My Review of Helen Smith’s Men on Strike

I  finished this book today and so here is one last post before my June break! 

I have been reading and hearing in the past several years about why men seem to be ‘dropping out’ of society. I too have wondered why and in this book Helen Smith, a psychologist offers several reasons why. Among them is a hostile legal environment regarding paternity issues and the sense of feeling second-class in today’s society resulting in an unwillingness to engage in marriage, community service, and life. Drawing upon stories from men she has worked with in her counseling practice and from their responses and comments on her blog, Smith writes a searing indictment of political correctness from what I believe to be a libertarian perspective.

Some readers of this book will perhaps find Smith harsh and even extreme in her views and recommendations. But I think that Smith’s book needs to be read in the context of other books on the subject because the increasingly noticed absence of men in society does have an impact on children, family life, and the quality of life in our society today.

I rate this book an ‘ok’ read.

Note: I reviewed a Net Galley copy of this book via the publisher in exchange for a review and was not required to write a positive review

My Review of Alister McGrath’s biography of C.S. Lewis

“Lewis has made the most difficult transition an author can hope to make-being read by more people a generation after his death than before it.”

While it has now been more than 35 years since an undergraduate course called “The Inklings” introduced me to Clive Staples Lewis, John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, Dorothy Leigh Sayers, and Charles Walter Stansby Williams and their wonderful literary worlds which continue to bring enjoyment and, in true academic fashion, debate to millions of people, Alister McGrath, has brought back the memories of that class in his new biography of C.S. Lewis called, C.S. Lewis: A Life – Eccentric Genius, Reluctant Prophet (Tyndale House Publishers).

Focusing on what he calls, based on a comment by Lewis’ friend Owen Barfield, “three C.S. Lewises,” McGrath with both a critical eye and an admiration for Lewis and his work, walks us through these “three Lewises” – a best selling author, “Christian writer and apologist,” and “perhaps the least familiar to most of his admirers and critics: the distinguished Oxford don and literary critic.” As he does a clearer portrait of a gifted writer and thinker who died the same day as American President John F. Kennedy was assassinated emerges for a contemporary readership.

  McGrath’s book, is divided into five sections, Prelude which begins with Lewis’ birth and concludes with his service in the British Army in World War One and the emerging relationship with Jane King Moore; Oxford which picks up with his student days in 1919 and concludes with his growing alienation from the Oxford faculty amidst a changing university post-World War Two culture; Narnia which takes the reader into, through, and around various aspects of Lewis’ well-known Chronicles of Narnia; Cambridge that highlights a rebirth and refocus of Lewis regarding literary scholarship, his controversial marriage to Joy Davidson and then her death as well as his declining health that led to his death on November 22, 1963; and finally Afterlife in which McGrath assesses Lewis among the wider Christian community as well seeking to understand and answer the reasons for his popularity five decades after his death.

In his preface, McGrath makes clear that his biography “sets out, not to praise Lewis or condemn him, but to understand him- above all, his ideas, and how these found expression in his writings.” McGrath attempts to do this by “exploring the complex and fascinating connections between Lewis’s external and internal worlds.” I believe that McGrath accomplishes these goals with the result of a critical biography that I believe will contribute to the on-going discussion, debate, and study of Lewis.

What I liked about this book is that McGrath presents a new and multifaceted view and approach to Lewis and his work. I believe that this will be a work used in classes at both the undergraduate and graduate levels in literature classes in the years to come.

I rate this a ‘great’ read.

Note: I borrowed this book from my local library and chose to write a review of it.

My Review of Dan Mayland’s The Leveling

“When he’d first met Daria, she’d been a young, naive idealist. And he’d been a cynical, burned-out spy. But since then, a leveling of sorts had taken place between them.”

Mark Sava is back and this time he is kicked out of one country, finds out that a friend has disappeared then goes on a search to find him, and leads the reader on chase through two other countries as he and a former colleague and lover, follow a trail of emails, photos and interesting characters to find the out the truth of the disappearance and unravel a plot to provoke the US to attack Iran and enable oil to flow to the east as a corrupt scheme operates in the high levels of the Iranian and Chinese governments.

The result is another fast paced story of politics, greed and power in Dan Mayland’s second novel The Leveling. 

As with his first novel The Colonel’s Mistake the main action takes place in central Asia and features Mark Sava, an ex-CIA station chief who is now teaching at a western university in Azerbaijan. Joining him on the latest adventure is his former colleague and lover Daria Buckingham as they seek to find a colleague who is kidnapped after discovering a plot between elements of the Iranian and Chinese governments over oil. The result is another fast paced novel with lots of action and sub-plots.

