Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

Cloud Atlas

“At once audacious, dazzling, pretentious and infuriating, Mitchell’s third novel weaves history, science, suspense, humor and pathos through six separate but loosely related narratives. “


Covering such heavy topics as consumerism, cloning, materialism and reincarnation doesn’t make for light bedtime reading, but it does make for an interesting story — especially when it is comprised of six seperate characters, each from a different place and point in time. Though they don’t know each other their decisions are able to influence the future of the others. Complicated, yes, but worth a read, and great for bookclub discussions.

Tramp for the Lord by Corrie ten Boom

Tramp for the Lord

“Tramp for the Lord continues Corrie ten Boom’s extraordinary journey of hope following the events recounted in her bestseller The Hiding Place. From her near-destitute days in postwar New York to heart-stopping adventures in Africa, Corrie’s inspirational life story proves that miracles do happen.”


Given the title, Americans might think this book is dodgey, but it is really the story of a Holocaust survivor’s travels around the world. Ten Boom is a fiesty, old gal who weaves her tale of struggling through World War II with where the Lord has since lead her. It’s a great book that would inspire anyone to pack a bag and see where the Lord takes them.

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The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom

the 5 people you meet in heaven

“Eddie is a grizzled war veteran who feels trapped in a meanless life of fixing rides at a seaside amusement park. As the park has changed over the years – from the Loop-the-Loop to the Pipeline Plunge so, too, has Eddie changed, from optimistic youth to embittered old age. His days are a dull routine of work, loneliness and regret.

Then on his 83rd birthday, Eddie dies in a tragic accident, trying to save a little girl from a falling cart. With his final breath, he feels two small hands in his – and then nothing. He awakens in the afterlife, where he learns that heaven is not a lush Garden of Eden, but a place where your earthly life is explained to you by 5 people who were in it. These people may have been loved ones or distant strangers. Yet each one changed your path forever.

One by one, Eddie’s five people illuminate the unseen connections of his earthly life. As the story builds to it’s stunning conclusion, Eddie desperately seeks redemption in the still unknown last act of his life: Was it a heroic success or a devastating failure? The answer, which comes from the most unlikely of sources is as inspirational as a glimpse of heaven itself. In Five People You Meet in Heaven, Mitch Albom gives us an astoundingly original story that will change everything you’ve ever thought about the afterlife – and the meaning of our lives on earth.”


This book tells the story of a man called Eddie and the five people he meets in heaven. These people are all connected to his life somehow, and throughout the story, while we learn Eddie’s life story, he learns how his life has affected others, and how others have affected him. He also learns how things are not always what they seem. Although a very secular view of heaven (that it is what we want it to be), the explanations that Eddie is given are food for thought for us all.

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A Severe Mercy by Sheldon Vanauken

A Severe Merc

This acclaimed story traces the idyllic marraige of Sheldon and Jean Vanauken, their search for faith, their friendship with C.S.Lewis and the tragedy of untimely death and love lost. It includes 18 letters by C.S.Lewis”


Though I categorize this book as a “love story,” I am reluctant to do so for fear of turning men, and some women, off of this powerful story of faith, intellect, and, yes, love. The book follows the true story of the poignant bond between the author and his wife, Davy, and how he must come to grips with her death. Vanauken writes of his personal spiritual battles, his longing for his dead wife and his friendship with another famous widower, CS Lewis, with a candor that kept me riveted.Read the full review on amazon