Death By Love

Death By Love

By Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears

The cross is the most crucial part of Christianity. If Jesus did not die on the cross and rise back to life 3 days later, then Christianity is a joke. There is so much happening on the first Easter weekend. So many things are being resolved. Things about Jesus’ nature and character. About sin. About death. About our righteousness before God. About our eternal life. About so much more.

There is so much going on when it comes to the cross. And yet at times, when I’m teaching and preaching this most wonderful of events, I find it hard to not get all intellectual about it. I struggle not to turn it into a thinking exercise. To reduce what Jesus did on the cross into head knowledge and nothing else. That’s why I’m so thankful for Mark Driscoll’s and Gerry Breshears’ Death by Love.

Driscoll, aided by Breshears, takes his years of pastoral ministry and applies the various doctrines of the cross to his experiences. Each chapter is a letter written to someone he has interacted with in the past. The letter addresses their pastoral needs by explaining and applying one of those doctrines. Some of the chapters are: “My dad used to beat me” - Jesus is Bill’s propitiation; “I hate my brother” - Jesus is Kurt’s reconciliation; or “I want to know God” - Jesus is Susan’s revelation.

The key to this book is that it takes something that is often dry and impersonal - doctrine - and makes it relevant and personal. I can see how these doctrines can be used to help someone who is hurting. How they can be used to reassure someone who is doubting. And how they can be used to rebuke someone who is sinning. This is a book written with great love and tenderness. Yet it is firm and masculine at the same time. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to gain a greater understanding of what Jesus did on the cross. I would recommend this book to anyone who is in a position of Christian teaching and pastoring. I would recommend this book to anyone who knows the love of Jesus or wants to know the love of Jesus. This is a great book and deserves to be widely read.

I got my copy at Moore Books.

Crazy Circus Train, Aka Water for Elephants

Welcome to the first episode of “Books in my Durtbagz”, the Durtbagz online book club and review. Boo. Yeah.

Each week, I’ll read a book and then talk about it. The End.

Well, there’s a little more to it than that. Sometimes I like to rename the books I read, like I did this one. Sometimes I don’t  read the most recent books. However, none of that matters.

I want to hear from you. I want to know if you have read these books and what you thought. And by “what you thought”, I mean, do you agree with me on my thoughts and if not, I hope you know you are stupid.

Yes, there is something in it for you. I will occasionally give away a book on here to a lucky person. You enter by leaving a comment. And when I say I’ll give something away for free, to someone, at some point, I usually do it. Just ask the Durtbagz on my Facebook Fanpage.

Okay, without further prolonging, Episode 1, “Crazy Circus Train, aka Water for Elephants” by Sara Gruen.

Talk to me, Durtbagz. Yes, I’m talking to the other five of you that I know can also read.

William D. Cohan: House of Cards

Here is another interesting link to FORA.tv. They interviewed William D. Cohan, about his book House of Cards: A Tale of Hubris and Wretched Excess on Wall Street.

Synopsis: On March 5, 2008, at 10:15 A.M., a hedge fund manager in Florida wrote a post on his investing advice Web site that included a startling statement about Bear Stearns & Co., the nation’s fifth-largest investment bank: “In my book, they are insolvent.”

This seemed a bold and risky statement. Bear Stearns was about to announce profits of $115 million for the first quarter of 2008, had $17.3 billion in cash on hand, and, as the company incessantly boasted, had been a colossally profitable enterprise in the eighty-five years since its founding.

Ten days later, Bear Stearns no longer existed, and the calamitous financial meltdown of 2008 had begun.

How this happened – and why – is the subject of William D. Cohan’s superb and shocking narrative that chronicles the fall of Bear Stearns and the end of the Second Gilded Age on Wall Street…

Please click here to view the video.

What is interesting about the interview is that, as opposed to a classical book review, Cohan talks through his views and comments freely on the whole situation adding some interesting perspectives and additional context.

For those of you who are intereted in our review of his previous book on Lazard, please click here.

Ironside: A Modern Tale of Faerie

OMG. And just when I think Holly Black can’t get any better than the amazing story she told in Tithe, I find myself yet again amazed! I love the different relationships involvedi n this story. And the eventual close relationship that Val eventually has with Luis (one of my favorite characters in fiction to date).

Holly pulls no punches. This is an in-your-face novel, and if you’re squicky about faerie violence, Holly’s Modern Faerie tales ares not for you.

I can only expect even better, as I sadly journey into the final book in the Modern Faerie Tale series. i guess I’ll have to settle for reading the Spiderwick novels. At least then, I’d still be in the same universe, at least.

So. to sum up this review: Dramatic, Violent, Moving. All things Holly Black has come to represent for me, and I look forward to reading much more from this amazing writer.

(I am sorry this is late, but I just realized I never posted it!)

Wendy Alec's "Chronicles of Brothers"

Wendy Alec is a founder of GOD TV alongside her husband Rory Alec. Recently, the second book of her trilogy “The Chronicles of Brothers” came out, called “The First Judgement- Messiah”.

Alec takes an interesting perspective on the events of the Bible by telling the story of humanity from the viewpoint of the three Arch-angels Gabriel, Michael and the fallen Lucifer. The first books tells of Lucifer’s fall, the second of Calvary, the third- I am guessing- will focus on Armageddon.

I have to say it was the first book I read without putting it down in three years. Alec manages to give her characters more credible depth than most who authors hit the best-selling lists. Her style is permeated with colour and impressionistic descriptions of her fantasy worlds and its creatures. She knows how to keep her story from becoming boring, and particularly the psychology of Lucifer is an original read.

Though I  disagree with some of the theological points she brings across, I doubt that her readers take her fiction literally, and the Jesus she portrays is not unlike the person I know him to be. The book is enjoyable and definitely not a waste of time. I give it 4/5 for her vivid descriptions and bright, empathic language.

High hopes

I have very high hopes for this weekend, none of which includes sleep because I plan on being insanely busy and productive.   I want to do some more spring cleaning - i’m hardly ever home and when I am, I’m so tired that I just don’t clean the house as much as I should.  I want to vacuum and at least make sure that stuff is in the right rooms.

I also have big plans for today - Izzy’s birthday.  I got him a few things and I think we may try to head to the city for a little outing with Nate that includes seeing the ducklings in Boston’s Public Gardens. Today is supposed to be beautiful. The problem is that I really have no desire to go to Boston seeing that their baseball team defeated my baseball team in extra innings last night. ::sigh::  And they’re playing again today.  It’s like being in enemy territory. Thankfully, our Constitution protects minority citizens so I should be ok, although I may not come out completely unscathed.

I also have high hopes about finally getting up to speed completely on a really interesting and important case that I’m working on, but I will probably do that tomorrow. I plan on doing that at the office.

Oh and I just finished reading this book:

The review can be found here. Enjoy!

Achieving Desires

Paulo Coelho, has managed to get my attention once again. One of his most famous and most inspirational works is The Alchemist, and although it was not the first book by him that I read, a quote from it guided my life for quite some time.

“When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”

This line has kept me going at times when I believed failure was awaiting me and it has helped me make some big decisions in life. Although it guided my life for a while, I lost it somewhere while running this crazy rat race. In fact, this quote and “signs” helped me be certain of my decision to study in USA…

I had entirely forgotten about this quote and my thoughts were leading my life in a strange direction. But, something that happened today brought it all back on track and helped my mind reconcile in that quote’s truth.

