Book review: Finding God in The Hobbit by Jim Ware

This book does exactly what it says on the cover. Through easy-to-read, short chapters which follow the story of the Hobbit, Ware picks out particular moments and draws out what he hopes was Tolkien’s underlying Christian faith shining through. The conclusions are easy to grasp, and for a lover of The Hobbit I’m confident this would be a great way to dig deeper into who God is.

Each chapter tells a part of the story, followed by a quick breakdown of what this means in light of Christianity, and a sentence for reflection at the end. It tells just enough of the story to make its points without going through every detail but contains big spoilers, so if you haven’t read The Hobbit already I’d definitely hold off until you have before digging into this.

The author acknowledges the problem with this book right at the beginning, then throughout when appropriate: Tolkien never wanted Middle Earth to be an allegory of the gospel (in contrast to C.S. Lewis’ Narnia). This means that at times the book feels a bit forced, such as when the usefulness of rope is compared with the grace of God (probably the weakest chapter), but this is a minor point.

On the whole I found this to be an enjoyable, informative, fun and gospel-focussed book. I’d heartily recommend it to Tolkien fans, whether Christian or not.

I got this book for free from Tyndale House Publishers in exchange for an honest review.

Coming Back Stronger by Drew Brees with Chris Fabry

Cover via Amazon

Outside of the US, Drew Brees is known by very few people, and those that do know about him pretty much know him as the winner of the Super Bowl. This book is his well-written story, charting his progress from high school through college and into the NFL.

The theme of ‘coming back stronger’ is well underlined throughout the book. Brees does not pretend that he has had a hard life, but he does point out that when life has not gone swimmingly, that he has used that adversity as a motivating factor, and has always come back stronger.

I genuinely enjoyed this book. It is written simply, but well. Brees gives just enough information to hold the reader’s attention without boring them, and is honest about his thoughts and feelings throughout.

For me, it was nice to hear a sports superstar being honest and unashamed about his faith, but I would have liked for it to have been a bit more explicit. At a number of opportunities he mentioned that ‘God had a good plan’ or that ‘God intended it for good’, so it’s clear that his relationship with God is important, but I’d have liked a bit more detail in terms of what and why he believes. That said, I don’t think this was intended to be the 95 theses of Drew Brees so this is a minor point.

If you’re a fan, I’m sure you’ll find this fascinating, and very challenging. I knew very little about Drew Brees before reading this but am very glad that I did. It’s almost a shame that his success was so well-publicised that the end of the story is spoilt! Two thumbs up from me.

I got this book for free from Tyndale House Publishers. I’m not required to give a positive review.

Remember Why You Play by David Thomas

Coach Kris Hogan’s high school American football team, the Faith Christian Lions, drew national press coverage when he led their fans to cheer for the opposing team in 2008, Gainesville State prison school. This book is a detailed account of their 2007 season leading up to that game.

The author is a journalist and has a fantastic way with words. I was never bored and felt drawn in to every emotion experienced by the players and coaches.

I loved this book – it’s personal, exciting, and emotional! But It does talk quite a bit in terms of American football language so if you don’t understand the game (as many Brits don’t) I expect you’ll enjoy it less than I did.

Overwhelmingly the best thing about this book comes in the penultimate chapter. The whole book I was thinking: this guy, Kris Hogan, is amazing!’ But suddenly the book climaxes and I realised that actually the whole point is that God’s grace is amazing.

I’d thoroughly recommend this book, and the upcoming feature film, One Heart, to Christians and non-Christians, providing you can handle the football jargon.

I got this book for free from Tyndale House Publishers. I’m not required to give a positive review.