Rating: 
Summary: Fun, funny, & most importantly...Real.
Review: I know good fiction. I've been around it all my life. THIS is good fiction and here's why:A novel's greatness can be measured in the believability of it's characters. Too often, believers' choices of books are bloated with perfect saints who move through the story battling perfect villains. ENOUGH! If any of us were saints, we'd need no Grace; And though this story is light-hearted, it deals well with some heavy stuff. Are you tired of pretending you never have moral struggles? Do you feel like you're the only one of your "church friends" who has a past? Could you breathe easier just hearing others talk about those same issues? For me, Flabbergasted is a dip in brackish water after waking up in a sun-drenched blazer. Yeah its a little dirty, but it beats suffocation... Kudos to the author!
Rating: 
Summary: cute
Review: I liked the fresh angle of this book. Imagine this... a book from a man's perspective with almost no reference to sex or violence. (Unless you consider discussing impure thoughts or bloody head injuries, I suppose...) I've never read a book like this. I really liked it and I walked away wanting to smack Allie upside the head for her self-righteousness disguised as good-doing. I just wanted Jay to get somewhere besides holding hands with Allie. And I can't even believe I'm saying that about a Christian-themed story, but there you go.
Rating:
Summary: cute
Review: I liked the fresh angle of this book. Imagine this... a book from a man's perspective with almost no reference to sex or violence. (Unless you consider discussing impure thoughts or bloody head injuries, I suppose...) I've never read a book like this. I really liked it and I walked away wanting to smack Allie upside the head for her self-righteousness disguised as good-doing. I just wanted Jay to get somewhere besides holding hands with Allie. And I can't even believe I'm saying that about a Christian-themed story, but there you go.
Rating: 
Summary: Pretty good first try
Review: I liked this book. It has the feel of a first novel: good elements but not quite hanging together. It's a story with some interesting characters and observations on life. If you like regional fiction, like Edgerton and Hassler, you will enjoy it.
I look forward to his next book.
Rating:
Summary: What a fun book!!
Review: I picked this book because I totally love Southern novels but this book is a little bit different. It is entertaining no doubt about it! It's really hard to believe this is Mr. Blackston's first novel.Even though I've finished this book days ago, I find myself still thinking about the main characters and what became of them.It's the kind of novel that when you come across it again in a book store- you just look at it and smile a great BIG smile! This book really makes you feel good & leaves you with a lasting impression about life in general..Sequel pretty please with mangoes on top!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Laughter and Inspiration
Review: I picked up this book because it stood out to me like the lime green Cadillac that so boldly graces the front cover of this book. As soon as I began to read it I was hooked. It has been so long since I have read a book that actually made me laugh out loud. This book is full of intelligent humor and wisdom that can only come from God. It was a pleasure to read and an inspiration to take the road less travelled even if that means enduring neon, harmonizing bugs. Read it, you will love it.
Rating:
Summary: Amazed in Dallas...
Review: I was walking by the book shelves at the local Sams Club, as I usually do, looking for any new books for some of my favorite authors when I came upon this interesting cover. I read the first page of the Prologue (to determine if the writing will capture me), read the back cover, found out Blackston was a first time author, and decided to take a chance. I am delighted to have made the choice. The story revolves around Jay Jarvis and his struggle to find out the true meaning of life, and I enjoyed every minute of his journey. I cannot help but believe that the character follows Ray Blackston's same abandonment of the 8-5 cubicle life and pursuit of his real joy. The theory of relativity is explained in clear vivid entertaining detail when Jay Jarvis tries to describe how one day being a missionary in Ecuador lasts forever while a week in a finance job lasts but an unmemorable minute. A delight to read. It will examine your purpose in life and make you wish you had the courage of both the author and the main character to live your life as it should be lived. Enjoy. I am saving the book and have loaned it to friends as a source of inspiration.
Rating:
Summary: Good clean fun!!
Review: Jay is new in town and has decided to go to church for reasons other than knowing God. God has other plans. Jay learns about God from a peculiar group, which included a marshmellow throwing missionary and a fishing pastor. Jays life will never be the same!! A good book that is fun and speaks truth. You'll laugh out loud, and enjoy the company you with as you step into the lives of these characters!! Can't wait for the next one!
Rating:
Summary: Help Ray buy a lime-green Cadillac!!!
Review: Jay Jarvis moves to Greenville, South Carolina due to a job transfer from Dallas, Texas. Since his girlfriend just dumped him by email he is interested in finding the singles' hangout. Jay's realtor tells him that churches outnumber bars by a twenty-to-one margin. Memorial Day weekend finds Jay on a singles retreat to Myrtle Beach with thirty-four females and nineteen males from the North Hills Presbyterian Church. Between singing eulogies to lobsters, floating to Africa on an inner tube and riding in a lime green Cadillac, Jay makes friends with a food-throwing, poetry-writing anti-materialistic missionary girl named Allie. And the summer has only just begun... Flabbergasted is more refreshing than lemonade with a squeeze of lime. Buy this book in hardcover and tell everyone you know about it!
Rating:
Summary: The perfect book for light summer reading
Review: Okay, I admit it; I bought this book because of the cover. So when I started reading it, I really didn't know what to expect. But even if I had know, it wouldn't have helped because Flabbergasted is like no book I've ever read before!
The characters are all so weird and spontaneous that you never know what's going to happen next. Every chapter is interesting, and some parts actually made me laugh out loud.
Probably the thing I liked best about Flabbergasted, though, was Jay's perspective. I think that a lot of authors of Christian fiction feel obligated to make their characters become boring and/or preachy after they're "saved". But apparently Ray Blackston didn't read that unwritten rule, because Jay is just as interesting in the end of the book as in the beginning!
One minor complaint I have deals with a statement that Allie makes. She mentions that her church, North Hills Presbyterian, doesn't allow women to preach. But the Presbyterian Church USA has accepted women preachers for many, many years. In fact, we're one of the most "liberal" denominations in this country. But it's only a very small error, so I won't complain too much!
| 
