Excellent book by an Evangelical who is an American history professor and chair of the history department at Messiah College in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. He dedicates the book, “To the 19 percent.” He seeks to explain how 81% of evangelical Christians voted for Donald Trump. He starts with the politics of fear: First, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio played the politics of fear in their campaigns, and it worked so well, Donald Trump was seen as the only one who was strong enough to save them from the fear of rapist, drug-dealing illegal immigrants; Muslims coming to murder us; evil Liberals taking over our country.
Al H. recommended this book. Redeemer Lutheran was reading it. It’s about loving everyone always, even your most despised enemies. It’s full of stories about the creative ways in which he has loved others. There’s a chapter about not telling people about the good you have done because you’ve done it to Jesus so He already knows, but then this book is full of stories about the good he’s done. He is very funny, but I didn’t like him. (So much for loving everybody always!) However, the last few chapters were about him going after a witch doctor in Uganda and being the first one to get one convicted and sent to prison. Then, he adopted the little boy the witch doctor almost killed, but even more, he went and visited the witch doctor in the horrible prison in Uganda. The witch doctor wanted forgiveness and came to Christ, and Bob Goff says they both came closer to Christ through this. He has since set up schools for the witch doctors and more and more are coming to Christ. That is simply wonderful! The colorful splotches on the cover of the book are actually the fingerprints of some of these witch doctors.
He’s from San Diego, extremely wealthy, was a lawyer and a diplomat to Uganda. He loves his wife, Sweet Maria, and his children, one of whom is named Adam and is quite the adventurer; sky diving, flying, motorcycling. His first book is Love Does, and he has a charitable organization called lovedoes.org. The one thing that stands out is that Jesus did call us to love our enemies, and that is not easy, but beautiful things happen when you do.
Fantastic book about the history of cancer. The hundreds of years of unnecessary, radical mastectomies, and the evilness of Big Tobacco stand out. Also, the futility of trying to cure cancer. There are only a few cancers for which we’ve discovered what might be termed cures: CML, Hodgkin’s, breast cancer which is positive for estrogen receptor and can be treated with tamoxifen, and/or Her-2 amplified and can be treated with Herceptin.
Here are some quotes, this first from the chapters on how smoking causes lung cancer: “It is difficult for me to convey the range and depth of devastation that I witnessed in the cancer wards that could be directly attributed to cigarette smoking….It remains an astonishing, disturbing fact that in America–a nation where nearly every new drug is subjected to rigorous scrutiny as a potential carcinogen, and even the bare hint of a substance’s link to cancer ignites a firestorm of public hysteria and media anxiety–one of the most potent and common carcinogens known to humans can be freely bought and sold at every corner store for a few dollars.”
Short biography of Akiane, the girl who painted the picture of Jesus that the little boy from Heaven Is for Real identified as the Jesus he saw in heaven. This book tells the story of her life up to age 10 and includes her poetry and her paintings. I find the paintings haunting and dark, and the poetry is incomprehensible. However, she says something about one of her paintings, the one of Eve, that is incredibly insightful: “The knowledge of good and evil is simply too much for a human to understand and experience, and now Eve is looking up to God for forgiveness and help.” Same thing that Wayne said about humans and the fall – we are not equipped to deal with the knowledge of evil. Also, although she never mentions the Bible in this book, she does speak God’s will for us – to love Him and to love others. She also has painted pictures of a young Asian girl, about 2 years old, and another one of two African babies, who were abandoned and left to die but who were adopted and cared for and became healthy. She has a heart for abandoned children. She says, “It is because of our selfishness that they suffer and die.”
This book takes you into the world of 16-year-old Starr; I hated the world but fell in love with her and her precious family. They live in the ghetto and Starr witnesses her childhood best friend, Khalil, get shot and killed by a white cop. She has brothers (Seven and Sekani), Dad (Maverick – former gang member and drug dealer), Mom (a nurse and the best mom ever), Uncle Carlos (a cop), and Chris (her rich, white boyfriend). Starr lives in two worlds; the world of her childhood which is the ghetto, drug dealers, gang members, violence, but a beloved family that has risen above all of that; and the rich, mostly white world where she attends high school. When the white cop kills her childhood friend, the two worlds collide. Starr eventually chooses to speak and tell exactly what happened to detectives, the media, and a grand jury. The white cop was not charged with murder. Riots and violence erupt. We understand the rage. Excellent book!
