Teasing readers is so much fun!

Especially on a Tuesday!  Then I can join in for Teaser Tuesday with MizB and my other blogger friends.  Here’s how we play:

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Here’s mine:

“Perhaps this time of year, when orange is the color and lawns are carefully littered with plastic witches, light-up jack-o-lanterns and cotton candy style spider webs, the tombstones have more attention paid to them.  I have a feeling that New England doesn’t really need made-up haunted houses; they probably have plenty of the real deal.”

Cemetery Walk: Journey into the Art, History and Society of the Cemetery and Beyond
by Minda Powers-Douglas

I cannot tell you what page that quote is on because I am reading it on my Kindle.  It can be found near the end of the 10% point.  I just started reading it so I have not gotten very far. Why am I reading this book?  When I post a review of the book, I’ll share the reason with all of you! then!

If you want to participate, go on over to the Teaser Tuesday headquarters and  either leave a link to your own Teaser Tuesday post, or share your ‘teaser’ in the comments of that site if you don’t have a blog of you own.

Your comments are, of course, always welcome here as well!

Scrooge’s nephew put a good spin on Christmas

We argue with each other about a lot of things but, at this time of year, there is a very good argument between Scrooge and his nephew.  Scrooge scoffs at his nephew and cannot see what good could possibly come of this holiday.  The nephew sums it up very nicely.

“There are many things from which I might have derived good, by which I have not profited, I dare say,” returned the nephew. “Christmas among the rest. But I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round–apart from the veneration due to its sacred name and origin, if anything belonging to it can be apart from that–as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. And therefore, uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!”

I agree!  Charles Dickens was brilliant and so very good with words.

“It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.”  A Tale of Two Cities

In memory of Charles Dickens…

Photo from Homeschooling in Detroit.

Zombies! How many in your neighborhood?

No, this is not about Halloween. Actually, just the opposite. We are looking at a publication put together with a lot of thought and first-hand experience at watching various Christian parishes go under due to a lack of the life and luster that Christian love could have (and should have) brought to their parish doors.

Welcome to the blog tour for Zombie Church by Tyler Edwards!

About Zombie Church:

A creative, entertaining approach to resurrecting the undead church.There is something missing in the church today. Stuck in a rut of routines and rituals, the church is caught up in doing what it is “supposed to do” but is lacking the true essence of what it is supposed to provide: life. Real faith–and a real relationship with Jesus–is not about playing by the rules, attending services, and praying before meals. Real faith is more than religionBelieving there is a way to breathe life back into the church, Tyler Edwards adopts a contemporary and entertaining metaphor–zombies–to highlight and challenge the problematic attitude of today’s believers.

Written for the discouraged, disenfranchised, and anyone unsatisfied with their same-old church routine, Zombie Church challenges readers to turn away from hollow religious practices, which characterize “zombie Christianity,” and turn toward a radical relationship with Jesus.

While other books have addressed legalism in the church, this is the only book that effectively capitalizes on a popular entertainment genre in order to diagnose and correct the problem. Realizing that even his own church is part of that problem, Edwards has written an accessible and often humorous book that will help believers change the Spirit-draining (or life-draining) habits that stop them from achieving a full, fulfilling life in Christ. Order a copy here.

Here’s a link to buy the book:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0825424593/ref=as_li_ss_til?tag=sprightly-20&camp=213381&creative=390973&linkCode=as4&creativeASIN=0825424593&adid=1XBB9CNE5N30WACVQ3DX

About Tyler Edwards:

Tyler Edwards is the lead pastor at Cornerstone Christian Church in Joplin, Missouri, where he works to help people learn how to live like Jesus, love like Jesus, and look like Jesus—so they carry out the mission of Jesus to the world. He graduated from Ozark Christian College with bachelor’s degrees in both Biblical Literature and Christian Ministry. He has written articles for Lookout Magazine, spoken at various campus ministry events in Missouri, and served overseas in Mbale, Uganda.

Tyler loves cheesy horror films. He is particularly fond of movies like Dawn of the Dead, The Signal, and 28 Days Later, where zombies run wild and threaten to infect an entire town.  Connect with Tyler on Facebook.

You can see what others have to say about the book by checking out the Blog Tour Schedule at http://litfusegroup.com/blogtours/text/13424384.

The publisher is sponsoring a $50 Amazon.com giveaway open to all of us.

About the Giveaway!

To enter all you have to do is send a tweet (using @litfuse) about Zombie Church  or share about it on Facebook!

If you tweet we’ll capture your entry when you use @litfuse.  If you share it on Facebook or your blog, just email us and let us know (info@litfusegroup.com).  Easy.

Here are some of my thoughts:

First of all, I do need to tell you that FTC regulations require bloggers to disclose whether or not they have been given free products in exchange for a review. They sent me the book for free. That, however, does not mean the author gets off easily!

First of all, I love the title!  “Oh I gotta read that!”  As you read, there are a lot of phrases in this little book that start you thinking, “Yep.  Uh huh.”  There are also a few sweeping generalizations that I feel need to be addressed.  I’ll use a few quotes to explain all of this a bit better.

The issue?  “What is a Zombie church? 

“A Zombie church is a church that goes through the motions.  It may behave like a healthy, living church, but the Zombie church has lost its connection to life.  The people have the name of Jesus. They sing praise to Him.  But it has been a long time since they really lived their lives for Him.” 

The author is quick to admit his own failings so we have to respect him for that.  He says, “Perhaps a better title for this book would have been Confessions of a Zombie Pastor.  I was missing my connection to the source of life, and so I wasn’t leading anyone else to it.” 

