Steven

This is one of my favourite written books and now it's one of my most liked audio books. Lee Strobel raises most of the very sticky questions that people stumble over when it comes to a reasoned faith in the Bible and the goodness of God. He interviews capable individuals with well reasoned and evidence based answers rather than comfortable responses.

Dick Hill does a great job of reading the book without the intense Chicago accent for which Lee is known.

All in all, a great listen for those who want answers.

I don't think so.

No.

Yes. He was OK.

Not much of anything.

I grew up reading comics. I found a huge stack of them in the attic of my grandfather's old farm house and devoured them. As boys, my older brother being inspired by heroes in tights, talked me into jumping from our garage roof. I can connect with heroes but this story was about a couple of putzes that left me unconnected and unmoved.

I really wanted to like it but I actually gritted my teeth and got through the book just out of stubborn determination. I probably learned not to give up on a bad situation from a cartoon character in a ridiculous costume. That's ironic.

Fascinating historical gem.

I have always loved the tales woven by Alexandre Dumas. In this story I found that the father was the real life prototype for his famous son's best heroes. As a man and a father I found that to be very appealing.

Being a historical narrative rather than a novel, this question is not really relevant. The reader was adequate to the task neither making or breaking the value of the audiobook.

No, I didn't find "The Black Count" to be so compelling that I couldn't walk away from it for a while, but it certainly held my interest while I was able to listen. As a non-fiction recounting of a man's life and times it was better than most.

This audiobook really fleshed out for me a time in history (i.e. the French revolution) which has been somewhat lacking and it did it in a way which has caused me to search for other material pertaining to the life of slaves in the Caribbean, especially Haiti. I found "The Black Count" to be a very enjoyable and worthwhile investment in time and a book credit.

Why only two stars? I listened with headphones because I could not play this story out loud for my staff. Actually, one of the young ladies who works for me tried it but found it inappropriate for group listening in a work environment so I wasn't alone in my assessment. Basically, there's more foul language than fowl language in this audiobook. The author has realistically created her characters but knowing people similar to these folks and hearing them in a story are two different experiences.

The story itself has amusing moments so, in between cringing at the four letter words I found myself smiling occasionally and laughing out loud once or twice. My favourite character was the little girl who owned the chickens. She had a wonderfully dryly humorous nature. She wasn't trying to be funny but the author expressed her gift for humour through this child.

I think the story could have been improved by sanitizing the wording a bit and perhaps giving the main character a true New York accent.

Like most Christians, I want to put my faith into action by preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ and by showing real love to widows, orphans and the oppressed. This audiobook contained information that was convicting, instructional and motivational. The conviction came from realizing how much more I could be doing to relieve suffering among the poor. I particularly appreciated the author's insights into the nature of poverty and his suggestions for giving a hand up rather than a hand out as well as how to give without taking the recipient's dignity. I listened to this audiobook in preparation for a short term mission trip and came away with several ideas to run by the host missionaries for how I and the team I'm part of could contribute to their work.

All in all, a very worthwhile book.

I listened to this book as one of many books, in preparation for my first short term mission trip to an impoverished nation. I'm not sure that I would have finished it without that motivation. Here's why.

First, the narrator has a deep, rich voice and reads smoothly with appropriate intonation. He represents well the persona that any high powered executive would want to portray. It was a solid four star performance.

Richard Stearns spends the bulk of the book explaining how he was recruited by World Vision and how far he came down in pay grade to accept his position with them, the extent of the pain and suffering in the majority world, how pathetic North American Christians are at alleviating worldwide suffering and how we should be doing more, like sponsoring children, etc.. He of course quotes Francis of Assisi, "Preach the gospel at all times and when absolutely necessary, use words." This constitutes "the hole."

I believe that the gospel (i.e. God loves us so He sent His son, Jesus, to die for our sins so that we can be forgiven and know him personally) is the most critical bit of information any human being can be presented with and that apart from being born again through hearing and accepting the good news that God personally made a way for forgiven sinners to enter Heaven, this life is as good as it gets whether you live in the USA or Malawi. No amount of "being nice" to suffering people will matter without that relationship beginning through a new birth into Jesus Christ. The gospel of Mr. Stearns and World Vision seems to be that we should make people as comfortable as possible on the bus to Hell, unless they happen to ask if they're on the right bus.

