JanaRiess's Profile

Harry Potter, Christian Hallows and C.S. Lewis: A Q&A with Greg Garrett

I've been listening to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows again in preparation for the movie next month--which releases in 45 days, but who's counting? In listening I have come once more to realize why it is one of my... Continue reading

Posted Oct 11, 2010 at The Review Revolution: Improving Culture through Kvetching

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Who Was Julian of Norwich? A Q&A with Author Amy Frykholm

The only thing I knew about Julian of Norwich before reading Amy Frykholm's excellent new "contemplative biography" of her was that she was the saint who said "All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of... Continue reading

Posted Sep 3, 2010 at The Review Revolution: Improving Culture through Kvetching

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What Will Happen in the Hunger Games? Spoliers & Speculation about Suzanne Collins's "Mockingjay"

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears! I'm counting the days until Tuesday's release of Mockingjay, the final installment in Suzanne Collins's Hunger Games series. Apparently I'm not the only one, because the book is listed as the #1 bestselling... Continue reading

Posted Aug 24, 2010 at The Review Revolution: Improving Culture through Kvetching

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Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Undead: "The Short Second Life of Bree Tannner" by Stephenie Meyer

You've got your work cut out for you when you're Stephenie Meyer. When you dare to write an in-between novella, the same people who criticized your doorstopping tomes of old now complain that you're holding out on them by penning... Continue reading

Posted Jul 3, 2010 at The Review Revolution: Improving Culture through Kvetching

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Kate Gosselin Gets Religion: A New Book from "Kate Plus Eight" Star on Family and Faith

I blame my mother for introducing me to the Gosselin family. During one of her visits last year, TLC was running a marathon of Jon & Kate Plus 8, and Mom was glued to the screen. I watched several episodes... Continue reading

Posted Jun 26, 2010 at The Review Revolution: Improving Culture through Kvetching

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Good-Bye, Lisbeth Salander: A Review of Stieg Larsson's "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest"

Apparently in Sweden, everyone who works in counter-intelligence drives a neutral-colored Volvo. Even when you're engaged in international espionage, it's vital to stay safe. That's one of a number of important lessons I learned from reading The Girl Who Kicked... Continue reading

Posted Jun 26, 2010 at The Review Revolution: Improving Culture through Kvetching

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Donna Freitas Hearts the Twible

This morning I logged into my email to find a whole host of messages announcing new followers on Twitter. The source of all this largesse? Blogger/novelist/religion scholar Donna Freitas has written a lovely entry called "Oh, the Bible Bores Me... Continue reading

Posted Jun 7, 2010 at The Review Revolution: Improving Culture through Kvetching

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Waiting for the next "Hunger Games" novel? Check out "Graceling" by Kristin Cashore

Admit it. You have succumbed to the crack cocaine that is Suzanne Collins's Hunger Games series. (Here in Cincinnati, The Hunger Games is all the rage because it's the On the Same Page selection for this year with our public... Continue reading

Posted Apr 26, 2010 at The Review Revolution: Improving Culture through Kvetching

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Thanks to Michael Lewis, I Finally Understand Enough About the Financial Crisis to Be Outraged: A Review of "The Big Short"

Ever since the stock market went belly-up a year and a half ago, I've been trying (with considerable Girl Scout diligence, I might add) to understand why. I read Fool's Gold by Gillian Tett, which was over my head and... Continue reading

Posted Apr 18, 2010 at The Review Revolution: Improving Culture through Kvetching

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Faith and Doubt for Teens: A Review of Sara Zarr's "Once Was Lost"

One evening last fall, I stopped by Joseph-Beth Booksellers to pick up a couple of novels. As I headed past the event area to fetch them, an author who was doing a reading for about ten people looked up, met... Continue reading

Posted Apr 7, 2010 at The Review Revolution: Improving Culture through Kvetching

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Help for New Writers: A Plug for My "Writer's Market Guide to Getting Published"

Does it count as shameless self-promotion if your name isn't on the front cover of the book you're trying to plug? I don't think so! So here goes. Writer's Digest Books, which is part of F+W Media here in Cincinnati,... Continue reading

Posted Mar 24, 2010 at The Review Revolution: Improving Culture through Kvetching

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Mar 15, 2010

Mennonite in a Little Black Dress: Rhoda Janzen's Memoir of Going Home

When I worked at Publishers Weekly, my mailbox was constantly filling up with people’s therapeutic memoirs of recovering from conservative religions. These writers had left evangelicalism, Orthodox Judaism, Mormonism, Christian Science, you name it. All of these memoirs had a... Continue reading

Posted Mar 14, 2010 at The Review Revolution: Improving Culture through Kvetching

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Yo, Glenn Beck! Stop Hijacking the Mormon Faith

This morning, I read with delight Phil Barlow's comments in the New York Times, about how Glenn Beck's remarks against social justice do not represent the heart of Mormonism. I was (as ever) inspired by Phil's example; he is one... Continue reading

Posted Mar 12, 2010 at The Review Revolution: Improving Culture through Kvetching

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The Science of Parenting: A Review of "Nurture Shock"

When I was about twelve years old, my mother told me something that helped me to define myself: I was not a quitter. The context of this comment was that I had just returned home, despondent, and flopped myself huffily... Continue reading

Posted Feb 19, 2010 at The Review Revolution: Improving Culture through Kvetching

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Playing Video Games with God: A Conversation with Craig Detweiler on Gaming and Religion

The coolest part of my job is acquiring interesting new books about cutting-edge developments in religion. So I was especially excited when theologian/filmmaker/author Craig Detweiler approached me a little over a year ago with an idea for Halos and Avatars,... Continue reading

Posted Feb 8, 2010 at The Review Revolution: Improving Culture through Kvetching

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Why Good Editors Earn Their Keep: A Review of “The Girl Who Played with Fire”

Sophomore efforts rarely surpass their debut predecessors, and this sequel to the absorbing thriller The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo suffers from the usual sophomore slump. What continues to be most compelling, if over-the-top unrealistic, is the titular character of... Continue reading

Posted Jan 17, 2010 at The Review Revolution: Improving Culture through Kvetching

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The Stuff of Melodrama: A Review of "The Piano Teacher"

I've been reading a good deal of fiction lately -- at some point I'll post reviews of all these books, perhaps in my next life. But, FWIW, here's my take on The Piano Teacher: it's good, but somewhat overhyped. This... Continue reading

Posted Jan 12, 2010 at The Review Revolution: Improving Culture through Kvetching

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Bite the Hand That Reads You: "The Historian" Comes to Audio!

Got a long drive coming up for the holidays? Then treat yourself to this 2005 armchair-traveling adventure story, cut down to size in a spiffy new abridged audio version. Think of it as Rick Steves meets Bram Stoker with a... Continue reading

Posted Dec 15, 2009 at The Review Revolution: Improving Culture through Kvetching

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Holding Up "Half the Sky": Why You Should Read This Book

Before we talk about Half the Sky, which has been featured lately on NPR, Oprah, and the authors' own New York Times, here are a few opening questions for you. 1. Which of the following three methods has proven most... Continue reading

Posted Dec 10, 2009 at The Review Revolution: Improving Culture through Kvetching

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The Trouble with Twibles

Wow, I take a break from blogging and the whole Typepad interface changes. Who am I? What's my name again? In the weeks--er, months--since I last blogged, I've started a new book project called the Twible (rhymes with Bible). In... Continue reading

Posted Dec 4, 2009 at The Review Revolution: Improving Culture through Kvetching

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