Shine by Allison Allen



William Shakespeare once said, All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players." Along that line, Allison Allen uses her experience as an actor to relate acting to our role as Christians in the world through her new book, Shine. Allen relates how actors play roles on a stage to how many of us play roles in real life without becoming our true selves.

Allen shares personal stories and Biblical stories to encourage readers of Shine to becomes their real selves in Christ. Allen also uses a lot of stage terms and definitions and relates those to her life. She mixes her thoughts on living for Christ in with the information quite well leaving the reader with having learned a lot about both areas. Then, at the end of each chapter, she offers a Sparkler question or something to think about to apply that chapter to your life.

I enjoyed Shine from cover to cover. I have never done any acting but I found Allen's descriptions of what actors use for props, stage information, and roles they play to be very interesting in itself. Then relating those props and roles to real life made it even more interesting. As I have shared before on my blog reviews, my word for the year is delight. I especially found the chapters, "What's in a name? and "Spitting Out the Poison" to be helpful to me personally. I could see where I had taken on some names in my life that God no longer wanted me to wear as a new creature in Christ. I especially liked the verse at the start of the chapter, Isaiah 62:4 where God no longer calls anyone Rejected but instead you will be called Hephzibah, meaning My Delight. That just really hit home with me and Allen helped me see that verse was speaking to me personally. Shine is an uplifting and encouraging book that I think most people could enjoy reading and learning from. I think this would be a good book to use in a book group too. The questions and thoughts at the end of each chapter could make for good group discussion.

I received a copy of Shine from Revell Reads through the Baker Publishing Group. I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for the book.

About the Author:
Allison Allen is a graduate of the prestigious Carnegie Mellon University and appeared in 650 performances of the Broadway production of Grease. A former Women of Faith dramatist and current Bible teacher, she speaks to women at conferences and retreats around the country, exploring themes of purpose, value, and identity in original and unexpected ways. She lives with her family in Tennessee.

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