Honor Books

I have been persisting with this devotional because I didn't want another did not finish on my shelf. But after reading a devotion that said brief, three word prayers aren't good enough, I'm throwing the towel in.
There were several lovely devotions in this book that were encouraging and helpful. However there were also many devotions that were a flop. The worst of these used the story of the bombing of Japan to make what I assume was intended to be an encouraging analogy. I found this show more devotion incredibly inappropriate and offensive.
Something that I found unusual in this devotional were the number of devotions taken (some completely and some with adaptation) from other books/magazines. I've seen other writers include quotes, but I've never seen them use another's work in its apparent entirety.
I recommend readers look past this devotional to a different book. There's plenty out there. show less

Yet another one of those multitudinous gift books given to graduates. This one I received when I graduated high school. I don't remember who gave it to me, though it's probably written down somewhere.

This particular volume is full of bite-size quotes which are then followed by related (or at least supposedly related) lines of scripture. The corresponding page then contains a story that also is supposed to relate to both quote and scripture. These relations turn out to be rather hit or miss, show more with the editors occasionally stretching far from the quote's intention to make it all fit together.

The worst quote in this book, and one that made me stop and put the book down for a while, was one that seems grossly out of place in a book for graduates. While not verbatim, the quote essentially says "better knowledge of the Bible without a college course than a college course without knowledge of the Bible." This is the kind of thinking that has so damaged this world, and especially this country at the current moment in time and I almost wanted to chuck the book across the room upon reading it.

The write-ups following the quotes are at least entertaining, especially those that reveal a Paul Harvey style tidbit about a famous name. Other than that, there's not much about this one I can really recommend. show less

This was one of my mom's books that I inherited after she passed. It was probably given to her as a gift at some point.

These books are fun for what they are. One of the main problems I have with them is that they don't attribute their quotes, some of which I know I've read before with famous names attached. I wonder if this is to avoid some kind of licensing, since the page set-up they use could easily fit a single name for the sake of attribution. Instead the book is more focused on show more connecting the quotes with a bible verse, one that occasionally doesn't truly fit the quote or the story that follows on the facing page.

Fun for what it is, I suppose. And I'm sure there are plenty of people out there who would enjoy the messages found inside, even if a few of them are stretched to make the point the editors are trying to make. show less

Received this book as a high school graduation gift. I like to grab it and thumb through it every now and again, it's a palate cleanser when I'm between books.

Okay, this is a descent little book, full of cookie-cutter wisdom that fits well on a fortune cookie or a greeting card. My problem is that it seems to shoehorn several of the Bible verses to fit. It's full of vague connections, some work, some don't.

Also, not a fan of how down they appear to be on atheists. A man who isn't ready to show more accept the existence of God is not a fool, is not immoral; he is merely of a different opinion. show less