I saw the movie version of this before I read the book. "Of Mice and Men" (1937) by John Steinbeck is an easy read, although it does not leave a person with much hope for humanity. I'm sure I could Google it and find out quickly, but it seems to me that the George of the old cartoons - you know, when the half-wit would ask, "Which way did he go, George. Which way did he go," was a reference to the dim-wit in this book who was always asking George about the rabbits. Well, the internet came back on, so I guess I gotta get back to work now.

Someone (Dianne, maybe) left this book at our Republican Headquarters for Cooke County. There is a pretty good collection there in the take-one/leave-one bookshelf.

"Miracle of Miracles" (2004) by Mina Nevisa with Jim Croft is the story of Mina's conversion to Christianity while residing in Iran. Several of her other friends who had converted were "disappeared" (as they say these days), and she slipped out the back door of her parent's house as the authorities showed up at the front door. Her successful escape was definitely a miracle, but several other miracles are described in the book. Sometimes it is difficult to find the modern-day miracles. This book is a good reminder that they do exist.

Oh, Iran... what to do with such a dark, lost place? Bomb them?? That is not my first choice. Wars can only be really won when unconditional surrender happens, and we are never going to get there with no boots on the ground. I fear that we are just serving to increase our enemy's hatred of us. But what about the spiritual part of the warfare? This book claims that Muslims are converting to Christianity faster in Iran than in any other place. Maybe it is true. Christianity here... well, we take it for granted.

I have been back at the Catholic church for about a year and a half now. I started going because I knew that mom wanted to go, and she was only going to get up there if someone dragged her to it. Church is just 1 block away from my parents' house, so no excuses! Anyways, I am not Catholic because I do not recognize the authority of the pope. And because I do not believe that confession to a priest is necessary. And because the whole Eucharist/Mass thing does not seem to be what Jesus intended for us to take from the Last Supper. I can respect, to some degree, that the Catholic church - at least the one in my town - seems to be going backwards. By that I mean that only boys are allowed to be altar servers again, there is more Latin, the songs are older, the processions at feasts are more elaborate. In the '80s and '90s, I think we were just mostly going through the motions, but people are really trying these days to embrace the traditions and origins. Would it be going too far to call them Fundamentalists? Yes, yes it would, because they are still just Catholics, praying a rosary that didn't get started until sometime after 1214 AD, repeating the Saint Michael the Archangel prayer that was only composed in 1884 AD, and continuing the practice of indulgences that should have ended in 1517 AD when Martin Luther did his thing.

Oh, but I don't say these things out loud lest I offend. And also, my very position as a Christian believer is in a questionable state. I am not smarter than these Catholic folks I pray with every week. My faith is not stronger, and I would surmise that it is actually weaker than the average Catholic. Ah, well.

But back to the book. I was very impressed, and it is definitely worth reading. Peace.
 

Whoa, I do not even know how to use this "new" posting system. Coming here always makes me feel extremely OLD. As it turns out, I AM old - 44. Life has become a rush from one stressful situation to the next; and I thought I'd have it all figured out by now! So... the book. "Coronavirus and Christ" by John Piper - maybe I am a little late on the uptake to read this 5+ years after The Pandemic. I know I had more faith back then. I reacted to the 'Rona pretty much the way this book suggests that we should. Well, perhaps I was coming from more of a place of resignation rather than righteous confidence. I took the view that whatever was gonna happen was gonna happen no matter how socially distanced we were or how many times I washed my hands or any of those things. Resigned to my fate. And of course I did get the sickness sometime around November 2020, if I recall. I remember that I thought it was great when President Trump got it and got over it, and I thought that maybe folks would start to calm down. No, actually that did not help much, because along came Biden, and then things got to to ridiculous levels! So many things that never needed to happen. So many cancelled events that never should have been cancelled. I can feel the anger coming back just thinking about it. But no matter; I have work to do. Back to it then.