It is my twenty-first birthday tomorrow and I was supposed to write a Physics exam tomorrow. I was sitting here dreading the exam and solving some problems for practice. I’ve been hoping and wishing that this exam was canceled and it was just a stupid desire of a child who hasn’t grown up. The child in me still wanted to celebrate a birthday without having to deal with real life. Well, guess what? My wish came true and I don’t have to face real life because a classmate messaged me on Facebook to ask if I saw Dr. Dave’s last email. Somehow, I had managed to overlook it and would have kept studying if he hadn’t mentioned it.

The universe, which includes circumstances, turned to my side and the e-mail stated that the exam tomorrow is now optional. Considering my average for the first three tests is 98%, there is absolutely no need for me to take this exam. Afterall, the universe did help me achieve what I wanted…

I know it’s a very minor incident according to most of us, but it is special to me because it brought that quote back to me and returned to me the hope that I lived with… the hope that helped me believe and succeed. It is the little things in life that are miraculous and while one waits for the big ones to happen, one loses the most precious ones….

To end it in Paulo Coelho’s words:

“It is the possibility of having dreams come true that makes life interesting”

… and it has just made mine a little more brighter

How to Win at Life

How to Win at Life

From Publishers Weekly

The Hardball Handbook: How to Win at Life

During his decades in Washington, MSNBC newsmagazine host Matthews has collected plenty of insight into the “fine art” of “getting people to do what you want them to.” While fondly recounting his climb from Capitol Hill police officer to presidential speechwriter for Jimmy Carter to Washington bureau chief for the San Francisco Examiner and beyond, Matthews presents a ladder-climbing narrative meant to inform and inspire. Admonishing readers that no one wants to hear your ideas unless you force them to, Matthews shows readers how to get into the game (any game) and face the risks involved: “The more failure you can accept, the greater your chance of success.” Examining political figures from Bill Clinton (”the best politician I’ve ever seen) to Zell Miller (who famously challenged Matthews to a duel on national television), Matthews reveals how “the ability to deal with people” is paramount. Divided (without explanation) into the sections indicated in his subtitle, Matthews provides anecdotes and analysis, as well as a useful (if not exactly surprising) “Bottom Line” at the end of each chapter (”To win the contest, you first have to be a contestant,” “rivalry is as normal as friendship,” etc.). Fans will find Matthews’s honest approach and hard-nosed rhetoric intact, and those turned off by the Hardball host’s loudmouth on-air style may find his print incarnation an insightful, erudite alternative.

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. –This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

“Insightful and entertaining.”—Jack Welch, author of Winning

“Written as a kind of ‘Hardball Unplugged,’ [this book] is full of clever anecdotes, pithy analysis, and folk wisdom.”—Douglas Brinkley, editor of The Reagan Diaries

“Insightful, erudite . . . Fans will find Matthews’s honest approach and hard-nosed rhetoric intact.”—Publishers Weekly

“A great book, and a fun read. People think that leaders ‘tell people what to do.’ More frequently, leadership in business is about selling teams on a vision, and leveraging friendship and trust to get things done. Chris does a great job of bridging his experience in politics with commonsense rules.”—Jeffrey Immelt, chairman and CEO, General Electric

“Matthews loves and understands as well as anyone I know the rituals, rules, and place of politics in our lives. And now everyone reading this book has the opportunity to share his passion and insights.”—Tom Brokaw, author of Boom! and The Greatest Generation

Stephen Burt, just back from Glasgow, co-editing book in honour of Helen Vendler

Stephen Burt, the poet and critic, an Associate Professor of English at Harvard, a contributor to Issue 6 of “The International Literary Quarterly”, and whose “Close Calls with Nonsense: Reading New Poetry” was published earlier this month by Graywolf Press, has just returned from Glasgow where he admits in his blog that he was overwhelmed by the boundless hospitality of Michael Schmidt, a contributor to Issue 4 of the review. The month of May will witness no slacking of his literary activity with Burt, alongside co-editor Nick Halpern, publishing “Something Understood: Essays and Poetry for Helen Vendler”. The tribute to Vendler, published by the University of Virginia Press, will include, inter alia, contributions by John Ashbery, Frank Bidart, Rita Dove, Seamus Heaney, Carl Phillips and Charles Wright.

HANDLE WITH CARE BY JODI PICOULT

Jodi Picoult has the ability to make me shiver when the weather is extremely hot. Just when I think her books cannot get any better, she has to come up with something that blows me away.

Handle with care revolves around a family of four – Sean and Charlotte, the parents of Willow and Amelia. From the outside they might seem perfect and happy – but when one looks closer, it seems that that isn’t the case. Willow has brittle bone disease. Her bones break anytime that she isn’t careful. She can’t grow. Although she is 6 years old, she looks only like a 3 year old.

An incident happens in Disney Land that causes Sean to get angry, angry enough to sue Disney Land. But lawyers knew that it would be a fruitless case but suggested that they sue Charlotte’s doctor for wrongful birth. The thing is Charlotte’s doctor – Piper, is her best friend.

So the story unfolds and shows how this one wrongful birth case affects every one in the family from Sean and Charlotte’s marriage to Willow getting the impression that her mother wishes she was never born to Amelia going through feelings of being neglected. Most importantly, the friendship that Charlotte and Piper has – what becomes of that?

The big question is this – is it right to sue for wrongful birth when you do not wish that your child was not born. Would you do it even if it nearly destroys your family? Would you do it even if it destroys your friendship with your best friend? Is your daughter’s future really worth the broken hearts along the way?

When Charlotte first made the decision to go through with this, I never could see things in her perspective. I never could imagine why someone would sue their own best friend over money. But as I read further, I began to understand Charlotte’s views a lot better. Nothing else mattered to her, because before any of her roles in life, be it being a best friend, being a good wife – she is first and foremost a mother. She’s the kind of mother that would give her life for her children. What she was doing, was just doing her best.

Let’s just say that the ending to me comes as a shock, as if someone stabbed me right through my heart.

This book reminds me of My Sister’s Keeper, just a little bit.

Jodi Picoult’s style of writing is just amazing. She puts so much life into her characters. When reading her book, you don’t just see parts and pieces of her characters, but you see them as whole human beings. Her characters find their way into your soul and stay there for all eternity. Just like how I know that these characters – Sean, Charlotte, Amelia and Willow will stay in my soul for a long time to come.

Noblest Roman

Halberstam, David. Noblest Roman. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1961.

Noblest Roman is Halberstam’s first book. It is also one of the only two works of fiction he wrote. He would go on to prefer writing nonfiction after One Very Hot Day. It makes me wonder about the artistic preference. Why switch from fiction to nonfiction - never to go back again? It’s like the musician who prefers classical music after years of performing heavy metal. Or the watercolor painter who switches to pencil halfway through his career.

Okay. I’m off track.

Noblest Roman takes place in the south (Mississippi) and is a sly commentary on state level elections and the crookedness that comes about in small, rural communities - especially when bootlegging and prostitution are involved. I found the plot to plod and character development to be contradictory. Everything moved too slow for my taste and while one might argue that is the southern way, I found myself sleeping at the wheel too often. It is curious to note that Noblest Roman was inspired by true Mississippi events. Maybe Halberstam wasn’t that far away from nonfiction after all.