Those are pretty strong words.  He also admits to a feeling, or an understanding, of the sense of hopelessness in seeing this “disease” and having a strong desire to find a “path to healing this condition.”  The Introduction to this book is a marvel in its own right.  The author almost pulls you into his quest.

“As we look at the problems facing the church, the easiest solution does seem to be to walk away.  But simply walking away from the church because she is broken is not what God would have us do.  The church is Christ’s bride, and we are Christ’s followers; shouldn’t we then fight for the bride of our Lord?”

Okay, I’m listening.  But, of all things, why would he have chosen zombies?  The author could see a resemblance — “Neither dead nor alive, they are beings trapped in a mindless existence.  Zombies do not produce anything.  They do not accomplish anything.  All they do is wander around aimlessly, consuming everything in their path (including non-zombies).  They are a corrupt and destructive force that taints all they come in contact with.  Zombies act like they are alive, but they are dead.  They just don’t know it yet.“

It is kind of humorous but, “They just don’t know it yet?”  That is the saddest part!  These “zombies” have mentally cut themselves  off from the Body of Christ, like a leaf from a branch.  They look alive but, alas, they are not and soon they will wither.  This is the “disease” that Edwards is looking to heal.  Is this book the healing?  The vaccination?  Perhaps it is more like a vat of ice water to wake up the complacent Christian and break the Zombie fever!

Edwards makes a lot of good points and there are a lot of great quotes to be had from this book. There are some that you nod your head in agreement:  “God is cool.  No matter how many times we get it wrong, He is still right there to offer us life.  Who else does that?  Who else offers such perfect love and forgiveness to such undeserving people?”

Edwards addresses many of the failings we all seem to have from time to time.  He talks about how people do what’s safe and what’s easy, and, ultimately, what’s politically correct.

“We can try to make religion safe by hiding in the woods, but that only makes us undead; to truly live we must face God’s expectations of faith and courage regardless of personal consequences.  Our effort to preserve our life, to hide, is sometimes the very act that endangers it.”

I like this one:

“When we become more concerned about offending people than about transforming people, we have lost what it means to be Christian.  Too much focus on comfort or conformity makes us spiritually sterile.

As we tame new generations of Christians, we make more copies of the same problem.  The call of God is to a fanatical mission that requires fanatic devotion.  When you answer the call of God, you answer to no man.  God’s call is not to enslave you with laws and regulations but to send you out like an arsonist to a flammable world.  When we make it something less, we take God out of it.”

This is more strong language that is not all that “politically correct” but, in this case, that is a good thing!  I like the idea of being a zealot, for sure. BUT, and this is a big but, we have to be kind, loving, and not too over-zealous about it.  Edwards points out that, “Few people are crueler than a Christian who disagrees with your theology.”  Ever visit an online, Christian chat site?  Oh my! “Some of the most belligerent people carry extreme views on nonessential biblical issues, and if you even hint at disagreeing with them, they would all but try to revoke your Christian privileges and stamp you with the mark of the beast.”  I chuckled at that last remark but it is, unfortunately, so true.  I have seen exactly what he is talking about here.

Then he talks about those who try to make deals with the Almighty.

“God, if You will fix this mess I made, I will pray more.” I have tried to make my faith a spiritual investment where I get as much out of it as I can while putting in as little as possible.  Ever done That?  This attitude degrades the church.  Oftentimes we show up looking for what we get, not what we have to give up.”

There are so many topics that Tyler Edwards touches on which actually relate to our personal relationship with God.  Then he talks about our relationships with each other: “It is almost as if everyone glares at you for “intruding” into their perfect setting.  There may have been life there once, but now it is gone.”  How cold and/or distant are we with other members, and most of all, with new visitors who are searching and seeking a relationship with God?

This book definitely makes you think.  It may not all relate to you, but I can guarantee some of it will!

I liked this one:  “God is not getting His list of who will be saved from church rosters.”

There are some quotes that sum up the content of this book quite nicely:  “Living Christians feed on the life that Jesus offers while zombies feed on rules and rituals.”  Okay that could be a reference to those who just “go through the motions.”

Sometimes what he writes does become problematic.  Further on in the book Edwards says, “They expect to find Him in the laws and traditions.  They search for Him in routines and theological debates.  They seek the living among the dead.”  A statement like that one is a sweeping generalization and a definite overstatement.  I like structure and I like knowing what is expected of me.  I also like rules that prevent chaos.  Tradition is a wonderful thing and I would never want to be without it.  I’m just saying.

Perhaps we all need to check for zombies from time to time.  We are all prone to behaving like spoiled children, especially when we get tired.  Nobody can do everything and we can often suffer from over-zealous burnout!  At some point, like a child, you stomp your feet and say, “I’m not doing it.”  But, like a family, there is always someone who will — someone who will do what needs to be done to support and nurture the community.  Let them.  Maybe they will do it better.  That is family life, that is a living Church!

All in all, this is a good book.  Any Christian will gain a lot from Mr. Edward’s thoughts and ideas.   My chosen quotes just skimmed the surface! In fact, I marked a lot of others that had me thinking but they would have taken way too long.  You need to read it!

Sunday Salon: Processing Bereavement

Yeah, strange title.  Let me explain.  While I cannot seem to move myself to read right now I do want need to talk — or write, as a way of talking.  I am hoping that this Sunday Salon post will be good for this self-created process.  On August 5, 2011, I lost my mother.  My sister and I lost our mother. My two nephews lost their grandmother.  What am I reading?  All of your blogs, your thoughts, your stories, your reviews — reaching out by “hearing” all of you and leaving a comment here and there.

