Review: Four Letter Words by Bill Giovannetti
Release Date: September 26, 2011
Author: Website | Twitter | Facebook
Publisher: Endurant Press
Pages/Format: 208 (Paperback)
Genre: Nonfiction, Christian Apologetics
Source: Litfuse Publicity Group
My Rating: B (View Scale)
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Are you ready to speak the truth even when your friends roll their eyes, take offense, or walk away? There are so many tough questions Christians are called upon to answer. Why doesn’t God wipe out all evil and suffering in the world? How could a loving God send people to Hell? Who are you to tell me what’s right and wrong? In Four Letter Words, author and pastor Bill Giovannetti helps Christians navigate these and other touchy subjects with the plain truth of the Bible discussed in a way that makes sense to the current generation.
One Sentence Review: Four Letter Words is a good introduction to apologetics for high school and college students.
In-Depth Review
Pastor and author Bill Giovannetti’s latest title opens with a word from the ever-quotable Mark Twain: “When angry, count to four. When very angry, swear.” Back in Twain’s day, that meant something very different than it seems to today. The list of words your mother taught you never to say in public is no longer sufficient to keep you out of trouble. As Giovannetti points out, it’s now equally (if not more) offensive to use words like know when discussing faith or damn when talking about eternal hellfire or wait when it comes to sexuality. So while most people won’t hurl darts at you for muttering an obscenity under your breath when you lose cell reception in the subway, you’ll become a walking target if you so much as suggest that maybe, just maybe, Jesus is actually *gasp* the Son of God.
The question is, how do you engage unbelievers in constructive dialogue about your faith? That’s where this book comes in. Four Letter Words addresses a number of common objections to the Christian faith such as:
- If a good God exists there would be no pain and suffering in the world.
- No one has a monopoly on truth. The Bible is just like all religious texts.
- A loving God would never send people to hell.
Each chapter begins with a list of “touchy ideas” and “touchy scriptures” that back them up. For example, the touchy ideas in chapter four are, “God can stop pain but he doesn’t,” and “Even though he doesn’t stop it, his love never flickers.” Psalm 13:2 and Habakkuk 1:2-3 are among the scriptures used to back this up. The rest of the chapter expands on the topic of pain (one of our four letter words) and concludes with a series of talking points to help readers use what they’ve learned in an actual conversation with someone. There’s also a discussion guide at the back of the book which has questions for group or personal study.
The problem arises when we quit questioning him. We can easily let the problem of pain drive a wedge between us and God, and just leave the wedge there, like a thorn. First, it’s painful and swollen. Then it gets infected. Then it scars over. Then it grows numb. Then we kick God to the curb, deciding he’s irrelevant. {Four Letter Words, Page 55}
This book is targeted toward young adults, and while I’ve read my share of apologetics books, none of them were aimed at the YA crowd, so I don’t have anything specific to compare it to. Standing on it’s own though, there are a couple of things that I think make it a good fit for that age group. The first is that most apologetics books don’t talk about sex. Chapter nine, called “Wait,” talks about how the Bible’s view of sexuality makes the most sense for personal emotional health and the health of society as a whole. It makes sense to include this because the idea of giving up sex until marriage is one of the main reasons young adults reject Christianity.
The other thing which makes this book perfect for Gen-Yers is the way it integrates technology into the traditional reading experience by using QR codes. These little pixelated squares are scattered throughout the book and can be scanned by a smartphone to access online materials related to the text. If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you know that I love technology but hate ebooks. A QR enabled book allows me to have my cake and eat it too.
If you’re looking for a basic introduction to apologetics, this is a good book to start with. It’s really well organized (lots of bullet points and sub-sections) and written in an accessible conversational style. It doesn’t tread any new ground, but the arguments are presented differently enough that I didn’t feel like I was rereading one of the countless other apologetics books on the market. I can’t say that I liked Four Letter Words as much as Giovannetti’s last book, but I do think it’s a book I will reference in the future.
About Bill Giovannetti:
Other Reviews: 5 Minutes for Books | Tea Time with Annie Kate
If you reviewed this book, leave a link to the review in a comment and I will add it to the list above. In return, I ask that you link back to my review as well.
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Bill is celebrating the new Kindle edition of Four Letter Words (for only $4.99)! He’ll be traveling coast to coast over the next few weeks on this virtual book tour and he’s celebrating by hosting a great giveaway! Click here to find out how you can win two gift certificates to Amazon (in the amount of $50 and $25) and free downloads of his yet-to-be-released title, Recession-Proof: Living a God-Blessed Life in a Messed Up World.
Review: Zora and Nicky by Claudia Mair Burney
Release Date: April 1, 2008
Author: Website | Twitter | Facebook
Publisher: David C. Cook
Pages/Format: 400 (Paperback)
Genre: Contemporary Christian Romance
Source: Book Exchange
My Rating: A (View Scale)
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Nora Nella Hampton Johnson knows exactly where she comes from–and her daddy won’t let her forget. Of course for that privilege he keeps her in Prada and Kate Spade, Coach and YSL. He chooses her boyfriend, her car, her address, and ignores her love of painting, art, and the old ways of her grandaddy’s soulful AME church–where the hymns pleaded, cajoled, and raised the roof. Her daddy may be a preacher, but somewhere among the thousands of church members, the on-site coffee house, and the JumboTron, Zora lost God. And she wants him back.
