Jerusalem's Queen by Angela Hunt

Review: What an amazing and worth while read. I can't even begin to fathom the number of hours that went into the exhaustive research for this novel. I was blown away by the use of Hebrew, the time-accurate descriptions and word choices, and the incredible historical events that I had no idea where taking place right before Jesus' birth. This is a book that I will certainly be reading again soon because there was way too much information to properly absorb with one reading.

"Jerusalem's Queen" was a third Bible study, a third history lesson, and a third delightful fiction. Angela Hunt did a very credible job pouring history through her work while telling a very believable and riveting story of one of Jerusalem's most prominent women in a rather terrifying time.

I can not recommend this book enough. I enjoyed every page and "Jerusalem's Queen" left me entertained but also feeling like I had learnt an awful lot. This book is a "must read".

You can find a link to download an excerpt here: LINK


Back Cover: Born in the small village of Modein, a town made famous by the warrior Maccabees, Salome Alexandra knows better than to harbor grand dreams for her future. She pales in comparison to her beautiful older sister, and though she learns to read at an early age, girls are not valued for their intellectual ability. But when her father and sister are killed, John Hyrcanus, a distant relative, invites Salome and her mother to live with his family in Jerusalem, where her thirst for knowledge is noticed and indulged.

When her guardian betroths her to a pagan prince, she questions HaShem's plan. When Hyrcanus finally marries her to a boy half her age, she questions her guardian's sanity. But though Salome spends much of her life as a pawn ordered about by powerful men, she learns that a woman committed to HaShem can change the world.

Thank-you to Graf Martin Communications and to Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing House, for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Oliver Twist

Review: I grew up listening to Focus on the Family's radio theater. We didn't have T.V. or even a video player for most of my growing up years, and no, I am not a hundred years old. My family and I just lived way out in the sticks and I entertained myself with building forts, playing in trees, riding horses, and in the evenings or on trips, I would listen to radio theater.

I have so many good memories attached to Focus on the Family. As soon as the opening lyrics of Oliver Twist flew from my speakers my mind was flooded with different times and different places where I was swept away into the lands of Narnia, The Secret Garden, Adventures in Odyssee, and many other radio theater productions.

Oliver Twist was brilliantly done. It is a classic story that most people have probably seen acted out in live theater, read the book, or at least heard of it. I knew the story of Oliver Twist before listening to Focus on the Family's broadcast of it, but listening to the radio theater was like hearing the story for the first time. The narrative was brilliantly done and the voices, music, and drama was just incredible. I really enjoyed this collection and would highly recommend "Oliver Twist" and any other radio theater done by Tyndale and Focus on the Family.

Tyndale House Publishers has provided me with a complimentary copy of this publication.