Rating: 
Summary: Winner's Thoughtful Book is a Captivating Read
Review: How does a woman passionate about the Jewish faith suddenly find Jesus? "I have spent my whole life...seeking God," writes Lauren Winner, and here, a 20-something, self-confessed "boy crazy, pointy-headed academic" shares the quirky path of her spiritual journey from Judaism to Christianity in this compelling book. As she unfolds her spiritual pilgrimage, she acknowledges "A literature scholar would say there are too many 'ruptures' in the 'narrative.' But she might also say that ruptures are the most interesting part of any text, that in the ruptures we learn something new." Her story, with all its "ruptures," makes for absorbing reading.As the child of a Reform Jewish father and a lapsed Southern Baptist mother, Winner grew up with both a Christmas tree and a menorah. Her parents raised her in the Jewish faith, and she details how she embraced Orthodox Judaism in college. "But, gradually my Judaism broke," she writes. Although Winner is a scholar, with degrees from Columbia and Cambridge universities, she found the spark for her conversion to Christianity in a surprising book: After reading AT HOME IN MITFORD by Jan Karon, "I thought, 'I want what they have,' " she admits somewhat abashedly. She found herself "courted by a very determined carpenter from Nazareth," one who haunted her dreams. This conversion, just several years after her former wholehearted conversion to Orthodox Judaism, caused some acquaintances to be skeptical that Christianity would stick: they wondered aloud if she would convert again to something else. And indeed Winner, like most honest Christians, finds that as much as she is at home now in her new faith, she is still plagued by doubt: "Sometimes, lately, I feel a sort of sinking staleness...this isn't working, I don't believe this Christian thing anymore, this is just some crazy fix I've been on...." But she also realizes about her Christianity that "How to fall in love is not, now, what I need to learn. What I need to learn, maybe what God wants me to learn, is the long grind after you've landed." It is in the "long grind" that Winner finds she cannot divorce Judaism, hard as she tries: giving away and selling her Jewish library, eating forbidden foods, trading in her Hebrew prayer book for the Episcopal BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER. When you convert, Winner writes, you lose all sorts of things: your vocabulary, your prayers, and many special relationships. As Winner tries to adapt to the Christian liturgical calendar, she finds her life still flowing in the rhythms of the Jewish holidays. Even as she gives away the trappings of her Jewish life, she finds she has not given up the way she sees the world, or the Jewish words she knew for God. With resolve, it seems, to master every aspect of her new faith, Winner grapples with all of its accoutrements: confession, giving up reading for Lent, finding a church, taking the Eucharist, trying to be chaste. She puzzles over the idea of "speaking in tongues"; struggles with prayer ("I have a hard time praying. It feels, usually, like a waste of time"). Most compelling are her clear-eyed observations of her own shortcomings as she grows in her Christianity and her willingness to be vulnerable with the reader. She refuses to sugarcoat her experiences; rather, she offers frank and perceptive commentary on how real faith --- Jewish or Christian --- looks, with all its bumps and bruises. As she plumbs the rituals and disciplines of both faiths, there is the unspoken invitation to Christians to examine the Jewish roots of their beliefs. Her rebuilding of her Jewish library metaphorically shows her burgeoning realization that she can welcome her Jewishness as it shapes how she sees Christianity, how she reads the Bible, how she thinks about Jesus --- and that this is the way forward. Winner's thoughtful book, full of the longing, doubt, humor and poignancy that can accompany a search for God, is a captivating read and builds bridges for dialogue for all readers, no matter what their faith. --- Reviewed by Cindy Crosby
Rating: 
Summary: Despite the title, this is a book for men as well...
Review: I was a bit skeptical about picking up a book with such a feminine title -- something called Girl Meets God, I thought, must have been written for college-aged women. It may well be that college-aged women love this book (I can see how they would, since so much of the author's spiritual quest took place during the college years), but I think readers like me, a middle-aged man, will love it to. Not only is the book captivatingly written, it is an eye-opening account of the relentless nature of the spiritual search. I both enjoyed this book, and felt frankly inspired by it. So, men, don't be put off by the title!!
