J's Pages

by Jeremiah Webster

Follow the Devil / Follow the Light is the story of a walk through hell. Joe Muggeridge comes home to his Seattle apartment, only to find a demon waiting for him. The demon, Morte Magari, pressures/lures Joe into hell to see his deceased sister Nora. What follows is a journey where Joe encounters the sins and illusions of our modern society, both played out in hell and reflected in his own life. What he is slow to notice, however, is how the grace and power of God also pervades the adventure. 

I enjoyed the book. It reminded me of some of C.S. Lewis' stuff and, of course, Dante's Inferno. While Follow the Devil / Follow the Light isn't quite as good as those classics, I did appreciated a vision of hell that illustrated our current era and culture. I saw myself in more than one of Joe Muggeridge's failings, but also had that constant reminder of heavenly love and forgiveness. 

Check it out.
LibraryThing link

Labels: CheckItOut

by Jon Meacham

George Herbert Walker Bush was the last American president from the "Greatest Generation" and, according to Jon Meacham, the "last gentleman." Mr. Meacham presents a portrait of George Bush as a man born to wealth and privilege, and raised to compete, succeed, but also to serve his community--be that be his immediate neighbors or the entire world. 

Mr. Meacham starts by presenting Bush's ancestors, showcasing how they were driven to work hard and win the things they wanted. George faithfully followed his family's values, earning respect and admiration from the people around him. When America entered the Second World War, Bush enlisted and served. Afterwards, he chose not to seek an easy road, working for relatives and relying on family wealth and connections, but rather opted to seek his own fortunes in the oil industry and later in politics. (Granted, the Bush family fortune and connections did make that a lot easier than it would have been for someone coming from a background of poverty.) Even when things didn't go the way as planned--such as the 1980 Republican presidential nomination--Bush adapted and endeavored to succeed in the opportunities that followed. 

Mr. Meacham argues that during his presidency, Bush was misrepresented. He recounts his reserved personality and patient actions were contrasted to the more flamboyant presidency of Ronald Reagan, and that Bush was portrayed as being a weaker leader. Mr. Meacham then goes on to show how Bush endeavored to reach his goals and conduct his presidency in the way that he intended, rather than bowing to other pressures. That part rang true, as I remember agreeing with the media narrative during those years that Mr. Bush was rather ineffective, but how I grew to respect him more as I compared him to subsequent presidents. (and subsequent Bushes) 

All in all, I found Destiny and Power to be a good and enjoyable account of George Bush and 20th Century American history. Check it out. 

LibraryThing link

Labels: CheckItOut, PresidentialBioReadingList

by Jody Taylor

The fourth volume of The Chronicles of St. Mary's is rather dark. Like the previous books, the characters travel to various time periods and historical events. These jaunts are still narrated with a liberal dose of humor and snark. Ms. Taylor does her usual good job of spinning the tale. But this time, Max is not leading teams of historians to research the past. Instead she's on the run from the bad guys, which makes for a lot more pain and bloodshed. Philosophically, I can appreciate the reframing of a typical St. Mary's novel. But, alas, it wasn't as fun to read.

'Twas very good waiting room material
LibraryThing link

Labels: ChroniclesofStMarys, JodiTaylor, WaitingRoomMaterial

by Robert A. HeinleinThis one's a time travel tale from 1956 that somehow I have never managed to read until now. It's set in the future, 1970. Dan Davis is an engineer who gets done wrong by his fiancée and his business partner. Through a series of events he ends up traveling to the future... via suspended animation. He awakes 30 years later in the future future, 2000 A.D. (This was before C.E. became the accepted nomenclature.) As Dan explores his new reality, he comes up with a plan to get his revenge. All in all it was a good read. What I found most enjoyable was reading Mr. Heinlein's vision of the futures that are now about 20 and 50 years in the past. But the story kept my attention as well. If you don't mind a bit of 1950s worldview, go ahead and check it out.

Labels: CheckItOut, RobertHeinlein

by George R. R. MartinThis book was a long one. It wasn't exactly a slog, but I was propelled as much by my desire to finish the book as I was by my desire to find out what happens next. The book focuses mostly on the shenanigans up in the north of Westeros and the shenanigans in the eastern lands of Valyria. Both storylines moved too slow for my tastes and both were left hanging at the end of the book. But despite my whining, I'll probably pick up the next volume of the series to see what happens next. Anyway, now that I'm all caught up with the series, I may have to check out that "acclaimed HBO® series".

Labels: GeorgeRRMartin, SongOfIceAndFire, WaitingRoomMaterial

by Ellis Amdur

I picked up this one at a seminar. (I've been doing a lot of seminars with the new position, so I forget what that one was about.) The sponsors were handing out books and I grabbed it for my office library. Well, it might be more accurate to say that the two books I grabbed established my office library. Anyway, Words of Power is a guide to de-escalation. It's written to help folks recognize when another person's anger is escalating, understand what's going on physically and mentally with that person, and then how to try and help them get to a calmer state. This particular volume is geared toward the generic person--Mr. Amdur has a number of other books on this same topic, geared toward folks in particular professions. I found the book to be easy to read and understand, fascinating and helpful. I have received de-escalation training from my employer, so some of the book was a review of things I've already learned. But my training didn't go into the physiological and emotional processes that a person goes through when experiencing anger and aggression. I think that knowledge will be helpful the next time I have to deal with an angry guest. If nothing else, it will help me maintain self-control if I understand what's going on with the other person. 

Glad to have it on my shelf.
LibraryThing link

Labels: OnMyShelf

by Don Schatz

Labels: CheckItOut