The Bible teaches that after the new birth in response to hearing the gospel, there must come growth in a Christian's ability to live a life of active love. I agree with the author, that Christ followers should invest their lives intentionally and sacrificially to ease suffering, care for widows, orphans and the oppressed and work to make this world as good a place as possible in which to live. I don't agree that this work should be done without proclaiming salvation through faith in Jesus Christ alone and that this must be done with words. If, for some strange reason, you really don't care for Jesus but choose to listen to this book, you may want to skip the last 12 - 15 minutes. The author does eventually use words to preach, but it comes off as an afterthought.

Just as a hole without a doughnut surrounding it is worthless, so is just being nice without the story of God's love for us through Jesus. I gave the author three stars but I was "being nice."

This is a good book for those of us who dream of being out on blue water. It's not a tension filled tale of high risks or a razor close finish to a race or even a long vicarious experience such as Joshua Slocum's excellent story of sailing around the world alone. As you listen, you'll journey with the author through the fun as well as the many lessons involved in progressing from novice dinghy sailing to preparing and engaging in an ocean crossing in a large single handed boat. It was enjoyable for providing yet another view into a watery world that for me has so far existed only in my dreams.

I really appreciated & enjoyed this audiobook. It is well written, entertaining, enlightening, well read and also, it's just the right length.

The author writes with authority from personal experience, research and education and he does it in a way which communicates genuine love and compassion for those who have or would consider stepping away from their Roman Catholic upbringing & routes. He does deal with doctrine & practice differences between catholics and protestants but not in a harsh, "this is why they're wrong" sort of tirade. He's informative without being condemning.

The narrator has a warm and inviting voice. I would describe it as grandfatherly. I enjoyed his reading very much but he did seem somewhat older than I expect the actual author may be. This was a very minor discrepancy.

Overall I would recommend this book to a wide range of listeners including both catholics and protestants. I listened out of concern for friends who are considering leaving an evangelical protestant church to become Roman Catholics. Chris has helped me not only increase my understanding of Roman Catholicism but also given me an attitude of compassion for those who wrestle with such spiritual choices.

Since I was just a child I've associated baked goods with love and comfort having been fed them by a mother and grandmother who obviously cared very much for me. Kind of a positive spin on "guilt by association." But as I grew up I developed numerous health issues that seemed to implicate flour. Unwelcome news is often ignored.

One of the more embarrassing of these issues was when I joined a bowling team in my mid twenties. I had previously been above average at this activity but on the team I could not hit any of the pins because I had lost my co-ordination. Suspecting a food allergy because of another book, I fasted for 5 days and then introduced one food at a time throwing darts after eating as a physiological test. After eating plain cooked pasta, I could not even hit the dart board with a single dart from eight feet. I knew that my body did not get along with wheat so I didn't eat bread or cake the days when I had to bowl. My scores went up. Over the last thirty years I've progressively minimized my grain consumption but it's been hard to eliminate the "healthy grains" and the occasional double chocolate donut.

Listening to this book has given me the motivation to change my eating habits and as predicted by Dr. Davis, 10 of the extra 15 pounds I've been carrying have disappeared.

As an audiobook it made for a good listen. The time passed surprisingly quickly for a non-fiction book. Occasionally, it became somewhat technical but this was usually brief and manageable for someone with a high school level of science. The author repeated himself with regularity on some points but perhaps those thoughts were worth being driven home by repetition.

The narrator was competent. I remember the book for it's material, not for the speaker which is in some way a compliment.

I also bought several printed copies to give to friends & loved ones who I believe could benefit from changing their eating choices and as a printed resource for myself. I highly recommend this book.

As for wheat, you've been a rotten friend. I won't miss you.

I've listened to all of the Mitch Rapp series and it was hard to finish this one knowing I'd have to go through withdrawal when it was done. I've tried lots of other thrillers but nobody deals with bad guys like Mitch and nobody tells a believable and engaging spy tale like Vince Flynn.

George Guidall is the ideal reader for this genre.