Category: Reviews

Categories
Non-Fiction

Book Review: Living Life In The Zone – A 40-Day Spiritual Game Plan for Men – Kyle Rote Jr., Dr. Joe Pettigrew

lifeinthezone I love being a part of the BookSneeze program, it allows me to read great books like Living Life In The Zone – A 40-Day Spiritual Game Plan for Men. This is the fourth book that I have reviewed for Thomas Nelson Publishers and with each one I have tried to pick a different genre to review.  I have reviewed the following books:

I took a risk when I signed up for this book, but it was a risk that I feel really paid off.  I am not usually the type of person that likes to have his hand held while studying the Bible, but figured I would try this devotional.  I am extremely glad that I did.  The authors hit on all the major topics facing men today (life, wife, kids, friends, work, and the future) in a format that was easy to read, easy to follow, filled with good examples and scripture, and with homework.  It also helped that it used sports as the vehicle to convey the information.  A typical devotional for a day followed this format:

  • Thought for the Day – a short idea to ponder
  • The Coach’s Corner – Discovering the relevance of God’s Word in your life
  • The Game Plan – What the Word of God has to say about the day’s topic
  • Playmakers – Real-life examples of real men in the real world
  • Time Out – Questions for personal reflection
  • Today’s Assignment – Action items for the day
  • Home-Field Advantage – Praises and concerns you want to bring before God

I would completely recommend this devotional for any male who likes sports and is trying to live his life for God.  As I went through this devotional I felt on several occasions that it was speaking directly to a situation that I was facing at that moment in time.  Hopefully, you find this devotional as thought provoking and inspiring as I did.

Rating: 5/5

Categories
Fiction

The Chronicles of Narnia: A Delightful Journey

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader As I have mentioned on Facebook and LinkedIn before (for those of you who are friends of mine on Facebook or LinkedIn) that November, December, and January are my busiest months of the year.  Even though it is my busiest time of year, I still try to keep my reading habits up.  To do that I usually return to books I have read before, but love to read to help me get away from the stress and busyness of my busiest months.

A little under a month ago, I picked up my copy of The Chronicles of Narnia (amazon affiliate link – to the boxed set, I have the unabridged version) and started reading with The Magician’s Nephew.  I have seen worlds created, worlds destroyed, and voyages had.  C. S. Lewis along with J.R.R. Tolkein (with his Lord of the Rings trilogy) have set the standard for what has become the fantasy genre and it is good to go back and read both series from time to time.


The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader While Hollywood has tried and in my mind succeeded with making movies of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King I still love reading the original books from time to time.  I am also looking forward to the Upcoming Voyage of the Dawn Treader movie which comes out this year and The Hobbit movies which are also coming out soon.

Categories
Movies

Movie Review: Avatar – Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez, & Giovanni Ribisi

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You may or may not have already read a review of Avatar, but if you are one of the 3 people in the country who hasn’t seen Avatar, you need to go see it.

Warning: you probably need to get your tickets at least a few hours in advance, then arrive at the theater at least an hour early to stand in line to get a good seat.  I wouldn’t have thought that was the case with a movie that has already been in the theater for a couple weeks with a bunch of other really good movies at the same time, but it is so.

Normally I would save my rating for the end of the review, but due to the nature of my rating, I will go ahead and give it.

Plot: 2 out of 5
Visual Effects/Experience: 5 out of 5

Review – Plot (spoilers – skip to next section after the first sentence if you don’t want to know what happens):
If you have seen Dances with Wolves (amazon affiliate link) you have seen Avatar from a plot perspective.  The movie takes place on a planet called Pandora.  You soon learn that Jake Scully is not the original man for the job, but due to his twin brother being shot while being mugged, he is the only man for the job.  Jake is an ex-Marine who has been paralyzed from the waist down.  Since Jake is an identical twin and the Avatars (genetically created human/Nav’i hybrids) are created for a specific person Jake is the only human available to connect with the Avatar.  Jake is tasked with infiltrating the Nav’i and learning their ways so that the corporation can displace them to gain access to the largest deposit of unobtainium on the planet.  Just like in Dances with Wolves Jake “goes native” as he realizes the horrible intentions that the humans have.

Review – Visual Effects/Experience:
WOW is the best way to describe the visual masterpiece that James Cameron

has created.  Cameron has also partnered with James Horner for the soundtrack as well so the combination of visuals and soundtrack is just amazing.  I watched the movie in digital 3D and while I wasn’t really impressed with the 3D experience I thought the movie was amazing and will probably buy this movie when it comes out on DVD.

