J's Pages

Well, back in my review of Flash Forward I said I've got to read more of this Sawyer guy. Unfortunately, it's taken me over three years to do so. I've looked for his name at the library sales and used book stores, but people don't seem to be getting rid of his books. Hmmmm. Anyway, I did happen to come across this book and went ahead and bought it, despite the dinosaurs on the cover. (I'm bored with dinos. Way too overrated.) It's a tale of a couple of paleontologists who are sent back in time using newly developed time travel technology in an attempt to find out why most of the dinosaurs died out at the end of the Mesozoic period. Like Flash Forward, this is a classic science fiction tale--chock full of scientific facts and protagonists who face their dilemma with their brains rather than their muscles. I was a bit put off by some of the strange things our heroes encountered back in the past, but Mr. Sawyer's writing is engaging enough that I was won over and was mostly satisfied by the ending. Definitely a book science fiction fans should check out. 

LibraryThing link

Labels: CheckItOut, RobertSawyer

// posted by John @ 3:34 PM 0 Comments

I confess, I am not immune to fads. I like to kid myself that I'm not influenced by my fellow lemmings, but the truth is that if something grabs the attention of my peers, it will grab mine as well, whether I join the crowd or run the other way. One of the latest fads to invade my world is Rick Warren's The Purpose Driven Life. It started back in '02 when my church sent me and others to a seminar on Rev. Warren's The Purpose Driven Church. The others then caught the Rick Warren bug--I gave my copy of Church to the church library and went on to other books. But then I started hearing about this Purpose Driven Life from other corners. It was being read by other churches in my denomination, friends back in Illinois, friends in an impoverished city in Peru. Finally, my own congregation made the book a focus of our worship this Lent. I was offended by that step (a rant I won't unleash here) but since I work evenings, I really didn't have cause to complain. Instead I could refuse to participate without having to publicly refuse to participate. I did figure, however, that I should read the flershugginer book so I could speak with some knowledge if the topic came up over coffee and cookies. So I got in the long line at the library and finally got to read this "life changing" "masterpiece" that made the New York Times best seller list.

The subtitle of the book is "What on Earth am I here for?" My response to the book is "What on Earth is the fuss all about?" Unlike Church, which was better than my expectations, Life left me seriously underwhelmed. It probably boils down to the fact that I didn't fit into Rev. Warren's target audience. First off, I went through the "What am I here for?" angst a few years back. My "career" had lost its appeal and I didn't have the luxury to stop providing for the family and change careers. I found some equilibrium, though I still whine about work. Life seems to be geared towards those running around in five different directions at once and looking for meaning in it all. Secondly, I'm somewhat scholarly--at least compared to other community college grads. Rev. Warren's scholarship in this book is sloppy and the writing is somewhat simplistic. For example, in the introduction he tries to sell you on the book and his suggestion to read a chapter a day for the next 40 days. He mentions all of the examples of 40 day periods in the Bible. Unfortunately, he touts these as life-changing events and not all of them were. Sure it rained 40 days in the great flood, but Noah's life transformation also included the 300+ days afterward riding the flood waters and the century of preparation beforehand. Why couldn't he just say, "I like the number forty, so that's the way I wrote it, and that's the way I want you to read it"? Finally, Rev. Warren comes across as a salesmen and I don't trust salesmen. There is many a recommendation for other resources: The Purpose Driven® Church, The Purpose Driven® Life Journal, The Purpose Driven® Life Video Curriculum, Purpose Driven® Seminars. It makes me wonder about the state of The Purpose Driven® Bank Account. I mean how much stuff do you need? The book boils down to this: God created you for a purpose and that your purpose is to worship God, live in fellowship with other Christians, stop sinning, serve other people and tell other people that Jesus died for them so their sins could be forgiven. Hey, I just said that in forty words! A sign from God? Hmmm.

Anyway, as I write this, I realize that I really didn't care for the book, even though there are bits of good advice included in there. I suppose I should rate it as waiting room material for that saving grace. If you do feel like reading it, I recommend that you don't buy the book. Or at least wait a few years when, I predict, you'll be able to find many copies of this book on the shelves of your local thrift store. 

