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A Book of Angels: Reflections on Angels Past and Present and True Stories of How They Touch Our Lives
Libro usado en buenas condiciones, por su antiguedad podria contener señales normales de uso
295 pages, Paperback
First published June 14, 1905
74 people are currently reading
804 people want to read
About the author
Sophy Burnham
37 books56 followersSophy Burnham is an award-winning playwright, novelist, and non-fiction writer. Three of her books have appeared on THE NEW YORK TIMES and other best seller lists. Her works have been translated into twenty-four languages. Her articles and essays have been published in ESQUIRE, NEW YORK, THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE, TOWN & COUNTRY, READER'S DIGEST and many other magazines. In addition to her theater interests, she is a psychic or intuitive, a healer, and a spiritual director. She lives in Washington D.C. New novel, 'Love, Alba' coming summer 2015!
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews
June 10, 2019
It was inspiring to read the testimonials of the individuals in this book but I have to say this is not what I was looking for. I found the title to be a bit misleading. (My copy did not have the subtitle on it). I'm giving it a half rating.
December 9, 2016
It's hard to rate this one -- a smaller part of the book gets 5 stars, but there is quite a bit of "angelology" that I found rather dull, like the entire "social order" or hierarchy, and what they all look like, etc. (I could have skipped those parts, but then I feel like I didn't really read the book.) The personal stories, on the other hand, are riveting, and whether you believe them to be true or not is up to the reader. I think this is a good time of year to read about angels. Why not!?
February 13, 2012
All I have to say is : LOL
June 24, 2013
This lady came off as a bit of a kook and her information was not very organized or flowing. She did her research, but I wouldn't recommend the book.
January 19, 2018
Required reading for a Master's level class on angels and demons..... EZ, popular-level read!
January 17, 2019
I was drawn to this book and unable to put it down until I finished it. The rest of my review is too personal to include here!
January 18, 2012
An uplifting collection of angelic encounters. Whether or not you believe in angels, this book will make you feel good.
July 28, 2023
I really enjoyed this book. The author's tone is authentic, conversational, and inquisitive. It's almost like a conversation with a trusted friend - the one who won't think you are crazy because you saw a ghost, or had a premonition in a dream, or sense the presence of angels.
The middle section of the book has a more academic feel - recounting cultural, mythical, intellectual, religious, and historical concepts about angels, fallen angels, and angelic hierarchies.
The author shares her own experiences - brushing up against the angelic, peering through the veil between the living and the dead, and encountering the mystical and sublime in the everyday. She shares the stories of others. And she offers no authoritative answers about any of it. Instead she continually asks questions, and allows these things to remain in a liminal space - ultimately unquantifiable, unknowable except through personal experience. She writes:
"To have one of these experiences is like standing on a hillside at night, in the midst of a thunderstorm. All around lies darkness and rolling black clouds; and suddenly the sky is torn open by a sheet of lightning and there exposed before you is the whole valley - trees, pastures, woods, streams, hills. The lightning ends. You are plunged again into darkness. But now you know what's there, and no one in the world can persuade you that you imagined what you saw. Let us say that a friend is standing with you on the hillside in the dark storm, back turned when the flash of lightning comes. 'Oh, wow,' you say, 'look at that!' But when he turns, the light is gone. Is he wrong to say there's nothing there? To him, the night is black. Both people operate on their individual perceptions of reality, and both are correct, for all we can do is trust our own experience."
Food for thought and nourishment for the soul. I'll definitely come back to this book again.
The middle section of the book has a more academic feel - recounting cultural, mythical, intellectual, religious, and historical concepts about angels, fallen angels, and angelic hierarchies.
The author shares her own experiences - brushing up against the angelic, peering through the veil between the living and the dead, and encountering the mystical and sublime in the everyday. She shares the stories of others. And she offers no authoritative answers about any of it. Instead she continually asks questions, and allows these things to remain in a liminal space - ultimately unquantifiable, unknowable except through personal experience. She writes:
"To have one of these experiences is like standing on a hillside at night, in the midst of a thunderstorm. All around lies darkness and rolling black clouds; and suddenly the sky is torn open by a sheet of lightning and there exposed before you is the whole valley - trees, pastures, woods, streams, hills. The lightning ends. You are plunged again into darkness. But now you know what's there, and no one in the world can persuade you that you imagined what you saw. Let us say that a friend is standing with you on the hillside in the dark storm, back turned when the flash of lightning comes. 'Oh, wow,' you say, 'look at that!' But when he turns, the light is gone. Is he wrong to say there's nothing there? To him, the night is black. Both people operate on their individual perceptions of reality, and both are correct, for all we can do is trust our own experience."
Food for thought and nourishment for the soul. I'll definitely come back to this book again.