Favorite lines: “He changed the subject from Little Bilbo’s woman because listening to the old man talk about her was almost as bad as listening to her in person” (p 10). Had to laugh at that one.

“By all rights he should have been tired and unshaven and rumpled, but he looked fresh and rested. The campaign did not show on him” (p 49).

‘”I’m an old man, Angelo. Before I had a wife. Now I have a wife and a doctor”‘ (p 106).

BookLust Twist: From More Book Lust in the chapter, “David Halberstam: Too Good To Miss” (p 112).

The Books That Changed My Life

Last night, after getting home from the hospital and waking up at 3:00 am, I read a great question by one of my blog baby friends named Sher.

What are some books that changed your life and why?

I realized that I barely talk about books here and I don’t even know why.  Books helped me survive growing up ghetto, they made me smarter, and they are the best form of entertainment that anyone has ever came up with, except for maybe a really good Eugene O’neil play on Broadway, because when I saw Long Day’s Journey Into Night with my guy Phillip Seymour Hoffman I  died and went to Heaven that night, but only after getting his autograph on my playbill. 

So, I got to thinking, what books really influenced me, inspired me, changed me, created me, etc? 

And then, my favorite author during the seventies and eighties instantly came to mind, Judy Blume.  I know there isn’t a soul out there under the age of 45 who doesn’t love her.  I first read Staring Sally J. Freedman as herself and I believe this was the book that began my life long fascination of the plight of the jews.  Sally was a smart and sassy girl as I was so I really identified with her.  I adore this book to this day and have reread it many many times.  By first grade, however I may have read Wifey, brought it to school, hid it behind a textbook, and read it over the course of many lunch hours to a table full of kids.  Yeah, I know, I was bad, but I was only trying to teach everyone about sex and love and adulthood.  Its crazy to think I read Wifey before I read Are You There God, Its Me, Margaret.  However, the more I think about it, the more I remember that Tiger Eyes taught me to begin overcoming my fears.  Even though I love the line “If you don’t have dreams, what do you have?” this book inspired my life quote, first read in spanish in the book Tiger Eyes which also became the t-shirt  I helped design as our camp counselor t-shirt the first summer I spent away from my ghetto.  Oh, are you wondering what that quote is?  My life quote is Life is An Adventure.  If it wasn’t for Judy Blume, I think I would have never had the courage to escape the ghetto, go away to college, and end up working my dream job as a camp counselor.   All this from the girl who desperately wanted to join track but was terrifed that she ran funny because she was realyl clumsy so she never became the jock she wanted to be. 

I read an unknown book about time travel back when I was 14 and sick w/mono.  My extremly dysfunctional mother who was afraid to drive actually went to the library for me every week and just picked out random piles of books. All were crazy fun choices, but there was one that was about time travel and teens. I would KILL to know the name of this book. It was the summer of 1985, and it was a paperback book, so it is an old one.  It started me off on my quest to learn how to time travel myself which eventually lead me to loving the tv show LOST.  I’ve read everything from A Brief History of  Time by Stephen Hawking to A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthurs Court by Mark Twain to movies like Somewhere in Time, and Donnie Darko.  

I read The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath as a high school senior and loved it. My high school librarian (Not the stinky one that smelled like boogers, crotch and Primo, the off brand colone that was supposed to smell like Georgio, but the nice one whose daughter went to Russian and she did the slide show for us in Ms. Smith’s class) loved me, as I was a former assistant in ninth grade, so each week she’d bring me classic literature to read. She introduced me to a lot of good books but The Bell Jar was different from the rest of her recommendations.  It was as if she was saving it for me for the end of school, like she knew I was suffering from something, which I was, but I’m saving that shit for my book.  The book deals with madness and suicide, both topics that are close to my heart.  

I LOVED both the Little House on the Praire books and the tv show as a child.  I often thought of myself as a Laura Ingals Wilder type of girl. I wore my hair in two braids for most of my early life, wore print dresses most of the time, and even had a chuck wagan os my barbies could go to the prairie lands, which was my rock garden that I had made in the back yard. I was completely fascinated by her. Laura, like I, was poor and had a rich nemisis.  Her book On The Banks of Plum Creek showed me that the embarrassment I felt from being poor white trash was ok, as Laura found friends dispite her social position in life.  Damn you Nellie, you taught me a lot of lessons and this was how I found the courage to spit in my nemesis’s face at age 11 after punching her in the nose before running into my house to safety.  Of course, fate put the two of us in gym class the next year, a fate I never would have survived except for my good silly friend Patty and the forced daily jogging to Eye of the Tiger and Abracadabra which saved me from the daily tormenting and the eventual shame of my tiny tiny breats.  I’m talking semi Carrie moments in the shower here.  Sigh.  Lesson learned, never punch the popular girl in the face if you are two years younger and are flat chested because the bitch will get you back.     

Jane Austen - Dear lord, I adore this woman. Pride and Prejudice really moved me when I first read it in high school. It is hard to explain how I feel so connected to her quickly, so I thought I’d use quote’s from the book instead.  All I can say is that she is just brilliant, funny and very observant, all things I always strive to do myself in my own writing.

“Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us.”

“I could easily forgive his pride, if he had not mortified mine.”

“A lady’s imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony, in a moment.”

“Laugh as much as you chose, but you will not laugh me out of my opinion.”

Pat Conroy - The Prince of Tides. I read it in Mrytle Beach after I had just faced a huge crisis in my life. Wow, does that man have pain in his soul.  Sadly, I met him and did not have the book in had during the same trip, a move that pisses me off to this day!  Like everyone, I saw the movie when it came out.  My god, I was working at the theatre when it came out, in the concession stand, by myself, making popcorn and working register alone until 2:00 pm and I had a line through the lobby all the way out of the door!  Long before my love affair with dysfunctional family memoirs like Running With Scissors and A Girl Named Zippy, I read all of Pat Conroy’s novels (Except The Boo, self published, hard to find) from this man. Only he, a man who wrote a book called My Losing Season, could make me fall in love about a book that focuses on a sport that I have grown to hate with a passion - basketball.  Prince of Tides has madness and romance and emotions and survival.  Not only did it make me fall in love with the south, but it gave me the answer to the secret I had kept inside me for so long.  I was looking at how to survive, and this book showed me that it was possible anyone could survive a horrible childhood if your will was strong enough. 

John Irving - My god, who doesn’t love him? I actually saw the film The World According To Garp in elementary school and I knew I had to read everything from this man. While I adore both A Prayer For Owen Meany and The Cidar House Rules more, The World According to Garp just took the breath out of me. I love this book because I struggled with wondering who my father was for the first twenty five years of my life. I, just like Garp, also invented fantasies as to who my father was.  He was everyone from Mick Jagger to Steven Tyler, since my mom did grow up in Los Angeles and was pretty enough to have slept with them.  Its also explained my large bottom lip (Which, sadly, is shriking due to old age.)  I guess this is why fate paid me back and had me meet Steven Tyler at my movie theatre just a year before my BFF talked me into finding and meeting my real dope of a father a year later.  I love this quote the John Irving has said. 

“As a child, when something is denied you — when there is a subject that is never spoken of — you pretend it’s for the best. But when I was denied information about someone as important as my actual father, I compensated for this loss by inventing him.”   So did I John, so did I.

So, what books influenced you? 

Share if you care:

Lords of the Underworld Books 1-3

For my first book review, I’m giving you a three-fer. Over the past two weekends, I read the first three of Gena Showalter’s Lords of the Underworld series. They center on a group of immortal men possessed by the demons released from Pandora’s Box. In a nice feminist twist on the tale, Pandora was not actually the one at fault. (Hmm, perhaps I need to write a short story blaming the whole apple thing on Adam. If I can get over my Catholic fear of committing blasphemy. It will be good practice for something to be revealed in the sequel to my current WIP, I guess.)

Darkest Night by Gena Showalter

In this first book of the series, we are introduced to the lords, the demons that possess them, and the truth behind the mythology that we have all believed about Pandora’s Box. The lords are immortal warriors created by the Greek gods to protect them. Pandora was one of the fiercest of these warriors, and the men were jealous that she was chosen by the gods to guard the box that housed the demons. Maddox, the hero of this book, killed Pandora. As a punishment, he was chosen to house the demon of Violence and to relive the same death that he inflicted on Pandora every night. After he is killed painfully, he is banished to hell to be tortured by demons until daybreak.

Maddox meets Ashlyn, who has a special ability to hear all conversations that have taken place in the specific area she is in. Maddox and his fellow lords don’t trust her, but Maddox can’t help but fall in love with her. And Ashlyn finds that the voices she hears go silent when she is with Maddox, and the quiet he brings to her makes her fall in love with him. The couple must find a way to be together, as the lords are hunted by humans and the gods begin to interfere.

Darkest Kiss by Gena Showalter

The second book in the series moves to Lucien, who hosts the demon Death. He meets Anya, the goddess of chaos, and falls in love with her just as the gods order him to take her soul. The two must find out how to remove the death curse before Lucien succumbs to it, all while they are further hunted by the humans out to destroy the lords.

We are also introduced to a second group of lords, who separated from the main group many years ago and the search for a set of artifacts that the lords need to ensure that they can find Pandora’s Box. If the human hunters find the box, they will use it to recapture the demons, which will kill the lords. Anya’s contacts in the world of the immortals prove invaluable as they quest for the treasures.

Darkest Pleasure by Gena Showalter

Finally, we move to the story of Reyes, keeper of the demon Pain. His love was introduced in the first book. Danika and her entire family are also under a death sentence from the gods, and lord Aeron, keeper of Wrath, is the lord ordered to kill them. Aeron has grown slowly more and more insane over the course of the trilogy as he ignores the order to kill the women. Reyes and the other lords must look for the key to save Danika, as she and Reyes grow closer and closer.

I enjoyed all three books. The world Showalter builds is believable and involving. The rethinking of the Pandora legend is interesting, as is the exploration of minor gods and goddesses I’d never heard of. The sexual tension between the hero and heroine in each book was believable, as were the relationships between the minor characters.

The only drawback I found was with the introduction of the second group of lords in book 2. I wasn’t quite ready for another large group of new characters, as I was still getting to know the main group of lords.

More Lords of the Underworld books are planned. Visit the series website to find out more.

If You Sing Your Life...

A wondrous tale of the life and times of a young man searching for the tempting and ever elusive ‘normal, happy life’. C. S. Lewis once said “I can’t imagine a man really enjoying a book and reading it only once.” Danny Gospel is a book worth reading again and again. I imagine many Christians yearn to view life as Danny Gospel did.

Danny Gospel is the name given to the main character by those who had heard him sing with his family in years ago.  He is a mail carrier in a small Iowa town with strong faith, believing the unbelievable and quick to notice the miracles (signs and wonders) that occur every day in the lives of each of us.

He begins his journey after receiving a kiss in a vision prompting him to seek out the ”normal, happy life’.  He encounters many colorful characters which hearken thoughts and recollections of his life from blissful childhood to the rude awakening of the loss of all his family members, save one - his brother Jonathan.

So refreshing were the colorful characters, the vivid landscape descriptions, and the spirited dialogue that I found myself still thinking of this story long after I finished the book.  Extremely well written, the author touches on relationship nuances that you do not find in many novels.  These nuances, expressed at times in lyrics hymns and poems, stir the reader to nostalgia and wonder.

As you read through Danny Gospel’s memories, you will encounter love, romance, yearning, sadness, grief, loss, and tragedy and find yourself in the end reading of redemption and reconciliation.

This book goes in my ‘secret stash‘ of books where I can return to it time and again.

• Author:  David Athey
• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Bethany House (April 1, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0764204440
• ISBN-13: 978-0764204449

TOUCHING FROM A DISTANCE: Deborah Curtis' Book and My Need to Write

Dear Reader,

Touching From A Distance: Ian Curtis And Joy Division (1995), written by Ian Curtis’ widow Deborah Curtis, inspired the movie Control (see my 11/29/09 blog post), explores Manchester, England post-punk singer Ian Curtis’ quickly earned fame as lead singer and lyricist for the band Joy Division, and his immaturity and/or mental illness that may have led to his death at 23. He neglected his young wife and his newborn baby. He carried on an affair and traveled with a Belgian woman. He had an epileptic condition, which led to grand mal seizures while he performed. In May 1980, he hanged himself, leaving behind a wife, 1-year-old daughter, and lots of questions, the most important being Why? Deborah Curtis didn’t have and answer. No one does.

I read Touching From A Distance because I hoped to learn about Ian Curtis’ writing process, specifically how came up with songs like “Transmission” and “Control.” As it turned out, Deborah wasn’t included in his private process, and his band mates were too involved in their lives to care, so there wasn’t much to learn from the book. But I came away with something more interesting than his writing process: my thoughts evoked by this quote from page 121 (paperback 2007).

“The one good thing to come out of Ian’s attempted suicide [several months before his death] was that an appointment was made for him to see a psychiatrist at Parkside Hospital. Amazingly, when the day came for Ian’s visit to the psychiatrist, we went together. On the way there he told me how unhappy he was in the music business. He said that when “Transmission” and Unknown Pleasures had been released, he had achieved his ambitions. Now there was nothing else left for him to do. All he ever intended was to have one album and one single pressed. His aspirations had never extended to recording “Love Will Tear Us Apart” or Closer. As I drove along, he told me how he wanted to leave Joy Division and join a circus.”

Ian Curtis said all he wanted to do was release one album and one single. He didn’t intend to record more music, but he did. Why? Did he expect it of himself? Did other people push him? Could he have stopped after just one success? If he’d quit, would he still have been considered an artist, a genius? Did writing past his initial desires deplete him, cause his death? I don’t know.

I wonder how many talented writers also strive to publish that one book, story, or poem, and once they do, they shut away their talent. (Or painters, actors, and so on.) Do they consider their job done? Do they ever feel like they’re wasting their talents? When I was a dance teacher I choreographed dozens of dances for my students but never managed to do the same for myself. Until I did. Terrified, I performed my dance for hundreds of students and their families, and I succeeded beautifully. The audience loved me. And as I carried my box of congratulatory bouquets to my car I thought I’m done. There wasn’t anything left to do. I didn’t need dance anymore.

