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

.

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)
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"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

.

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
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"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

.

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
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"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.

Book Review: The Road Back to You by Ian Morgan Cron & Suzanne Stabile

.

BOOK review
Started on: 6 February 2019
Finished on: 13 February 2019

The Road Back to You: An Enneagram Journey to Self-Discovery by Ian Morgan Cron, Suzanne Stabile

Title: The Road Back to You: An Enneagram Journey to Self-Discovery

Author: Ian Morgan Cron, Suzanne Stabile
Publisher: InterVarsity Press

Pages: 238 pages / 241 pages (e-book)
Year of Publication: 2016
Price: Rp 329,380 (https://www.bookdepository.com/)

Rating: 5/5
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"The Enneagram is a tool that awakens our compassion for people just as they are, not the people we wish they would become so our lives would become easier."

In this book, Ian Morgan Cron and Suzanne Stabile teamed up to forge a practical and comprehensive way of accessing Enneagram wisdom and exploring its connections with Christian spirituality for a deeper knowledge of ourselves, compassion for others, and love for God. This book is filled with various stories from people around them, the people they met, and even stories about themselves that will reveal the mindset behind each personality type. Not only will you learn more about yourself, but you will also start to see the world through other people's eyes—understanding how and why people think, feel, and act the way they do. This understanding will lead us on the path of spiritual discovery and paving the way to the wiser, more compassionate person you will be able to become.

Book Review: It's Not Supposed to Be This Way by Lysa TerKeurst

.

BOOK review
Started on: 29 January 2019
Finished on: 5 February 2019

It's Not Supposed to Be This Way: Finding Unexpected Strength When Disappointments Leave You Shattered by Lysa TerKeurst

Title: It's Not Supposed to Be This Way: Finding Unexpected Strength When Disappointments Leave You Shattered

Author: Lysa TerKeurst
Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Pages: 256 pages / 287 pages (e-book)
Year of Publication: 2018
Price: Rp377,737 (https://www.bookdepository.com/)

Rating: 5/5
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Humans are very attached to outcomes. We say we trust God but behind the scenes we work our fingers to the bone and our emotions into a tangled fray trying to control our outcomes. We praise God when our normal looks like what we thought it would. We question God when it doesn’t. And walk away from Him when we have a sinking suspicion that God is the one who set fire to the hope that was holding us together."

Lysa TerKeurst is an author, speaker, and president of Proverbs 31 Ministries. In this book, she gives us permission to acknowledge our own pain and disappointment by courageously exposing her own. Life often looks so very different than we hoped or expected. And so many times, we feel disappointed, disillusioned, and we quietly start to question God's goodness in our lives. This book will help and guide us to overcome our disappointments and shift our suspicion to God is cruel to the assurance that God is protecting and preparing us. Lysa TerKeurst does it by pointing us squarely to the sovereignty and faithfulness of God.

Book Review: The Ship of the Dead (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, #3) by Rick Riordan

.
BOOK review

Started on: 19 January 2019
Finished on: 28 January 2019

The Ship of the Dead (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, #3) by Rick Riordan

Title: The Ship of the Dead (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, #3)

Author: Rick Riordan
Publisher: Disney Hyperion

Pages: 401 pages / 432 pages (e-book)
Year of Publication: 2017
Price: Rp 283,000 (http://www.periplus.com/)

Rating: 4.5/5
*for those who haven't read the first and second book, this review may contain spoiler.
Review for The Sword of Summer (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, #1) by Rick Riordan here.
Review for The Hammer of Thor (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, #2) by Rick Riordan here.

 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"The world will end. The big picture cannot be changed. But in the meantime, as Loki once said, we can choose to alter the details. That’s how we take control of our destiny."

Magnus Chase doesn't have time to waste after Loki is free from his chains. Loki is preparing Naglfar, the Ship of the Dead, complete with a host of giants and zombies, to sail against the Asgardian gods and begin the final battle of Ragnarok. But to stop him, Magnus and his friends have to race against time to reach Naglfar before it's ready to sail. In the end, Magnus have to challenge Loki and defeat him in a battle that he's not confident in. The fate of the Nine Worlds now rests in his hands.