100 Book Challenge—Book #5: Joshua by Joseph F. Girzone

I started this book as a 6th grader in Sr. Ellen’s class. She loaned it to me, but I had to give it back before I finished it. I had wanted to finish reading it for some time and when I found it in the St. Vincent de Paul booth at UDCM 2011, I knew it was time.

I’m glad I did finally finish reading it. It’s not the best writing ever read and not as fulfilling as I would like, but it delivers a good message and certainly provides a lot to meditate over. The main character, Joshua, is actually Jesus (I’m not spoiling anything here, it’s pretty obvious from the beginning) and he is visiting a small town. The meditations over the Church and the clergy as well as religion in general make the book worth reading, although I find it frustrating that the author is so focused on the problems without giving us any suggestions for solutions. I was also frustrated because I feel like the author must have some personal problems with the Church in their background that they kept bringing in. The big problems that Joshua was talking about in the Church are not the issues that most people have with the Church and I was getting a bit annoyed by the end because the author was putting his agenda into Christ’s mouth (which is really never a good idea).

All things accounted for, I think it’s a good book, but not a perfect one. It’s worth reading if you have some spare time.