So I left dance, but I didn’t join a circus. I joined writing. And I expect I’ll be there a long time. I can’t imagine there’ll come a day when I’ll no longer need writing.

Book Review: The Next 100 Years: A Forecast for the 21st Century by George Friedman

I read non-fiction intermittently when a good title catches my eye or I hear about a book on NPR. This book came to my attention while I was browsing the New York Times best seller list. It reminded me of the type of forecasting I learned about during the Mid-Atlantic Library Future’s Conference in May 0f 2007. Ray Kurzweil and Bob Treadwayspecifically touched on processes similar to those used by Friedman to predict future events.

Friedman begins by closing the door on the European Age and the dawn of the American Age (the 21st century). His mantra: Expect the unexpected. China will fragment and therefore exclude it from being a major player in the 21st century. Japan, Poland, and Turkey will emerge as threats to the United States and require monitoring. The battleground for late 21st century war will take place in space.

All of Freidman’s geopolitical forecasting is founded on a handful of statements. First, that “the inherent power of the United States coupled with its geographic position makes the United States the pivital actor of the twenty-first century” (p 5). The U.S. has access to both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans with naval bases around the world as well as a presence in space.

Secondly, “the United States doesn’t need to win wars. It needs to simply disrupt things so the other side can’t build up sufficient strength to challenge it” (p 5).  The current U.S. - Jihadist war, for example, has effectively kept the Islamic world fragmented. A unified enemy is much harder to defeat.

And finally, the United States owes much of its current power to its well armed and advanced global navy. The future of its power will reside in advancements in space. “Where humanity goes, war goes. And since humanity will be going into space, there will be war in space” (p 183).

Backing Friedman’s forecast for war in space and the use of robots is P.W. Singer’s presentation (Military Robots and the Future of War) on the current state of robotics in military use or prototype stages during the TED convention (filmed February 2009).

This book has challenged much of what I thought I understood. As I read it, I often thought, “I don’t know what I don’t know.” Of course, anyone who has read Ursula Le Guin’s “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” will understand the concept of ‘utopia’ (industrialized countries) based up on the abject suffering of others (third and even second-world countries). As the United States exerts its will to remain the global superpower, other countries will be forced to keep to themselves, to keep quite (though many will not), else risk the subtle wrath of an economic, political and militaristic giant (and so be chastised). After reading The Next 100 Years,I am put in my place, if you will. It is humbling and humiliating to realize what our position has cost us morally and what it will continue to cost but I am not so hypocritical as to denounce our actions. Nor do I see droves of the religious walking away from Omelas.

Perhaps our comfort and complacency will lead to our eventual collapse, but, according to Friedman, it won’t happen in my life time, nor that of my children’s. And there is no guarantee that our successor will be any more judicious. In fact, Friedman’s mise en scene slants toward Machiavellianism.

Now, what does this mean for Libraries? Equality within an unequal and chaotic system? Truth with a corrupt system? Compassion within a cruel system? Because Freidman’s forecasting is based on one more important truth: history repeats itself. Countries that have fought will fight again. Countries that have crumbled from within will do so again, and this time, their vulnerability in a global society will spell almost certain doom for them.

Sefer Ha-Aggadah, The Book of Legends

Imagine having a book which organizes all or most of the midrashic stories and legends into one volume ordered thematically to follow the Bible and important topics. Wouldn’t that be a resource too good to be true?

Well, its not because it is true and it does exist.

Hayyim Bialik (1873 - 1934), the national poet of Israel and perhaps the best known Hebrew poet in history collaborated with Y.H. Rawnitzky in 1911 to compile most of the rabbinic stories and legends and homilies into one volume organized so the non-expert can access them.

This is a monumental achievement when you realize the staggering breadth of rabbinic literature and the years and commitment it takes to master this literature. The Book of Legends is a shortcut worth knowing about. It won’t make any of us experts, but it will enable us to read with context and some clarity pieces of rabbinic thought which illuminate Jewish thought and often add dimension to our biblical understanding.

Schocken, a Jewish press, publishes the book in English only, and it is available on amazon for $50.37 — not bad considering the book has 984 pages of fairly small type.

In the beginning are short chapters explaining the meaning of aggadah and parables. The chapters from there are organized according to the Bible and topics with detailed headings and subheadings. The major headings include:

2. The Work of Creation and the First Generation

3. The Deeds of the Fathers

4. Israel in Egypt and the Departure from Egypt

5. Israel in the Wilderness

6. Judges, Kings, and Prophets

7. The Destruction of the First Temple

8. The Era Between the First and Second Temple

9. The Second Temple — Its Structure and Its Service

10. The Destruction of the Second Temple and the Land

11. The Deeds of the Sages

12. Israel and the Nations of the World

13. The Land of Israel

14. Language

15. Exile

16. Redemption and the Days of Messiah

17. In the Time to Come

18. Torah

19. Wisdom, Prophecy, and Song

20. Sabbath, Feasts, and Fasts

21. The Holy One, Blessed Be He, And Relations Between Human Beings and Him Who Is Everywhere

22. Good and Evil

23. Man and His Needs

24. A Man’s Household

25. Between Man and Man

26. Traits and Attitudes

27. The Community, the State, and Their Requirements

28. The World and All That It Holds

29. Matters Pertaining to Divination and Healing

30. Parables, Proverbs, and Sayings

31. A Miscellany

"The Shack" by William Young

I finished The Shack last night, and I was not disappointed. Often with a book like this the ending leaves something to be desired, but this one was perfect. Technically this book is Christian Fiction, but I really think that non-believers with honest questions about God and His relationship to humankind should read it to. This book offers great dialogue that explains God’s love for us, the personal relationship He wants to have with each one of us, and even delves into why bad things happen and free will. This book is fictional and does not cover all aspects of God, so it shouldn’t be taken as the authority on God’s character, but it is well worth the read, and will definitely get you thinking about your own personal relationship with God.

Review of Hungry Woman in Paris, by Josefina Lopez

From the title, I wasn’t sure what to expect from this novel when I asked for a review copy. Now, having read it, I have to say I’m impressed beyond my expectations.

Primarily, Hungry Woman in Paris is the story of a young woman trying to find herself in a foreign country. Yet it is so much more than that. Beyond a delicious facade of Parisian gourmet cuisine and love escapades, the novel examines important issues like prejudice against minorities and gender roles.

Escaping a broken engagement and the death of her cousin and best friend, twenty-nine year old Canela flies to Paris and decides to attend Le Croq Rouge, a presumably famous cooking school popular among foreigners. There, the former journalist immerses herself in the sensual world of smell, touch and taste in order to keep away from suicidal thoughts. She works very hard and not only struggles with learning to cook, but also with learning French and dealing with French Officials, a situation that brings her back in time when she was an undocumented Mexican in the US. Now that she’s in France, she has to go through the same prejudice all over again.

The cooking course lasts nine months and is divided in three parts: Basic, Intermediate and Superior. During this time, Canela becomes involved in various relationships, but although she initially is attached emotionally to one man, hers is primarily a sexual journey of self discovery in a man-dominated world where ‘free’ women are considered whores. Yet, Canela stays true to herself and her willingness to become free of gender restrictions. A feminist and activist at heart, she also becomes involved in various difficult situations which bring forth her passion for what she believes is right. At the same time, she is tormented by the spirit–or so it seems–of her dead cousin and by intense feelings of guilt. All through the novel, her inner loneliness and desperation permeates the story. Eventually, she must choose between staying true to herself and be alone or become what society expects of her and find what is socially accepted as ‘happiness’.

