I think this book would be good for all Christian readers, Angie Smith is a great writer and her sense of humour shines throughout the book, making it easy for anyone to read. I'd recommend this book.

This is the first book I have read by Angie Smith. It took me a few days to write this review because I was still marinating on the information. I loved this book so much I am buying copies for a few of my girlfriends. Even as a person who does Bible studies more than the average person off the street there was so much information I have never put together in the way this author made things so clear. Definitely an excellent story of how the entire Bible is Woven together for us.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Woven • Angie Smith
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (5/5)
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“for every impossible setback, came a redemptive response.”
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👍🏼 Thumbs Up:
I really enjoyed this book! It does a good job of giving you a flyover view of the entire Bible and connecting all the stories together.
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👎🏻 Thumbs Down:
I don’t really have anything negative to say! Could be a bit redundant for those who are very familiar with the Bible, but I still think for the most well versed in scripture this book still shows you new things.
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🤓 For Readers WHO:
Are new believers in the Christian faith or want help to understand how all the stories of the Bible connect.
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👉🏼 This is what’s WHAT:
Woven is a broad overview of the Bible which shows you how all the stories are in one arc. It connects Old Testament to New, and helps explain the main themes/stories. It’s a great introduction to Biblical literacy.
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⏳WHEN I read this book:
I learned some new things and enjoyed seeing how the author outlines the Bible and shows how it is “woven” 😉 together!
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🚨WHERE you should watch out:
I mean, it’s the Bible...so there’s some complicated stuff and mentions of violence.
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📍WHY you should read this book:
It is a helpful resource!
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📚 HOW I read this book:
eARC from @netgalley

Angie Smith writes with humor and heart. As you read her book, it reads as if you are chatting with a friend.

“That’s because the Bible is unlike any other book in all the world.... It’s a library of books. It’s made up of historical accounts and spiritual instruction and handwritten letters and—just some outright beautiful writing—prophecy, poetry, praise songs, personal conversations.”
“The books of the Bible are not entirely in order... Who is up to the task of reading a sixty-six-volume set (of anything!) and keeping up with all the information, all the characters’ lives, getting all the details down right, and synthesizing it perfectly? Without any help?”

One of my favorite Bible study that I have went through in my women’s ministry was Seamless. I still have it on my shelf and would gladly enroll in it again. Then this book came along and it is just as great as Seamless.

Angie does an amazing job of telling the Bible as a story. Reading the Bible in its entirety can be daunting and disjointed at times. Angie helps any new or seasoned Bible reader put all the pieces together to help it flow where you can see the big picture. The prophecies and how they are fulfilled helped me bring these stories a new perspective.

Many thanks to Angie Smith and B&H Publishing for this advanced copy and allowing me to review this book.

Good overall book. It was a good overhaul of the Bible and how it all fits together.
The sense of humor of the author is good, but in writing form it was a bit much(in person I bet the author is fun). But a good job at relating the Bible as a whole.

I was blown away by the bible study Angie Smith did, Seamless. I loved her transparency, her humor, and the way she put things together for people that did not grow up in church and/or if they did how to tie things together from Old Testament and New. Likewise, I appreciated her use of visual aids with maps, pictures, and other tools to help bring these stories to life.

Furthermore, I enjoyed this book as the author continues the same style of writing and teaching about how bible characters relate to one another and God. Helping readers see the whole story, see the bigger picture. Here’s a peek at her humor in the midst of a bible story. Angie talks about Adam, Even and the Serpent and the disillusion of perfection and the reality of our true condition after the fall. She says,…”God’s first recorded words, “Where are you?”

“Rest assured, he was not looking down into the garden like, “Oh my gosh, these are my first people, and I’ve already lost them. PERFECT.” No, he knew where they were. He wasn’t asking about their physical location; he was asking about the posture of their hearts toward him.”

I highly recommend this for everyone. I know it is one I’ll be reading over again. There is so much in here.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have received a complimentary copy of this book by the publisher and NetGalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”

Nora St. Laurent
TBCN Where Book Fun Begins!
The Book Club Network blog www.bookfun.org

Angie has a way of writing that I just can not get enough of.

The humor and fasts she uses to tell us about the Bible from beginning to end is a perfect pairing.

I learned so much.

This is the third book or bible study that I have picked up from Angie Smith. Overall, I love her ability to 'weave' the bible into a simplistic, modern day tale that's easy to understand and appreciate for all levels of Christian learners. Her sass and wit throughout is always enjoyable and frequently makes me laugh out loud. I would recommend this one and others to individuals who need a good overhaul of the bible and it's stories.

Angie Smith has a way with words. She takes the different chapters of the bible and shows how they "weave" together and flow. Throughout the book, the books that I have been reading for a long time came alive and I also learned some new things. Angie's writing is very fun, energetic, and she has a way of helping you see the bigger picture. I recommend this to anyone who thought the Bible was too overwhelming as this book is a great help.

