Slow Brewing Tea (Slow Brewing Tea Series) by Randy Loubier

Slow Brewing Tea (Slow Brewing Tea Series) Reviews

• 
  Robin

  This is a very moving and inspirational novel about a man finding his way in life and being guided towards Christianity. Isaiah has led a very troubled life and begins a quest to find peace and serenity - he finds love, acceptance and enlightenment through God. While the main purpose of the book is to show the greatness and clarity of Christianity the author also paints beautiful settings over and over again. The events Isaiah goes through, the places he visits and the people he meets are all depicted in wonderful detail. This is an incredible story that I would highly recommend to anyone needing a little guidance or even those that just want to read beautiful Christian stories.
• 
  Coconuts

  This is a beautiful story of one man's life, Isaiah. The book starts off strong and captivating with stories from The Cold War but the overall sense this book creates is peace. With a strong push for realism the main character navigates through calms and through storms. There are a lot of things to learn from this novel and although slow and steady in parts it is worth every moment of your time. This isn't a book for adventure and excitement but for spirituality and inner strength, peace of mind and faith. A very enlightening read whether you are Christian or not.
• 
  Randy Loubier

  These words are taken from the introduction to the book:
  
  “This novel is a quest through the deep valleys and high peaks of a land you have never seen. It is a tea steeped in lingered love, with a rich flavor you have never tasted.
  
  Quests take time, and they change us. We may return home geographically, but never the same person. If you resolve to join Isaiah on his quest, his thoughts, frustrations, defeats, and victories will become yours.
  
  You may choose to leave the quest early or discard the tea before it’s ready, but you will always wonder why… why judging a man before walking a thousand miles with him tastes weak, under brewed, immature…and why those who finish the journey report such gracious glories!
  
  If you are curious enough to start the quest, I encourage you to endeavor heartily!
  
  May your thousand miles finish sweetly with the untold joy of conquering a summit and celebrating with a cup of fully matured, slow brewing tea!”
  
• 
  Joanna E.Lopez

  Spiritual Love.
  
  Twenty-year-old Isaiah is on a motorcycle tour through rural Japan. He is on a quest to take beautiful photographs of the people and sights of Northern Japan and to discover more about the religion of Tao (The one true way). He also plans to marry a beautiful Japanese woman. His journey leads him to all of this as well as discovering an important lesson of Redemption, faith, pain, loss, and the road to unconditional love with his girlfriend Nori and his God.
  
  What a beautiful moving story. This book reads like non-fiction instead of fiction. I really felt as if I were reading Isaiah's true memoirs and not just a character. Isiah is all of us who look for faith, losses it, and then finds it again once they have understood and matured. I definitely identified with Isaiah losing my faith in God and then finding it again when I was older. (I’m not going to bore you with my story) lol. I just loved this book and will definitely read it again and definitely pick up the audiobook if there is one. Yes. There were editing problems. However, they were technical. Such as words were pushed together to read as a sentence. But that only happened a few times. The book is longer than I am used to but the space flows beautifully. I started this book in early August. This book should be savored not rushed through, anyway. lol. I am so happy I found this author and will definitely more by him. I received a complimentary free copy of this book from Netgally.com. My thoughts in this review is voluntary and my own. I was not compensated for it.
• 
  Allen Madding

  Moving story of redemption and love filled with romance and adventure. Yes, it moved me to tears.
• 
  Pegboard

  Slow Brewing Tea by Randy Loubier is an enticing novel with wisdom woven within the story. The author merges much of his own life into his book; with his travels in Japan and a similar personality to the principal character, Isaiah. At twenty, Isaiah takes a 10-day tour of Japan looking to enrich his life with the Japanese culture, a woman, and to find God. On his first day he finds a woman he wishes to meet, but is too shy. By accident, he ends up staying with her grandfather and finds so much more than he expected.
  
   
  
  Randy Loubier pens a fascinating story as you walk with Isaiah on his quest for answers he has been searching for in life. Slow Brewing Tea opens up the Japanese culture in a fresh way as you watch how they view God, family, and trials. I loved how Nori and her grandfather, Itsuki, prepared Isaiah’s heart to receive the truth since people who should have loved and guided he as a child had hurt him. Overall, this novel reveals how God can heal a heart when someone is open to the truth. Loubier interlaced truth and wisdom within a fascinating novel that leaves you thinking about the lessons Isaiah learned.
• 
  Buttercup

  A great book to show how a person can blossom with the right inspiration. I found the book truly engaging and thought provoking and although the book is long it doesn't feel stagnant at any point. Reading Slow Brewing Tea brought me so much enjoyment and I felt lifted by the time it was over.
• 
  Grady

  ‘A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step’ – Lao Tzu
  
  New Hampshire author Randy Loubier is the pastor of a church who has lived in Japan for a time, soaking up the culture and atmosphere he incorporates so well in this his third book SLOW BREWING TEA. He has experienced both Eastern and Western spirituality and blends these two approaches beautifully in this book.
  
