The Case for Heaven by Lee Strobel

 307 pages / 8 hrs, 31 mins

"Investigative author Lee Strobel offers a lively and compelling study into one of the most provocative topics of our day. 

"Through fascinating conversations with respected scholars and experts--a neuroscientist from Cambridge University, a researcher who analyzed a thousand accounts of near-death experiences, and an atheist-turned-Christian-philosopher--Strobel offers compelling reasons for why death is not the end of our existence but a transition to an exciting world to come. Looking at biblical accounts, Strobel unfolds what awaits us after we take our last breath and answers questions like:

• Is there an afterlife?
• What is heaven like?
• How will we spend our time there?
• And what does it mean to see God face to face?"               (from the publisher)

Excellent study of the myriad beliefs about the afterlife. I give it five out of five stars.

Fallen by Lauren Kate

Fallen by Lauren Kate - 480 pages
Book 1 in the Fallen series

Luce Price is immediately drawn to brooding bad boy Daniel Grigori on her first day at her new boarding school in Georgia.  He wants to have nothing to do with her and she will stop at nothing to find out why.  Soon the connection between them becomes a danger to them both as Luce finds out the true nature of her destiny and her role in the continuing war between Heaven and Hell.

This is gothic romance teen paranormal fiction with heavy emphasis on the romance.  I found Luce to be a little too much of a damsel in distress without true agency for me and I won't be continuing with the series.

The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis

The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis -- 160 pages

The Great Divorce is a small book full of very large thoughts. C.S. Lewis writes a hypothetical story of a bus that takes people of hell to heaven, but when they get to heaven, it is so real that they are just ghosts and everything about the world hurts. They are told that if they stay they will adapt and become real, just like heaven is, but each one finds an excuse to leave and go back to hell, where it is not real, but it is comfortable, at least to a certain degree.

I found the Great Divorce to be thought-provoking and entertaining. C.S. Lewis certainly put a lot of thought into this book. It is also gripping enough that it is my "travel book" or the book that I always read on road trips. It is a book I never tire of.

The First Phone Call From Heaven by Mitch Albom

The First Phone Call From Heaven by Mitch Albom, 326 pages

If you have read Mitch Albom's books before, you know they are very inspirational reads.  Mitch Albom's books really touch your heart. This one takes place in Coldwater, MI.  Several of the town's people are receiving phone calls from loved ones in heaven.  When one of those people reveals to the church she has received calls from her deceased mother, a local reporter is sent to cover the story.  What follows is a media frenzy.  All this coincides with Sully Harding returning to his hometown after serving time in prison for a horrific accident that through an odd series of events caused the death of his young wife and mother of their young son, Jules.  When Jules starts to believe he can talk to his mother in heaven, Sully seeks to prove this nonsense is all a hoax giving people false hope.  What ensues is a twist of fate that gives everyone hope and faith that there really is a heaven.

Hallowed - Cynthia Hand

Hallowed by Cynthia Hand - 403 Pages

Torn between her love for her boyfriend Tucker and her complicated feelings about the role she seems destined to play, sixteen-year-old  part-angel Clara Gardner races to decipher a new vision that could signify the end for someone close to her.

Unearthly - Cynthia Hand

Unearthly by Cynthia Hand - 435 Pages

Sixteen-year-old Clara Gardner's purpose as an angel-blood begins to manifest itself, forcing her family to pull up stakes and move to Jackson, Wyoming, where she learns that danger and heartbreak come with her powers.