September 15, 2021
Thoroughly enjoyed. I love her writing style; almost didn't realize the phone was ringing once! Only thing that would make me hesitate to recommend are the few touches of the Eckhart/Hicks/LoA ick. She has a quote in here from Eckhart, and really gets into that mode of thinking near the end with how to pray (can't use negative terms or the universe won't hear you, can't be confused with what you're 'sending the universe' or you won't get what you want, the universe/God doesn't actually realize bad things are happening -- and can never know -- as it only sees eternal truths and love or whatever). This is only a very brief touch near the end! But puts me off, as I know how much awful comes from that culty manner of thinking and how it can mess up lives. It was odd to see in a book so very much entrenched in a more traditional religious outlook, what with the constant references to Scriptural faiths and how angels were viewed in those rather than the new age; particularly as no belief or faith has ever espoused those types of ideas before Eckhart and the whole new age stuff really started promoting it.
Loved, loved, loved all the stories she shared at the end of other people's experiences they had written to her about, and found a great deal of her own stories quite fascinating as well. I'm not one for angels, but this was a good one.
Loved, loved, loved all the stories she shared at the end of other people's experiences they had written to her about, and found a great deal of her own stories quite fascinating as well. I'm not one for angels, but this was a good one.
December 10, 2024
This was a really beautiful book to read. I wept several times reading it. It is a mix of stories about angel appearances from various people, a bit of history about angels in literature and religion, and the personal journey of the author. I'm reading this in accompaniment from another book on angels, Belinda Womacks, so it is certainly an angelic end to 2024. But the book really brings you down to the human condition as it shares the difficult times of human beings who are not always saved from all of the pain and suffering, but saved in general or from worse harm. It presses in on how vulnerable human beings are, and how angels don't really show up in every occasion of need (which can be confusing) and also don't stick around as long as we would probably like them to, but how nevertheless they are always around. They are also able to appear in such beautiful forms as human beings would wish for themselves.
August 12, 2021
This book was up and down for me. The sections on Angelic history and quotes from Angelic Lore were fascinating. But, stories from the author herself came off half true and half (Are you serious?) to me. She could also sometimes sound a tad Anti-Semitic:Pg 133 of this book she call Jews a "troublesome people" Also on page 220 she talks about how she believes there is no Hell. Sorry, if angels are real, so are demons. And, demons do not live in Heaven. Just here on Earth, which is quickly becoming Hell, but...I digress. I gave it three stars because I did enjoy the stories by other people about their experiences with angels.
June 8, 2018
Religion and angels come into play. What I know and what everyone else knows that there's a higher dignity of power beyond what is reality. But yet again what is reality? (Philosophy also adds in its part).
In this book, it will question and define people's experiences with the unknown. There's no other way to put it, but there's a spiritual world out there and we can sense and rarely see it.
When you see it, write it down, remember it, and Never let it go.
Peace, calm, and amazed that I'm not the only one that has experienced messages from different places.
In this book, it will question and define people's experiences with the unknown. There's no other way to put it, but there's a spiritual world out there and we can sense and rarely see it.
When you see it, write it down, remember it, and Never let it go.
Peace, calm, and amazed that I'm not the only one that has experienced messages from different places.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 7, 2019
This book was fun and thought provoking, a kind of long meditation on what angels might be, combined with both the author's personal experiences and the experiences of others with mysterious visions and beings outside of the norm. I really enjoyed it.
December 5, 2021
Spirit (of the Medical Medium) told me to read this book. It is beautiful and according to ‘Spirit’ has accurate information on what it is like to transition to the next level of life beyond the human dimension.
January 28, 2017
If you are into reading about angels, this book is for you! It gives a historical account of angels as well as modern day true stories. It's an interesting and thought provoking read.
May 5, 2017
Fascinating book.
June 21, 2018
Little book of "true" experiences. Fairly interesting.
September 22, 2019
it got me a realy good feel, so many parts of the book i will never forget, a" full of light book" i name it :)
April 9, 2021
This book was okay. The organization of how the book was written was all over the place.
dnf
June 5, 2022DNF.
August 21, 2022
This book is your typical angel antedate book. Although I didn’t learn anything new from this book, I did relate to some of the stories.
A fluffy, breezy book if you need a poppy pick me up.
A fluffy, breezy book if you need a poppy pick me up.
September 5, 2023
did not even mention angels in the outfield
January 16, 2024
The interesting part for me were the testimonials.
The history of angels was rather boring for me.
The history of angels was rather boring for me.
January 9, 2025
Hell of a ride (pun intended). Dawno nie czytałam książki z tyloma hot take'ami. Jak na swą objętość, jest tu mało treści.
April 3, 2025
Interesting book. I was very interested in the accounts of angels helping people in their time of need. I wasn't so interested in the historical aspects of angels
May 27, 2016
I really enjoyed this one!
The meat and potatoes of it is not whether or not angels have a particular form, or whether or not one is worthy of viewing them, or blessed with their help.