What am I feeling?  Strange? A little bewildered maybe?  “We all deal with things in our own way.  We’re all different.”  That is what they say.  I had one very kind woman, who is well versed in these matters, say to me, “This is one of those times that I feel ‘toughing it out’ isn’t always the best way.” and “Our brains just can’t wrap around such loss and our usual techniques and tricks just don’t seem to satisfy!”  Then let me try to use this new way.  I need to share part of who Mom was.

I need to talk about Mom in a familiar environment — where it’s psychologically safe and beneficial to share.  This is a Sunday Salon post and we are going to talk about books, literary things, and what goes along with them.  Just as we should and as they come to mind.

Mom always talked about Gulliver’s Travels and how there were things that we could all relate to, be you a child or an adult.  I like Jonathan Swift too — I liked his satire and understanding the history of his time as seen through his eyes was always fun.  He loved to take potshots at the leaders of his generation.  Swift’s “A Meditation on a Broom-Stick” will always be a classic in my mind.

Mom actually took Animal Farm and had one (or more) of her history classes read it and then tell her what time in history they thought it was.  The  overwhelming response always seemed to be, “Now.”  Then off she would go with how “history repeats itself,” etc.  Mama was a well-read history teacher.  A good one!  Some of her students from years gone by had this to say about  her:

“Many of us had her for history. She was one of my favorites. They sure don’t make teachers like that anymore.”
George Huffman

“She was a great teacher.”
Mydee Agostosa Viado

“Yes, she was a great teacher!”
Grace Idao-Cabral

“she was the best teacher ever.. she will be greatly missed ♥♥♥ Thanks for everything Mrs. Hunter ♥♥♥ love u”
Rhonda Villanueva

“She had a big heart with great understanding. One of my favorites too..”
Wendy Fitzsimmons-Kaulia

“What an impact she made in my life. I remember Mrs. Hunter always challenging us to always strive to do better. “I remember telling her one day, how much I enjoyed her class, ‘what she told me next, ‘ I will never forget, ‘she said God sent me here to fill our sails, and help us chart a course called life.” Yup one of the greats…”
James Waiamau

“I was just thinking of her recently when some of us gals were reminiscing on our teachers…. She was one of the greats in our time..”
Gaylen Gapol Paaluhi

“I had your mom as a teacher, and she definitely made a difference.”
Doreen Guzman

“She definitely was a great teacher and made a huge impact on our lives.”
Mike Beazley

“Your mom was such a wonderful teacher and made such a difference in so many of our lives. She will not be forgotten.”
Lorene-Lori Souza

“I agree with everyone she was an icon and her legacy was larger than life! To have made a difference in so many, is the ultimate calling set by god – he was more than pleased with your mom’s body of work. Love you mom Hunter rest in peace!”
Edmund Faagai

Those comments came from Facebook and students from Waianae High School’s Class of ’81 and Class of ’82 when they heard the news.  Heart-felt hugs and thanks go out to the students at Waianae High who remember her so kindly, and with such gratitude!  Is that not how every teacher wants to be remembered?  I will include other comments in this post if and when they appear.  Mom was an awesome lady in so many ways!

Moving on with the books, I have to share how Don Quixote (Man of La Mancha) was a story that Mom loved.  She even had this picture (the one you see on the cover to the right) on our wall for years.  I need to read this book.  I have it on my Kindle because of my book-blogger friend, Zohar, over at Man of La Book.  Judging from the name of his blog, Zohar obviously thinks very highly of the Man of La Mancha as well!

I think I may also need to find that print somewhere and hang it on my wall!  Maybe I’ll hang it at work.   I always wondered why Mom liked that kindergarten drawing so much.  Hey, I was a kid.  How was I to know that it was actually a Pablo Picasso?  Mom liked art.  She loved musical art too!  We could talk about her adoration of opera but I don’t think  anyone wants to read any librettos right now.   Of course she would want to know why the hell not, but we’ll touch on that another time.

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte was always one of Mom’s favorites.  I was supposed to read it.  I have not.  It is on my to be read list.  Shame on me!

Rarely at a loss for words, there were times when Mom would eloquently say, “…when I shuffle off this mortal coil…”

“Mama!  Stop saying that!”  I would complain.  I hated that phrase!

Then she would grin and continue on with whatever it was she wanted to say.  I am an English major.  How could I not have recognized that line???

For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause: there’s the respect
That makes calamity of so long life;
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,

Gasp!  How could I not have seen or remembered that this was Shakespeare’s Hamlet???  Shame on me.  Again!

It would only be fitting to follow the mention of Shakespeare with a short mention of the word bereavement.  It is an interesting word.  I looked it up.  The thesaurus portion shows the synonyms as loss, deprivation, mourning, and affliction.  I would say they all fit — at different times and at different levels.

We sent many things with Mom.  We put icons, prayer books, pictures, dolls, little pieces of clay I made for her when I was little, etc.  It is a very moving and spiritual time.  That reminds me — since we are talking about books and good reads, Mom actually read the Holy Bible from cover to cover, maybe even more than once!

There are not very many books that are more appropriate to talk about on a Sunday!  Besides, whether you are a believer or not, it is still very good reading!

It is here that I feel compelled to publicly share my sincere love and appreciation to our two Russian Orthodox Priests:  Father Anatole Lyovin, for being there through it all and for doing all that was needful for the services and for my sanity; and Father Paul Burholt, who was there to support the family and assist in more ways than even he himself could fully understand.

There were many things that were beautiful about the service.  Our choir sounded beautiful, thanks Coco, the prayers were beautiful, and the friends and family who were there made it all so much more bearable.

Mom’s view is beautiful.  Mom was beautiful!

I have to share this beautiful picture that my sister surprised us all with on the day of Mom’s services.  I was so happy that she had this picture!  Mom would have liked that this picture was shared with all who attended, and with all of you!

My sister teasingly called our mother, “Miss Aloha” because she was always so friendly with everyone.  Whether she knew you or not, she was going to say good morning or hello when she passed you on the street.  If you were going to share it, she was going to listen to your history.

She was a loving, caring person.  She was brilliant, she was beautiful, she was and always will be my wonderful mother.  She will always be there because I am a part of who she was.  Thanks, Mom!  I love you!

There are still so many people and places that I need to thank, and I will.  For now, I just want to thank the Sunday Salon readers for letting me share this and for helping me move just a little bit more through this journey.

What was it about Tuesdays?

Hmmm… something is missing.  What is it that I have been forgetting to do?

Gasp!  Teaser Tuesdays!!

I knew I was forgetting something!  It seems like forever since I took part in this fun, weekly activity.

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Here  is mine from my current read:

“Language differences are part and parcel of human culture. Your emotional love language and the language of your spouse may be as different as Chinese from English.”

The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love That Lasts by Gary Chapman (pg. 14)

It would always be a good thing to speak the same language as your loved ones!

Book Review: God and Stephen Hawking – “Is God Really Dead?”

As soon as you saw those words, “Is God Really Dead?” I knew you would HAVE to click on it because you just HAD to investigate such a statement!  Gasp!  Yeah, me too.  This is one of those books sent to me by the publisher for review.  I mention that because I am required to do so, but, I chose God and Stephen Hawking as a title that interested me.  The publisher/marketers have done a wonderful write-up on this little book by John C. Lennox which I will share with you immediately below and then my little review will follow.

Is God Really Dead?  

Stephen Hawking’s logic faces a mathematician’s scrutiny in God and Stephen Hawking 

SEATTLE – Eminent scientist Stephen Hawking’s latest contribution to the so-called New Atheist debate The Grand Design claims that the laws of physics themselves brought the universe into being, rather than God. In this swift and forthright reply, John C. Lennox, Oxford mathematician and author of God’s Undertaker, exposes the flaws in Hawking’s logic in his latest book, God and Stephen Hawking (Kregel Publishers, September 2011,ISBN: 9780745955490, $5.99).

Science has immense cultural and intellectual authority in our sophisticated modern world. With this kind of cache, it must nevertheless be pointed out that not all statements by scientists are statements of science. Therefore such statements do not carry the authority of authentic science, even though it is often erroneously ascribed to them.

Commonly written off as the inevitable clash between science and religion, the God debate is actually one between theism and atheism, where there are scientists on both sides. With a remarkable surge of interest in God that defies the so-called secularization hypothesis, it could well be that it is precisely the perceived failure of secularization that is driving the God question ever higher on the agenda. Book after book is being published on the subject by prominent scientists, as Francis Collins, Richard Dawkins, Robert Winston, etc. But were Galileo, Kepler, Newton and Maxwell, to name a few, really all wrong on the God question? With such a lot at stake we surely need to ask Hawking to produce evidence to establish his claim. Do his arguments really stand up to close scrutiny? Has the Grand Master of Physics checkmated the Grand Designer of the Universe?

In lively, layman’s terms, Lennox guides us through the key points in Hawking’s arguments-with clear explanations of the latest scientific and philosophical methods and theories-and demonstrates that, far from disproving a Creator God, they make His existence seem all the more probable. Lennox’s book is a great resource for Christians, churches and those in ministry who seek to educate themselves and open authentic dialog with those who question.

Praise for God and Stephen Hawking:

“A brilliant response to Stephen Hawking’s The Grand Design. Make sure you hear both sides of the argument.”
-Alister McGrath, author of The Dawkins Delusion

###

Meet John:

John C. Lennox is Fellow in Mathematics and the Philosophy of Science at the University of Oxford, and author of the bestselling God’s Undertaker. He lectures on faith and science at the Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics. He has lectured around the world, including in the United States for Ravi Zacharias; in Austria; and in the former Soviet Union. For more about John C. Lennox, please visit http://johnlennox.org

###

John C. Lennox  is available for national interviews June – September 2011 to promote the U.S. release of God and Stephen Hawking.

Interview Questions:

1. What prompted you to write a response to Stephen Hawking’s book?
2. What is the “New Atheist Debate”?
3. How do you explain two different conclusions to the same evidence?
4. What is the role of science in proving or disproving the Bible? Is there one?
5. What do you say to critics who believe faith in the Bible is irrational?
6. Can you give a clear example of one of Hawking’s arguments against a Creator, that actually make His existence more probable?
7. What do you hope the reader takes away from reading God and Stephen Hawking?

*************

I thought that was a really nice write-up!

The reader can get a lot of different things out of this little book.  There are a lot of thought-provoking quotes we can share.  One of the first things that caught my attention was the assertion that having faith or the belief in a divine creator does not expel you from scientific pursuits.

“So there is clearly no inconsistency involved in being a committed scientist at the highest level, while simultaneously recognizing that science cannot answer every kind of question, including some of the deepest questions that human beings can ask.”

While speaking of Hawking, Lennox states that, “He is but a step away from regarding atheism as a necessary prerequisite for doing science.”

If this is Hawking’s way of thinking, I can see where Lennox would find this troublesome — we know that there is no such prerequisite.  Yes, scientists (in whatever scientific area they study) need to have open minds.  That does not mean that they need to be atheists; most of the doctors that I know do, at the very least, believe in some kind of a higher power.  That belief in a divine designer does not stop them from practicing medicine!  In fact, the study of medicine and the human body, which is so “Fearfully and  Wonderfully Made,” is more likely to turn studying doctors into believers.

Lennox actually argues that very same point in various areas of this book;  I just happen to agree!  Obviously there is no rule anywhere that says the intellectual mind cannot be a God-fearing one.  I will quote one of my favorite lines from the book here while warning readers that I have taken it completely out of context.  In my mind (which no scientist will ever figure out), it just happens to fit nicely right here.

“…nonsense remains nonsense, even when talked by world-famous scientists.”

After reading through what Lennox had to say, it became obvious that my focus was not on his arguments but on the author himself and a desire to “hear” his thinking.  While taking a look at historical science in his chapter entitled “Science and rationality,” Lennox states the following:

“Indeed, the very reason that science flourished so vigorously in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, under men like Galileo, Kepler and Newton, had a great deal to do with their conviction that the laws of nature reflected the influence of a divine law-giver.  One of the fundamental themes of Christianity is that the universe was built according to a rational, intelligent design.  Far from belief in God hindering science, it is the motor that drove it.“

The final sentence in that quote sums things up very nicely.  One amusing thing about reading this book, for me, was the constant feeling that Mr. Lennox was “preaching to the choir.“  He will get little or no argument from me.

That last statement brings me to my one complaint about this book, if you can call it a complaint.  The text tends to be, at times, a bit grandiose and not for the usual lay reader.  While I acknowledge that Mr. Lennox is writing for his audience, which will consist mostly of people of the same intellectual caliber as himself, there are a few people whom I would love to have read this book — all the time knowing that they will not take the time to wade through the more sophisticated language.  They could do it, it would be worth it, but it would not be without a bit of hard work.  I say this with a heavy sigh because they are not really readers to begin with.  Take heart — relax, it is only 96 pages!  That’s it!  You can do it!

Since its scholarly nature is my only complaint, I guess this book must be getting a pretty darn good rating; I would certainly never criticize anyone for being too much of an intellectual!  In fact, I will give credit to this book for providing me with a new word for my vocabulary.  Untenable will be one that I add to my list of words.  It is, I will tell regular readers, one of the words in The Ultimate Book of Words You Should Know.  Mr. Lennox will be the one given the credit for adding it to my vocabulary.  Good word!

To be fair, I will re-quote one of the quotes from that wonderful write-up above:

Praise for God and Stephen Hawking:

“A brilliant response to Stephen Hawking’s The Grand Design. Make sure you hear both sides of the argument.”
-Alister McGrath, author of The Dawkins Delusion

If you are of such an intellectual persuasion, I strongly suggest you digest both works to more fully understand and appreciate what Lennox has to say in our subject work.  Do you need to?  No.  Should you?  Yes. Otherwise, some of the arguments put forth by Lennox may just be a fly-by.  Trust me!

As I yield to the mental power of Mr. Lennox I want to share a couple of his other works that also caught my attention for no other reason than their great titles.

God’s Undertaker: Has Science Buried God?  

The Devil’s Delusion: Atheism and its Scientific Pretensions

I do not know anything about these publications but their titles speak volumes!  I mean, seriously, how can you not want to pick up books with tempting titles like those?

Good read!  “God and Stephen Hawking, Whose Design is it Anyway?“  I know, I know!

Book Review & Giveaway: Night on Fire by Douglas Corleone

Here is another Kevin Corvelli mystery that is, in my opinion, a step above the first.  This is going to be fun to see what Corleone’s next novel will hold for us.  If you get in on the ground floor and follow the protagonist and his surrounding characters, it is an interesting psychological study to watch them grow as the author continues to let them develop as the story does.

Night on Fire is also available for your Kindle!

Here is Amazon’s write-up:

“Kevin Corvelli—a hotshot New York defense attorney who packed up his bags and hung his shingle in Hawaii to dodge the spotlight—is deep in his mai tais at a resort when an argument erupts down at the other end of the bar. It’s a pair of newlyweds, married that very day on the beach. And since Corvelli doesn’t do divorces, he all but dismisses the argument.

That’s at least until the fire breaks out later that night, and he barely escapes his hotel room. Most weren’t so lucky, including the new husband. His wife, Erin, becomes not only the police’s prime suspect for arson and murder but also Corvelli’s newest client, and she has a lot working against her, like motive and opportunity, not to mention a history of starting fires.”

That is the only spoiler you will get from me!  I will say that I was left scratching my head at the end.  Humans are strange sometimes.

The book might be even more entertaining for a reader if you are from Hawaii.  There are more things that tie the story to the State of Hawaii than I expected.  Like the Amazon quote says, Kevin Corvelli finds himself in a nice bar courting a lady whom he refers to as “the cougar” when he speaks about her — because the jerk that he is cannot remember her name.  They are getting ready to leave the establishment and the first stunning comment comes for Hawaii readers as Corvelli  is about to pay the tab. 

“I slide my blue Bank of Hawaii debit card across the bar, trying not to look any of the half dozen waitresses in the eye…”

Hey!  I could not believe what I was reading — I have two of those in my wallet!  Mr. Corvelli, very soon thereafter, finds his drunk self in the room of a burning hotel – with a door knob that is too hot to handle.  Freaking out and trying to make an escape via the locked door of the adjoining room, Mr. Corvelli has a discussion with that same card.

