The Skin Map

My title is now working :D.

A promising tale of interdimensional voyaging disintegrates rapidly into a clunky and incoherent mess. Londoner Kit Livingstone and his unpleasant girlfriend, Wilhelmina, are separated and sent back to an alternate 17th-century England. There Kit's great-grandfather Cosimo reveals secretive time travelers are racing the evil Lord Archelaeus Burleigh to locate a map holding an earthshaking secret. Stranded when Cosimo vanishes into a portal, Kit falls in with the beautiful Lady Fayth while Wilhelmina struggles to survive on her own in Prague.

It has taken me forever to write this review, hasn't it? Well, I have to say, this book sounded quite intriguing. The plot sounded interesting, and I think there are different summaries so if it didn't sound interesting there, then maybe somewhere else you'll like it.
The book was interesting, and I got very far in it, but it's been a challenge to read. And I haven't even fully finished it. See Lawhead has a good idea in his head, but he can only get you so far into the book. There are about five different characters and each of them are in different places. There's a plot within a plot, and it's quite confusing, but still intriguing. It's what got me that far in the book.
The way Lawhead writes is different. He likes to be poetic, as well as tell an intense story, and also leave you to wonder more about a character until later.
Overall the book has a good storyline and the characters were interesting, but the whole book didn't capture my attention long enough.

This book was 2 1/2 stars out of 5.

I received this book for free by Thomas Nelson.

Hardcover: 448 pages
Publisher: Thomas Nelson (August 31, 2010)

Have a wonderful day!

God bless,
Maiden of Emmanuel

Cast of Characters: Common People in the Hands of an Uncommon God by Max Lucado

I do not own this picture of the cover of "Cast of Characters: Common People in the Hands of an Uncommon God".
When I ordered this book I was intrigued by the title, the cover, and the summary. It was about the characters in the Bible! I wanted to do more of a study on some of those characters - maybe I missed something about Joseph, or even more "minor" characters.
When I opened this book, I was semi-excited and I was also continuing with my intrigue. When I actually started reading the book I was disappointed.
There were questions that I've never asked myself, but then there was a reason why I neve rdid ask those questions. I was hoping for a book that would give me Bible references and interesting points on a "character" (who is/are really just a non-fiction person/people). Instead of Biblical references, there was a question I'm quoting from the actual book, "Did Jesus and Joseph arm-wrestle? Did Jesus let Joseph win a couple times?" That is pointless in my opinion-- and second, I already know that Jesus was God in a physical form. Muscle is physical. Hence when Jesus was a young boy, I bet Joseph did win. But really - this book did disappoint me. I found things fake in a certain sense, and just not my taste.
There was a positive about this book though, and the positive of this book was that Lucado pointed out that all of these people - different sins and different stories and different actions - had a chance to play a part particularly in the ultimate plan of God (even the non-Christians) for Jesus' death.

Thomas Nelson was generous enough to give me a copy of this book to review.

This book might intrigue you in the sense of the off-subject questions, so if you'd like to read the book, go for it.

God bless,
MaidenOfEmmanuel