Rating: 
Summary: A Beating Heart
Review: Let's see...here are the reasons I'm not qualified to write this review: 1) I'm not female, 2) I'm not Jewish, and 3) I'm not Episcopalian. With those least common denominators addressed, I must emphasize the one trait I share with Winner. (Besides the love of books!) I, too, desire strongly for honesty and depth in my relationship with God. As a disenfranchised evangelical, I also hope to remove the trappings of religion and meet God.Lauren Winner accomplishes many things in "Girl Meets God." She opens the Jewish world to us. She paves the way to a liturgical Christianity. She displays faults and grace and respect all on the same pallet. Through the course of a year and her thoughts and experiences in regards to her faith, Winner sheds light into darkness. Her greatest accomplishment is giving us all hope that we can meet God as well, that he is not so far from any one of us. At times, her words move us to tears, other times to laughter and a wry smile. But underneath the humor and pathos lies a beating heart that reaches for the depths of Jesus and his desire for relationship. Indeed, if "Girl Meets God," then Boy can meet God. That's good news. And this is a wonderful book.
Rating: 
Summary: Return to Intellectualism
Review: This book was recommended to me by a friend a few months ago, and I came across it serendipitously at my bookstore. I was eager to read it after looking at the cover's synopsis, and the catchy title. I was so very impressed with Miss Winner's knowledge of language, sacred texts, etc. She completely opens her soul in this book, and it was fascinating to see inside someone like that. I highly enjoyed the word origins, and the history of holidays (both Christian and Jewish), and her commentary on every aspect of spirituality. Many characters were introduced in the book, and I had a hard time remembering everyone when they were mentioned again dozens of pages later. I did feel a little disjointed with all the skipping around, things did not come in chronological order. One minute she is teaching class at shul, then she is at Oxford, already converted into Christianity, steeped in Anglican teaching. I do appreciate the great amount of knowledge and intellect that Lauren Winner brings to the field. After reading this book, it is as if you are good friends with her, and you know so much about her life and her daily struggles. Although the ending is abrupt, I liked how she returned to certain parts of her upbringing, and built up her library again. I look forward to other books by Lauren Winner.
Rating:
Summary: Am I Jewish, Christian or both?
Review: As someone who is also Jewish and from an orthodox background I can completely relate to Lauren's journey. She's funny and insightful and her book deals with some of the major questions facing those of us in the jewish community who embrace Jesus: am I Jewish? Christian? Both? Where do I worship? How do I tell my family and my friends? How do I deal with being cut off from the Jewish community and missing things like shabbos dinners and shavout?
Becoming a Christian is like stepping into a totally foriegn world and Lauren does a lot to make sense of this world and find the parallels between our two sides so that they can be brought together.
Even for someone who isn't a "Jew for Jesus," this book is a great read and both inspiring and comforting as you get to walk with Lauren while she questions and discovers more about her new faith. I feel like I already know her. : ) She's a great writer (which one would hope after learning how much reading she's done!).
Rating:
Summary: Interesting Spiritual Journey...
Review: As someone baptized as an infant in the Episcopal Church and who made a twenty year study of Judaism beginning in high school, I read this book with interest and can relate to much of Lauren Winner's spiritual autobiography--in a reverse fashion, of course. I also disagree with some of her views. In my 40s, I sought out a Reform Jewish rabbi and studied for conversion. As I studied with him, and as I converted, my love of Judaism grew. But it didn't last--a phase that Lauren correctly identifies as sometimes fleeting after the initial stage of conversion (I noticed she experienced it twice.) I don't say this to disregard the Jewish faith. I created some wonderful bonds, but eventually found myself longing for the familiar--the non-Hebrew laced service (a wish for the venacular.) The Jewish rituals are similar in nature to those in the Episcopal Church, as the author notes, but it is because anyone with basic theological knowledge knows that Jesus (or Joshua, as he probably was known as a Jew) did not set out to create Christianity. That came later, as did the Episcopal Church. Unlike Lauren, when I converted, I could not see myself as a follower of Orthodox Judaism, even if there had been an Orthodox shul close by (there isn't.) In my part of the South, Jewish congregations are most often Reform, and sometimes made up of some converts, but also Jews raised as Orthodox or Conservative members of their faith. I recommend the book to those on a spiritual journey. I began reading it as I decided to return to the Episcopal Church, but have no regrets about my spiritual journey through Judaism and it was not an easy choice to "abandon my conversion." Like some who have reviewed this book, it will be interesting to see if at some point, given her current age, Lauren Winner decides to return to her Jewish faith, as a follower of the Orthodox or some other branch of Judaism. Unlike the author however, I have never felt drawn to the evangelical side of the Episcopal church and doubt I ever will. But that is what is wonderful about this particular branch of Christianity: diversity.
Rating: 
Summary: Spiritual autobiography
Review: After the first couple of chapters I loved this book. Very reminiscent of Ann Lamott, it traces Winner's conversion from Orthodox Judaism to Christianity. Seldom have I encountered a book I enjoyed more. Her eccentric uninhibited style, jumping from subject to subject, Judaism to Christianity I find fascinating and affirming.
Rating:
Summary: when your friends tell you to read it, listne to them
Review: After three different people suggested I read this book, I finally bought it. They were all right. Not only is this book beautfully written, it is honest. Lonliness, self-pity, sin, frustration -- Lauren puts it all out there. One of things hat makes it unique, also, is that Lauren is just really brainy, and doesn't hide it. She doesn't show off, but slips her historicla and theological knowledge in lightly -- like when she talks about the history of Billy Graham's ministry, or when she analyzes different names for the Lord's supper. The thing she left me wanting to know was how, as a Christian and a modern woman, she deals with feminism. But maybe that will be in her next book.
