Humor is often disarming and can challenge people to consider something they normally wouldn’t. Comedian Rich Praytor aims to capitalize on this by using wit as the bridge to inspiration, stating, “The goal of this book is to lead you to take a step forward in developing a deep relationship with Jesus Christ.” In each of the 40 chapters, Praytor starts with a quote, shares a joke, cites Scripture, offers inspirational thoughts and closes in prayer. Two “intermissions” create an opportunity for him to depart from this structure and muse about other topics. While all the jokes aren’t original, they do serve their connective purpose. The devotions could have been better developed, though, often feeling a bit stereotypical. Accordingly, this book’s appeal will depend on the individual reader’s sense of humor and faith journey, making the question mark at the end of the subtitle rather appropriate. —Tony Myles
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Revell, 2007, 192 pp., $14.99
www.revellbooks.comThis book looks great, thanks to great graphic design. Unfortunately, it’s the words that fail the reader. Lookadoo, a popular youth speaker and author, is supposedly answering questions asked by “real teens.” But none of them are identified. Who are these people? Some of the questions are lame, like this one: “Why does my girlfriend get mad when I talk to other girls?” Some of the answers are worse. When asked, “Do oral sex and anal sex count against virginity?” Lookadoo responds with Revelation 3:15-16 to inform the questioner “[that] ... you make God want to puke.” This is creative biblical interpretation at its worst. To make matters worse, Lookadoo relentlessly markets his other products to the reader. Reader are marketed to 36 times, nine of which recommend, “Order your copy of the 3-part Dateable DVD now!
mailtproduct@lookadoo.com” The book took me an hour to read, which means I was being marketed to every 100 seconds. Like I said, this book looks great. —Daniel E. King
Auralia’s Colors by Jeffrey OverstreetWaterBrook, 2007, 334 pp., $13.99
www.auraliascolors.comFilm critic Jeffrey Overstreet pursues his love for story and world-building from the other side of the camera in his first novel,
Auralia’s Colors, the first of a slated four-part series. The richly metaphorical world of the Expanse resists stooping to allegory, and its people are both familiar and intriguing: a selfish queen who decrees perpetual winter by outlawing color, a mysterious Keeper who frequents children’s dreams but whom most adults deem imaginary, and a teenage messiah of uncertain origin who offers life more abundant to those with eyes to see. In Auralia’s world, as in ours, it falls to the younger set to question the status quo and champion a brighter reality. Occasional rookie exuberances mark this “directorial” debut. Overindulgences in lyricism and neologism pull readers through rather than into the story, leaving them blinking back in the real world. Fancy camera angles and shifting close-ups between characters establish charity toward all but identification with none and make for some dizzying scene transitions. Overstreet writes gorgeous and gritty fantasy that leaves us wanting more. Rated PG-13 for violence. —Jenn Cavanaugh