What are your thoughts on Avatar?

Categories
Fiction

You Make the Call!

I hope to do more “You make the call!” posts in the future as I want to have more interaction involved on my site with the loyal readers that I have.  But, they don’t work if you don’t interact so please make a comment.

My wife is reading a book (by an undisclosed author) that she received for Christmas.  It is a fiction book, but the reason that Mandy likes it so much is that it deals with real life issues.  She has not finished yet, but tonight was talking to me about the book.  The reason she talked to me about it is because she wanted to hear what I think the characters should do in their given situation.  Here’s where you come in…I am going to lay out the scenario, but I will change the names of the characters (and some of the irrelevant details) and I want to know what you think should happen.

Scenario:

Katherine is the main character in the book, she is married to Tom.  Katherine is a very busy business woman, Tom is a college professor who is also a journalist.  For the last year, Tom has felt like Katherine doesn’t have time for him and when young Tina, one of his students, shows interest he begins pursuing her, to the point that he falls in love with her, tells Katherine that he wants a divorce and proceeds to move in with Tina and has lived with her for the last 3 months.  In an effort to get Tina out of his mind before he leaves Katherine Tom makes love to Katherine and now Katherine is 3 months pregnant with their first child.  About a month after Tom leaves Katherine runs into Jeremy, the man who she has known since they were 12 (they are now 28).  They were childhood sweethearts and had dated for several years until when Jeremy was injured during a professional game (he is a professional athlete) and Katherine went to the hospital to visit him the nurse told her that Jeremy was in with his girlfriend.  When Katherine heard this, she never entered the hospital room. Now, during the current situation, the mixup is uncovered and they realize that Jeremy never was unfaithful to her, he was in with the team trainer and had told the nurse he couldn’t wait to see his girlfriend (Katherine).  Katherine starts to let herself fall for Jeremy when Tom finds out that she is pregnant with their child and asks their pastor for a meeting between the pastor, Katherine, and himself because he has realized all that he is leaving behind.

We don’t know yet whether or not Tom wants to come back, but here is the question for you to answer, let’s assume Tom does want to come back and he leaves Tina, what should Katherine do?

A couple of Bible passages come to mind as I think about this:

  • The book of Hosea
  • Malachi 2:16
  • Matthew 5:32
  • Matthew 19:1-12

Remember, don’t just be a spectator, let me know what you think…

Categories
Non-Fiction

Book Review: 5 Cities that Ruled the World – How Jerusalem, Athens, Rome, London, & New York Shaped Global History – Douglas Wilson

5 Cities that Ruled the World“Jerusalem represents the soul set free.  Athens established the ideal of free inquiry.  Rome passed on to us liberty of movement, liberty under law.  London was the place where literary imagination was set free.  And New York, with its commercial success, has shown us freedom to trade, and the subsequent freedom from want.” p. 189.

This book is not my normal cup of tea.  Typically, I tend towards fiction or non-fiction that addresses Christian living, but when I read the synopsis for 5 Cities I was intrigued.  The quote by George Santayana “Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it.” ran through my mind so I signed up to receive it.  I am extremely glad that I did.  Not only was 5 Cities an engaging read but I found myself educated in ways that I did not expect.  I appreciated the author’s in depth analysis of how each of these cities helped shape the world we live in today.  I also appreciated how as opposed to many history books that I have read (mostly from my school days) the author was not afraid to bring the Biblical narrative into the discussion and relate how these cities were affected by people of faith as well as how these cities affected people of faith.  One of the most stunning discoveries for me in this book was the fact that within a few paragraphs the author brought into focus a part of the Old Testament that has been blurry for me for years.  I can’t in good conscience tell you what that revelation was as it would rob you of the opportunity to glean a lot of great information from reading 5 Cities yourself.

Overall I give this book a 4 out of 5, happy reading.

Please feel free to comment or share your thoughts below.

Categories
Movies

Movie Review: X-Men Origins: Wolverine – Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Danny Huston, Will i Am, Dominic Monaghan, Taylor Kitsch, Ryan Reynolds

X-Men Origins: WolverineAs most of the people who know me are aware, I love comic book movies.  I was never really collected comics as a kid, my brother did, but I loved watching the cartoons and always loved the super hero stories.  I remember the day when I went to see the original X-Men in Des Moines with my dad and brother and how stoked I was to see the movie.  I have faithfully watched all three of the previous X-Men movies as well as just about every other comic book movie that has come out.  The fact that Marvel Studios was created is just icing on the cake.  The movies they have put out so far have been great.  Add to that the fact that Disney bought Marvel Studios and now you have the mouse funding great movies.

