Anthony J. Destefano

This was a cute story with a lovely message, but I think the author shouldn’t have based it on the passage of the Bible about Jesus riding a donkey into Jerusalem. He’s had to do some gymnastics to create this story from those verses.

This was a book club choice, otherwise I don't think I would have picked this one up. (Which is why book clubs are a good idea for helping us to stretch beyond our usual repertoire.) I have mixed feelings about Angels All Around Us. Initially, I felt put off by some of the author's descriptions of things such as Heaven and what angels are like. Clearly his descriptions were opinion, yet he wrote them as fact. In many cases he didn't give specific citations, but there is a lengthy show more bibliography attached at the end of the book. One particular pet peeve of mine was his excessive (I thought, at least) use of exclamation points throughout the book. I was surprised his editor let him get away with that, and it often diluted the message for me. I'm guessing he was trying to get across his enthusiasm for the subject matter, but it did get on my nerves. (Okay, I'm a grouch.)

Yet, the more I got into this book, the more I began to appreciate it, especially the section on suffering. There are many interesting ideas in this book, and DeStefano emphasizes that we must walk by faith and not by sight, which I believe. I also like his idea of "haunt detectors," and have found myself wondering now, when I get those feelings about things, if it's one of my angels directing me toward or from something. (The chill down the spine, or hairs standing up on the back of the neck feelings may also be attributed to survival instincts passed down over the years. Basically, we need to listen to those inner voices, whether angelic or not, the ones trying to tell us that something is a bad idea.)

The author provides food for thought, and I will be probably go back to read certain sections from time to time. show less

*Spoiler Alert*

This is a story about the special star that showed the way to find baby Jesus. I like the parallels the author draws between a tiny, seemingly insignificant and overlooked star and the birth of Jesus. The illustrations are very nice with depth even in muted colors and does a fair job of differentiating between fantasy (more cartoon-like drawings of the stars) and real life (more life-like drawings of people). I also like the parallel of the tiny star giving its life for show more Jesus. However, like other reviewers, I don't care for the fact that the star burns out by dawn. The Biblical star did not burn out after one night and we as Christians do not burn out when we are shining with God's light. The book says there was to be "a special reward ... given to the star who could shine the brightest on the night the baby king was born." If the reward is that some people put a star on their tree at Christmas, I'm sorry but that's a let down. I could see where some children would be very sensitive to this ending. Biblically, I think the ending should have been different. I would not recommend this book and I don't know if I will keep it.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review show less

The author takes you on a tour of life from awareness to forgiveness, to faith and suffering to joy. Written in a nonjudgemental fashion the author provides insights into life and how to make it more in turn with christian thought. Quoting scriptures as well as personal stories, the reader can find some things to take away that may change their lives. Love the quote by Winston Churchill at the beginning of Part VI " if you're going through hell, keep going" Pretty much sums up living the show more human life. show less