Rating:
Summary: a book about a search
Review: I was inspired intellectually when I read this book. I am amazed at how a girl can grow up searching for God without being influenced by pop culture. Her main outlets in life were through church and reading even as a young girl. My opinion is that the author is someone very special and allows me to aspire to have more of her qualities.
Rating: 
Summary: Once I put it down, I couldn't pick it up again.
Review: I'm sorry, but this book was not good. At times pedantic and rambling (yet always self-absorbed), _Girl Meets God_ is a work that will leave you wanting to meet God, too--literally.
Rating:
Summary: excellent memoir about spiritual search
Review: In this memoir, Lauren Winner tells about her gradual conversion to Chrisitianity. What I loved about it was it's honesty. She shares her doubts and disbeliefs, as well as the happiness she finds in churches in New York and England. If you are put off by the Christian books that seem to have all the answers, you will love this refreshing story!!
Rating:
Summary: An appealing memoir...
Review: Lauren Winner has written an appealing memoir in "Girl Meets God." It is not, as some reviewers suggest, only of interest to evangelical Christians. I would describe my beliefs as skeptically agnostic but I still really enjoy spiritual memoirs. This book reminded me a bit of Anne Lamott's "Traveling Mercies." Both writers live in secular, intellectually driven communities but have committed wholeheartedly to a faith that many of their friends see as odd. While Lamott has hords of fans, I actually enjoyed Winner's writing more because she seems like a more level headed person. There is less egotism in her writing, even if it is slightly more bland. If you have grown tired of Lamott's narsissistic rantings, as I have, this might be the next step for you.
"Girl Meets God" is definately worth a read.
Rating:
Summary: Winsome
Review: Lauren Winner strikes me as the kind of person who could be the ultimate dinner guest. She's young and energetic, interested and interesting, together and a mess, mature and girlish, saint and sinner. For such a young lady she is incredibly well read and knows all kinds of things about all kinds of topics. If her writing style is any indication she has an abundance of charm, and she is opinionated enough to be provocative and self-effacing enough to be humble. This book is her tale of walking into Orthodox Judaism, out of it to Christianity, and her attempts to synthesize some elements of her Jewish background with her newfound faith in Christ. The story is valuable to Christians simply for the insight it gives into Judaism. Lauren was a convert to Judaism, she wasn't born in an orthodox Jewish household. Thus, she became an orthodox Jew by conviction, and through much study. She didn't merely adopt the ways of the Jewish faith in an unthinking manner, she studied it in depth and adopted it throughout the process of a long intellectual and spiritual struggle. A similar thing happened with her conversion to Christ. Through a period of study and a series of events she felt Christ calling her. As, little by little, she came to believe that Christ was real and that He had truly come in the flesh, she found herself irresistably drawn to Christ. None of us can ever escape our own biases when reading something and I can't escape mine in reading this account. Lauren came into the branch of Christianity known as the Episcopal Church. As one who is from the Reformed tradition, I would wish that in her journey to Christianity she had continued all the way to Geneva, and not stopped in London. I recoil at her use of icons in worship. She seems to me to rely too heavily on the Book of Common Prayer, and not the Bible. So, I doubt that I will wholeheartedly recommend this as an evangelistic tract, simply because she doesn't "speak my language." Yet, I do recommend it to the discerning reader of a wonderfully honest, earthy story of the struggles involved in one person's journey to faith. Also, one of the benefits of this book is that she is just so well read. She understands the nuances of the different evangelical subcultures, talks intelligently about historical events in the church and raises important theological topics. Although she doesn't always come down on my side of things she talks intelligentl about them all. If nothing else, this book is a testament to the value of reading in a person's life. She is very young and yet very well rounded, and this well-roundedness can only be explained by her voracious appetite for reading. One of my favorite anecdotes in the book is her story of how her mother used to have some kind of obligation she had to attend each week. Her mother would take Lauren, with her, give her $5.00 and send her to the pizza place next door and tell her to get something to eat. Trouble is, there was a bookstore right there to. So, Lauren says that she was faced with her weekly dilemma of whether or not to eat dinner or buy a book - I love it. It's a good book and I can enthusiastically recommend it, with the aforementioned caveats.
