An introductory article on Charles Williams

Charles Williams was an interesting fellow. He wrote supernatural thrillers about murders in publishing houses that turn out to be connected to the holy grail. He wrote theology books that usually called God mystical names like "the Omnipotence." He was great friends with C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, and probably the only Inkling who was …

Book Review: The Grand Inquisitor (Graphic Novel)

Comics (or the new proper term, graphic novels) are one area of my reviewing/writing where I wish I did more. I dabbled in editorial comics when I was a journalist (republished in a web comic collection Whales Speaking Yiddish). I've also written some web comics with spooky yet silly plots (the Grim Reaper's private life, …

Book Review: Dear Henchmam by Hope Bolinger and Alyssa Roat

If writing a good parody is hard (and believe me, it is), writing a good follow-up to that parody is even harder. The pressure to top past work can be intense. For these reasons, I was curious but worried when I got my copy of Dear Henchman, the sequel to the hilarious superhero parody Dear …

Book Review: Dear Hero by Hope Bolinger and Alyssa Roat

If you've read my site for a while, you know that I like superhero movies. I'll watch really obscure ones like Turbo Kid. I'll write about superhero movies that crossbreed with other genres, like Condorman. I even included Superman in a list of mainstream movies with religious themes. Given my love for the genre, you …

My Review: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Some of you who've been following this site for a long time may know that one of my first articles was on a rather strange debate: Did J.K. Rowling steal ideas for Harry Potter from Neil Gaiman? This was about 10 years after the debate had been settled, but I hope I did a decent …

Thoughts on West Side Story: The Novel

One of the joys of writing book reviews is that sometimes you discover a book you really didn't expect to enjoy. I picked up a copy of West Side Story: A Novelization just after Christmas in a mall bookstore for two reasons: first, it's a reprint of a novelization written for the original film, and …

My Review: Cari Mora by Thomas Harris

While my fiction writing so far has mostly been in the sci-fi/fantasy genre with ventures into ghost stories, I keep telling myself I should write a thriller. I enjoy the well-tuned psychological games, the tension and the chase between hunter and hunted. As I mentioned in my MovieThoughts series on Patricia Highsmith's Ripley novels, I …

Wounds Are Where Light Enters: Stories of God’s Intrusive Grace by Walter Wangerin

Counting this review, I have had 355 published reviews since my first one in December 2015. This review for Power Book Review felt special for several reasons. One, it was for a new website started by a friend I deeply respect, and find a little intimidating. Two, this is the last memoir by Walter Wangerin, Jr. (1944-2021), who would have been 78 years old in 13 days. I felt very privileged to review Songs from the Silent Passage: Essays on the Works of Walter Wangerin, Jr., and even more privileged to share my thoughts on this book.

Power Book Review

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A very rare Christian memoir that captures life’s chaos and its redemptive moments, without letting one element strangle the other.

🖋 🖋🖋🖋🖋 The writing is stylish without being overdone, intense without being melodramatic.

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Published November 21, 2017 by Zondervan

ISBN: 9780310240051

Genre: Memoir, Christian Nonfiction

🔪 One or two chapters describe death or threats of violence.

💋 One or two stories reference sexual violence among inner-city families.

🚩 🚩 🚩 🚩 🚩 Many chapters refer to people facing racist behavior, systemic poverty, and (occasionally) sexual abuse.

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Across his career, pastor and writer Walter Wangerin (1944-2021) was many things. Many remember him best for his fantasy novel The Book of the Dun Cow or his religious nonfiction book Ragman and Other Cries of Faith. However, many would argue that the key to Wangerin’s work is that above all else, he was a pastor. Wounds are Where Light Enters collects a…

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Resurrecting a classic: My review of Nightmare Alley

As you probably know from reading many of my blog posts, I enjoy C.S. Lewis' work and am fascinating by his life. One of the odd side subjects in his story is that his wife, Joy Davidman, was originally married to New York writer William Lindsay Gresham. Gresham wrote a variety of things (everything from …

In Search of the Common Good by Jake Meador

What does it mean to have a community? What does one do when it becomes clear that one needs community and isn't sure where to start? Jake Meador gets into those questions and related ones in his book In Search of the Common Good. It's an interesting mix of memoir about living in a small …