“…I fish around in my pockets for my Bank of Hawaii debit card.  I finally find the card in the last pocket left to search.  With the blue piece of plastic in hand, I rise to my feet and…”

Corvelli has done this before but he is now freaking, shaking, and probably wishing he had not chosen to have a fling with this “cougar” after all.

“As the smoke in the room thickens I stare down at the debit card, my eyes stinging, sweat pouring down my cheeks.  ‘You got me into this fucking mess,’ I mutter to the piece of plastic, ‘now you get me the hell out.’”

It did.  I never realized my bank card was so handy!  He got out of that burning building and thus begins the tale of the Night on Fire.  This also begins (or continues) the reader’s relationship with this peculiar attorney who is not always easy to like.  If you have read Douglas Corleone’s first Kevin Corvelli novel, then you know what I mean.  Corvelli always seems to find ways out of the drama he gets himself into! But, when it comes to his own health, his excessive intake of liquor, his arrogance, and his horrible taste in women, he is hopeless!

He does know how to pick a good financial institution and he does hold his own in the court room.  Corvelli knows how to make the law work in favor of his clients — if there is a way, he finds it!  Corvelli also starts to show a little piece of his humanity which, until now, has been somewhat lacking.  Part of that may be because of how self-absorbed he seems to be.  There is a young boy who adds a touch of humanity to things and there are times when we get a glimpse into Corvelli’s head, just a little bit.

“Does the method of murder matter?  Is there a ‘cruel and unusual’ standard that can be applied to homicide just as it is to punishment?  Should the age and gender of the victims be of concern?  Should I only represent the killers of men and not women and children?”

That got me thinking.  Corvelli answers himself by acknowledging that in his profession a line can “never be drawn.”  Defend them all or not at all.

If you are worried that I am being too harsh on Kevin Corvelli, attorney at law, do not concern yourself too much.  A reader does not have to like a character to understand his or her drama or appreciate the storyline.  In fact, Douglas (our author) wrote a guest  blog post about flawed characters on Debbi Mack: My Life on the Mid-List where he writes:

We all have our flaws, writers and readers alike.  So why shouldn’t our heroes be flawed, too?  I admit, it’s sometimes difficult to walk the fine line between creating a flawed protagonist and someone readers will dislike.  The hero, no matter how flawed, must still elicit sympathy in the reader.  The reader must still want to get behind his cause.  But that can be accomplished by a writer, even if his or her hero doesn’t always do the right thing, even if the hero is sometimes unsure about what is right and wrong.

Oh, good.  I really didn’t want to like the guy, I just wanted him to fix the problems!  I felt better after I read that.  Besides, like I said, Corvelli was getting a little more human as the story went along.

“Defendant in Makaha killed a peacock, Kevin.  With a baseball bat.”
“A peacock?” I say.  “Why in the hell would anyone do that?“
“She said it was constantly squawking.”

His partner is furious when Kevin does not take the case when their firm needs the money very badly.

“This woman took a baseball bat to the head of a defenseless peacock, Jake.”
He stands there, mystified. “And?”
“And we’ve got to draw the line somewhere,” I say.

There is that proverbial line drawing again!  I was shocked again by that one.  Remember this story???  Corvelli gets kudos for not wanting to defend that crazy bitch!  Yes, the book is fiction but that story actually did happen and a lot of us were ticked at that woman!

One thing I did notice in moving from one novel to the next — the supporting characters in Mr. Corvelli’s world were much more likeable in the second novel and they seemed to have cleaned up their acts.  They always knew how to do their jobs, they just seriously needed to pull themselves together.

In recent years, Hawaii has lost its share of entertainers.  Most people are familiar with the name, Don Ho but not everyone is familiar with the name, Israel Kamakawiwo’ole, affectionately known as Iz.

“A local band takes the small stage and soon we’re somewhere over the rainbow again.”

Even if the name is not familiar to you, Israel’s version of Over the Rainbow has been a theme song for more than one recent movie — so you will recognize it when you hear it.  It is still played often here because we like it.

So, do I have any complaints about the book?  Just one.

“It typically takes forty-five minutes just to purchase a pack of Stride gum at the local 7-Eleven.”

That is so NOT true!  Corvelli is back on the bad list again!  Kevin is just lucky that I liked the court scenes so much!

In my failed quest to make it to at least one of the author’s book signings, I actually ended up with an extra signed copy from the Barnes & Noble in Ala Moana Shopping Center.  Since I missed that signing and Douglas Corleone completely, that signed copy, I have two, is not personalized.  What a great giveaway!

All you have to do it leave a comment on this blog and you will be entered into a drawing!  I am making the deadline for this a longer (until June 21st) since this post has been listed with the Book Review blog carnival that is scheduled to go live on June 19th.  I want the other carnival participants to have a chance to win.  If you are here after June 21 2011, I am sorry, the giveaway is over.  If this post has tweaked your interest, go get your copy of Night on Fire!

Facebook-ians, your comments must be left over here at The Writing Sprite’s blog  in order to be eligible.  Facebook comments are, of course, welcome but you need to follow that link and leave a comment on the blog as well in order to be eligible to win the book from this award-winning author!

Readers might want to think about getting  One Man’s Paradise (the first in the series) so that they can watch the characters develop!  In the third Kevin Corvelli novel by Douglas Corleone it is going to be interesting to see how the characters are carrying on with their lives!

Protecting Poe’s House in Baltimore

I started this post a long time ago (back in February) and never published it.  I’m a terrible person!  After coming back to it at least seven times, it needs to be published!  I first caught wind of this, if I’m not mistaken, on Facebook.  It probably came from this story on Edward Pettit’s blog.  Edward is an English major too and I think it is hard for any English major not to love Poe.

