cover image A TREASURY OF GREAT CHRISTIAN STORIES

A TREASURY OF GREAT CHRISTIAN STORIES

, . . Baker, $19.99 (224pp) ISBN 978-0-8010-1223-5

Religious story collections have been a welcome staple in the CBA market, but this digest is disappointingly lukewarm. The compilation kicks off powerfully, with an excerpt from C.S. Lewis's The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe followed several chapters later by a delightful sampling from "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever." Fortosis does a fine job writing brief introductions that give the reader some context for each selection. He scores points by including enjoyable, lesser-known pieces such as "The Pineapple Story," by Otto Koning, as well as the poignant classic "Where Love Is, God Is," by Leo Tolstoy, and the beautiful, questioning "Tim," by contemporary writer Philip Gulley. But these are the bright spots. There's a less-than-satisfying contemporary retelling of "Pilgrim's Progress," and some rather dull selections, like "Concerning Lemons." With the wealth of quality classic and contemporary Christian literature to draw from, it's inexcusable to advance multiple offerings from a single author; William Barton alone has four. Any of Fortosis's subhead categories, such as "Childhood Simplicities," might have been better fleshed out as whole books, rather than having selections that meander all over the literary landscape. Although the idea of a collection of classic Christian stories is promising (if not terribly original), this anthology will make readers sigh over lost opportunities. (Aug.)