If you’ve read this blog very
many times, you’ll know that I rarely post negative reviews. Just because I don’t like a book, doesn’t
mean you won’t like it. I know that
authors put a lot of work into writing a book, and I never want to take away
from their efforts. However, sometimes
it does fall on me to write a review for a book that I just didn’t care for,
and one of those times is now.
I have read several Liz Curtis
Higgs books in the past, and I have always really liked them. She is not an author that I read on a regular
basis, and I had never read any of her non-fiction books before. During my daily Bible reading earlier this
year, I found myself curious about the Queen of Sheba who came to visit Solomon
to test his wisdom. When I saw It’s Good to be Queen offered for review
I was excited to give it a try. I was disappointed
almost from the beginning. Instead of
offering facts about the queen (who is referred to simply as Sheba) the book is
full of suppositions about what may have happened, what could have been said or
what Sheba probably did. I found this
annoying. I understand that it would be
extremely difficult to know exactly what took place so many years ago, with no
real documentation about the events except what is written in the Bible, but
why choose to write a book about a subject you don’t know much about?
My second beef with this book is
that very little of it seems to be original to Ms. Higgs. It is full of footnotes, and quotes from
other authors. I know that a lot of
nonfiction is written this way, but in this case it just seemed like an
overload of previously published information.
I would have preferred to read more of her thoughts and opinions than
those of others. I also didn’t care for
the way that the author tries to connect my life with that of the Queen of
Sheba. As in, I can be a better person
if I can learn to live and behave like her.
That’s a hard thing to do, since I really don’t know anything about her
life.
My last issue with this book is a
pretty common one to me. I am a firm
believer in the King James Bible. It is
the only one I read, and the one I follow and believe. I realize that not everyone feels this way,
and even though I (obviously) believe they are in error, I am not offended if
authors choose to use a different version in their writings. I do generally skip over such passages while
reading. However, my issue comes when an
author quotes multiple versions in one book.
Contexts and meanings change from version to version, so I believe that
a person should just choose one. You can’t
just search around until you find the one that fits what you what it to
say. We should alter what we believe to
fit the Bible, and not the other way around.
These reason for not enjoying
this book may seem petty and nitpicking to you, but they were enough to me that
I gave up reading this book after about three chapters. I think I would have enjoyed a book like this
more if it was written as a novel in fiction form. As I’ve said before, if you think this is a
book you’d enjoy, please don’t hesitate to read it because of what I’ve said
here. You may totally disagree with my
opinion and really enjoy it. If you do,
I’d love to hear from you! Leave me a
comment to let me know what you think!
Happy Reading!
Lyndsie
I received a free copy of this
book through the Blogging for Books program in exchange for this review. All opinions are my own, and a favorable
review was not required.
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