Anyway, off my soap box.  X-Men Origins: Wolverine begins with a young boy learning he has bone like claws that come out of his hands which he uses to kill the man he learns is his father.  At this point his brother Victor (Liev Schreiber) and he take of running and they don’t stop until William Stryker (Danny Huston) finds them after they were supposed to have been killed by firing squad.  They join an elite unit that also includes Wade Wilson/Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds, here he is again) and other mutants.  I won’t give too much away, but the movie follows the story that eventually leads to Logan (Hugh Jackman) becoming the metal boned mutant that we know and love.  Including his memory loss.

One thing to note, if you saw it in the theater you may need to see it again, or at least the scene after the credits.  According to Unrealitymag.com there were multiple alternate scenes after the credits.  I’ve seen 2 different endings, one in the theater and one on DVD.

To break it down simply, I loved the movie.  I know I can be biased when it comes to comic book movies, but I thought this movie was really well done.  It is at least worth a rental if not a buy.  I’m planning on buying it this weekend.  I thought the special effects were tastefully done and there was actually a story line.  They even paid attention to the small details, like how much Logan would weigh after having his skeleton coated with adamantium (something before the movie I hadn’t even considered).  I thought how he lost his memory was a little shady, but it wasn’t too bad so I’ll let it pass.

Rating: 5 out of 5

If you want to buy it, head on over to Amazon.com.

Categories
Fiction

Book Review: Green – Ted Dekker

Ted Dekker - GreenTed Dekker both starts and finishes what he set into motion with Black. In a world where the spiritual is physical Thomas Hunter must keep the Circle from breaking apart as the world careens towards the final showdown between good and evil, between Elyon and Teelah.

I was extremely excited to begin reading Green because I loved Black, Red, & White. I don’t know if it was because I held unrealistic expectations or if the book wasn’t as good as the previous books but I was disappointed when I finished Green. My disappointment was mainly due to the way Dekker closed the loop, I felt he could have done it in

a way that was more satisfying. I will say that Dekker’s grasp of the Biblical narrative is amazing, what really threw me though was his shifting back and forth between Biblical allegory and more direct Biblical example. Throughout the series he has had definite Biblical allegory, but in Green he throws in some scenes where they really aren’t allegory, I basically knew how the scene was going to end even as it started. He even names one character Ba’al which immediately paints the character in a certain light for most readers. It was also disappointing that with the current vampire infatuation in our culture that Dekker decided to go there.

Note: In the material that I have read for Green the book is grouped with Black, Red, & White and left at that. There are parts in Green that refer to the Lost Books Series (Chosen, Infidel, Renegade, Chaos, Lunatic, & Elyon) as well as the Paradise Novels (Saint, Sinner, & Showdown). As I was reading Green, I wished that I hadn’t stopped reading the Lost Books at Chaos because there is are parts within Green that I am assuming a reader who has read the Lost Books and Paradise novels would understand the backstory a little better.

I’m willing to give Dekker the benefit of the doubt though and give Green a 3 out of 5 rating.

Related Reading:

  • Black, Red, & White
  • Chosen, Infidel, Renegade, Chaos, Lunatic, & Elyon
  • Saint, Sinner, & Showdown

Note: due to a quirk in WordPress I am unable to hyperlink all of the books referenced in this post…I sincerely apologize.

Categories
Movies

Movie Review: Love Happens – Aaron Eckhart, Jennifer Aniston, Judy Greer & Dan Fogler

love-happens_poster-337x500In Love Happens Burke (Aaron Eckhart) has made lemonade out of lemons by writing a book about how to cope with losing a loved one after his wife dies in a car accident.  The movie picks up roughly 3 years after the loss of his wife.  He is on a seminar tour that brings him back to his old home town of Seattle, Washington (a place where he does not want to be I might add) where he meets Eloise (Jennifer Aniston) a flower shop owner who leaves random large words behind the hotel art that brushes him off by pretending to be deaf.  Throughout the course of the movie Eloise forces Burke to come to grips with his lemons and a romance blooms.