True story about a young Muslim girl who converts to Christianity and has to run away from home for her life and safety. This book demonstrates many things but to me, it mainly shows how we Americans take for granted our religious freedom; we are free to worship who we want, when we want, where we want. She literally faced death from her earthly father and the Muslim leaders for becoming a Christian. She had to run for her life when she was 16 years old. Many of her friends and the officials in America had a hard time believing her; they thought she was just being an over-dramatic teenager.
Originally from Sri Lanka, her strict Muslim family moves to America shortly after she is sexually abused at age 7 or 8 by an uncle in Sri Lanka. (The shame was hers, just as an injury leaving her blind in one eye caused when her brother threw an airplane at her is also her shame.) She encounters the One, True God – and the all-encompassing love of Jesus – through an American friend named Angela, who happens to be South Korean. The contrast between the love she feels from this God and His followers with the abuse and hatefulness of the followers of Islam, including her mother and older brother but especially her father, is astounding. She is sold-out for Jesus–heart, soul, and mind. She loves Him and His Word. When her family finds out she has converted to Christianity, they threaten to send her back to Sri Lanka where the penalty for conversion to Christianity is death. Her father is on his way home from a business trip. It is a race against the clock for her to figure out where to go before he gets home. She runs away with the help of the Holy Spirit through Christian friends, endures long drawn-out legal battles that take her through two states (Ohio, Florida, and back to Ohio), juvenile detention center, courtroom after courtroom, and many foster families. She eventually turns 18 and is free although she is still in hiding for her protection. She also gets a rare form of uterine cancer and is told she has a year to live, but is miraculously cured after surgery and several months of chemotherapy that she decides midway through to stop. Here are some quotes at the very beginning of the book:
“To my precious baby brother, Mohamed Rajaa Bary.
I can only imagine the unanswered questions that may plague you. Why did the big sister you adore leave you and never come home again? My hope is that this book is a long letter explaining why.
Although you may never understand my answer, my prayer is that the words bound within these pages allow your heart to heal. My prayer is that one day you will forgive me for the pain I have caused you. I left not because I did not love you enough. I left because I encountered a God who was worthy of forsaking all . . . even the most prized little man in my life.
If only you could peer through my dreams and see how I ache to hold you in my arms like I did so many years ago . . .but this time I never let you go.“
Author’s Note:
“In 2009-2010 my story broke in national and international media. As often happens, many of the news reports centered on speculation and untruths. This book fulfills my desire to give an accurate account of my personal experiences within my family and community. Please understand it is not my intention to malign Muslims or Islam.
Though the story contained in these pages is true, I have changed the names of many individuals for reasons of privacy and safety.”
Carly started out life as a rich girl in NYC. Her dad was Dick Simon, founder of publishing giant Simon & Schuster. She was their third daughter and they were hoping for a boy to name “Carl” so they added a “y” and that’s how she became Carly. Music was a part of the family’s day-to-day life. They sang a lot and her father played the piano for hours every evening. Carly started to stutter when she was a young girl. When she couldn’t get the words out, her mom told her to sing them. That helped her a lot. Her stutter has been a lifelong problem and she never knows when it will happen; that is why she doesn’t do many shows or interviews. She loves men, was quite the flirt, but her heart belonged especially to James Taylor, although from this book it sounds like he was a junkie and really kind of weird.
In-depth memoir by a Vietnam veteran who lost both legs and most of his hands after tripping a booby trap running from enemy soldiers after his gun jammed. He is the son of a decorated Marine General, a good father but such a decorated war hero that he felt he could never live up to him. He couldn’t help it that his career as a Marine lieutenant started with the Vietnam War.
A most-interesting novel! It’s about a 30-year old girl, living a very lonely life in Glasgow. She has a boring office job that pays the bills, but her co-workers don’t like her and often gossip about her. She buys vodka every Friday and stays drunk through the weekend. She has a scar on one side of her face caused by a fire, that we learn was set by her mother (Mummy). Her Mummy calls her every Wednesday and is completely evil and cruel to her. Her life begins to change when Raymond, the IT guy who fixed her computer at work, befriends her. They see a man collapse on the sidewalk and Raymond assists him but also pulls Eleanor in to help. The man (Sammy) ends up being the nicest person and between the two of them (Raymond and Sammy), they show Eleanor what it means to be loved.