Rating:
Summary: Winsome
Review: Lauren Winner strikes me as the kind of person who could be the ultimate dinner guest. She's young and energetic, interested and interesting, together and a mess, mature and girlish, saint and sinner. For such a young lady she is incredibly well read and knows all kinds of things about all kinds of topics. If her writing style is any indication she has an abundance of charm, and she is opinionated enough to be provocative and self-effacing enough to be humble. This book is her tale of walking into Orthodox Judaism, out of it to Christianity, and her attempts to synthesize some elements of her Jewish background with her newfound faith in Christ. The story is valuable to Christians simply for the insight it gives into Judaism. Lauren was a convert to Judaism, she wasn't born in an orthodox Jewish household. Thus, she became an orthodox Jew by conviction, and through much study. She didn't merely adopt the ways of the Jewish faith in an unthinking manner, she studied it in depth and adopted it throughout the process of a long intellectual and spiritual struggle. A similar thing happened with her conversion to Christ. Through a period of study and a series of events she felt Christ calling her. As, little by little, she came to believe that Christ was real and that He had truly come in the flesh, she found herself irresistably drawn to Christ. None of us can ever escape our own biases when reading something and I can't escape mine in reading this account. Lauren came into the branch of Christianity known as the Episcopal Church. As one who is from the Reformed tradition, I would wish that in her journey to Christianity she had continued all the way to Geneva, and not stopped in London. I recoil at her use of icons in worship. She seems to me to rely too heavily on the Book of Common Prayer, and not the Bible. So, I doubt that I will wholeheartedly recommend this as an evangelistic tract, simply because she doesn't "speak my language." Yet, I do recommend it to the discerning reader of a wonderfully honest, earthy story of the struggles involved in one person's journey to faith. Also, one of the benefits of this book is that she is just so well read. She understands the nuances of the different evangelical subcultures, talks intelligently about historical events in the church and raises important theological topics. Although she doesn't always come down on my side of things she talks intelligentl about them all. If nothing else, this book is a testament to the value of reading in a person's life. She is very young and yet very well rounded, and this well-roundedness can only be explained by her voracious appetite for reading. One of my favorite anecdotes in the book is her story of how her mother used to have some kind of obligation she had to attend each week. Her mother would take Lauren, with her, give her $5.00 and send her to the pizza place next door and tell her to get something to eat. Trouble is, there was a bookstore right there to. So, Lauren says that she was faced with her weekly dilemma of whether or not to eat dinner or buy a book - I love it. It's a good book and I can enthusiastically recommend it, with the aforementioned caveats.
Rating: 
Summary: Well-written, but honestly, an Orthodox Jew?
Review: Lauren writes beautifully and her memoir reflects much of the angst of a 20-something year old. In an interview I read with her
online in one of the Christian magazines, Lauren says that she expects most Jewish people would not be supportive or expected readers of her book. I think she's right for very good reason. To be an Orthodox Jew for a few short years (18-21? 22?) and already lapsing at the end of those few years and allow a publicity machine to maximize the "drama" of an Orthodox Jewish convert is indeed something some of us find shameful.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book!
Review: Lauren's book is beautifully written. (she's an impeccable writer) She is so sincere and unpretentious that you feel as if you are living the journey with her. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the Jewish teachings and rituals that initially inspired her, and of her spiritual pilgrimage that culminated in her conversion to Christianity. (I must confess, however, that I hope one day to read of her final journey home to the Catholic Church. :)
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