Book Review: Opposite of Always by Justin A. Reynolds

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BOOK review
Started on: 31 March 2019
Finished on: 6 April 2019

Opposite of Always by Justin A. Reynolds

Title: Opposite of Always

Author: Justin A. Reynolds
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books

Pages: 447 pages / 464 pages (e-book)
Year of Publication: 2019
Price: Rp 181,211 (https://www.bookdepository.com/)

Rating: 4.5/5
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"Because big lesson number one is this: all the time travel in the world can't save the people you love."

Jack King is the king of almost, but it all changed when he met Kate at a party—where they suddenly connected and spent hours talking over their mutual love of cereal and their favorite movies. Jack instantly knew that he's falling for Kate. But their love story turns out to be more complicated than he initially thought, because Kate dies. Her death suddenly sends Jack back to the beginning, when he first met Kate at the party, and she's alive again. Not knowing what exactly happened, Jack thought he was given a second chance at life to save Kate and prevent her death. However, Jack will learn the hard way that his actions are not without consequences. And he has to figure out what he's willing to do to save the people he loves.

Book Review: The Prayers of Jesus by Mark Jones

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BOOK review
Started on: 23 March 2019
Finished on: 30 March 2019

The Prayers of Jesus: Listening to and Learning from Our Savior by Mark Jones

Title: The Prayers of Jesus: Listening to and Learning from Our Savior

Author: Mark Jones
Publisher: Crossway Books

Pages: 224 pages / 224 pages (e-book)
Year of Publication: 2019
Price: Rp 258,633 (https://www.bookdepository.com/)

Rating: 3/5
*This e-book was received as a review copy from Crossway
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"Experience is a great teacher for our prayers, and the more he experienced, the more his prayers would develop in light of those experiences, challenges, and struggles."

Jesus's ministry on earth as a human was marked by a devotion to prayer. Through his prayer life, we see what it means to truly depend on God. This book examines all of Jesus's prayers recorded in the New Testament, and it reflects on the content and structure of the Son of God's words to his Father—which helps us imitate his example as we commune with our heavenly Father as adopted sons and daughters in Christ.

Book Review: A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

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BOOK review
Started on: 10 March 2019
Finished on: 22 March 2019

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

Title: A Man Called Ove

Author: Fredrik Backman
Publisher: Atria Books

Pages: 337 pages / 353 pages (e-book)
Year of Publication: 2014
Price: Rp 257,000 (http://www.periplus.com/)

Rating: 4.5/5
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"Death is a strange thing. People live their whole lives as if it does not exist, and yet it's often one of the great motivations for living."

Ove is a curmudgeon, a grumpy yet lovable man who has staunch principles, strict routine, and also a short fuse. He's quick-tempered, especially since his solitary world was turned upside down when a boisterous young family moves in next door. But behind his bitter exterior, there is a story of loss and sadness that made Ove the way he is today. The arrival of a chatty young couple with their two young daughters will slowly change Ove's life in ways that he never expected before.

Book Review: The Common Rule: Habits of Purpose for an Age of Distraction by Justin Whitmel Earley

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BOOK review
Started on: 1 March 2019
Finished on: 9 March 2019

The Common Rule: Habits of Purpose for an Age of Distraction by Justin Whitmel Earley

Title: The Common Rule: Habits of Purpose for an Age of Distraction

Author: Justin Whitmel Earley
Publisher: InterVarsity Press

Pages: 204 pages / 193 pages (e-book)
Year of Publication: 2019
Price: Rp 253,477 (https://www.bookdepository.com/)

Rating: 4/5
*This e-book was received as a review copy from InterVarsity Press (IVP)
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"As far as our habits go, the invisible reality is this: We are all living according to a specific regimen of habits, and those habits shape most of our life."

Habits form us more than we form them. The modern world is a machine of a thousand invisible habits, forming us into anxious, busy, and depressed people. And the answer to our contemporary chaos is to practice a rule of life that aligns our habits to our beliefs. The Common Rule offers four daily and four weekly habits, designed to help us create new routines and transform frazzled days into lives of love for God and neighbor. Justin Whitmel Earley provides concrete, doable practices that will help us live more intentionally, which leads us to fulfilling our life purposes.

Book Review: Why I Love the Apostle Paul: 30 Reasons by John Piper

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BOOK review
Started on: 22 February 2019
Finished on: 28 February 2019

Why I Love the Apostle Paul: 30 Reasons by John Piper

Title: Why I Love the Apostle Paul: 30 Reasons

Author: John Piper
Publisher: Crossway

Pages: 208 pages / 208 pages (e-book)
Year of Publication: 2019
Price: Rp 225,257 (https://www.bookdepository.com/)

Rating: 4.5/5
*This e-book was received as a review copy from Crossway
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"Under Christ, no one has humbled me, diagnosed me, exposed me, taught me, and empowered me to make war on my besetting sins the way Paul has. I think I owe him the survival and flourishing of my ministry and my marriage."

John Piper, a pastor and also a best-selling author, claims that no person other than Jesus Christ himself has had a greater impact on his life than the apostle Paul. In this book, John Piper offered 30 reasons why he loves this famous persecutor-turned-missionary. Through this highly personal reflections, the writer encourages us to imitate Paul's example of unwavering confidence in God's grace, perseverance through suffering, and love toward others.

Book Review: On the Come Up by Angie Thomas

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BOOK review
Started on: 14 February 2019
Finished on: 21 February 2019

On the Come Up by Angie Thomas

Title: On the Come Up

Author: Angie Thomas
Publisher: Balzer + Bray

Pages: 447 pages / 464 pages (e-book)
Year of Publication: 2019
Price: Rp 142,412 (https://www.bookdepository.com/)

Rating: 4/5
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"There's only so much you can take being described as somebody you're not."

Brianna is a sixteen-year-old girl who has a big dream of becoming one of the greatest rappers of all time. Or at least make it out of her neighborhood one day. As the daughter of an underground rap legend who died before he was successful, people had a lot of expectations on her. However, her mother seems to be against the idea of Bri becoming a rapper just like her father. And things started to fall apart when her mother suddenly lost her job, making them short of food supplies and gas. With bills piling up and homelessness haunting her family, Bri no longer just wants to make it—she has no other option but to make it big. But making it big comes with a lot of consequences that Bri might not be ready to take.