Classic recommended by Kindra, a librarian at the Old Town Library. At first, I thought it would be hard to read because of the old-style language, but after only a couple of pages, it was imminently readable and I couldn’t put it down! The story centers on 19 year-old Margaret Hale, daughter of a parson who resigns his parsonage and moves the family (he, his wife, and Margaret) from the idyllic Helstone to the smoky northern industrial town of Milton. There they meet Mr. Thornton, a manufacturer, and there are clashes and tension between Margaret and Mr. Thornton. The tension builds and builds as Margaret grows and matures and finally, after almost two years of drama, they come together at the end. Great book!
A second beautiful book about his time in Corfu in the late 1930’s. What a treasure his books are! His writing brings me to a place and time and among people I love. This book covered stories about a wedding party, Gerry’s surprise birthday present of a goat, Gerry witnessing the birth of a baby boy, meeting Sven and his accordion, sea horses and fishing with Kokino using a female cuttlefish, Captain Creech (lecherous old drunk sea captain), the seance lady who is deceiving Margo, the recluse Countess in her enormous villa, night-fishing on the reefs with Taki, olive harvest, grape harvest, and his endless collecting of insects, sea creatures, and land creatures; all beautifully and hilariously described.
What a disappointing book! Can’t believe it is by the same author who wrote The Dog Stars! Two young men, best friends, decide to canoe a river in Canada. They run into 1. A huge wildfire, 2. A lunatic who tried to murder his wife, and after the young men go back and save her, the lunatic then tries to ambush and murder them, and 3. Two drunk Texans in a motorized canoe who want to molest the ailing woman. It’s full of one word sentences like “Still.” Also full of detailed descriptions of the young men fly-fishing. Was he trying to be cool? One of the young men is a gullible gentle giant who keeps giving the lunatic the benefit of the doubt. He ends up shot to death by one of the drunk Texans. We never get a good reason for the lunatic trying to murder his wife – she can barely speak but mentions she has published more papers than him. This is what you get when an author just has to crank something out.
What a fantastic book! Once the murder trial started, I could not put it down. I tried to go to sleep at 10:00 p.m. but got up at 10:45 p.m. and finished this book by 1:45 a.m.! It was so good! So well-written and what a plot and characters! The main character is Kya Clark, the Marsh Girl, abandoned first by her mother at age 6, then by her older brother, Jodie, and finally by her abusive, drunk father at the age of 10. She lives by herself in a shack in the marshes of North Carolina, near a small town called Barkley Cove, but a world away all by herself. One person, Tate Walker, saves her when she is lost, befriends her, teaches her to read, encourages her to learn about the flora and fauna of the marsh, but breaks her heart when he goes off to college and doesn’t return on July 4th as he promised. Her only other friends in the world are Jumpin’ and Mabel. Jumpin’ is the bait shop owner who saves her from starving by buying her mussels and smoked fish in return for gas for her boat, food, and supplies. His wife, Mabel, gives her clothing and love and comfort as she grows from child to woman.
Action-packed historical fiction about Nazi hunters in the 1950s. Characters are very appealing, except for the Huntress – die Jagerin. There are 6 main characters: Jordan McBride, young American girl who wants to be a photographer; Ian Graham, Englishman and former WWII war correspondent, who wants to catch the Huntress because she killed his brother; Nina Markova, decorated Russian pilot who had to escape Russia during the war because her father was a denouncer of Stalin; Tony Rodomovsky, part-Jewish WWII veteran (interpreter) who wants to catch war criminals; Anna McBride, the Huntress, who murdered 6 children because they were Jewish and murdered Ian’s brother, an escaped prisoner; and little Ruth, a little girl who Anna McBride kidnaps after killing her mother in order to escape to America. All of the characters were based on real-life people who did similar things or were an amalgamation of people who did. Got really good towards the end. It is a pretty long book–531 pages.