The meat and potatoes of the book to me, is one’s willingness to be open enough to listen and receive angelic and/or divine help, and this help does not necessarily [have to] come in the traditional and therefore, limited form that we are taught to accept. We can be each other’s angels, if we again, care to listen.
I found a lot of the stories at the end of the book enlightening and the histories, such as the hierarchy of angels and the early Genesis stories of Angels being close to Earth and fathering children with mortal women, informative. The latter gives rise to the etiological cultural myths the world over. I also enjoyed the purpose of demons (page 210) and the close relational tie of angels in one’s youth, only for them to return in a vein, in one’s middle to old age ( page 269). You will have to read them for yourself. However, they were very touching to me.
My only criticism of the book – at least with the edition I have- is while I like the italicized blurbs (some wisdom, some observations) relative to angels, the blurbs are distracting when you are into reading the passages in the book, and well, one has to ‘break’ from the train of thought, to glimpse, if not also read those blurbs. The blurbs should have been put in chapter breaks or beneath the chapter header, so they would not be so distracting.
Overall, A Book of Angels reminds me that there is more to life than that perceived via our five senses. There are some things that even modern science and technology cannot explain, let alone perform nor replace: The sun rising, the rain falling, the growth of a seed to a plant, nor the birth of any life form. Yes, those are ‘physical’ but there is no mechanized nor strict order to them all. It’s nice to have that wonder and balance between what is, as we perceive it and the possibilities and unexplained yet felt interventions that we do receive in our lives, again, if we care to be open to listen.
The meat and potatoes of it is not whether or not angels have a particular form, or whether or not one is worthy of viewing them, or blessed with their help.
The meat and potatoes of the book to me, is one’s willingness to be open enough to listen and receive angelic and/or divine help, and this help does not necessarily [have to] come in the traditional and therefore, limited form that we are taught to accept. We can be each other’s angels, if we again, care to listen.
I found a lot of the stories at the end of the book enlightening and the histories, such as the hierarchy of angels and the early Genesis stories of Angels being close to Earth and fathering children with mortal women, informative. The latter gives rise to the etiological cultural myths the world over. I also enjoyed the purpose of demons (page 210) and the close relational tie of angels in one’s youth, only for them to return in a vein, in one’s middle to old age ( page 269). You will have to read them for yourself. However, they were very touching to me.
My only criticism of the book – at least with the edition I have- is while I like the italicized blurbs (some wisdom, some observations) relative to angels, the blurbs are distracting when you are into reading the passages in the book, and well, one has to ‘break’ from the train of thought, to glimpse, if not also read those blurbs. The blurbs should have been put in chapter breaks or beneath the chapter header, so they would not be so distracting.
Overall, A Book of Angels reminds me that there is more to life than that perceived via our five senses. There are some things that even modern science and technology cannot explain, let alone perform nor replace: The sun rising, the rain falling, the growth of a seed to a plant, nor the birth of any life form. Yes, those are ‘physical’ but there is no mechanized nor strict order to them all. It’s nice to have that wonder and balance between what is, as we perceive it and the possibilities and unexplained yet felt interventions that we do receive in our lives, again, if we care to be open to listen.
March 2, 2023
This was an interesting book all about Angels. I especially enjoyed reading about encounters with angels from people around the world. I found the historical aspects of angels, aside from the ones in the bible, confusing and overwhelming. We have to ask ourselves, are these ancient people writing facts about Angels, or making up elaborate stories of what they look like and what they do? Give me a simple story of someone hearing a voice, seeing magical colors, or feeling a presence. I'll leave it up to God to determine about hierarchies and how Angels come about in different religions.
March 30, 2009
I thought it was badly written. i really wanted to love it , i really did but it was really hard to get through this book. and i LOVE this subject so much. the angel letters in the end of the book all sound like its been written by the same person (The writer) which makes me question the authenticity of this book.
August 15, 2012
Not your usual angel pretty pink fluff. "Traces the understanding and study of angels throughout history and in different cultures" and all religions. Fascinating. The book has angel artwork from all cultures as well. I happened to pick up a quite used mass market paperback copy at a book trade for free, great except a few pages torn out (probably some of the illustrations. I liked the book enough that I will buy a fresh new one to add to my library. It's a keeper.
October 1, 2012
I found this little treasure at a library book sale and boy, am I glad that I did! I thoroughly enjoyed this read and learned a great deal from it as well!
Very well researched and chock full of history and stories that are not only interesting, but heart-warming as well. This is an easy read, but a really, really wonderful read if you are looking for something light that you can enjoy while on vacation. I read this over the Christmas Holidays in 2011 and really enjoyed it!
Very well researched and chock full of history and stories that are not only interesting, but heart-warming as well. This is an easy read, but a really, really wonderful read if you are looking for something light that you can enjoy while on vacation. I read this over the Christmas Holidays in 2011 and really enjoyed it!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews