Book Review of
Good Things of Great Joy

Lynn's Review

Good Things of Great Joy by C.H. Spurgeon was published in 2023. It is a Christmas devotional.

I picked up Good Things of Great Joy at a conference earlier this year. I love C.H. Spurgeon’s work, so I knew I would enjoy this one. It has thirty-eight chapters and is a general Christmas book, so it is not an Advent devotional, but it could easily be used as one. 

I liked this devotional book, but I didn’t love it. I have read a lot of Spurgeon’s sermons. I love to read them, but this collection of Christmas messages was not my favorite. I think some of it had to do with the editing. I have read Spurgeons work as both original and edited for modern reading. I think both of their place, but ones that are edited for modern reading are much easier to read. I think this one could have used better editing for modern reading. 

Multiple times I had to stop and look up words or phrases to see what the meant, which distracted me from the book. 

I wouldn’t say that I didn’t enjoy this book. It was thought-provoking, and I appreciate Spurgeon’s writing on Christ’s Incarnation. I just think this would have reached a broader audience with some better editing for modern times.