1,000 Days by Jonathan Falwell

I'm not into nonfiction, but occasionally I come across a book of the genre that I truly enjoy. 1,000 Days is a book that focuses on the later life of Jesus Christ, i.e. the story told in the Gospels that takes place throughout a three-year period, or roughly one thousand days.

Jonathan Falwell, son and successor to the renowned Jerry Falwell, is an intelligent and resourceful wordsmith, and he expertly crafted a masterpiece. Each of the fifteen chapters centers on a separate subject, moving chronologically in the order of events that happened or the points that Jesus made. Nonfiction is not something I read easily, but 1,000 Days held my interest enough to get me all the way through. Falwell studied parts of the Bible his entire life, as his father was a pastor before him, and he's visited most of the locations Jesus traveled. Few would be as qualified to write this book as he.

Many of the chapters start with stories; some well-known, perhaps from a classic novel or a TV series. They are used very well as metaphorical examples of whatever the chapter is going to talk about, and though the transition between storytelling and discussing history is not always perfect, both aspects of the book are quite intriguing and keep the reader's attention. The stories I had been already familiar with contributed to my admiration of the book.

1,000 Days does have its downsides. Almost all of the scripture quotations are from the New King James version of the Bible, and though many people are fascinated by the old language, it often makes points made in this book hard to understand. In addition, though the editing and quality were very admirable throughout the book, the last 2-3 chapters seemed as though they hadn't gone through their final draft of editing. I can say, however, that these downsides did not lessen the fact that this book is a great read.

In the end, I would highly recommend this piece. 1,000 Days is full of great and valid points, and it knows how to generally make a reader interested. It forces the reader to reflect a lot on their own life and really think about who they are in relation to Christ. As I read through the book, I often found myself wanting to recommend it to people (a pastor, a school friend, my mother, etc.). I was torn between giving it a four star rating or a five star rating, but since there is no "four-and-a-half star" rating on consumer websites, I rounded it to the nearest whole number. 1,000 Days receives five stars.

1,000 Days was publicly released on March 13, 2012.
This book was sent to me for free from Thomas Nelson Publishing. http://www.BookSneeze.com/

For additional content related to the book, check out http://1000days.trbc.org/.