Book Reviews - Our Mindset

Book reviews. They are a dime a dozen.

As young people, and adults in search of good books, one of the first places we check when shopping online, is the review section.

But often the book review doesn't tell you all you need to know about what is actually inside the book.

The standards of today have dropped and many are accepting content that we would not want our children reading. But the summary doesn't state everything inside the book, and since it isn't a problem for many people, the reviews often don't state it either.

So you always run the risk of buying something that you will actually waste your money on. Because if you care about the tables of your children's heart, you won't just let them read anything!

And so, we decided to start providing book reviews!

We are very aware that standards differ amongst families: even conservative families. Some allow things that other don't. Even Rose and I may not agree on absolutely everything.

So to be clear, we are not telling you what books to read, and what books not to read. We are simply giving you the facts, our recommendations, and letting you make the decision from there.

But here at Tables of the Heart, we try to keep a consistent standard when it comes to reviewing books for young adults and children. To give you an idea of what you can expect to see in our book reviews, keep reading.

At Tables of the Heart, we review books that fall mostly in the category of Christian fiction. Our goal is to find exciting, inspiring reads that will nurture your young person, and not damage the conscience and heart.

Occasionally you may find us throwing in a biography of a key Christian figure or missionary.

You also might find us reviewing some books, not categorized as Christian, but that are clean in content, wholesome in message, and educational.

Our book reviews will have an approximate age range due to content. Some things are not appropriate for younger children, but ok for young adults. We will do our very best when labeling.

So what kind of stories are we looking to review for parents of young children and young adults?

A story that works, is one that pulls at the heart strings of a person. It will stir you emotionally.

But some stories stir you up the wrong way.

I will be honest. I remember reading certain books as a young person that affected me in the wrong way. What I read, stayed in my mind and either haunted me, or lured me in a way that was not pure or wholesome. We all are human flesh, and we have a sin nature that is unfortunately drawn to things it shouldn't be. We as Christian adults should be able to recognize these things, resist the temptation, and stay away from it.

But children are often naïve, and have less wisdom. Something may stir them up and affect them, and they aren't sure why. They may have a conscience telling them that it's wrong. And yet, they may not say anything to the parent, because of the lure of sin. That's dangerous.

So when we go about reviewing books, we keep that in mind.

Here is the mindset we have when we go to review a book.

Dealing with Romance:

Romance that is suggestive stirs up sensual, sexual emotions: We believe that young people simply do not need that.

On the flip side, we do not believe that all romance is wrong. There is romance in the Bible.

However, we believe there is a very fine line with what can be shown on a page, and what is meant to kept between a man and his wife.

If the purpose of a book is to portray a pure, precious, innocent love, then it's a go for a review!

But if the purpose is to awake those sexual emotions in the reader, then it's not going to be recommended by us.

Stories dealing with immorality:

Obviously we live in a fallen world. So any book you read is going to have flawed characters who have real life struggles.

But we want to be sensitive as to how immorality is touched on.

Anything too graphic with cussing, sexuality, violence, alcohol, witchcraft, darkness, and ugly details about a sinful life, will be handled like a hot potato. Obviously depending on content, we will rate it due to cleanliness, or how mild or extreme the content.

Rose has written a post on these very subjects and delved a little deeper into this. Check out her post on "How we Rate and Review our Books."

Older teens may handle a little more "realism" but still with caution. Words on the page, create pictures in the mind just like movies do. We want to be careful what your young person is "seeing" when they read. Can you remember ever reading something that deeply affected you? That's because like we talked about it our previous post about Tables of the Heart, we know that ALL five senses affect the heart.

There is a tactful way to write about certain subjects, even hard subjects, without disturbing the reader in an unhealthy way. The Bible is a great example to follow.

Ideal, role model characters, versus flawed, or evil characters:

Role models are great for children and young adults.

But we also know that the idea of a "perfect protagonist" just isn't realistic or relatable to the reader. Any character in a story is going to have flaws. It's what makes the story arch. Characters in good stories experience change and transformation as a result of the events that take place.

Where we personally draw the line, is with characters who behave in ways that are clearly immoral and ungodly, and it is glorified by the author as being ok.

It is important to distinguish between right and wrong.

We believe in providing good role models for young people, or else, showing a genuine flawed character who experiences change throughout the course of the story towards the right direction.

Because that realistically, is all of us.

Flawed people, experiencing changes, and hopefully transformations through the power of God, for the better.

Each book review will be focused on the quality of content in each book. Both the written quality, and the moral quality.

In the written quality, we will review the strength or weakness of the story plot, the appropriate age for readers, and if there is any educational value.

In the moral quality, we will be specific about details. If there is kissing, it will be stated. If there is violence and war scenes, it will be stated. If there is magic, it will be stated. If there are some sensitive topics, not suitable for children, but ok for young adults, it will be stated.

Some content we will outright reject and not review if we do not believe it to be suitable for young readers, or it goes against our fundamental beliefs. Rose and I plan to cover these topics in further detail in the future. So if you are in the future, be sure to check the blog for more posts on how we review stories for our audience.

All in all, we want to help young people and parents find a library of clean, exciting, challenging stories that will inspire them for the rest of their lives. Those stories are out there! And we intend to find them for you!

If that excites you, then I encourage you to join our email list so that you can get the latest book review sent straight to your email! If you are a homeschool mom out there searching for new literature this upcoming school year, than joining this list will be invaluable to you!

Are there any books out there that you think we would be excited to review and add as a review on Tables of the Heart? Let us know in the comments! Don't be shy! We are always on the lookout for good stuff!