her brother Apollo found themselves sold as slaves in Rome.

Lately, we have studied ancient history, and one book I read to my eight-year-old as a supplement was Roman Diary. This is the imaginary journal of a young slave in Rome. The children found the story engrossing, and liked the pictures, even though they are caricatures instead of realistic pictures. In fact, the day I first read a few pages to my daughter, the next thing I knew, she was reading it herself.

Young Iliona and her brother Apollo were traveling with their parents from Greece to Egypt when their ship was attacked by pirates. Most of the people on board were killed, but Iliona and Apollo were taken captive, brought to Rome, and sold as slaves. The same person bought both of them, and their new life began.

Apollo was sent to the farm to work there, and Iliona became a house servant. One of her primary jobs was to care for the baby. In the course of helping her mistress, Iliona experienced much of the life of Rome. She went to the baths, to see gladiatorial games at the Colosseum, and learned all about aqueducts. At one point, she traveled to the farm with the family and saw how Apollo was working there.

If you want to know what life is like in Rome in the second century, Roman Diary is a good way to learn. If my children are any indication, this style of learning is quite appealing. As I said, the pictures are not great, but they certainly get the point across. Some of the story is a bit irreverent, such as when they went to the theatre and the women actors took off their clothes so, as with most books, parental guidance will be needed.

WARNING: Page 6: Pirates attacked the ship and many people were killed. Page 15: Women at the baths, showing their backs or their arms tightly crossed across their chests. Page 20: A man pinches a girl’s bottom. Page 40: gladiator fight. Page 46: risqué theatre production.

Age levels:

Listening Level—Ages 5 – 8, 8 – 12
Reading Independently—Ages 7 – 9, 8 – 12

Links to buy this book:

Amazon: Paperback | Kindle
AbeBooks: View Choices on AbeBooks.com

Song of Redemption

January 24, 2024 by Emma Filbrun · Leave a Comment

24 Jan

Title: Song of Redemption
Author: Lynn Austin
Series: Chronicles of the Kings, book 2
Major Themes: Assyria, Jerusalem, Ancient Times, Israel
Synopsis: As the Assyrians, with their horrific torture of anyone who opposes them, approach Jerusalem, Hezekiah must decide if he will continue with the reforms he has begun since his father’s death—or give in to the pleas of his councilors to appease the enemy.

I have been looking forward to reading Song of Redemption, the second book in the Chronicles of the Kings series, for probably a year, ever since I read Gods & Kings. Finally, I had the chance. I was glad it was a Sunday afternoon that we spent at home, and I could just keep reading. Even though I know the story in the Bible and how it turns out, I was totally gripped by this retelling. Lynn Austin did a masterful job of making the accounts in the Bible come to life.

Hezekiah has just become king of the nation of Judah. He saw what his father’s idolatry did to the nation, and is determined to lead his people back to God. He orders the temple cleaned and worship to begin again in it. However, many people oppose his reforms. Among them are some of the most powerful men in the nation. Dangers lurk outside the borders of the nation, as well. Assyria is there, still taking the heavy tribute Ahaz his father began giving them to keep them away, but Hezekiah believes it’s time to stop paying it. But what will happen to the nation, though, if he stops?

Jerusha is a young woman from Israel. Captured by the Assyrians, and taken far from home, she knows what the Assyrians do to everyone around them. Can her desperate will to live somehow help Jerusalem to survive when the Assyrians arrive at the gates?

One thing that stood out to me in Song of Redemption was the necessity of obeying God, for His sake, not ours. We must not obey God just for what we can get from Him. Also, the instructions God gave Hezekiah through the prophet Isaiah when it appeared that the Assyrians were nearly at the gates and all was lost really spoke to me, as well as the horrors of turning from God to idols. This book has made quite an impression, which I hope I won’t forget. If you want to read a story that will make the times of the kings of Israel and Judah come to life, check out this series. It is powerful. I’m not planning to wait very long to read book three!

WARNING: Chapter 1: Girls abducted and raped. Chapter 4: Girls killed, one forced into prostitution. Chapter 12: Horrific battle and much torturing. Chapter 14: Baby killed. Chapter 16: Miscarriage. Chapter 17: People tortured to death, suicide attempt. Chapter 24: Bodies impaled on stakes. Chapter 25: Girl remembers being a prostitute. Chapter 26: Description of Assyrians killing people, girl remembering rape and other horrors. Chapter 30: People sacrificing baby. Chapter 33: Cannibalism mentioned.

Age levels:

Reading Independently—Ages 15 and Above, Adults

Links to buy this book:

Amazon: Paperback | Kindle | Hardcover | Audible Audiobook (unabridged) | Audio CD
AbeBooks: View Choices on AbeBooks.com

The National Geographic Book of Animal Poetry

January 22, 2024 by Emma Filbrun · Leave a Comment

22 Jan

The National Geographic Book of Animal Poetry by J. Patrick Lewis

Title: The National Geographic Book of Animal Poetry
Edited by: J. Patrick Lewis
Major Themes: Poetry, Animals
Synopsis: This fun collection of poems about animals is profusely illustrated with gorgeous photographs of animals from around the world.

For the past year, we have been reading a page of The National Geographic Book of Animal Poetry almost every school day. This was my eight-year-old daughter’s favorite part of our reading. I’ve discovered that she loves poetry! That makes it fun to read it to her.

Every page in this book has gorgeous, colorful pictures from the famous National Geographic photographers. They show many different kinds of animals and birds, including sea creatures, along with poems about animals. Most of the poems are about the animals pictured on the page. Some poems are famous, ones I recognized, and other ones were new to me. They were written by a wide variety of people, and are divided into sections such as “the big ones,” “the little ones,” “the winged ones,” etc.

We loved The National Geographic Book of Animal Poetry. Not only were many of the poems fun to read, but the pictures are so beautiful that several of my children have spent a lot of time studying them. The only thing I did not appreciate was a few poems that promote evolution, and that humans are basically animals. What else can you expect from National Geographic, though?

WARNING: The poem on page 23 calls humans and orangutans cousins. The poem on page 167 suggests that long ages ago all living things were one.

Age levels:

Listening Level—Ages 3 – 4, 5 – 8, Family Friendly
Reading Independently—Ages 8 – 12, 10 – 12, 12 – 15

Links to buy this book:

Amazon: Hardcover
AbeBooks: View Choices on AbeBooks.com

The Ology

January 19, 2024 by Emma Filbrun · Leave a Comment

19 Jan

Title: The Ology
Author: Marty Machowski
Major Themes: Theology, Bible Stories, Bible Studies
Synopsis: The entire sweep of the Bible story and the story of God’s work with mankind is broken down into theological articles on a child’s level.

For the past year, I have been reading The Ology: Ancient Truths Ever New to my eight-year-old daughter as part of her schoolwork. This has been her Bible teaching this year. This is an attractive, square hardcover book, with quite interesting pictures on every page.

In The Ology, Marty Machowski takes children through the entire Bible, and the entire sweep of human history. He has divided this study into 11 sections, each titled The Ology of something. These include the ology, or the study of, God, people, sin, the promise and the law, Christ, the Holy Spirit, adoption into God’s family, change, the church, the end times, and God’s Word. Within each section are several lessons. Each lesson contains one or two pages of explanation about the topic, a couple of Bible verses written out, and more references scattered around a picture, illustrating the topic. We read the lesson on one day, and then the scripture references the next day.

This book begins with several chapters about Who God is, and what He is like. Then, there is a section about how God created man perfectly, and then man sinned and was separated from God. God made a promise, He gave a law, but because man cannot keep the law, God sent Jesus to be the sacrifice for our sins. Then, the book talks about how we are adopted into God’s family and how we become new people. More chapters talk about what the church is and should be, and what is coming for God’s people. The book is wrapped up with several chapters about the Bible, how God wrote it, and what it does for us.

I found this book very thorough in explaining theological concepts to children, although probably 10-12-year-olds would understand it better than my 8-year-old. She understood a lot, and would probably get more out of it if we go through it again in a few years. I found The Ology doctrinally sound, although it definitely has a Reformed/Calvinistic slant; there were one or two pages that were a lot stronger about some details of doctrine than we would be on that particular doctrine. I had no problem reading it all to her, though. One friend of mine mentioned that her young daughter was quite disturbed about one picture, though; it shows worms coming out of an ice cream cone, as an illustration of what sin is like.

No warnings!

Age levels:

Listening Level—Ages 8 – 12, 10 – 12, Family Friendly
Reading Independently—Ages 10 – 12, 12 – 15

Links to buy this book:

Amazon: Kindle | Hardcover
AbeBooks: View Choices on AbeBooks.com