Nicky Parker, a recent graduate of Berkeley and reformed playboy, also suffers the trials of being a preacher’s kid, and he can’t remember the last time he saw eye-to-eye with his white, racist, Southern Baptist father. What he does remember–and it will be forever burned in his brain despite myriad prayers to Jesus–is the way Zora looked the first time he saw her. Like Nefertiti. Only better. When they meet at a Bible study far from their respective home churches, the first churlish, sarcastic sparks that fly sizzle with defensiveness. But God has a special way of feeding the flames, and though of different flocks, these two lost sheep will find him and much, much more.
One Sentence Review: Zora and Nicky is a refreshingly honest story about race, love, and the God who makes broken people whole again.
In-Depth Review
A number of bloggers have written out about the lack of diversity in Christian fiction. The vast majority of protagonists in CBA novels are white, and even books that have more diversity don’t address racism with the boldness that Mair Burney does in Zora and Nicky.
As far as edgy Christian fiction goes, Zora and Nicky is definitely on the outside edge. There’s a lot of implicit sexual content throughout the story and Burney writes plainly about sexual temptation, which is refreshing. There are also a lot of racial epithets thrown around by both main characters as they grapple with their own prejudices.
There’s a lot of “Jesus talk” and biblical references throughout the book, none of which seemed preachy or out of place to me. Zora and Nicky is as much about two people seeking God as it is about two people learning how to love each other. The Christ-centric dialogue is just a natural outflow of the struggles and triumphs of the characters.
I can’t say that I particularly liked Nicky or Zora, but in a way that’s part of what made this such a powerful book. Nicky’s a jerk, Zora’s a brat, and they both have racial prejudices that make their relationship very messy. And that’s the whole point of the book–that God takes messes and turns them into something beautiful. Another example of this in the book is Billie, a former prostitute and Orthodox Christian who serves as a spiritual mentor to Zora. Billie is definitely my favorite character in the novel.
. . . You couldn’t get inside?”
“No. I didn’t see the super and my roommate must not have come in.”
“Let me have a look.” Billie steps over to my door and digs through her massive leather hobo bag. She finally exhumes a sharp instrument of dubious origin and proceeds to skillfully pick the lock.
The whole thing cracks me up. “Billie, you got skills.”
“You don’t want to know, baby.”
-Zora and Nicky, Page 152
There are a lot of chuckle-worthy scenes in this book. It’s not quite the laugh-out-loud humor of Susan May Warren’s fiction, but since this novel deals with more serious topics anyway, it’s a nice mood-lightener for scenes that could otherwise be pretty intense. A good example is this scene from chapter nine, where Nicky goes to Zora’s apartment to deliver some clothes and other essentials after her father takes away everything she owns.
“You hate everything I got, don’t you?”
“Waaaaaaaaaaaaah.”
“Aw, man. I suck. But I tried. I really did, Zora. I can’t afford you. And I just didn’t think I should get you Eddie Bauer or Apple Bottoms.”
“Apple Bottoms? You were thinking of getting me Apple Bottom clothes?”
“Okay. I’ll admit it. The name compelled me. Would you have rather had Baby Phat?”
“Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.”
“Zora, you’re really damaging my self-esteem here. Cut me some slack. I’ve never shopped for a black woman.”
“You’re damaging my self-esteem, you wretched man. Apple Bottom! You think I’m bootylicious too, don’t you? You’re just like Pete.”
“I’m not. Okay, I am, but, not really. Yes, I am, but in a different way.”
I hear him make a groaning sound. It sounds like he’s been banging his head against the door.
“Zora, listen. What I mean to say is, you do have a nice butt.”
“What?”
“Okay, that sounded worse than I meant it. It sounds awful, but please bear in mind I’m of the male species, and we tend to be visual. It’s a biological flaw.”
“Get away from my door. You’re perpetrating the myth of the black whore.”
“Myth of the … Zora. I don’t even know what the myth of the black whore is.”
“Liar.”
“All right. Maybe I know it, but it’s a myth. Aw, man. Zora. Can you tell me exactly where I went wrong?”
“No, I hate you.”
-Zora and Nicky, Pages 128-129
The best word I can think of to describe the writing is feisty, much like our two protagonists. Burney uses a lot of short, blunt sentences and colorful vocabulary. Whether or not you like this style is a matter of taste; I personally enjoyed it.
I’ve written before about Grace-Breathing stories, the ones that leave you feeling like God has just ministered to your soul. Zora and Nicky is definitely one of those stories. It’s an honest look at broken people and the God who redeems them.
About Claudia Mair Burney:
Other Reviews: And Another Book Read… | Musings of a Trini Girl in London | Title Trakk
If you reviewed this book, leave a link to the review in a comment and I will add it to the list above. In return, I ask that you link back to my review as well.