It took me a VERY LONG time to get through this book. Now, granted, I don't read all that often anymore, but this book is just a stinker. And it's a little harder for me to say that since the author's bio says that Christina Adam died in 2003 - the same year that "Love and Country" was published. So I don't want to speak ill of the dead. First, I was never really sure if this book was about the teenage boy or about his mom. Then it tried to have some rodeo action, but there was nothing redeeming in any of that side story. The over-done descriptions of EV-RE-THING were just plain distracting. And I almost quit altogether when the mom started crying when her no-good ex-husband died. Why would she do that?!?

Am I just spoiled for books in this age of streaming videos and instant gratification? I hope not. Although I certainly have been streaming a lot of stuff lately! I dropped Netflix a couple of months ago and have been getting all of my "television" from YouTube's free options. One old movie has led to another, and I have been immersed in old Shirley Temple movies, war movies that I never knew existed, and episodes of shows like The Flying Nun, I Dream of Jeannie, and of course SNL and Mad TV. I mean, did you know that one of the woman actors in Shirley Temple's "Poor Little Rich Girl" (1936) is the woman who played Old Rose in "Titanic" (1997)?? That kind of stuff just fascinates me. Maybe it's time to turn this into a movie review blog, LOL. We went to the movies last week to see "Lost on a Mountain in Maine". It was a little slower than I was expecting. Only one or two scenes had any real action. The rest was mostly angst-y, of course. I wouldn't have to see it again, but it was good enough once.

Welp, hopefully I can read my next book in less than a year. We'll see!
 

 

Well, I wasn't really a fan of the movie "The Notebook" (2004), but I did recognize the author's name immediately from the days when that movie was so big.  Hmm...  I see that this one was made into a movie, too: "The Longest Ride" (2015).  With Alan Alda!  Well, I missed that completely.  The Longest Ride is Nicholas Sparks' 17th romance novel, released in 2013.  They certainly didn't wait very long to make a movie version!  Well, the book was okay, even though I could see where it was going before I got to the half-way point.  The ending was still pretty clever, I guess.  It's just not really my style, is all.  Not that bull riding isn't relevant to my life.  I remember when momma used to say that I could marry anyone besides a bull rider.  Ha.  I don't have many guy friends, but one who comes to mind is Michael Dale, and he used to ride bulls in his younger days.  It seems like he turned out alright.  But also, I'm sort of involved in putting on Bullfest in Saint Jo on May 6.  I guess I'll be helping in the concessions stand?  I dunno, usually my job at these things is to make sure that there's enough toilet paper in the bathrooms.  And then usually I'm the last person there at 2:00 AM to make sure the lights get turned off and the gate gets locked.  Yup.  That's what bull riding is for me.  Very romantic, no? 

Eeesh - it has been over a year since I last posted.  You know, life and stuff...  I show up where I need to be, do my job, and go home.  That’s why I have gotten so behind on these book reviews.  Computer work isn't as fun as it used to be.

You Dropped A Blonde On Me, Dakota Cassidy, 2010

This one was mildly entertaining.  It told a pretty good story, but sometimes the foul language was distracting.  If I remember correctly, the main character was right around age 40, which was my age at the time when I was reading the story, so that is quite à propos.  But most of it I couldn't identify with too much.  Being a trophy wife.  Finding love.  Yeah, all of that good stuff.  Also, I'm pretty sure that the author is a red-head, and I can't say that she totally gets the essence of being blonde.  Ha.

Touched With Fire, John Tebbel, 1952

I do enjoy older books.  My copy didn't have the dust jacket shown here.  This book tells the fictional story of René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle (a/k/a LaSalle) and his voyage down the Mississippi River.  It's based on the real LaSalle's 1682 trip down the river, but it focuses on LaSalle's right-hand-man's perspective.  Can you imagine - 340 years ago on this continent??  It's not a romanticized version of how it might have been.  The constant struggles are what make this book.  Sometimes it was a little slow-paced, but I liked it alright.

Rebel With A Cause: Finally Comfortable Being Graham, Franklin Graham, 1995

So, a little backstory...  I think it was just last Summer (feels like ages ago) when my desk was so full of CRAP that I ended up paying some bills late because they disappeared in to the fray.  After that, I started answering every single begging letter that I'd been getting with "Please remove me from your mailing list!!!"  One of those was Samaritan’s Purse.  I have no problems with the work they do, and I have given to them in the past, but I had reached my limit in the junk mail department.  Franklin Graham answered my request for removal with a letter and this book.  It is worth noting that Mr. Graham's organization was the only one that acknowledged my request.  Pretty much all I knew about Franklin Graham was that he got kicked out of my alma mater, LeTourneau University.  I had heard stories about why he was expelled, so I was really looking forward to that part of the book.  Well, surprise, surprise...  The reason was NOT what the rumors had claimed.  I had heard something about how he had given the Flooders their name by being part of the flooding incident that gave them their name.  NOPE!  But I'm not going to tell you the real story.  You'll have to read the book!

I Could Pee on This Too: And More Poems By More Cats, Francesco Marciuliano, 2016

My co-worker Kim gave me this book.  I dunno if cats can write poems.  Speaking of cats, I currently have 8 of them:  Mattie Ross, Mrs. Brown, Punkin Head, Clifford, Frosty, Sparkles, Nikki, and Special Favorite (a/k/a Rosie).  It's kind of a lot.  I also found out that Chester, my original cat, is living at someone else's house a block away.  He'd rather be an only-cat-child, so I can't really blame him for abandoning me.  He never peed on my stuff the way Mrs. Brown does.

Can I Play Too? by Mo Willems, 2010

Co-worker Kim also found this book.  She picked it up at the Whaley UMC garage sale when I was looking for kids' books for Kylie's baby shower.  I have since passed the book on to my Uncle Doug for his grandchildren.  I thought that the story was really clever, and it didn't go the way I thought it was going to go.  The sarcasm really made me L.O.L.  And the baby shower in Tuttle, Oklahoma, was nice.  I picked a different book to give to the mother-to-be.  Kylie was our rodeo queen a few years back.

Hello again so soon!  I guess I'm getting tired of Netflix because I've been choosing to read more often than usual on these long winter days.  "Lament for a Father" (2021) by Marvin Olasky was a freebie that came in the mail since I'm a subscriber to WORLD magazine.  It seems that I identify more with Eli Olasky (Marvin's father) than I do with the author, specifically in the religious department.  Eli has grown cold and lost his motivation after his service in World War II.  As a Jew, he had to live with what he had seen at the concentration camps in Germany.  I've had no such life-changing experience, but somehow I seem to have ended up at the same place - unmotivated and short on faith in a loving God.  This book does not seek to condemn any of the characters, but I can't help but feel like I'm part of the wrong side - the German people, the Catholic people - all were hugely anti-Semitic.  I see it in myself sometimes.  But isn't it hard to accept an entire race that declares themselves to be declared special by the Creator of us all??  The Chosen People.  Why would God do such a thing?  Sure, it seems that later in New Testament times He decides to go with "there is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:28, NIV)  Maybe he could have led with that idea??  Ehh, we're still not really ready to hear it.  My only problem with this book was how the author tried to use the present tense for things that happened in the past.  It worked in some places, but not throughout.  And I guess with a book like this, I should probably recognize my own father.  But I have no complaints about Bob Hess, so that is that.  Sometimes when he comes up with witty, barbed retorts, I can see where I got my dry humor.  Like with Marvin and his father, I suppose the appreciation tends to grow with time.  When I was little, I used to imagine a time when my parents would be gone.  I wasn't so much afraid of it, but I thought I was preparing my emotions to handle it.  I don't suppose that's possible at all.  I'll be lost, but it doesn't really feel like I can be more lost than I am now.  We shall see.