John Grisham's new book

Postby **Shellie** » October 18th, 2007, 3:00 am

I think it is new anyway. I am almost through with Testament. I'm amazed at how the Gospel has been presented thus far.

Has anyone else read this book and is this the first showing of Grisham's "biblical" side. I've read most of his books but got away from them for awhile so maybe this is old news?

panhandler · Postby **panhandler** » October 18th, 2007, 3:49 am

Wow Shellie,

You are far behind. The Testament came out in March 1999. John had just gotten saved or "rededicated" shortly before that. I was blown away with The Gospel message of that one too.

I went to High School with John and he has always been a great guy. He signs copies of each new book at a book store in Memphis that was the first to sell his books all of those years ago. My sister always gos and stand in line and gets me a signed first edition.

His newest book came out last week. It is called "Playing For Pizza" and is a football related book set in Italy.

His newest legal thriller is set for release in (I think) Feb. of 2008.

Postby **Shellie** » October 18th, 2007, 3:56 am

Wow!! I guess so. I quit reading his books a few years ago (obviously

) when I started getting so busy. Ah, that's right...1999 would have been about the time I had two in diapers and was homeschooling two in middle school. Now, I remember why I quit reading for pleasure.

I did see the new one that you mention. I didn't know that he got saved. Now, I'm gonna have to catch up on all the ones that I've missed.

soulsearcher · Postby **soulsearcher** » October 18th, 2007, 4:03 am

panhandler wrote:His newest book came out last week. It is called "Playing For Pizza" and is a football related book set in Italy.

His newest legal thriller is set for release in (I think) Feb. of 2008.

I am big fan of John Grisham's - think I've read all of his thriller novels, but I was very disappointed in "Bleachers" (another football-themed story) and have no intention of even picking up "Playing For Pizza." Then there was the one non-fiction book released last year. Another "no, thank you" from me. Sounds like I'll have to wait for Feb. '08 to get my fix.

Shellie, I got most of my Grisham novels from a flea market, a buck apiece. One of my favorites (a very early work) is The Street Lawyer.

Postby **Shellie** » October 18th, 2007, 4:07 am

soulsearcher,

I think my favorite so far has been A Time To Kill.

panhandler · Postby **panhandler** » October 18th, 2007, 4:18 am

Shellie wrote:soulsearcher,

I think my favorite so far has been A Time To Kill.

Interesting story...John wrote Time to Kill first and shopped it to either 32 or 35 publishers who all said NO until the last one. The last one told him that they would publish 5000 copies but he (John) was responsible to buy half himself. John agreed and has said that he actually stopped on bridges out in the countryside and threw boxes of books in rivers because he couldn't sell them.

While this was happening he was writing The Firm which went straight to #1. When they saw this they re-published Time To Kill and everything he has written since has been #1 on the bestseller list.

I read recently that he is now the most publshed author in American history with over 750 million books in print.

soulsearcher · Postby **soulsearcher** » October 18th, 2007, 4:33 am

Found this list:

1989 - A Time to Kill
1991 - The Firm
1992 - The Pelican Brief
1993 - The Client
1994 - The Chamber
1995 - The Rainmaker
1996 - The Runaway Jury
1997 - The Partner
1998 - The Street Lawyer
1999 - The Testament
2000 - The Brethren
2001 - A Painted House
2001 - Skipping Christmas
2002 - The Summons
2003 - The King of Torts
2003 - The Bleachers
2004 - The Last Juror
2005 - The Broker
2006 - The Innocent Man

Shellie, the one you are reading now, or maybe have finished (Testament) is superb. As one review stated, the first 60 pages flew by in an instant. I was riveted to that one.

Postby **Shellie** » October 18th, 2007, 4:56 am

I did read the first 7. I tried to read the Painted House and it was horrible. I never even finished it. Maybe it was just me.

panhandler · Postby **panhandler** » October 18th, 2007, 5:04 am

Shellie wrote:I did read the first 7. I tried to read the Painted House and it was horrible. I never even finished it. Maybe it was just me.

Painted House was based on John's personal expieriences growing up in the family of Share Croppers.

DeWayneTN · Postby **DeWayneTN** » October 18th, 2007, 5:12 am

panhandler wrote:I went to High School with John and he has always been a great guy.

Oh that's cool. I didn't know that. He seems to get around pretty good, considering it.

Mike Vande · Postby **Mike Vande** » October 18th, 2007, 6:21 am

Is Testament one of his legal novels?

Postby **Shellie** » October 18th, 2007, 6:28 am

Mike,

Yes, it is a legal novel about a very rich man that leaves his entire fortune to his illegitimate missionary daughter. It has been a hard book to put down. I've gone to bed late after reading the last three nights.

panhandler · Postby **panhandler** » October 18th, 2007, 6:42 am

DeWayneTN wrote:
panhandler wrote:I went to High School with John and he has always been a great guy.

Oh that's cool. I didn't know that. He seems to get around pretty good, considering it.

John is 2 years older than I am . I played football with him his senior year. He graduated with my brother. I graduated with his brother. Our sister graduated with his wife.

MrDanger · Postby **MrDanger** » October 18th, 2007, 7:06 am

I loved "A Painted House". When it first started, I didn't care for it, but sticking to it, it was awesome. It was very Mark Twainish.

I enjoyed "Playing for Pizza". It has some very funny moments. If you aren't a football fan, you may get bogged down in some of the parts of the book. But I thought it was enjoyable.

Testament was an incredible book. "A Time to Kill" is my favorite, closely followed by "Testament"

Postby **Shellie** » October 18th, 2007, 7:07 am

MrDanger,

Should I give Painted House another try?

Jude 2