Hungry Woman in Paris is a compelling, engrossing read. Told in the first person from the point of view of Canela, the story sparkles with genuinity and our protagonist’s strong voice. Canela comes across as a passionate and forceful yet sad, very vulnerable woman trying to find her true identity in a world that denies her just that. The prose flows beautifully, shining here and there with Canela’s witty remarks and her honest view of life’s struggles. The secondary characters are also compelling but the novel is driven by Canela and her narrative voice. The pace moves fairly quickly and the food descriptions are a fun, delicious part of the novel that work on two levels–indeed, the word ‘hungry’ is meant both for food and lust. Lopez interlaces the two elements with clarity and deftness, pulling the reader into a world of drunken sensuality. Highly recommended.

Flipping Out by Marshall Karp (Review)

Flipping Out

By Marshall Karp

Mystery

Minotaur Books/St. Martin’s Press

ISBN# 0312378211 

Best-selling novelist Nora Bannister buys run-down houses in LA. While Nora’s business partners turn each one into a showpiece, she writes a book with the house as the scene of a grisly murder. When the book is released, the women put the house up for sale. A bidding frenzy ensues among those who wish to live in a place where a fictional character died a violent death.

All goes fine with the scheme until the real deaths begin. LAPD Detectives Mike Lomax and Terry Biggs are assigned the case, a case that hits close to home since some of the victims are cops’ wives. Lomax and Biggs must track down the murderer before Terry’s wife becomes a target.

The main problem with the story is that the motive for the murders seems to come out of nowhere, but still, the book is light and humorous and fun to read. Karp has a marvelous ear for dialogue, and a knack for one-liners. One of my favorites: The senior tech at the morgue says of her charges, “We don’t let them check in unless they’ve checked out.”

Karp says, “I write for people who want three-dimensional characters, real laugh-out-loud humor that is organic to the situation, and plot twists right up to the final pages. And while I make no guarantees, I’d say that a steady diet of my books can also help you lose weight, double your income, and improve your sex life.”

So, there you have it: Flipping Out by Marshall Karp.

The King Raven Trilogy, by Stephen R. Lawhead

I’ve always been a fan of myth and legend.  In the days when I fancied myself a scholar, I read as much ancient material as I could get my hands on.  Interest and academics drew me towards the King Arthur stories, but I gradually branched out into the Celtic, Icelandic, and even Finnish traditions (If you don’t think the cold does strange things to people, try reading the Kalevala sometime).  One character, though, which I never took an interest in was Robin Hood.  Maybe I was ruined by Disney and Errol Flynn, but the prince of thieves never held much interest for me.  Thankfully, Stephen R. Lawhead can’t say the same.

Lawhead’s King Raven Trilogy is one of the finest reimaginings of a classic story I have ever read.  Rather than molding the tradition to suit some philosophical perspective, or focusing on some ancillary character, Lawhead starts from scratch.  He rebuilds the Robin Hood mythos from the ground up, setting it in an unconventional place and time, but all the while easing it towards an ending which satisfyingly joins the familiar.

Hood (2006) opens the story in England and Wales about a generation after the Battle of Hastings.  Bran ap Brychan is the no-good son of a murdered Welsh lord. After his father’s death, Bran is forced into hiding and must find a way to accept his fate, becoming the only thing which can face the Norman Conquerors: King Raven.   It is a little disconcerting to get most of the way through a book supposedly about Robin Hood without actually seeing the name.  Instead, Bran takes on the mantle of this half-bird/half-man character, which in Welsh is called Rhi Bran y Hud.  In that name is a microcosm of the talent and intention Lawhead brings to this trilogy.

“Rhi Bran” means “King Raven,” and “y Hud” translates roughly as “magician” or “sorcerer.”  When you throw it all together and rush through the ethnic bits (as English speakers have done for centuries), it’s not much of a stretch for it to become “Robin Hood.”  Lawhead has made a career of historical fiction, but his blending of myth and history in this trilogy has created something literary and elegant.  He freely admits that setting the Hood story in Wales, rather than Sherwood Forest, may “seem strange to many readers, and perhaps even perverse.”  Nevertheless, he hits upon a connection between the tale’s outlaw focus and the gritty determination of the Welsh, especially in the generations following the Norman Conquest of 1066.  In doing, so he tells a story which has fresh legs and can also be connected, with few intellectual leaps, to Errol Flynn’s green tights.

The second book, Scarlet (2007), is even better than the first. If you want a primer on writing in convincing voices, this is your book. The narration is passed back and forth between third person and the first person voice of Will Scatlocke, or Will Scarlet as he prefers.  The separation between the two is so good it’s breathtaking.  There is no doubt as to who is speaking when Scarlet has the story.  His voice is so clear, so immediately recognizable, that the reader feels an intimate connection to the character, like reading a letter from a friend.

Scarlet is an English forester who has lost his job thanks to Norman intervention.  His wandering takes him into Wales, and it’s not long before he joins Bran’s band of outlaws.  The fight to regain Bran’s cantref (his Welsh kingdom) grows more brutal as the enemies become more concrete.  The corrupt Abbot Hugo has been sent to civilize the land, bringing in his wake Marshal Guy Gysburne and the King’s cruel Sheriff, Richard de Glanville.  This sequel has much more of the rollicking, fighting adventure such a Robin Hood series promises, and is totally enthralling from beginning to end.

Tuck (2009) picks up within heartbeats of Scarlet’s end and brings the story of Rhi Bran and his Grellon (Welsh for “flock”, aka Merry Men) to an end.  Events turn darker as the seemingly invincible forest dwellers learn the hard way just how devious the English King and his nobles can be.  The Welsh have been desperately outnumbered the entire time, but their guerrilla tactics will hold out only so long, as King William Rufus turns his full attention to subduing this troublesome country.

Throughout the series, the classic Robin Hood characters all make an appearance in one form or another, but in Tuck it is some of those secondary characters which are the difference between life and death.  Good old Friar Tuck has been around since Hood, but now moves more strongly into the role of adviser and confidant.  Mérian, too, enters the spotlight and shows herself a determined and passionate companion to Bran.  Their relationship remains largely unexplored, which is the one failing I felt strongly in the series.  In the third book, she is a conflicted and interesting character which I think deserved to be more thoroughly explored.  The reader also meets a new character, Alan a’Dale the troubadour, who becomes the line connecting Rhi Bran y Hud to Robin Hood.

In its complexity and thoughtfulness, the King Raven Trilogy proves itself to be a worthwhile series of historical fiction.  Above and beyond that categorization, though, it is a lovingly told story.  You have the strong sense that these are characters which Lawhead cares deeply about, and thus you as a reader can easily share that sentiment.  It is a retelling which has gone largely unheralded, but one which Robin and his outlaw band richly deserve.

On Book Reviews

Book Reviews always intrigue me.  I’m fascinated to read a writer’s perspective on another writer’s work.  It also strikes me as humorous that one writer might spend a day ”summarizing” a bold new piece of historical research that took the author years to research.  I imagine it would be a bit disappointing (and humbling) to see all that work condensed into a few paragraphs printed on the back page 0f the Sunday paper.

