Where I share my love of books with reviews, features, giveaways and memes. Family and needlepoint are thrown in from time to time.

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Lessons From San Quentin by Bill Dallas with George Barna (Book Review)


Title: Lessons From San Quentin: Everything I Needed to Know in Life I Learned in Prison
Author: Bill Dallas with George Barna
Publisher: Tyndale House
Genre: Nonfiction/Personal Growth

First sentence: When I entered San Quentin for the first time, I was only thirty-one years old.


This is the story of Bill Dallas' journey from high-flying real estate magnate to prisoner H64741 in San Quentin. Bill Dallas was a "boy wonder" in the real estate market in the late 80's, but when the market crashed in the 90's, so did his life. He was found guilty of commingling of funds (using money from one project to fund another one without the investor's knowledge).


During his legal battles he started to question his faith - or lack thereof. In 1991 he even asked Jesus into his heart. But he tried to "earn" his salvation by memorizing scripture and reading the Bible rather than having a real relationship with Christ.


Upon his conviction, he was sent to a minimum security prison where he learned fire-fighting techniques - with the plan that he was to finish his sentence at a fire camp. Due to circumstances out of his control he was sent to maximum security at San Quentin.


In San Quentin he had to hit rock bottom before he could start his climb out. With the help of the Lifers at San Quentin he discovered what faith in God really means and begins to discover what he calls his "transforming principles".


I loved this book and found so much that I can apply to my life - and my own "prisons". My plan is to copy down his transforming principles and hang them somewhere in my house where I can read them often! I highly recommend this book for anyone looking for a deeper relationship with Christ and more fulfillment in their life. You can go here to read the first chapter.

6 comments:

Staci said...

Sounds like this could be a really good and interesting read. Thanks for the great review!

Teddy Rose said...

I added the link to the ARE Challenge post.

I also went ahead and updated the post to include the second level to the Challenge. 'The Overacheivers'.

Literary Feline said...

This does sound like an interesting book--and a worthwhile one. Thank you for the great review, Kristi!

Beth F said...

Interesting! I'll keep this one on my radar.

DebD said...

coming over from Semicolon's blog.

Wow, this sounds like such an interesting book. I'd never heard of it before - thanks for the review.

Melissa said...

Sounds like an interesting journey and a fascinating book. Thanks for the review.

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