Book Review, Tour and Giveaway: Hear No Evil by Matthew Paul Turner

 

Hear No Evil: My Story of Innocence, Music and the Holy Ghost by Matthew Paul Turner

Publisher: Waterbrook Press

Publish Date: 16 February 2010

Trade Paperback, 240 pages

My Review:

I love music and that is why when I was offered this book I jumped at the chance.  Through my reviewing I have been branching out and non-fiction is one of the areas I have branched out in.  I have to say I did not know what to expect when I started reading this book.  However when I started, I could hardly put it down.  Why you might ask?  Well here's several reasons:

Mr. Turner has an amazing sense of humor.  He uses irony and sarcasm and wit through the book and I honestly would find  myself laughing out loud and then sharing a passage of the book with  my husband.  My husband grew up Free-Will Baptist in the south and from what I read to him, he could really relate.  As a child growing up in the church, I could too.  From references throughout the book, Mr. Turner is my age and I found it so easy to relate to him, but I think if you are 18 or 55 you will find this book easy to relate to also.  Mr. Turner just writes in an easy manner, you feel like you are talking with a funny friend more than reading a book.

I liked reading about how music worked in the author's life.  From an early age when he started singing in his church to now living in Nashville, music was there with him every step of the way.  I also liked seeing how music brought about good in his life.  It's such a positive book with statements about music and Christianity and finding your way as a Christian.

Hear No Evil is uplifting, it's inspiring and most of all it's very entertaining.  Mr. Turner has done a wonderful job with this book and I look forward to reading other titles by him.

Favorite Quote (spoken by a lady the author went to church with when he was a child, read this with the humor intended, not to be taken seriously as a statement against music by the author):

"Did you know Satan was once heaven's musical director?  Look it up; it's in the book of Ezekiel.  Some pastors think that's why Lucifer uses rock' n' roll to help people find hell--because he was very musical.  Like an evil Mozart."

I don't rate non-fiction on my usual scale but suffice it to say that Hear No Evil is an excellent must-read book.

About the Book:

Every Life Has a Soundtrack. 

If you’ve ever had the opening bars of a song transport you back in time or remind you of a pivotal spiritual moment, Matthew Paul Turner’s honest—and frequently hilarious—musings will strike a chord. Straightforward and amusing, Hear No Evil is Turner’s “life soundtrack,” a compilation of engaging personal stories about how music—and music’s ability to transform—has played a key role in his spiritual life.

Groove along on his journey as young evangelical Turner attends forbidden contemporary Christian concerts, moves to “Music City” Nashville, and dreams of becoming the Michael Jackson of Christian music.

Cosmic and compelling, keen and funny, every page is a new encounter with the people, places, and experiences that have taught the music-editor-turned-author some new things about God, forced him out of his comfort zone, and introduced him to a fresh view of grace along the way.

"Matthew Paul Turner's wit and insight promise to keep the pages turning and the readers laughing." -- Kevin Max, singer/songwriter and founding member of DC Talk

About the Author:

Matthew Paul Turner is a blogger, speaker and author of The Coffeehouse Gospel, Provocative Faith, Beatitude: Relearning Jesus, the What You Didn’t Learn from Your Parents About… series, and several other popular books. He has written for Relevant, HomeLife, Christian Single magazines and was the former editor of CCM magazine. Matthew and his wife, Jessica, live in Nashville, Tennessee. He can be found online at www.matthewpaulturner.com.

FCC Disclaimer:

This book was provided to me by Waterbrook/Multinomah, a division of Random House for review and blog tour and one copy was provided to me for a giveaway.

All Amazon links on this blog do not make me money, something in the laws of NC prohibit NC residents from profiting from Amazon.com associates pages.