I really liked this movie.  Aaron Eckhart & Jennifer Aniston had really good on screen chemistry and the storyline was put together very well.  There were points in the movie that I thought conversation would have gone quite different in real life, but the raw emotion displayed by Eckhart is refreshingly good.  I was also pleasantly surprised that for a romance there was no skin shown.  Dan Fogler provides a great supporting role as Burke’s agent (Lane) and makes things light when necessary but you can tell from the way Burke and Lane interact that they have a lot of history and Lane really is looking out for Burke and wants the best for him as evidenced by a last minute meeting before the executive meeting that he has been trying to setup for Burke.  Judy Greer brings a solid performance in her usual role as second chair.  In Love Happens I would like to see Judy Greer in a leading role, she is funny enough and a solid enough actress that I think she would be able to pull off a leading role.  Time will tell though, if she does though, you heard it here first.  Finally, Martin Sheen plays the ex-Marine father of Burke’s deceased wife and he knocks it out of the park.  I don’t want to give too much story away otherwise I would tell you how, I can say that there is a reason he has been in the business as long as he has.

Grade: B+

Notable Movies for each actor/actress: (I’m going to try listing movies I think are worth seeing, please let me know if you find it useful)

Aaron Eckhart:

Jennifer Aniston:

Dan Fogler:

Judy Greer:

Martin Sheen (as of this writing he has 218 movies and tv appearances on imdb.com but I haven’t seen a lot of the movies, I have mostly seen him on TV):

  • The American President
  • Spawn – kind of a dark movie, but a comic book movie nonetheless, not sure I should recommend it because they only list the unrated director’s cut which I can only imagine is very dark.

Please let me know by adding a comment if you found this review helpful or if you would like me to change the way I do reviews.  Also, if you did like the review, please use the share links below to share this blog entry on Facebook, Twitter, etc…

Categories
Movies

Movie Review: Julie & Julia – Meryl Streep, Amy Adams, Stanley Tucci, & Chris Messina

julie_and_julia_ver2_xlgDo you like to cook?  So do Julie Powell (Amy Adams) and Julia Child (Meryl Streep).  Julie & Julia is “based on two true stories” and follows the lives of two women who as Julia Child “love to eat”.  In parallel it follows the lives of Julia Child who is forced to find something to do while her diplomat husband is posted in Paris and Julie Powell who is a cubicle dwelling phone operator in New York who by day answers phone calls in the aftermath of 9/11 that feels her life is going nowhere and she needs to do something to add meaning.  As part of following the two women and their adventures the movie chronicles the lives shared with their husbands and really shows a parallel between the husbands as well played by Stanley Tucci & Chris Messina.

There are several laugh out loud moments in this movie which was exactly what my wife and I needed as we watched it.  One of the best things about the movie for me was the interaction with the husbands and how they were just great guys.  In this movie they also explore the inevitable “make it or break it point” that comes with doing anything of value and how anything worth doing is worth pushing through that point and persevering.

Grade: B+

Notable Movies: (I’m going to try listing movies I think are worth seeing, please let me know if you find it useful)

Meryl Streep:

Amy Adams:

Stanley Tucci:

Chris Messina:

Please let me know by adding a comment if you found this review helpful or if you would like me to change the way I do reviews.  Also, if you did like the review, please use the share links below to share this blog entry on Facebook, Twitter, etc…

Categories
Non-Fiction

Book Review: What difference do it make? – Ron Hall, Denver Moore, & Lynn Vincent

What difference do it make?What difference do it make? is a conversation that tells of the relationship between a well to do man with a rough family history and a homeless wise man and how a book has changed their life. It is a conversation about hope, restoration, and how one person’s decision can change the course of history. It tells of how two men from completely different walks of life can have their lives irrevocably intertwined for a cause definitely worth fighting for. Interspersed within the story of Ron and Denver are stories of hope about people who have been affected by the first book Same Kind of Different as Me.

I wish I would have read Same Kind of Different as Me, because I feel like I am catching the game in the second half of the championship game after a blockbuster of a first half. Conversation is swirling around me about events that I don’t have access to but wish that I did. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the book and think that Denver Moore is probably one of the wisest men I have ever read while at the same time having a refreshingly simple outlook on what the Bible actually says. I love how he relays his understanding of the Bible and how we are supposed to live according to it without pulling any punches. He is not afraid to tell it like it is and I love it.

Grade: B+

Related Reading: