Rating: 
Summary: Read this over a long weekend...
Review: Read this book over a long weekend, or on a night before you'll be allowed to sleep in: I make that suggestion becuase I couldn't put Girl Meets God down. I began it at around 8 in the evening, and was still reading at 3 am!! Lauren Winner is on a spiritual search. Here we follow her to Memphis, New York, and England, in and out of synogogues and churhces, and finally to an Anglican chapel in Cambridge, England where she finds her spiritual home. She's not preachy, and doesn't insist that her way is the only way -- instead, she just invites us to come along on her journey. Many books I've read about Christianity make spiritual searching seem out of my reach -- this book resonated with me becuase I understood that the author was just a regular young woman, like you or me. If you liked Kathleen Norris's The Cloister Walk, you'll definitely enjoy Girl Meets God. Just don't read it if you have to get up early!
Rating:
Summary: I really like this book!
Review: Simply said, this is a good read! If you are a Christian who is interested in learning about the roots of your faith - this is a very good place to start. Judaism and Christianity are so close yet so far away, and she expresses the beauty of this paradox in her conversion eloquently. Well done Lauren Winner! I can't wait to read Mudhouse Sabbath!!
Rating: 
Summary: A Winner
Review: The book cover deserves five stars, and the inside of the book comes close to matching it. Girl Meets God was certainly a good book and is one which I will recommend to others. However, it's not quite one that will take a prestigeous place on the table by my bed.
The book is basically the story of young woman's journey from Orthodox Judaism to Christianity. It's not really a chronological narrative. Instead, Winner sets the book up as progression through a year of the Christian journey, and she reflects back on significant moments and insights that have to do with a time of year such as Lent or Easter. For me, this set-up seemed like the strength and weakness of the work. The way she reflects back on her past experiences makes those experiences more immediate and meaningful, and this organization seems less contrived than would a chronological narrative. However, this also makes the book somewhat uneven. Winner, for instance, sometimes will follow a compelling story with a fairly prosaic reading of some scriptural story. Sometimes Winner herself seems to be evident through her writing, but sometimes she seems too hidden. There are some really fine moments of writing and some excellent moments of insight, but there are also a few times when it is evident that this is first time writer. Of course, it's quite an achievement that most of the book seems like the work of an Annie Lamotte or Kathleen Norris(if not an Annie Dillard). Overall, this is a worthwhile read, and I'll be looking out for more works by Winner in the future.
Rating:
Summary: She Has Much To Say!
Review: The memoir of a fresh new writer and the story of her pull towards God that had defined her first through Orthodox Judaism and then through Christianity. Covering the full range of emotions from lighthearted, to rage, to reflective Winner delivers this story in a sophisticated voice reminiscent of Annie Dillard or Anne Lamott. Although naturally I was initially wary of reading an autobiography of a 20something (I mean how much can she really have to say!) I quickly became engaged by this touching story of faiths lost and found.
Rating: 
Summary: Ego-driven confusion
Review: There's a fair amount of truth to the comments of the reviewer below. Having noticed this paperback recommended in the NY Times a couple of weeks ago, the story sounded so sensational and yet well written that I had to get a copy right away. There's tremendous emotion and honesty in this book but I suspect it has much more value to evangelical Christians than anyone else. Had Ms. Winner been raised an Orthodox Jew or at least spent most of her adult life as an Orthodox Jew her story would have held much more meaning for me. As an academic and clearly an overachiever, there's no doubt she easily absorbed all the Orthodox Jewish laws and holidays in a fashion where she can write about them and compare them to Christianity in a way most Christians would find impressive. Yet the fact remains that Orthodox Judaism was an exceptionally brief but passionate fashion for her and I find it incredible that she went to great lengths to avoid Orthodox Jewish friends after her conversion yet had no problems as a writer taking advantage of her visit with Orthodox Judaism to write a book that would sell. The hypocrisy wasnt in the conversion, that there is no question was heartfelt, rather it was in marketing herself as a former Orthodox Jew.
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