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Official Review: Confessions of the Heart by Canaa L. Lee

Posted: 26 Jan 2018, 09:03
by kimmyschemy06
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Confessions of the Heart" by Canaa L. Lee.]
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3 out of 4 stars
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Confessions of the Heart is an enlightening book by Canaa L. Lee and is written in hopes that her story will help others understand their need for the Savior.

The book is a collection of poems and letters written by the author in addition to a few narratives recounting her transformation from being a woman of the world to being a woman of God. The poems depict her emotions about certain people and issues including the bitterness and anger she felt towards her father, her feelings about racial discrimination, and her portrayal of what and how a man should be. The letters are addressed to various people that played significant roles in her life like her father, her mother, her sister, a friend, the pastor who was instrumental to her conversion, and a man she met on a Singles cruise.

The author tells about the unpleasant treatment she received from her father, the criticisms, the insults and the name-callings, and how no matter how well she did in school she just could not make him proud of her. This issue with her father, which started when she was young, strongly affected her relationship with the men she dated as an adult. But most importantly, it hindered her relationship with God. Her father’s death changed something in her and made her reevaluate herself. She realized what really matters the most, not money nor career, but getting married, establishing a family and a better relationship with God.

The best part of the book, for me, is the apparent passion and enthusiasm of the author not only to her mission of reaching out to people to share the good news but to Jesus Christ, the Savior, himself. Her conviction is awe-inspiring and her intensity is captivating. Her letters convey messages of love, forgiveness and hope of salvation through Christ Jesus.

However, though her messages are apparently written with the best of intentions, other readers may find them overzealous, preachy and even, at some points, judgmental. Moreover, the book may sound more like a collection of sermons than ‘an intimate account’ of her life as the author states in the introduction of the book and the purpose of which is to evangelize and not simply to share her story.

Furthermore, the description of her father is, somehow, ambiguous and so is the description of her relationship with him. Though the author mentions ‘criticisms, insults and name-calling’ the book lacks any detailed account of a specific incident to warrant the pain and bitterness she describes, and that makes it difficult for the readers to connect with the author, empathize with her, and understand the resentment she felt towards her father. Finally, there are too many noticeable errors within the entire book like incorrect usage (like claimed instead of claiming) and mostly typos including missing words, repeated words and wrong use of words.

I, therefore, rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. I recommend it to readers who enjoy Christian books. They may find it inspiring and enlightening.

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Confessions of the Heart
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Re: Official Review: Confessions of the Heart by Canaa L. Lee

Posted: 31 Jan 2018, 08:28
by kandscreeley
I just can't get into poetry. I don't know why, but I've always had problems with it. Still, this sounds like a worthy book. I'm glad that you were able to enjoy it!

Re: Official Review: Confessions of the Heart by Canaa L. Lee

Posted: 31 Jan 2018, 09:15
by Sahani Nimandra
Not only, Jesus Christ but any religious teacher will always be close to anyone's heart if that person is truly pious. I like her journey of life, we all have our own troubled pasts but the author was audacious enough to speak it out loud. Thanks for the review!

Re: Official Review: Confessions of the Heart by Canaa L. Lee

Posted: 31 Jan 2018, 09:18
by RebeccasReading
I'm not a fan of Christian books, so this one is definitely not for me. Thank you for the review! I'm glad you enjoyed it!

Re: Official Review: Confessions of the Heart by Canaa L. Lee

Posted: 31 Jan 2018, 10:13
by Katerina Katapodi
This Book ''Confession'' of Canaa Lee, is a typical book of feelings and tenderness. In fact, human feelings, and feelings of Love to God which is a HIgher type of Love. The book describes in most successful way, how feelings in a Love relationship, can soften our soul and heart, being driven by God, and this is mutual in this case, Love of God to Him and his LOVE to us respectively.
The book also points out, mainly in the section of ''Poems'', how a true relationship of Love between a man and a woman, can lead to Thanking of God, and also how love we get from others, (here woman from a man and vice versa), can lead us to highest level of conscience ad creativity. It's the kind of Love, that develops our relation in a positive way, and just does not make us suffer. Also, the variety of bad facts in our life can lead us to address to God, oand also GOD knows our needs better than us, and sends us His help first! There's also notion of the unpredictable, here in book, for example, the illness and death of mother or hero, and the bad behavior of her father, and how a struggle in life, can make us find love somewhere else, here, the partner of hero, starting with exchange of emails, and then poems..By all means, God may give torture to humans, but He also gives Remedy (ies). And also how our personality, of bad and good experience is shaped accordingly.
Well written, touch feeling book...

Re: Official Review: Confessions of the Heart by Canaa L. Lee

Posted: 31 Jan 2018, 10:51
by kimmyschemy06
kandscreeley wrote: 31 Jan 2018, 08:28 I just can't get into poetry. I don't know why, but I've always had problems with it. Still, this sounds like a worthy book. I'm glad that you were able to enjoy it!
It was enlightening and enjoyable.

Re: Official Review: Confessions of the Heart by Canaa L. Lee

Posted: 31 Jan 2018, 10:52
by kimmyschemy06
Sahani Nimandra wrote: 31 Jan 2018, 09:15 Not only, Jesus Christ but any religious teacher will always be close to anyone's heart if that person is truly pious. I like her journey of life, we all have our own troubled pasts but the author was audacious enough to speak it out loud. Thanks for the review!
Yes, she is one brave woman to have bared her soul so that other people will learn from her experiences.

Re: Official Review: Confessions of the Heart by Canaa L. Lee

Posted: 31 Jan 2018, 10:55
by kimmyschemy06
Katerina Katapodi wrote: 31 Jan 2018, 10:13 This Book ''Confession'' of Canaa Lee, is a typical book of feelings and tenderness. In fact, human feelings, and feelings of Love to God which is a HIgher type of Love. The book describes in most successful way, how feelings in a Love relationship, can soften our soul and heart, being driven by God, and this is mutual in this case, Love of God to Him and his LOVE to us respectively.
The book also points out, mainly in the section of ''Poems'', how a true relationship of Love between a man and a woman, can lead to Thanking of God, and also how love we get from others, (here woman from a man and vice versa), can lead us to highest level of conscience ad creativity. It's the kind of Love, that develops our relation in a positive way, and just does not make us suffer. Also, the variety of bad facts in our life can lead us to address to God, oand also GOD knows our needs better than us, and sends us His help first! There's also notion of the unpredictable, here in book, for example, the illness and death of mother or hero, and the bad behavior of her father, and how a struggle in life, can make us find love somewhere else, here, the partner of hero, starting with exchange of emails, and then poems..By all means, God may give torture to humans, but He also gives Remedy (ies). And also how our personality, of bad and good experience is shaped accordingly.
Well written, touch feeling book...
Thank you very much for sharing your thoughts about the book. It is, indeed, an inspiring and enlightening read.

Re: Official Review: Confessions of the Heart by Canaa L. Lee

Posted: 31 Jan 2018, 16:48
by Thomas1
The book titled from the heart is really a hearty confession. One thing I notice in the author is that she hated her father's disciplinary measures and tends to take it as hatred. The interesting aspect is she finally knew God.

Re: Official Review: Confessions of the Heart by Canaa L. Lee

Posted: 31 Jan 2018, 18:09
by Lg_99
Since I am not into books dealing with religious topics, this does not seem like the book for me. Nonetheless, I am glad you found the story so fascinating. Thank you for the review.

Re: Official Review: Confessions of the Heart by Canaa L. Lee

Posted: 31 Jan 2018, 23:26
by kimmyschemy06
Lg_99 wrote: 31 Jan 2018, 18:09 Since I am not into books dealing with religious topics, this does not seem like the book for me. Nonetheless, I am glad you found the story so fascinating. Thank you for the review.
Yes, this is an enlightening book and I enjoyed reading it. Thank you for your comment.

Re: Official Review: Confessions of the Heart by Canaa L. Lee

Posted: 01 Feb 2018, 00:58
by kimmyschemy06
Thomas1 wrote: 31 Jan 2018, 16:48 The book titled from the heart is really a hearty confession. One thing I notice in the author is that she hated her father's disciplinary measures and tends to take it as hatred. The interesting aspect is she finally knew God.
True, and apparently, she wants to share to the readers the joy of knowing God.

Re: Official Review: Confessions of the Heart by Canaa L. Lee

Posted: 01 Feb 2018, 04:32
by BookHausJ
Hope the Author were able to forgive her father before it die. Anyway, this is a good book to read. Hope one day I were able to read this. You have a very nice review. Thank you!

Re: Official Review: Confessions of the Heart by Canaa L. Lee

Posted: 01 Feb 2018, 05:01
by kimmyschemy06
BookHausJ wrote: 01 Feb 2018, 04:32 Hope the Author were able to forgive her father before it die. Anyway, this is a good book to read. Hope one day I were able to read this. You have a very nice review. Thank you!
Thank you. I also hope you get a chance to read it.

Re: Official Review: Confessions of the Heart by Canaa L. Lee

Posted: 03 Feb 2018, 01:13
by Roggyrus
This book could be a personal journey of the author towards enlightenment. When moved by the spirit to write, anyone could become passionate and zealous. It seems apparent that the experiences the author has gone through were so moving and uplifting. Those who seek enlightenment then would profit from reading this book. Thanks for the informative review. I find this book too personal for me, it lives to its title Confessions of the Heart and it comes on to me as though reading somebody's diary.