Book Lover's Devotional: What We Learn About Life from 60 Great Works of Literature

by Various

If you like books, you’ll love The Book Lover’s Devotional—a collection of 60 readings that draw engaging, contemporary spiritual points from literature. From All Quiet on the Western Front to Little House on the Prairie, from In His Steps to Pride and Prejudice, and from Christy to The Strange Case of Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde, books covered run the gamut of genres, from the 1800s to the present. Each entry features details on the book itself, and describes a moment of truth to be found in the story. “Further thought” questions encourage critical thinking about literature. If you like books, get The Book Lover’s Devotional!

Genres: Christian, Books About Books

247 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Various is the correct author for any book with multiple unknown authors, and is acceptable for books with multiple known authors, especially if not all are known or the list is very long (over 50).

If an editor is known, however, Various is not necessary. List the name of the editor as the primary author (with role "editor"). Contributing authors' names follow it.

Note: WorldCat is an excellent resource for finding author information and contents of anthologies.

Reviews

[J. Wootton · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF. Tried the first few, then skipped around at random to confirm initial impressions. In general, the summaries of each literary work is pretty strong, but the "turn" to contemplative or devotional content is weak, rushed, and tenuous.

Although none of the entries I read was quite this egregious, it reminded me of a "Christian" math textbook I once saw, years ago, that equivocated concepts to shoehorn "devotionals" into the beginning of every chapter. E.g., the principle of substitution was related to the substitutionary atonement of Christ on the cross, a densely inapt comparison that explains neither the math nor the theology.

(However, the textbook author did provide, unintentionally, a perfect example of how the technical language / jargon of different disciplines sometimes assigns incompatible meanings to the same common word and sets up specialists for cross-discipline communication failures...)

[Stasia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice ideas to think about daily, though I admit I had to squint to see a few of them from the lens they were trying to put it through... I think this would be a nice springboard if you were doing a church book club or possibly a ladies meeting themed around books. Of course, there were a few that I wouldn't have minded embellishing or adding to myself... 😜

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5: I've been reading this periodically throughout the last month. A few of the summaries and applications were interesting and thought provoking, but overall it was very short and shallow.

[Bill Forgeard · Rating 1 out of 5]

Christian publishing at it's worst! A misguided concept, poorly exectuted. Great works of literature are certainly rich sources of spiritual reflection, but most of these brief devotionals are superficial and sentimental. Worst are those articles which exploit a particular event or character as a metaphor for a biblical idea with no reference to the intent of the original author. And I cannot fathom the incorrect spelling of Gollum ("Golem") from The Lord of the Rings. A sole redeeming feature: the contents page is a nice to-read list of literary classics.

[Brent Soderstrum · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love God and I love books so how could this not be a 5 star book. Each day the author takes a classic and weaves Biblical lessons into it. A pertinent Bible verse and probing questions follow. I have read quite a few of the books but certainly not all of them. It made me look at the book in a very different way then I had before.

[Elena · Rating 4 out of 5]

I saw this book while shelving returned books at our church library where I volunteer twice a month. It peeked my interest right away. I enjoyed reading the short synopses of both books I have read and those I have not yet read but have been curious about. The various authors of this Christian literary devotional give a quick snapshot of the book (author, publication date, and awards won or movies produced that were based on the book). They then provide a two-page devotional, which is a mixture of a concise summary of the book with a at least a paragraph or two of thought-provoking spiritual application. A Bible verse is mentioned for each devotional and two discussion questions are listed for further thought. There were a few books I added to my To-Be-Read list after reading about them (Silas Marner, Roots, and Robinson Crusoe). Most of the books included in this list are not Christian books, nor do they have obvious Christian themes, but the authors extrapolated insight and lessons that could be related to the Christian life. A few seemed a bit far-fetched, but overall, I enjoyed the application of Biblical truths in these books. Books include: Anne of Green Gables, Charlotte's Web, Count of Monte Cristo, Jane Eyre, Les Miserables, Little Women, Lord of the Rings, Moby Dick, The Poisonwood Bible, To Kill A Mockingbird, The Secret Garden, The Screwtape Letters, Tom Sawyer, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Winnie the Pooh, A Wrinkle in Time, Wuthering Heights, among others. The only thing I wasn't crazy about is that they included details in their plot summaries which I would count as spoilers, so if that would bother you, I might skip the particular devotionals that focus on a book you have yet to read and want to be surprised with the ending. Otherwise, it's a fun but also thought-provoking devotional for book lovers.

[Karen Roettger · Rating 5 out of 5]

I looked at the books written about in this book in a different way since they were tied into a religious theme & Bible verse. I enjoyed the probing questions posed at the end of each reading. I will reread this again. Was amazed at how many of the books I had or had not read & have made a list of some I do want to read now.

[Jacquline · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book sounded amazing when I picked it off the shelf. The title caught my eye, and I always love to see how much literature reflects religious values, so ultimately, I thought this book would be a win-win for me. Oh, how I was wrong. Honestly, I would have given this book two and a half stars if that was possible. There were many great works mentioned in this little book, but the writers barely mentioned how it relates back to Christianity. Most of the book contained summaries of each of the books that were mentioned, which kind of ruined the point of the devotional. Instead of using all the summaries to illustrate the Christian morals that readers are supposed to learn from these great works of literature, couldn’t have the writers of this devotional focus on a main point from each work and talk about how it relates to Christianity? The only positive part of the devotional were the bible verses that were picked out at the end of each section. The verses hit strongly on each point, supporting what the writers had to say, but again, the major drawback was the use of different translations. Maybe I’m being skeptical, but it seems like the bible is being manipulated instead of trying to find the best translation to help readers understand and get the most from each verse. Now, to the last part about this book: the two questions ending each section. Most of the questions are ridiculous. They are not thought-provoking at all. Most of the questions are summary form of what was written in the section in question form. How does that help the learning process? How is that supposed to make the readers think about the section if the questions are just a summary of what the section was about. It is as if the writers wanted the readers to regurgitate what was written instead of taking away a beneficial lesson. I had high hopes for this book. Last year, I read the Charles Dickens Devotional, and I had hoped that this devotional would be something similar. Instead, it was a waste of time. If someone was looking for a great classic to read, this book is the best for it, but if someone is looking for Christian lessons, this is not the book to read.

[The Book Garden · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is probably the most unique meditation book that I have ever read. I love how it correlated bible verses with classics - some that I had heard of over the years, but never took the time to read. Now I have a bird's eye view of them and will probably venture to read them. Great idea for a devotional.

[Rev. Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a lovely way to revisit many of the books I have read in the past, and look at them through a spiritual lense. Made me want to re-read many of them. This would make a great gift for any readers on your Christmas list.