My Book Reviews

I recently read my friend Melissa Richie's blog post titled Book Review. I liked it so much that it made me want to write a similar post here. A few of the books she reviews are Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, which I now plan to read, Dan Allender's Bold Love, and Tom Wolfe's The Right Stuff. You can link to her blog from here, just look under my Friends Online heading and click The Richies Three.

I went to the bookshelf and tried to get a true cross section of books I have read in the past year or so. In reading Melissa's blog, she was quite positive most of the time in her opinions. I wanted to get plenty of things I did not like to include here, then I realized, I tend not to read the things I don't like. Duh.

I am warning you, this is going to be long, and I am going to be as honest as I can be.

The Bible - God

To prove that I'm going to be honest, I'll begin with the One Year Chronological Bible. My friend JT Thomas gave this to me about seven years ago and I am only a little over halfway through it. I am almost to the new Testament and I often pray that the Lord will help me be inspired to continue reading, but I'm obviously struggling a bit with it. There are a lot of kings who "did what was evil in the sight of the Lord" lately and it is so hard for me to stick with it. I know it is my duty, and I will continue, and my official review is overwhelmingly positive, I know how it ends, but there are some tedious parts that one day I hope to understand, but right now... whew, it's hard.

The Brethren - John Grisham

I was not crazy about this book. I guess I read it because he is so popular and I wanted to see for myself what all the hype was about. It has been a while, so I do not remember too many details; but the main story line was about man who came up with a scheme to extort money from high powered gay men by corresponding through the mail and threatening to expose their secret. Don't get me wrong, it held my attention, but for the most part, I felt that even though his characters were compelling, and very believable, he presumed too much upon the reader's patience by going on and on and on, which I will attempt not to do here.

Same Kind of Different As Me - Ron Hall & Denver Moore

Again, here was a New York Times Bestseller that I thought was just Ok. It goes back and forth between the perspective of an uneducated and poor black man and a rich white art dealer who strike up a friendship and in doing so, the white man ends up learning life lessons from his new friend. The white guy's wife, Debbie, dies of cancer in the process. I thought it was a bit predictable and over sentimental. I enjoyed the black man's parts. He was well written.

The Shack - William P. Young

I read this because our preacher recommended it from the pulpit and he has never let me down. It is an excruciatingly painful story of a man whose daughter is violently murdered. Don't worry, I'm not giving anything away, this happens very early in the book. Then he meets God in several different forms. Young has his weaknesses that I was happy to forgive in exchange for his profound insight into the nature of the Holy Trinity. This book helped me specifically through a difficult relationship when I needed to forgive a deep hurt. It is not for you if you cannot roll with supernatural things, a folksy and at times a bit exasperating writing style, or if you have no interest in the deep things of Christianity. None of those things bother me enough to poo poo this powerful work of fiction.

Harry Potter 1-7 JK Rowling

Melissa reviewed these books the same way I will. If you read them, you loved them, if you didn't, what in the world are you waiting on? If you are one of the Christians who disagree fundamentally with allowing children to read about such things, then I will bet you haven't read them yourself. Even though I sympathize with your position, I adamantly disagree and think you really should lighten up, read the books, then make your judgment. I was constantly amazed and inspired by Rowling's boundless imagination. The world she creates is so completely believable, so colorful, vivid, powerful, and so full of gut level wisdom. It teaches without preaching, it inspires courage, loyalty, and love. It goes beyond any earthly boundary without ever seeming far fetched. I didn't cry at the end, I sobbed. I heaved. I love these books.

Extreme Measures - Vince Flynn

Vince Flynn books are like the TV show 24 in book form. Mitch Rapp is Jack Bower without commercials or Fox's limited budget. My good buddies James Kling and Peter Thewes and I pass these books around like comic books. They are what we call "twaddle," or fluff, but I have to have one every now and then when I have been thinking too much. These books appeal to the conservative, the patriot, the adventurer. I honestly can't remember the exact story line of this one, but I can say with all certainty that if Vince wrote it, it's a page turner, it races to a breathless climax, and leaves you wanting more.

Angels and Demons - Dan Brown

Loved it. Same lead character from DaVinci Code, only without all the stuff about Jesus not being who he really is, and an even more dramatic ending. This ending may be the best of any book in the thriller genre that I have ever read.