In my review of Mayland’s first novel, I described Sava as “not a cerebral and orthodox Jack Ryan of  Red October or Patriot Games nor the sophisticated James Bond. He is a tough, gritty, and cynical and more in the vain of Jason Bourne.” In this novel, Sava is softer and less sure of himself at times while Daria has become more hard edge. But the fast paced action is still there and it makes for a great book.

I liked Mayland’s first novel and I liked this one as well!

I rate this novel a ‘very good’ read.

Note: I received an advanced reader copy of this book from Amazon Vine in exchange for a review. I was not required to write a positive review.

My Review of Amanda Jenkins’ Confessions of a Raging Perfectionist

“…grace is a big hill to climb for a perfectionist like me.”

Perfectionist.

What comes to mind when you hear the word “perfectionist?”

Focused? Calm? Peaceful?

or…

Driven? Excellence based? Absolutely perfect?

Well Amanda Jenkins’ description of perfectionist is more the latter than the former and she proves it with a new book published this month by Tyndale House Publishers, Confessions of A Raging Perfectionist.

It is a book that describes what I consider to be a common malady for both Christians and non-Christians alike – a drivenness to do everything well, no wait, perfect. It is a driveness that creates guilt, shame, and a relentness energy to show no weakness nor imperfection.

Divided into 12 chapters with subject titles such as Vanity, Parenthood, Recognition, Plans, Diet Coke, and Happiness, and sprinkled with self-effacing humor, Jenkins pulls back the curtain on her drivenness and why she is driven to perfection. Filled with stories about her life, parenting, and marriage, and those of her friends as well, she ultimately concludes that to live at peace with herself, others, and God, requires of her to “embrace my imperfection and to set my eyes on God’s perfection. Resolve to live free in Jesus.”

I have read several books about the issue of perfection written from both a faith and non-faith perspective. I have learned much about the issue from each of them but what Amanda brings to the topic is a fresh and personal perspective on the issue with a simple honesty.  As a pastor who has wrestled with perfectionism myself and understand the spiritual drain it places on a person Jenkins’ work is personal and helpful and one that I will recommend to others.

I rate this book a ‘good’ read.

Finally, as part of the blog tour via Tyndale House  I am happy to a offer a first chapter exerpt of the book by clicking on this link 978-1-4143-7870-1

and… a Q and A with Amanda herself by clicking on this link PerfectionistQ&A

Note: I received a copy of this book from the Tyndale House Blogger Review program in exchange for a review. I was not required to write a positive review.

My Review of Joan Wolf’s Daughter of Jerusalem

“Sometimes I thought it was easier to follow the myriad rules of the Jewish Law than to follow the very simple requirements of Jesus.”

Mary Magdalene has been the subject of many stories about her relationship to Jesus Christ across time. Some have considered her to be Jesus’ wife or even lover. But award winning novelist Joan Wolf has done us a favor with a marvelously well-written and thought provoking novel about this much talked about Mary. Published today by Worthy Press, Daughter of Jerusalem: A Novel of Mary Magdalene, is both an inspirational and interesting work on the life of this interesting Biblical character.

What struck me about this fictionalized account of her life is the good blend of pertinent fiction with the known Biblical record of her life. Wolf makes Mary very human and sketches a tale of a woman who was sought by both Jewish and Roman men.

Wolf does an interesting job of sketching in Jesus, Peter and the other disciples, and some of the Biblical characters, like the Roman Centurion who sought Jesus’ healing touch for her daughter, into the plot line in unique and insightful ways which kept my attention. Her plot integration of Biblical stories, such as the Good Samaritan, brings a new and helpful perspective that a discerning reader I hope finds helpful and thought provoking.

This is a novel that is credible without being clichéd and I liked it.

I rate this novel as a “very good” read.

Note: I received a galley copy of this book from the publisher via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to write a positive review.

My Review of Robert Lyndon’s Hawk Quest

“My master said a journey uncompleted is like a story half-told.” “Don’t be ridiculous.

A journey’s a tiresome passage between one place and another.”

With a time frame that spans well over a year…

…a plot of epic proportions

…unforgettable characters which will you will come to love and hate

…attention to historical detail and setting

and a knowledge of history and theology with some foreshadowing of theological issues within the Christian faith that were to occur again and again to this day

Robert Lyndon’s Hawk Quest is a novel that I could not put down.

After I read it it reminded me of  other historical novels that I have read in the past with their long historical time frame. But Hawk Quest  is played out on a grander scale and scope making it an contemporary novel in what I would call an epic vein.

It is also a quest for revenge; of penance, of adventure, for freedom. The human themes of love, hate, faith, doubt, lust, greed, and the like are a part of this novel.

