Lately I’ve been listening to audio books a lot. There were several I really enjoyed, so I decided to write a review about each of these three books: God’s Hostage; A Hobbit, A Wardrobe, and a Great War; and My Name is Tani. All are non-fiction and published by Christian publishers.
Writing about an audio book is trickier than writing about a book when you have a paper copy in your hands. I don’t have a quick way to look up details or get quotes from the book. So these will be short reviews, hopefully enough to tell you if it’s a book that interests you.
God’s Hostage by Andrew Brunson (2019)
Andrew Brunson was an American missionary/pastor who was imprisoned in Turkey from 2016 to 2018, accused of spying. Andrew and his wife, Norine, had lived in Turkey since 1993 and had no political involvement. They were virtually unknown to the world until Andrew ended up being a pawn between Turkey and the United States. I remember reading about his imprisonment in the news.
This is a candid, first-person account. I’ve read prison memoirs written by people imprisoned for their Christian faith before, but this was the first such memoir I felt I could relate to. Not to the “being locked up in prison” part— but the thoughts and emotions expressed by Andrew. Books like The Heavenly Man tell stories of Christians suffering terrible ordeals with great cheerfulness. Such faith is commendable, but I know that’s not how I or most other Christians I know would respond. Andrew describes laying in bed crying for hours, begging for a fan, being at odds with the other inmates, and other ignoble problems as he struggles to get out of prison with both his mind and faith intact.
A Hobbit, a Wardrobe, and a Great War by Joseph Loconte (2017)
Both J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis fought in World War I as young men before they became friends and wrote their literary masterpieces. How did the war influence them and later, their writings?
This is a book for history lovers. Joseph Loconte describes how optimistic many Westerners were during the early 1900’s. Mankind had advanced and created wonderful new inventions and perhaps war would never need to happen again. But then came World War I, the Great War, and advanced humans used their clever inventions to destroy each other faster than ever before.
None of the irony was lost on that generation, and after WWI, according to Loconte, a spirit of pessimism prevailed, taking the place of nationalism and religion.
But against the river of culture, Tolkien remained a devout Catholic and C.S. Lewis returned to his childhood Christian faith. They both went on to write epic fantasy works that featured flawed heroes, along with their loyal friends (based on friendships formed in the trenches of WWI?) fighting for good against evil in richly detailed worlds.
My Name is Tani… And I Believe in Miracles by Tani Adewumi (2020)
Okay, this book is definitely the lightest of the three, and the only one I’d recommend for children. It’s the most recently published, and also the one I most recently listened to, in fact, I still have an hour to go. But I feel confident it has a good ending.
Tani Adewumin was born in Nigeria. Tani’s father owned a printing business, and when he refused to print posters for Boko Haram, the family was endangered. They fled to America and applied for political asylum.
The Adewumis first stayed with relatives in Dallas, then moved to New York City and where they lived in a hotel-turned-homeless-shelter in Manhattan. While their parents cleaned houses to support themselves, Tani and his brother enrolled in P.S. 116, where Tani learned how to play chess. He joined the chess club, and his coaches realize Tani had the talent— and the willingness— to become an excellent player. He went on to win the 2019 NY state championship for his age group at the age of eight, after playing the game only one year.
A refugee, homeless, and a champion child chess star. Even if you don’t know a rook from a knight, this book is a delight to listen to or read.
“All you have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to you.“
~J.R.R. Tolkien
Being a Tolkien and Lewis fan, I’m most drawn to the second book. I’m reading Lewis’s “God in the Dock” essay collection right now.
I read parts of “God in the Dock” several years ago. I remember his point that “today, God is the dock” (rather than man being judged by God, we think we can judge Him.)