There is an art to writing a good book review, just as there is to writing reviews of movies, music, theatrical performances, and culinary adventures.  The goal (if the book, movie, music, performance, or restaurant was a worthy investment) is to convince your reader that they, too, should have the experience you just described.  In today’s fast paced world where time is a precious commodity, people don’t want to waste their time on a lousy movie or unremarkable dinner on Friday evening.  If they are going to invest, they want to invest well.

One of the goals for Rhetorical Expressions is to allow you, my reader, join my academic pursuits without having to attend class, write papers, prepare for exams, or write a thesis.   Too bad you can’t earn an “experiential” degree in rhetorical studies.  But as you accompany me on this academic endevor, I hope to peak your interest and convince you to read along with me, if only just a weekly newspaper column or one book a semester.

And thus we embark on book reviews.  Take a peak at the “Books” tab at the top of the page.  These are books that are well worth your read.  But if you want to continue the “experiential” track and need some more convincing, I’ll oblige.  My goal is to write a review for each book listed, beginning with Counselor: A Life on the Edge of History by Ted Sorensen.  Instead of lengthy paragraphs, I’ll make it simple: 10 reasons why the book is worth your time.

Yes, we’re still in the “Learn from the Best” series, but this is a blog in progress.  Check back tomorrow for the inaugural book review and on Monday for the next “Learn from the Best” installment, “Read Others & Quote Them”.

Thanks for joining me in this adventure.

Anthony Capella's "The Wedding Officer" Is a Humorous, Scrumptuous Feast of Love, Food, and War

Anthony Capella’s The Wedding Officer is a deliciously romantic novel set in Naples, Italy, during World War II,  as Allied forces and Italian partisans fight for the liberation of Italy from the German occupation. With wit and firm mastery of the local setting and cuisine, Capella tells the story of Livia Pertini, a young Italian widow with amazing cooking skills, and Captain James Gould, a  British Field Security Service officer. (Need I mention that she is pretty and he is handsome?). Captain Gould takes his new assignment of discouraging marriages between British soldiers and Italian women very seriously, at least for a while…Livia Pertini has reasons to hate the Allied soldiers.

Entertaining and realistic cultural and language misunderstandings color their ensuing interactions. Complications in the road to love include work responsibilities, a volcanic eruption and, of course, the war. Beneath the humor and romanticism, there is a realistic look at the impact of war on the local civilian population—particularly the women who have very few ways to make a living in their bombed-out, occupied country, while bearing the responsibility of taking care of their families.

The Wedding Officer begins with,

The day Livia Pertini fell in love for the first time was the day the beauty contest was won by her favorite cow, Pupetta.

For as long as anyone in Fiscino could remember, the annual Feast of the Apricots had incorporated not only a competition to find the most perfect specimen of fruit from among the hundreds of tiny orchards that lined the sides of Monte Vesuvius, but also a contest to determine the loveliest young woman of the region. The former was always presided over by Livia’s father, Nino, since it was generally accepted that as the owner of the village osteria he had a more subtle palate than most, while the latter was judged by Don Bernardo, the priest, since it was thought that as a celibate he would bring a certain objectivity to the proceedings.

Of the two competitions, the beauty contest was usually the more good-natured. This was partly because it was unencumbered by the accusations of fixing, bribing and even stealing of fruit from another man’s orchard that dogged the judging of apricots, but also because [...]

Having recently visited the Naples, Mount Vesuvius, Positano region, this book made me a bit nostalgic. It’s a wonderful read. I read that they might make a movie out of this story—I hope they don’t ruin it.

Book Review - The Wicca Handbook by Eileen Holland

The Wicca Handbook by Eileen Holland. This was the first book on Wicca I had bought (but not the first I had read). Keep in mind that I’m very new to Wicca and come into this with no knowledge what-so-ever.

I really like this book. It’s one I constantly refer to. I have 4 bookmarks in it to mark important things that I go back to. However, I feel that there is too much emphasis on the spells side of things and not enough (actually, very little) information on rituals, casting a circle, and other such information.

The book is divided into three sections.

Part 1: Becoming a Witch

Part 2: The Craft

Part 3: Correspondences

Part 1 deals with the basics, and she does this too briefly. But it is enough to give the beginner an idea of what is what.  However, there are no ritual outlines or suggestions. The Wiccan year is skimmed over with very little information. The elements are described in great detail, but after reading it and looking at all the correspondences, I still had no idea what it all meant.

Part 2 deals with casting spells. There is no information on anything else here but spells and correspondences for various problems. Great if you know how to use them, but if you are just starting out it can be very confusing. Having said that, as I’ve learnt more about Wicca, both online and through books, I have started to understand this section much better. Some basic everyday life issues are looked at, such as health and healing, money and business, and protection. She gives and explanation and then goes through the various correspondences for many of the aspects of the issue, including gods and goddess. Her correspondences are by no means exhaustive, but they are very good and can be supplemented by the readers own research. She does give some spells in this section. For example, there is a very good spell called Blue Justice which is cast when there is a court matter that you want to see come out in a positive way.

Part 3 looks at many of the correspondences in detail. This section at first bewildered me, but now I love browsing through it. She goes through things such as animals, colours, metals, rocks and gemstones, letters and numbers. Overall I like the book. Actually, I think it’s fantastic. It did give me some good information when I was starting and opened my mind to the view that Wicca was much bigger than I first thought. It’s not a book I would give to someone as their first book on Wicca. But it is a great reference book that I know I will refer to again and again.

Out of 10 I give it a 7. If there was more information on rituals than it would get a higher score.

Pancakes and Painted Eggs (Jean Chapman)

Pancakes and Painted Eggs

This book is an old favourite of mine. It may not be in print now (correct me if I’m wrong, and I’d love to be wrong), but still seems to be available from many libraries and you could try finding second-hand copies through Amazon (or perhaps ebay).

Pancakes and Painted Eggs is a book for Lent and the Easter Season. It has stories, poems, songs (even sheet music, arranged by Margaret Moore), explanations of customs and festivals from a variety of cultures, recipes, craft activities, and fun illustrations by Kilmeny Niland. There’s something for everyone!

So get yourself down to your local library!

Just Got Back...

From the Baltimore/D.C. area. I went down there on a band trip on Thursday morning and just got back an hour ago. We went to Cirque de Soleil (however you spell that), the Baltimore Symphony (BORING), Hard Rock Cafe, hung out at the Inner Harbor, the aquarium, and went into D.C. today for the Cherry Blossom parade which kinda sucked due to the fact that we were at the end and people were being obnoxious.

I had a great time, though, and I just wanted to let everyone why I’ve been pretty MIA for the last few days.

Book Review: The Success Principles, By Jack Canfield

Jack Canfield, the award winning and best selling co-author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, lays out his method for success in the excellent, The Success Principles. Jack compiles lessons learned from a lifetime of success and failures, research of, and conversations with successful people, and his usual style of adding anecdotes and stories to convey a lesson.

He details 64 lessons that will “Get you from where you are to where you want to be.” Some of these lessons include personal responsibility(absolutely critical in today’s world), persistence, goal setting, affirmations, wealth building and spending habits, and much more.