Hawk Quest begins in the Alps in 1072 when Vallon, a Frank knight who is one the run, encounters Hero, a “promising Italian physician,” who is accompanying a diplomat/philosopher on a mission to free a captured Norman knight  imprisoned by a Muslim leader in what is now modern day Turkey.  The terms of exchange for the Norman knight are four pure white gyrfalcons that only could be obtained in Greenland .

The diplomat dies and Vallon reluctantly agrees to take on the task of helping Hero deliver the message and then, again reluctantly, lead an expedition to save him. Thus their adventures begins which take them, and a crew of memorable characters from Norman England up to Iceland and Greenland across the north Atlantic to Norway across what is now Sweden and Finland and south through central Russia into northern Turkey. Along the way the group faces numerous challenges and tests of loyalty and character.

The journey results in a well detailed and interesting account of a falcon competition for which the author of this novel is well known.

Hawk Quest (the initial launch title of Redhook, a division of Hachette Book Group) is simply historical fiction at its best. I liked everything about this book.

I give this book a ‘magnificant’ read.

Note: I receive an uncorrected proof of this book from the Amazon Vine program in exchange for a review. I was not required to write a positive review.

Review of NT Wright’s Lent for Everyone, Luke, Year C: A Daily Devotional

Based on the Lectionary Year C, a rotating three year cycle of reading the Bible, NT Wright, an Anglican and former Bishop of Durham, has written a wonderfully warm and personal devotional guide based on the Gospel of Luke as well selected Psalms.

Published here in the states by Westminster John Knox Press, Wright offers the reader, and I would include older children in the audience for this book, a helpful and thoughtful set of readings designed to focus on the life and ministry of Jesus as he unfolds it from the the first chapters to the the final chapters of Luke. A short passage, for most days, followed by a generally short reflection, and the prayer focus, completes each day’s reading. The readings begin with Ash Wednesday and conclude with the Saturday after Easter.

I liked this book for its simple and yet deep insights and reflections that are for the reader who is seriously reflecting on his/her life and faith during the season of Lenten. It would make a great guide for families.

I give this book a ‘very good’ rating.

Note: I received a galley copy of this book from the publisher via Net Galley in exchange for a review. I was not required to write a positive review.

My Review of Julie Kibler’s Calling Me Home

“The heart is a demanding tenant; it frequently makes a strong argument against common   sense.” Isabelle MacAllister

Julie Kibler’s debut novel is a soul stirring, heart wrenching, and,  how else can I say it, hope dashing story. It made me angry, brought tears to my eyes, raised and dashed my hopes, and reminded me that “the heart IS a demanding tenant.” It is a story about a love that exceeds limits, the fear that comes with putting people in categories and then trying to keep them there or breaking them out of those categories, it is about first, and sometimes lasting, impressions, and it is about a hope that springs eternal, like a rising Phoenix, no matter the circumstance. Ultimately however, it is about friendship across generational and racial lines, because we all have hurts, hopes, loves, and pasts that are universally shared.

It is a novel that you need to buy and read.

The story begins with the introduction of the main characters Isabelle MacAllister, a 89 year old white woman who is characterized by the legendary gentile southern charm with a generous helping of rapier wit and blunt opinion and Dorrie Curtis, her African-America hair stylist, a single parent, who accompanies Isabelle on road trip from Dallas to Cincinnati to attend a funeral. As they drive, Isabelle’s past as well as Dorrie’s past, and her troubled present and uncertain future, is revealed in a wonderful alternating rhythm of both first person and third person narrative as the chapters alternate between Isabelle and Dorrie’s telling of their stories. The result is a rich and bittersweet love story leading the reader back into another time and place and bringing secrets to the light which begins to shape and change the relationship between Isabelle and Dorrie into a deep and abiding friendship.

I believe Kibler does a wonderful job of bringing respect, dignity, and humanity to the two main characters reminding the reader of a common human experience that transcends race, age, and a host of other categories we use to define people in often unproductive ways. She presents historical elements in a fair and even fashion while at the same time pointing to the common human element in us all.

But enough about the story line, narrative style, and character development.

This is a wonderful and moving novel that will stand your heart on end, sideways, inside out, and straight up. It is a story about love and dignity. It is about friendship no matter our skin color or our past. It is our story though with different characters and situations.

I rate this book an “outstanding” read!

Note: I received an advance reader copy of this book via the Amazon Vine review program in exchange for a review. I was not required to write a positive review.