  Though there are many spiritually oriented books that blossom the message through a story rather than a ‘sermon,’ SLOW BREWING TEA is a special format for making the message feel especially credible. Part of that is the manner in which Randy launches his story, and that is worth sharing for those new to his talent: “Something big is going down,” Joe yelled into my room as he came inside, slamming the door behind him. His excited green eyes reflected a naïve desire to see war for the first time. “Big Red is on the move,” Joe said. “Ships are headed for the gulf; planes are flying non-stop. We’ve got action, man!” He tugged at the top button on his fatigue shirt and turned around to head into the barracks bathroom. It was eight o’clock in the morning, and Joe had just returned from his night shift on the Hill. The Hill was the secret location on the base where the huge antenna, the ”elephant cage,” was located. I had never been up to the Hill. And, officially, I had "no need to know” the purpose of the Hill. But everyone stationed at Misawa Air Base knew that the Hill was the main reason we were there. It was 1978. We were frigidly deep in the Cold War, located just miles from the Russian coast. We were spying on Russia…’ That tie to reality opens the gate for the spiritual message this book carries.
  
  To put the idea in context, the plot is condensed: ‘Isaiah set off on a ten day motorcycle adventure in northern, rural Japan. His quest, at the age of twenty, was to photograph the quiet mysterious culture, meet a Japanese woman and find The Tao (the way). He took stunning photographs, fell deeply in love with an extraordinary Japanese woman and found an old man willing to teach him the way, the truth and the narrow gate. Over the next forty years Isaiah’s life tumbles through lessons of pain and redemption, loss and victory in search of a path of unconditional love and faith.’
  
  Both a story of love and spiritual growth, Randy shares ‘Isaiah’s’ search for God in a manner that feels like a personal story, a memoir…and that may be one of the reasons it resonates so well. Looking for inspiration? Here it is…read and absorb.
• 
  Sunshine_45

  One of the best books I have read for a while, and I found the love story incredibly touching but the story also deals with very traumatic events. The life the main character, Isaiah, has lead is full of hardship and true to life. That is until everything starts to fall into place. The descriptive language used throughout the book created very vivid imagery for me and I was moved by it. Highly recommend.
• 
  MoreTea

  A book full of wisdom as the main character, Isaiah, makes his journey to discover answers for the past, present and future. I loved the opportunity provided to understand Japanese culture and how they view religion and family. It was really nice to see Isaiah heal from past traumas and discover love and what family should really be.
• 
  Valery

  Slow Brewing Tea by Randy Loubier is a riveting and eye-opening novel of self-discovery and love. The story revolves around Isaiah, a young man in Japan looking for something or someone to re-open his eyes and soul to God. After he is involved in a serious motorcycle accident he is taken in by Itsuki, who ultimately becomes his mentor. Isaiah has long given up on his faith, and it is through the tender care of not only his physical wounds from the accident but his spiritual wounds, that he learns about and renews his faith in a Christian God. The characters are deeply developed, especially Isaiah, who is painfully shy but still wanting to find love. His journey takes him to a remote mountain in Japan with Itsuki and his family, where Isaiah learns the most valuable lessons of his life. The writing itself is somewhat terse but delivers a strong message about faith and the redemptive power of love and compassion. There is brilliant symbolism throughout, some of which you have to dig for, giving this book depth, while the casual dialogue between characters brings a note of realism. A compelling and expertly written book that will appeal to all looking for a unique spiritual journey. Highly recommend it for an involving and immersive read.
• 
  Lenor

  First of all, let’s talk about the beautiful cover, this cover completely make you feel at peace which is truly what the book is about, about finding oneself, about the Christian vision of a path a man took to live and how he found peace with it.
  
  To be honest I’m not a religious person and this book was completely out of the box for me, but I truly enjoyed it.
  
  Isaiah decides to embark in a new path, going to Japan was something he was looking forward, to find himself and find Christ, and what he finds goes beyond anything he imagined. A true love story hand in hand with faith and redemption.
  
• 
  Grymm Gevierre

  Christian fiction is not a genre I spend much time in, as I often find most stories in this bracket pushy or religious to a degree that takes away from the actual plot or characters. Loubier finds a balance, though, and keeps the story moving. He does a great job maintaining the balance that many authors in Christian fiction miss: you can’t be too preachy and still tell a relatable story to people outside your faith.
  