One of the more successful features of the book, is the inclusion of hundreds of inspiring and pertinent quotes throughout the writing. It bridges certain gaps, so the reader knows that this is not simply Jack Canfield coming up with some crazy idea. Rather, it is time tested, and affirmed by many well-known high achievers.

If you are ready to begin a path to a more fullfilling life, please read this book, and then read it again, and then apply what you have learned. Knowledge is only as good as the action that accompanies it. If you would like to purchase a copy, as always, just follow the attached link.

The Success Principles(TM): How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be

Until next time…

Book review: Barbara Abbey's Knitting Lace

This is plain and simple a great book. In my opinion, anyone who knits lace should have this book in their library. I almost didn’t buy it, the cover image didn’t look all that promising, but I am so glad I did!

This book is very much a classic example of a 1970s fiberarts handbook, but that is not by any means intended as a slap or a criticism. If you look at books on embroidery, or bobbin lace, or knitting, from the 1960s and 1970s, it seems like they all present not only the basics — how best to secure your thread in the fabric, how to wind the bobbin and secure the thread on it, how to cast on, increase, decrease, and cast off — but many different variations on all of those techniques. Here, these techniques are all accompanied by hand-drawn illustrations, step-by-step where necessary, that really do make it clear what the work should look like as you do the technique. Even better, as far as I can tell the words and the illustrations are all on the same page; there is little that is more frustrating than having to flip back and forth between the text and the diagram!

The first 42 pages of the book are taken up with technique, but it’s useful technique and a lot of it is needed for the patterns presented. And oh, the patterns! There are 100 edgings and insertions, largely arranged in increasing level of difficulty and ranging from very simple scallops to naturalistic leaves to more abstract arrangements. Following that come 10 “background” stitch patterns, mostly meshes or “field of flowers” patterns.

In addition, there are 12 projects for which full instructions are given. These include a shawl, two collars, and two luncheon sets. The shawl is intriguing, as the center is knitted, then single crochets are worked around the outside of the center, and finally the edging is knitted on with short-row miters to turn the corners neatly. Fascinating!

The only drawbacks? The stitch patterns are not charted, but instead are typeset using mostly letters and numbers, and only a few symbols. I have yet to decide whether I am going to try to knit directly from the words, or whether I will try to chart things first, then knit from the chart. The index, while extensive, is not as user-friendly as it could be. If, for example, I want to see if there’s an edging that uses daisies, looking under “daisy” won’t help, as it’s listed under W for “wide daisy and leaf edging”. But, then again, with “only” 53 pages of patterns to look through, it’s almost more fun to just flip through looking at all the pretty patterns to find the daisy edging.

There were a couple errors in the original printing from 1973, but those have been corrected in the 1993 edition that I have.

Overall, as I said at the start, in my opinion this is a must-have. I bought mine direct from Schoolhouse Press, but Amazon put it in my “you might like” area the other day, so it’s widely available. If you get it, I hope you’re as happy as I am!

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies -- Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith

The blurb on the back of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies brazenly declares that Seth Grahame-Smith’s addition of zombie-fighting action to Austen’s classic “transforms a masterpiece of world literature into something you’d actually want to read.” Perhaps the blurb’s brag is just a bit of cheeky fun; after all, Austen’s staid survey of manners and mores is a perennial favorite, coming in second to only The Lord of the Rings in a recent BBC poll of British readers, as well as topping a similar poll in Australia. Clearly, people not only want to read it, they actually do, and in large numbers each year. There’s even been enough interest in it for a not-that-bad movie update just a few years ago. So it’s hardly as if Pride and Prejudice is a corpse in need of resuscitation. This begs the question: What nuances and comments does Grahame-Smith have to add? Not much, we’re afraid.

The most interesting aspect of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is its concept, a promise for weird laughs and sick kicks neatly summed up in its fantastically morbid cover. Grahame-Smith doesn’t so much re-imagine Pride, but simply stuff a murderous host of zombies into Austen’s romance. These “unmentionables,” as the polite Regency society folks call them, wage a war on good stolid Englishmen. Fortunately Mr. Bennet has trained his daughters, led by feisty Elizabeth, in the ways of the ninja. Between matchmaking, letter-writing, polite dances, and furtive glances at Mr. Darcy, the Bennet sisters slice up zombies left and right with their katanas. The press-release for Pride and Prejudice and Zombies claims that the book retains 85% of Austen’s original, and no major plot points are changed or missing. Instead, the reader is subjected to seemingly purposeless bouts of zombie fighting after every scene. Of course, to decry these fights as purposeless seems silly; after all, when you pick up a book called Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, you expect zombies, don’t you?

Grahame-Smith’s premise sounds like great good fun in theory, but it turns out that adding zombies and ninjas to a classic beloved romance is neither terribly engaging or interesting. We love zombies at Biblioklept, but the most effective zombie tales–28 Days Later, Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead–work beyond horror and serve also as a form of social commentary or even satire. Grahame-Smith seems to miss, or even ignore, any opportunity to comment on, criticize, or otherwise inform the novel he’s cannibalizing. Instead, his additions convey the energy, wit, and sophistication of a one-note SNL sketch. The premise gets old fast, and it becomes increasingly confusing who this novel is for. It’s unlikely to appeal to most Austen fans, as it provides no real comment on her methods, plotting, or characterization, and as far as a zombies-and-ninjas riff goes, it’s pretty standard fare. Ultimately, it seems like more of a conversation piece than something you’d actually read for enjoyment, a little coffee table book that might evoke some interest. Flick through the amusing illustrations, chuckle, and move on.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is available soon from Quirk Books.

Vintage Style

By Dubin and Berman

I am not content merely to wax opinionated on topics related to needles and thread.  I can be opinionated about books that deal with questions of style too.  Vintage Style is another of my library finds, and to be quick in the review, I like it.  

Here is why.  It is written for grownups who aren’t stuffy, and it seems to be a reasonable resource for identifying the shapes and fabrics that are associated with a decade, as well as for ideas on how to mix and match in a way that suits your personality.  Finally, not such a bad place to start when you are looking for ideas that you wish to copy.  

On the down side, there are some items that I’d like to see off the body, just for an idea of how they are constructed.  The Bodysuit, for instance.  And a newly-discovered pet-peeve: no page numbers.  Who’s dumb idea was that?  Oh, wait.  They’ve stuck them in the inner binding at the top.  Still, not helpful.  The bodysuit is on page 24, and is a good example of what wrapping can do for a body (perfect for breasts of all sizes and shapes, makes the waist look small).  

And while we are on the topic of demonstrating what clothing can and can’t do for a body, check out how boxy the slender girl in the yellow miniskirt looks on page 30.  It points out something that I’ll harp on later: girls need clothes that demonstrate a waist.  Even skinny girls.  

There are ideas here for items that are relatively easily made - the princess skirt, for example (p 32) and what to wear them with for different occasions. More good things: they identify details that make the clothes stand out and name the silhouettes, all very helpful for someone wishing to become well-versed in the language of clothing.  

Basically, I’d buy it.  Though I would have liked it better if they had shown the vintage items just as they are in detail so the reader could get a better sense of the essence of each item - the shape, the construction, and how it hangs in the closet.