My review of Jonathan R. Miller’s Delivery

“And that is the essence of this labor-to go where you must go, and to bring with you what is demanded, to do with it what is required, and to submit the testimony of your efforts after the delivery is through.”

de·liv·er·y (noun)… A rescue…”

 

Set in a bleak environment in which people are not as they seem, Jonathan R. Miller’s second and newest thriller Delivery is a work that sends you into multiple worlds – the working world of which the main character Ambojeem, a Somali delivery man with artificial eye sight, is a set amidst the norlanders, the whites, who are his bosses and, as the story unfolds, his hunters and nemesis; the worlds of the immigrant in the Minneapolis suburbs that is many layered not only as to skin tone but other divisions as well; the world of the haves and have nots; and the world of black market medicine.

It took some time to get into the story line but once I did I was riding alongside Ambojeem in his delivery truck criss-crossing Minneapolis as he delivers eviction notices, human wastes and tissue, and legal papers to both legitimate and illegitimate places and characters. But it is not until Ambojeem discovers the lifeless body of a family member in one of the containers he transports that the reader embarks on a descent into a shady world of power and corruption which twists and turns not only your mind but your heart as the seeming powerlessness of Amojeem and the young girl he rescues, Arla, is pitted against those who seek to use the girl for medical gain.

Written primarily in a third-person narrative style, Delivery is tight and descriptive at the same time. Miller writes, in my opinion, cleanly with minimal punctuation with the result of movement between narrative and dialog being blurred like the plot line itself as the reader literally careens along with the characters to an uncertain conclusion.

I liked this book and though, as I have ready indicated, it took me a while to get into the flow, once I did, I kept reading. I rate this book a ‘great’ read.

Note: I was asked to read and review this book by Smith Publicity. I agreed to do so without the expectation of a positive review.

My review of Alister McGrath’s Faith and the Creeds

“The creeds…far from merely summing up the things of God…are an invitation to explore the wonders to which they point. Like diagrams of cathedrals and maps of landscapes, they are useful as summaries and starting points, but come to life when we let them guide us on a voyage of discovery, in which we see things with new eyes and take things in with a new sense of satisfaction.”

The history of my personal Christian pilgrimage is primarily non-creedal, that is the historic Christian creeds (such as the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed), were not recited in worship. In fact, the tradition of which I am currently ordained found the creeds were, shall we say, ‘unsatisfactory,’ in the early days of its history. But because of Twitter and blogging and my own pastoral efforts and helping others see the big picture and long history of the Christian faith, I have experienced a new interest in understanding these elements of the faith that were of vital aid to faith in the early days of its life and development.

Alister McGrath’s new work Faith and Creeds, published by Westminster John Knox Press, is going to be an aid to me and countless others in seeing the creeds for what they are, “an invitation to explore the wonders to which they point,” the wonders of faith and God. Written in a simple and conversational style, Faith and Creeds is the introductory volume in a new series Christian Belief for Everyone.

McGrath begins the book with an overview of the series and why it needed to be written – the ‘big picture’ “of the Christian faith that I aim to set out in this series [to make sense] both of what we see around us and what we experience within.” In doing so McGrath makes clear that he writes for the ‘ordinary’ believer and not the clergy. He also acknowledges that he will draw on ‘three great lay theologians of the twentieth century” G.K. Chesterton, C.S.Lewis, and Dorothy Sayers (the last two, you Hobbit and Lord of the Rings readers, were both faith journeyers and fellow writers with Tolkien).

In the chapters which follow McGrath lays out the metaphors of journey and the tools of journey with a rich discussion about the journey of faith and how the creeds are like a map which

“…is there to help us explore the landscape of faith and to find our way back home. It’s a map that distils the core themes of the Bible, disclosing a glorious, loving, and righteous God, who creates a world that goes wrong, and then acts graciously and wondrously in order to renew and direct it, before finally bringing it to its fulfillment.”

As he does so, McGrath brings in illustrative points in his own brief autobiography of faith from childhood upbringing in the Anglican church in Northern Ireland, through a period of doubt and atheism, to return to a vital and personal faith to illustrate the value and purpose of the creeds. Trained as not just a theologian and pastor but also as a scientist, McGrath’s personal story I believe is an additional plus to this book. He concludes the volume with a discussion of the creeds as, chapter four’s title notes, “a public vision of faith” and as chapter five’s title notes, the ‘big picture.’

I was expecting to have more written about the creeds themselves and when I came to the end of the book I was somewhat disappointed. However, McGrath’s ‘big picture’ approach to faith and belief, as well as his own faith journey, I think adds a personal as well as appropriate theological base to the volumes that will follow this book. I liked this book and it was both helpful and inspirational  to me as a follower of God and as a clergyperson.

I rate this book a ‘very good’ read.

Note: I received a galley copy of this book from the publisher via Net Galley in exchange for a review. I was not required to write a positive review.