Maybe I heard about here on the Mystery Scene blog through a link shared by Douglas Corleone.  Mystery Scene opens their article saying, “He’s considered the father of American detective fiction. And now his home is in danger.”  That sums it up nicely.

There are several options to help with this and the Edgar Allan Poe Society website provides links to those options, including a petition that you can “sign!”

For those of you, like me, who are odd about graveyards and other oddities like that, they say the house is haunted!  Ooooh we have got to save it!  I swear I can hear that raven perched outside the Poe House window crying, “Nevermore!”   We do not want to see this close!

If you are so inclined, donations should be made payable to the Director of Finance and mailed to:

Department of Planning
CHAP, 8th floor
417 East Fayette Street
Baltimore, MD  21202

Make sure to write “Donation Poe House” on your check!

Just a little more contact information:

Curator ….. : Mr. Jeff Jerome
Phone …….. : (410) 396-7932 (24-hour touch-tone voice mail, with hours, events, etc.)

Run under the control of Baltimore City’s Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation (CHAP)

Fun Little Word Treasures

When there is a book store nearby, I just have to walk through it — even if there is no real reason to do so.  One day while taking a detour through the mini Borders at Mililani Town Center, this title popped out from the rest: The Ultimate Book of Words You Should Know.

“Really?  Well then, we need to buy it so we can be sure we know them then, don’t we!”  How can you avoid a snide comment like that?  Well, only a book junkie or a word nerd would buy a book like that with such an obnoxious title.  Yeah, I bought the book.

It looks boring on the outside but do not be fooled –  it is all about what you make out of it.  My mother and I have used this funny little book to play a reverse crossword game.  I give her a word and she provides the definition.  It is really amazing how she gets almost all of them.  Trust me, I do try to select words that are rather obscure and unfamiliar to me but she is still able to provide the definitions.  Mom has a great vocabulary!

In addition to finding a game or two to play, it helps to have a peculiar little writing blog like this one to not only talk about the book but to find useful words to share.  I started to dog-ear the bottom corners of certain pages where there were intriguing and/or useful words.

This book is full of fun little word treasures and I will be sure to add my favorites to the Wonderful World of Words page eventually, with a note about where they came from of course.  I have not done so yet but I will be sure to edit this part of this post when I do.

Amazon.com, unfortunately, does not have any copies of The Ultimate Book of Words You Should Know for sale but they do have a link to copies available from these sellers.  You can get a copy for practically nothing!  BUT, Amazon does have a previous edition that is labeled The Big Book of Words You Should Know: Over 3,000 Words Every Person Should be Able to Use (And a few that you probably shouldn’t).  I like that title!  Some of my favorite words are probably among the “few that you probably shouldn’t” use.

Nobody would want my copy with all of its dog-eared corners and tiny little pen marks.  Besides, I cannot see myself parting with it anytime soon.  It has become an educational toy and I highly recommend this smorgasbord of words you can actually use — even if you are only using them to be extremely snotty at the next function you plan to attend.

With more than 3,000 words, this book is as complete a word reference you can get without reading through the dictionary. Each entry comprises a concise definition as well as an edified example, so you can augment your lexical knowledge without sounding unenlightened. So, keep this compendious reference close by and never find yourself at a loss for words again!

I guess this is a book review so I will include the following:

The Ultimate Book of Words You Should Know (or The Big Book of Words You Should Know: Over 3,000 Words Every Person Should be Able to Use)
by David Olsen, Michelle Bevilacqua, and Justin Cord Hayes
Published by Adamsmedia
Avon, Massachusetts

Book Review: The Priest’s Graveyard

Before I start, let me just say that all writers need to be so careful what they say when dealing with different countries — their cultures, ethnicities, and their respective religions.  You never know who will pick up your writing, or how sensitive your chosen topic might be for some readers.

Were it not for that great title and the fascinating book cover, I would have tossed this book on the side.  Why?  Uh, because of this:

I grew up in a small town in northern Bosnia, and was fifteen when the civil war between the Croats and the Serbs began in earnest.  There were many reasons for the war, but the only thing I came to care about was that Orthodox Christians were killing Catholic Christians.  

Had I been in Borders or Barnes & Noble and flipped to that page, I would have hissed and dumped it right back on the table where I found it!   I am an Orthodox Christian with some very wonderful friends who are Serbian.  You have hit me below the belt twice with just that one paragraph.

I am also sensitive to the faulty smear campaigns that the various media outlets are capable of and I learned, not so very long ago, that our country lied to us.  This is not the topic of this post but I just needed to share the dangers of dealing with cultural sensitivities and governmental propaganda.

Now that I have read that quote over and over, time and time again, I am able to put a slightly different spin on what the author could have meant by that statement and I remind myself that this book is fiction!  Those Balkan wars (the one in 1992 that the author refers to is just one of several in that region) were not always as much about religion as they were about ethnicity and territorial rights.  Let me also remind, or inform, people — Serbia, like Greece, Russia, and others, has historically been an Orthodox country.  With that in mind, almost any Serbian soldier is bound to be an Orthodox Christian!

Yeah, that paragraph pissed me off. Big time! So I had to look into this and, aside from the more recent wrongs done in Serbia, there has actually been a lot written about 1992.  The Washington Post had a helpful article.  Here is a snippet from that article that draws a clearer picture:

As tensions continued to smolder beneath the surface in Croatia in mid-1992, an all-out war broke out in neighboring Bosnia between the republic’s ethnic Serbs, Muslims and Croats. The Bosnian conflict drew in participants from all sides, including Croatia, which backed the Bosnian Croats in their fight mainly with Bosnian Serbs but also in sporadic conflicts with its supposed ally, the Bosnian Muslims.