  I found myself enjoying the story more than I thought it would. The beginning is a bit fast-paced, but there are periods where the story slows down quite a bit. Isaiah is a character that comes to life in the pages.
  
  Even if you find yourself outside of the Christian faith, this book has a good overall message about finding something that matters to you, and letting that warmth flourish and grow through the murk until hope shines through. I never thought this kind of thing would be my (slow brewing) cup of tea, but I’m glad I read it.
• 
  Liliyana Shadowlyn

  Slow brewing tea was an intriguing read. I must admit at times the pacing was a bit slow for me at times, but overall, I found the read an enjoyable one. I was expecting the main character to be on more of a journey for God, with a quest for self and love as a side note. What I found was a man who, beginning in Cold War era Japan, was looking for not only God, but who he was, and maybe love. It was interesting to see inside his mind as he traveled his path, and the events that led him along it. A great read for Christians and those open to reading Christian fiction.
  
• 
  Tanu

  Such a lovely story! Spiritual growth, Japan and Taoism, what could be better than this mixture. It is a story of a young man in his early 20s named Isaiah. Isaiah is passionate about photography, shy and grew up in a dysfunctional family.  The narration of the story kept me absorbed throughout. The narration makes the story feels very realistic. The best quality of Isaiah was his curiosity which made him question so many things around. 
  
  As the book is about spiritual growth the story is slow as well. This makes the story more realistic. The character development is done right. It was a very different experience reading this book. Mostly the books that follow spiritual theme has characters that are 30 or above. But the protagonist in this one is very young which made it really interesting for me to read. Definitely, a thought-provoking read and will help anyone seeking spiritual growth.
  
  Grab your copy
  here.
• 
  Ray

  I liked this in particular because I am in my twenties and I am ready to set out on an adventure searching for answers and a journey. The book starts off slow but you get engrossed with Isaiah as a character.
  I love cultural books and I think this is the second time I have read a book based in Japan. I loved it. The book has a lot of information and I guess the title lets you know that the book is literally 'slow brewing'. Although, that makes it much more interesting.
  A must-read for those looking for inspiration and an interesting read.
• 
  Stephen R.

  Wow, it’s hard to say if I like this book or not. I’m giving it 5 stars because it is incredibly well-written. It’s very literary – not like the pop fiction that most indie authors are putting out. I can tell the author put a lot of time and thought into this. It reads like he experienced this first-hand rather than simply researching it. Maybe he did travel and experience a lot of it.
  
  What I don’t like – but others might find to be a major positive of the book – is how it relates Christianity to the culture and philosophy of the region. The author makes interesting observations, but from a theological standpoint, I would say there are more differences to be discussed than likenesses.
• 
  Lobstergirl

  Most (all?) reviews are from sock puppets. Voted onto listopias by sock puppets.
• 
  Ben Shore

  Points for ingenuity in the Christian space and its overall approachableness as a blend of genres. This was also a Slow Brewing read. I recommend taking your time.
  
  I was caught off guard by the uniqueness of this book. I usually keep my fiction and Christian reading very separate (aside from some decently written thrillers by Ted Dekker). For the most part, I find this mix to be like oil and water. However, this book not only mixes Christian theology with fiction, but also comes across as a romance novel (unfortunately a genre which I have very little interest in, but still an interesting approach).
  
  There was a good chance this would not work, but I found this book blended together very well in a way that I have to give credit to the author. There is simply no other book like this that exists in the Christian space. It points to the genuine personal care that the author has for his story that it (mostly) works. I would recommend it to anyone who wants a decent spin on their Fiction, or wants to understand Japanese culture.
  
  Speaking of culture, I find the emphasis on the Japanese elements to be very tasteful and taught me a lot of useful information about how their people and traditions can still be lined up with traditional Christian values. I found myself having to shake off my own Westernized notions of what it means to be a Christian to really grasp what was being portrayed. This certainly is an example of 'being in the world but not of it' and though I was cautious of this books attempts at first, I found it landed in a spiritually sound place.
  
  My main gripes with this book extend to the narrative itself. I found I wanted to hear more about Isaiah's story, his childhood traumas were some of the most interesting parts to me. I wanted to learn more about the gaps between his visits to Japan, as I found that not being shown his journey in these crucial parts rather lacking. In the same way, I felt his love interest was pretty shallow. I would have loved to even see part of the story from her perspective, parts of her struggles with temptation on display rather than the reader learning more about them after they happened. In general, the romantic elements I was not particularly drawn to, but that's just me and my own tastes.
  
  As well, I recommend reading this book physically. 600 pages is quite a bit and when the theology gets dense, I imagine rereading will be essential. I listened to the audiobook and somewhat regret it, and I am trying to not let that experience take away from my overall score. Overall, if you find any of these elements appealing, you will enjoy this book.