LibraryThing link

Labels: RickWarren, WaitingRoomMaterial

// posted by John @ 3:19 PM 0 Comments

What do you get when you combine the heroines and storylines of three classic works, walk-on appearances by dead composers, Mary Queen of Scots and a few quotes from a computer manual? Well, for me, I got a Christmas present--a handwritten and illustrated manuscript bound into a cardboard and aluminum foil cover with Scotch tape. I also got a unique record of what was on my daughter's mind in 2003: ballets, classical music, the Royal Diaries books and The Robin Williams Mac OS X Book. Now, in all objectivity, the writing and artwork is crude, with all the craft you might expect from a fifth grader. On the other hand, as a father, I have no objectivity, so I think it is a masterpiece, worthy of a most honored place on my shelf. Either way it's just plain weird, just like my kid. Let this serve as a warning to all of you parents who might be thinking about encouraging your child's creativity.

No LibraryThing link

Labels: DaughterCoffee, OnMyShelf

// posted by John @ 9:58 PM 0 Comments

Book 9 of the Time Wars series is kind of weak. In addition to the cross-dimensional war and the recurring bad guy who has been wreaking havoc in the series, the Temporal Corps now has to deal with a trans-temporal mafia. Basically, General Forrester, the leader of the Corps, who has assumed leadership of the Temporal Intelligence Agency, has discovered a group within that organization called "The Network". The Network is involved in all sorts of illegal activities and Gen. Forrester tries to shut them down. The Network attempts to retaliate using infiltration, deadly weapons and six-inch commandos called, you guessed it, Lilliputians. That, and a gent named Lemuel Gulliver, are the only elements common to Swift's classic book. Instead you get lots of gun fights, explosions and some ongoing story development. Oh, well, nobody bats a thousand. The book isn't horrible, but really isn't the best of waiting room material either.

LibraryThing link

Labels: SimonHawke, TimeWars, WaitingRoomMaterial

// posted by John @ 9:52 PM 0 Comments

I don't move much, but when I do I get an impulse to explore--to drive and walk about the area and read up on the local history. So when I heard that folks were writing up a history of my neighborhood, I knew that this was a book I had to read. (Hmmm. Now that I think about it, maybe the urge isn't tied in to moving. I've been living here for ten years and I still want to know more.) So often I think of what is as the way it always has been, but of course, even a cursory glance at history will show you how wrong that thought is. So, of course, as I read the book and looked at the many pictures, I kept being surprised at what changes have occurred here and how young some of the familiar neighborhood institutions really are. All in all, Seattle's Beacon Hill is everything I would have hoped for, except it's too darn short. Definitely one to put on my shelf. (Oh, and the church on 13th Avenue South is Byzantine Catholic, not Greek Orthodox. We made the same mistake before we visited it and found out the truth.)

LibraryThing link

Labels: OnMyShelf

// posted by John @ 9:46 PM 0 Comments

And the award for book with the longest title goes to... um, this book. I don't know if it's really a book, or if it should be considered a periodical. But it's a heckuva lot thicker than some books I've read, so I'll call it as such. Anyway, this is an odd acquisition. There's an older gentleman who belongs to my church--a great guy--whose been housebound for a number of years now after getting hit by a van. Now, if you don't know how churches work, what happens with shut-in members is that they get regular visits from the pastor who sees how they are doing and gives them communion and all that. (Of course, when churches really work, lots of people go visit the shut-in members. But that's another day's musings.) Anyway, a few weeks back, at the announcement time after the service, Pastor mentions that he had visited Cliff that week and that ol' Cliff gave him this book, with the intent to lend it to whomever in the congregation wants to read it. He also mentioned that it was "all about Cliff's family." Well, I like books and I like history and Cliff is the only nursing home resident I ever met who could look mischievous. (I probably haven't met enough nursing home residents.) So I figured that a book about Cliff's family was worth borrowing. Well, the part about Cliff's family was a bit exaggerated. There's one article about his cousin and one about his grandfather. A number of other articles also mention the two gentlemen, both of whom played a large role in the Chinese-American community here in Seattle. But Cliff's family is hardly the focus of the book. Instead it has a large variety of articles relating to the history of local Chinese-Americans. In addition to the aforementioned biographies, there are articles on boy scouting, the industrialization of salmon canneries, Chinese-American contributions to Chinese aviation, and Chinese medical recipies from frontier Seattle, just to name a few. A wonderful potpourri for a word junkie like myself. Nothing I could recommend to a normal person, mind you. Well, maybe as good waiting room material. 

There's no LibraryThing link!

Labels: WaitingRoomMaterial

// posted by John @ 9:39 PM 0 Comments