In late 1992, Croatian army forces began attacking Bosnian Serb communities in southeastern Bosnia Herzegovina, unraveling a Bosnian-declared cease-fire and drawing a warning from Yugoslavia, which threatened to intervene on behalf of the Serbs. Croatian army forces would later break Croatia’s one-year-old cease-fire as well in January 1993, crossing a U.N. dividing line and attacking Serb-occupied territory in Krajina.

Authors, please, please be careful!  I did read a few other reviews and I am NOT the only one who found this to be an issue; I just feel a little more strongly about it.  This is the end of my rant about this.

By the time readers have gotten this far, the only ones who are probably still reading are the author himself and/or, maybe, the publisher.  It is safe to say that neither one of them will be sorry that they made it this far or that they are (if they are) still reading.  Sorry guys, I just had to make my point!

As much as I wanted to find a way to hate this book, I owed it to the publisher to not just give up.  In reality, I could not stop reading the damn thing!  I had to know what was going to happen to that stupid girl who was all strung-out on drugs and was picked up by some supposed hero who literally picked her up off the street like a sack of potatoes.  I still think she was stupid and I still do not like her very much.  I understood her drug-drama as we face the crystal meth horror all around us in our own lives.  The only difference was that her problem was heroin. The picture drawn by the author was the same — she was physically and mentally messed up!

The person who picked her up and carried her off (like a sack of potatoes) was a man she saw as her savior.  No, he was just another horror — a control freak who turned her into his private slave.  She was just too ignorant and messed up to see him for what he really was.

It is hard to give you a plot description without being a spoiler.  The descriptions I have seen just don’t  seem to fully capture the essence of this novel.  The story is a strange one with two people who are equally messed up, just in different ways.  Their paths collide and things just get weirder.  While reading The Priest’s Graveyard, there was one thing that came to mind several times:  it is extremely important that children are not neglected or abused!  There is a good chance that those children will become very messed up adults!

When talking about books we often hear phrases like, “it was a page-turner!”  I must say, that is exactly what it was (or a button-pusher if you own a digital copy).  My review copy, that was sent to me, for free, for review (I am required to tell you that part), did not get to me until it was almost Kindle-ready.  I tried everything to get my hands on it because USPS was taking waaay too long!  I ended up with a pre-order copy from Amazon (which I PAID FOR!) that appeared on my Kindle soon after the mailman finally brought the hard cover.  Tsk!

Be that as it may, it was oh so very worth it!  Now that I have both a hard copy and a digital one, Mr. Dekker needs to get himself to Honolulu so I can get my copy signed.  Yeah, I liked it and I like the author.  Somehow he was able to keep the story moving and the pages turning.  There was nothing to stall a reader and no parts that bogged you down with more information than you needed or wanted to hear.

That one bothersome quote was not the only one that referenced that same topic but at some point I ignored them for what they were — erroneous.  There were other quotes that are much more worth talking about!

Danny, “The Priest,” saw violence as something used for both good and evil when he thought,

“Angels and demons had both wielded violence and would again, surely.  As would so-called God and the so-called devil.”

Well, that kind of makes you wonder about the faith of this priest, doesn’t it?  “So-called?”   I’m not going to argue with that statement;  it is quoted here as just one of the examples of the food-for-thought passages that frequented the pages of this somber tale.  Somber is used here as an observation, and almost a compliment.  There was little to giggle about and the story was troubling and all too believable!

“The Priest” starts looking at himself and doesn’t always like what he sees.

“My judgment of others is my sin.  If I clean my heart so that I can judge, it dirties again the first time I judge again.  I am on a terrible path with so much judgment in my heart.”

Now there’s a statement!  I’ll wager that we all share that uncomfortable realization, to varying degrees.  It is all about how you act on them.

Amazon.com always likes to include clips from other authors when talking about new books.  I like reading those and these two hit the nail on the head:

“Here’s the best part about The Priest’s Graveyard: It’s smart enough to realize that, for many, the scariest thing in life isn’t a monster or something that bumps in the night. It’s love. Love is terrifying. And powerful. And unstoppable. And if you don’t already know that, you’re about to see why. The Priest’s Graveyard will haunt you — long after you want it to.”
– Brad Meltzer, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Fate and The Inner Circle

“If you’ve never visited Ted Dekker’s world, do it. The Priest’s Graveyard is perfect entertainment. Beguiling, compelling, challenging, and riveting–fantastic gimmick-free storytelling–that’s what you get with Ted Dekker. Don’t pass this up.”
– Steve Berry, New York Times Bestselling Author of The Emperor’s Tomb

I agree with both of these writers.  I liked it.  A lot.  My only complaint (aside from that objectionable paragraph) is that I wanted more.

While I had a hard time shaking off the way this story began, I am afraid I will have an even harder time shaking off the characters that this novel almost forces a reader to bond with.

If you want to understand the author better and take a step back from some of what you are reading, check out his Facebook page.  I love Facebook at times like this!  Reading about the author helped me shed some misconceptions and helped me through my anger.  Make sure you read the part labeled “Who is Ted Dekker?“

To the author I say, “Thank you, Mr. Dekker, for not letting me hate you!”  I love this author and, I am sorry to admit that, I love Danny too!  How do you get attached to such a confused killer?  Read The Priest’s Graveyard
and find out!  You’ll see!