Lygon Stevens died in an avalanche on January 10, 2008, while climbing Little Bear Peak in the Sangre de Cristos in Colorado. She was 20 years old. “Swept downhill over 1000 feet and buried under a mass of snow, she would not be recovered until late June when the snows melted.” (This written by her mother, Sarah Stevens, in the Preface to the book.) Her brother was with her but miraculously survived, and though injured, hiked out 8 miles over 20 hours. He had with him their camera and Lygon’s journal. This book is selected pieces from her journal along with breathtaking photographs of some of the mountains she climbed, including Denali, 4 summits in Ecuador, Mount Rainier, and ‘fourteen-ers’ in Colorado. Her journal entries reflect a relationship with God and a deep love of the Lord beyond her years! It is beautiful – she is beautiful – thank you, Lygon!
What a fantastic book! What a fantastic writer! I didn’t want to read this book, but my friend, Christie, read it and said she couldn’t put it down – it was so good! So, I read it and felt the same way, even though the topic, a transgender child, is not one I wanted to read about. But, Laurie Frankel filled this book with such wonderful characters (Rosie, a doctor-wife; Penn, a writer-husband; Roo, short for Roosevelt, the oldest boy; Ben, the smart one; Rigel and Orion, twins; and the baby, Claude, who decides at the age of 3 he wants to be a girl.) The book happens in three parts: Part 1-their lives in Madison, Wisconsin, when Claude is born and when he decides he wants to be a girl; Part 2-the move to Seattle because after Mom (Rosie) tries to save a transgender gunshot wound victim who was accidentally shot but so badly beaten at a fraternity party, that she is consumed with fear that something like that may happen to Claude, who is now Poppy; Part 3-the move by Rosie and Poppy/Claude to live in Thailand briefly while Rosie runs a medical clinic in the northern rural area and Poppy/Claude teaches other children how to speak English. Thailand is where their eyes are opened to a new road – the middle road – because Thai society is so filled with transgender people that they even provide bathrooms for them.
After reading this fantastic memoir, I wish Gary Sinise would run for president. I’d vote for him! What a beautiful American he is, and his book is a beautiful message for us all. He thanks God he was in the right place at the right time during high school when a drama teacher walking down the hall looked him in the eye and told him to audition for a play, West Side Story. He went from being a pot-smoking loser who could barely read and write to a phenomenally successful actor and a man with a heart for our veterans. He never wants them to feel unappreciated; it breaks his heart how we treated our Vietnam veterans. His life since 9/11/2001 has been one of service above and beyond the call to veterans, first-responders, and their families. This memoir details it all and is engrossing and uplifting. Thank you, God, for Gary Sinise and thank you, Gary, for writing this and for all you do and continue to do, and for your faith.
Very helpful book about coping when your life is shattered into dust by heartbreak. The title is so fitting — when I experience major heartbreaks and disappointments, I wonder if God has forgotten me and even if He is a good God. This book offers solid, grounded, biblical reassurance that God never leaves us nor forsakes us and He is good, only good. Thank you, Lysa, I needed that!
What a fun romp through British-colonial Malaya (Malaysia) in 1931! Delightful characters (11 year-old houseboy Ren; beautiful Ji Lin, handsome Shin) and mystery (why do these people keep dying and where is that finger) and sumptuous descriptions of Malaysian food and the flora and fauna of the tropics. I loved it!
How I adored this book! He tells of his time on the Greek isle of Corfu in the 1930s. His family moved there from England when oldest brother, Larry, finds out from a friend how warm and sunny it is there. It is laugh-out-loud funny and wonderfully written. It takes you to a gorgeous Greek island full of amazing beauty on land and sea, and wonderful, funny, delightful characters, both human and animal. Gerald (Gerry) is the youngest of four children of a precious, widowed Mother. Gerry loves all things critters and found his heaven on earth on this Greek isle of Corfu. The PBS Masterpiece production captures the essence of the island and the characters but doesn’t copy exactly any of the escapades described in the book. For example, in the book they lived in three different villas: the Strawberry-Pink Villa, the Daffodil-Yellow Villa, and the Snow-White Villa, whereas in the Masterpiece production, they lived only in the Strawberry-Pink Villa.