Rating:
Summary: OK So Far
Review: I was eager to read this book after seeing several enthusiastic reviews, but at about the midpoint I'm feeling pretty lukewarm. Winner certainly doesn't have Anne Lamott's tart humor and, for someone versed in Talmudic study, she's disappointingly superficial. Her descriptions of Orthodox Judaism leave out most of its rich textures, and her attempt to distinguish between Evangelicals and fundamentalists is almost unintelligble. That said, her journey is intriguing and her writing is at least engaging.
Rating:
Summary: Mallocups for Lauren
Review: I started the book with eagerness, got dismayed because it looked like another literary attempt to make Jesus cool, got hopeful with ex-boyfriends words "Being a Christian means being a pariah, Lauren, it means not fitting in anywhere in this world", and really did find the messiness of Jesus, not the coolness, in this book. You can't get more messy than when she wanted to correct one man's impression of her conversion to Christianity: "No, no, I'm not one of them. I'm one of you. I believe that Jesus Christ is Lord, but I also wear fishnet stockings and drink single malt Scotch." I laughed hard at that, it delighted me and scared me, too, because I thought, here it comes, she's trying to make Jesus hip and cool...but she didn't. I loved it that her conversion wasn't tidy, still isn't. I love it that stuff did not get easy, but different. I did have an impression that it boiled down to a swapping of liturgy for liturgy, but then I discovered that wasn't a bad thing because books like these are making me see Jesus in those liturgies. Though I'm not familiar with Episcopalian rites, or many rites at all, I have been kicking around this idea of formal confession and I think Lauren, or God, is on to something. "Confess your sins that you may be healed", it says somewhere in James. That's huge. What really knocked me back is her forthrightness about the Holy Spirit, tongues and all. That's practically ..., and it delighted me. The only axe I'd grind is her very hip comment about the Mitford books and the Left Behind books. I haven't read any of them, but get unhappy when I see smart people roll their eyes at holy puzzle pieces. From Kushner, and I'll never stop quoting it: "Everyone carries with them at least one and probably many pieces to someone else's puzzle. Sometimes they know it. Sometimes they don't. And when you present your piece which is worthless to you, to another, whether you know it or not, whether they know it or not, you are a messenger from the Most High." I finished Lauren's book, took down At Home in Mitford from my shelf, and thought, wow. This was a puzzle piece. Left Behind stuff may be puzzle pieces. Girl Meets God is on the same plane, then, if it becomes a puzzle piece. A molecule short of holy. This was a glorious, to-be-shared puzzle piece. It's one of Those books for me, and Those are precious few. It's testimony, and ho, the power of testimony. Lauren has shown that Testimony is malleable and grows with you and is like salvation which happens every day in the life of the Believer. I hope she will ever see the trade-off, that for the giving of herself, the courageousness of holding out her testimony, she will receive a dazzling return. Way to go, Idaho. I'd share a pack of Mallocups with you, and this is unprecedented, would let you keep the points card. Even if it was fifty.
Rating:
Summary: An evangelical mold-breaker
Review: Lauren Winner is not your typical evangelical Christian (if there is such a thing as "typical" anyway). For one thing, the path that brought her to evangelical Christianity passes directly through orthodox Judaism. Therefore, her insights in comparing and contrasting Christianity and Judaism are extremely enlightening. Scholars have debated over the years about whether Christianity is a continuation (or "progression") of Judaism or whether it is a clean break, a radical departure, if you will. Lauren's experience indicates, in a sense, that it's both: to convert to Christianity she had to "divorce" herself from Judaism, yet her Jewish background vigorously informs her Christianity. For this reason, she chose to join the Episcopal church, since it's liturgy seemed to be more on the same wavelength as Jewish ritual. I found this aspect of the book to be the most educational, and hopefully Lauren will someday publish a scholarly evaluation of the Jewish/Christian dichotomy. The fact that she is a scholar, operating in the heady world of esoteric academia, and swam against the skeptical tide that seems to challenge faith at every turn, is quite admirable, almost remarkable in this day and age. Yet instrumental in her conversion was Jan Karon's unpretentious Mitford series, which helps bring Lauren's testimony within reach of the most humble seeker. (Just because I personally found the Mitford books unremittingly dull doesn't mean I don't appreciate the way the Spirit uses them to bring people to faith). Another way Lauren breaks the mold is the almost shocking openness with which she puts her life on display. That's not a unique thing among Christian authors (such as Anne Lamott), but it's rare if not unique among self-identified evangelicals. The personal quirks that may be off-putting to some (like her tattoos or her unshaven legs!) are endearing to others, and she's not afraid to share failures reluctantly whispered in a confessional with her readership, including the taboo area of sex. But part of the reward of reading a brutally honest spiritual autobiography is the feeling that you really get to know the author in a personal manner, even having never met her, which is why I continually refer to her in this review by her first name. I almost feel like a Lauren's personal friend and confidant, although we will probably never meet face-to-face. Lauren indeed breaks the mold, and there is enough here to offend almost everybody: Jew, Christian, conservative and liberal alike. But it is those who break the mold (C.S. Lewis, Simone Weil, and Thomas Merton, for just three examples) who have the most impact that lasts even beyond their lifetimes. This book is, hopefully, only the beginning volume in Lauren's spiritual autobiography. The world will hear a lot more from Lauren Winner in the future.
Rating:
Summary: The most beautiful writing - a feast for the mind
Review: Someday when I am a big girl, I want to write like Lauren F. Winner.
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