Letters From Father Christmas

 Letter From Father Christmas By: J.R.R. Tolkien

This is a favorite at this time. We like to listen to it on Audible because the narrator does an amazing job bringing Father Christmas, Polar Bear and all the other characters to life. My family likes to listen to it while we drive around looking at all the Christmas lights and laugh at all the cute stories. Tolkien must have been such a fun and wonderful father to have put so much work into these letters, stories and pictures for his kids.

This is definitely a holiday favorite for us!

Eragon

 Eragon By: Christopher Paolini

It has been quite a few years since I read this series and felt it would be fun to revisit it again. Its funny how after reading a book you can remember the gist of the story years later but it somehow gets a bit muddled, also the details that are missed. I really enjoyed re-reading this and look forward to moving onto the next book. The character growth in this story is so interesting to follow. If you like fantasy stories I strongly recommend reading this series.

Fairest of All

 Fairest of All By Serena Valentino

I wasn't sure what to expect from this book and at first, I was skeptical. But after I finished it I gave it some thought and realized. This could be a great way to showcase how negative vices can destroy not just an individual, but an entire family and even society. In the case of this book vanity is what was the ultimate demise of Snow White's step-mother. This story introduces us to a young woman who grew up in a home with an emotionally and verbally abusive father. Then met the king and found not just love with a wonderful man, but a new family being able to be a mother to a cute little girl. After the death of her husband the queen fell into a grief that she didn't want to face and instead became obsessed with being the most beautiful woman in her kingdom that eventually lead to her demise.

When you Wish Upon a Star

 

When you wish upon a star By: Elizabeth Lim

This story was different from what I thought it was going to be. It makes sense though. I like most people grew up watching Pinocchio and know his story well. But this is the back story behind the blue fairy even before she turned Pinocchio into a living puppet. This is one of those stories that brought out all different types of emotions. Honestly, if this book was anything like the football games my parents like to watch, I probably would have sat and yelled at the book. 😂 That just means it was very well written to be able to produce that sort of emotion. I have really enjoyed the Twisted Tale series and I cant wait for more to come out.

The Last Battle

 

The Last Battle By: C.S. Lewis

The story started off well and good and somewhat familiar to the books before it. But it quickly changed and even had me a little anxious. So anxious in fact that I had a hard time putting the book down because I wanted to know what would happen next. After I had finished the book, not gonna lie I may have cried a bit. All I could think of is how amazing it was and how much I enjoyed it. I have tried to come up with a way to review it that will remain neutral like most of my other reviews and not involve religion that i believe all these books convey. But with this book I cant seem to find a way to do that unless I leave this post here saying the book was amazing. For those not wanting my religious views of the book. End here and thank you for reading.

This whole series has made me feel almost like a symbolic Sunday school lesson. First you have the creation of Narnia and with good versus bad in The Magicians Nephew". Then comes The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe which has a lot of symbolism but I will simply say focuses on the Atonement of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. From then on, The horse and His Boy, Prince Caspian, The Voyage of The Dawn Treader, and The Silver Chair are all about our mortal experiences here on earth and always looking to Jesus Christ (Aslan) for help, comfort, guidance, etc.

Then you come to The Last Battle which is pretty much the book of revelations. :) The battle with good and evil comes to a point that evil has done all its can and wickedness prevails so much with false gods, prophets and impersonators saying they are the real Jesus (Aslan). The only way evil and Wickedness could be cleansed from the land of Narnia was through a return of Aslan and the end of the world. Or in our case the second coming of Jesus. 

The last king of Narnia meets Diggory and Polly (The Magicians Nephew) as well as The kings and queen of old. High king Peter, King Edmund and Queen Lucy. It was mentioned that Queen Susan wasn't there because she didn't believe in Narnia anymore and said it was just a silly game that they played as kids. This to me this is symbolic of those that turn away from the saviors teachings and his gospel and are more concerned about what the world says and thinks rather than Heavenly Father and Jesus. 

Reading this book has been such a wonderful experience simply for the story as well as for the gospel message that I found imbedded within the story.

The Slver Chair

 

The Silver Chair BY: C.S. Lewis

I really enjoyed this book. I know I've read it before but I honestly couldn't remember any of it. Its always fun having returning characters mixed with new character in book series that act as separate stories but all tie in together. In the case of this book, it was fun to have Eustice and Caspian back. Aslan too of course but he's always reoccurring in all the book. He's the ever constant in The Chronicles of Narnia. In the silver chair, the evil was again a witch that cast an evil enchantment that had to be broken. This witch a lot like the white witch in the Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, also declared herself royalty when she wasn't. This story is just another great story and example of good triumphing over evil.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

 

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader By: C.S. Lewis

Its been awhile since I read this so it was fun to be able to re-read it. I forgot parts of the book so it was fun to rediscover this story. I remember when I first read this I wasn't to pleased with the story and the way it flowed. But the second time I didn't see any of the issues of flow from when I first read the book. In fact the flow of the story made more sense the second time around.