Thank you to B&H Publishing Group, and Netgalley for my advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

🧶 Book Review 🧶

🧶 Woven by Angie Smith

🧶 Publication Date - 16th March 2021

🧶 For many people, the Bible feels impossible to navigate. Parts of it might be familiar, but they seem like a collection of loose, unrelated threads. Smith helps you see how they're all knit together into one cohesive, complete story. And once you've seen the big picture, you'll glimpse it on every page! 

🧶 Angie sets out to explain how the Bibles big picture in a super easy, friendly manner. Her intended audience is brand new to the Bible every day people. As someone who was brought up in a Christian house but was always confused by the Bible I found the book great! Angie has a great sense of humour and ability to explain the Bible without making you feel like you should really understand it and are not good enough because you don't.

🧶 Highly recommend to anyone who has never read the bible because it's daunting or to anyone who has just never understood how it all goes together.

This is a very helpful resource for those who are new to the Bible. It also could be a helpful teaching guide for those doing a discipleship course for new believers. I appreciated how it explained the woven nature of scripture, but remembering the audience and intention of this book is critical.

I really enjoyed the way Angie gave an overview of the Bible in Woven. As someone who has read the Bible multiple times I still enjoyed reading through the book and appreciated how she made some of the family connections so obvious.

The book is written with a humor that I don't think everyone would appreciate but I like it.

I enjoyed her pointing out the parts of the Bible that seem so "normal" to those of us who grew up in the church or have read certain stories over and over and showing how against culture certain things were.

While I may not have been her intended audience for this book I still got a lot out of it and can't wait to re-read it.

In "Woven" Angie Smith does a fantastic job of showing the interconnectedness of all the stories of the Bible. Using her trademark humor and transparency, she makes the Bible come alive and reveals the thread weaving it all together. While there wasn't a whole lot in the study that I haven't heard before, I think this would be a really wonderful book for a new believer or someone who hasn't spent much time studying God's Word.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

I love this overview of God's Word! The author also "weaves" humor in, which is nice. It even has maps in among the chapters, though I couldn't see them because I have an advance e-copy from NetGalley--guess I'll have to get the real thing! ;)
This book is simple enough for beginning Bible readers, but interesting enough for long time readers such as myself.
Thank you for the advance copy! I really appreciate it. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

First sentence: I was in my early twenties when a couple of new friends invited me to a Bible study.

Angie Smith's newest book, Woven, sets out to tell the big picture story of the Bible in a reader-friendly, super-accessible way. The intended audience she has in mind are those that are new--even completely new--to the Bible. To folks who might not know there is an Old Testament or a New Testament. To those who may not know that there are sixty-six books in the Bible. To those who may not know what chapters and verses are, who would be completely out of sorts if the pastor said turn your Bibles to John chapter three verse sixteen. It's important to keep HER intended audience in mind. Because I am sure there are folks out there who need such a book as this.

The book is focused on telling the whole big picture story of the Bible--mostly chronologically. It doesn't fit in all the details from all the books and should not be viewed as a commentary. The most time is given to the foundational book of Genesis and the four gospels.

I never got the sense that the book was trying to take the place of the Bible. (I do get that sense in some books about the Bible. Here, read this so you don't have to read the Bible.)

I would recommend to those who are new to the Bible, curious about the Bible, new to the faith, or perhaps for those that are trying to think of ways to help children or grandchildren access the Bible for the first time.

I didn't always love, love, love the narrative style. There were a few places here and there were the humor or presentation just wasn't my cup of tea. But I am not in the intended audience for which she's directly writing.

"Not only is the Bible one story, it’s a story you are now a part of."

I really enjoy reading books/studies by Angie Smith. She is funny and light hearted, but there is also plenty of content to digest. My firsts experience with Angie Smith was her Bible study, Seamless. If you have not read that study, I highly recommend going through it. You will see the same theme in her newest book, Woven. In this book, Smith teaches that the Bible is one big story, from Genesis to Revelation. We often do not realize that there is such a connection between the Old and New Testament. When you are reading about all of the laws of animal sacrifice and how to live and worship in Leviticus, it is sometimes hard to imagine how any of that is relevant now. However, when we see the Bible as one big love story from God to us, with Jesus as the central character, it all comes together in such a beautiful way. You will see these connections being made and explained, and more, as you read Woven.

The book starts out in Genesis, and works through each book of the Bible in order. I enjoyed reading the summary of each book, along with the humor and personal connections that were included. Even though this is a summary of a huge and complex book, Smith's style of writing is easy and engaging. It feels like you are just chatting with a friend over coffee, as you discuss the Bible and how all of those stories come together. I love reading and studying the Bible! It is my passion and something I spend a lot of my free time on, and this book has helped improve my study time. It allowed me to see a bigger picture of how everything fits together.

“God has woven himself into his Word and into his people, and the best way for us to follow that thread is to begin tugging on it.”

Angie always has a way when telling a story. She uses her humor to make it light hearted when it needs to be. Her flow also makes it easy to get through a book. I enjoyed learning how the the Bible is one long beautiful story.