Digital Fortress - Dan Brown

It is Dan Brown, but not as good as any of his other books. It was fine, but not worth a re-read.

Gone With the Wind - Margaret Mitchell

If there is a better work of fiction, in my opinion, I cannot recall it. It contains all of the things I like in a book. Great characters, heart-wrenchingly sad parts, humor, set in the south, epic. If you are from the South and haven't watched the movie, I cannot imagine why, and I guess I am not talking to you. The book tells the story that the movie did not have time or money to tell. There are more characters, more story, just more, wonderful, Gone With the Wind. Mitchell's description of these people reminds me of my ancestors. The "old guard" always made me remember my great grandmother Kennedy. The way these men and women persevered through terrible hardship and held strong to their beliefs and identity is a testament to the character of a people who were defeated and still forged on through unbearable difficulty.

One particular device that I would be mindful of if reading this book, is Mitchell's creative use of animals to quickly and accurately describe her characters. For instance, Charles Hamilton, Scarlett's first husband is compared to a "calf looking at a new gate." Then any time he comes back, the calf reference takes you right back to his character seamlessly. That white trash Slattery girl is called "rabbity." Frank Kennedy is referred to as "that hen in britches." Almost every character has his or her own animal that gives a quick, and unforgettable snapshot of the person, yet if you weren't looking for it, you would not even realize it.

An inescapable aspect of the book that also interested me is the relationships between black and white people. The way Mitchell portrayed Mammy was at once as a wise old motherly figure while also using terms that would now be regarded as demeaning and politically unacceptable. Which came first, I cannot be sure, but I believe that the people of the south and our rocky history of race relations have been influenced by this book for better or worse.

Some other reasons why I love this book:
Miss Melanie. You love her so much because she is so good; but you hate her right along with Scarlett because she's so damn good.
Mammy. She can literally do no wrong.
When news came that the Tarleton twins had died, I cried.
When Prissy bawled "Miss Scarlett, I's scared a' cows!" it made me laugh out loud.
Rhett. You respect him through all his juvenile efforts to come off as a rascal, because you know, deep down, he just loves Scarlett, the poor idiot.
Belle Whatling. Who doesn't love a generous, kind hearted whore?

Then there is the end. It is the saddest place we can imagine to leave our fiery Scarlett. Dripping wet, finally realising things that we as readers have known for some time, asking Rhett, "Where shall I go? What shall I do?" Here is the reason we still love this book. Mitchell knows, as we know, that Scarlett will do what she has always done. Through hell or high water, she will survive. And we all hope we would have the guts to do the same thing.

Rhett Butler's People - Donald McCaig

This is the sequel to Gone With the Wind that was authorized by Margaret Mitchell's estate. It is well worth reading, and is certainly the better of two sequels that have been written after GWTW. The other one, Scarlett, although very entertaining to me, was entirely different from Rhett Butler's People, and maybe a little less believable.

McCaig's book begins when Rhett is a child, follows through Mitchell's GWTW story line, all the while expounding more information from Rhett's perspective. However, as expected, it continues on past the place Mitchell left off. To the GWTW devotee who says there will never be another, you are right, but this book will have you believing that McCaig was privileged to have a posthumous conversation with Margaret Mitchell about some things she forgot to put in her first book. For instance, there are letters from Melanie to Rhett that are totally unforgettable, a son from Belle Whatling, and a dramatic ending set at Tara that make this book a winner.

Be The Pack Leader - Cesar Milan

For any dog owner, I would almost say this is required reading. You basically learn that you have the power and responsibility to train your dog to be a well-behaved member of the family or "pack." He basically begins with walking your dog regularly and correctly. From here, Milan explains how most all undesirable acts from your dog can be remedied. He comes from a unique place, because, as he says, growing up in Mexico, most dogs there have no problem obeying people, although they are often mistreated. Here in the US, we have confused the fact that dogs are animals, and we mistakenly treat them like one of us and end up paying the price in manic behavior from our pets. We have dogs that believe they are in charge of their masters, so they make everybody miserable, including the dog!

A New Earth - Eckhart Tolle

When Oprah had a whole class on this book, I was intrigued. I wanted to know what it was all about. I suspected, as a Christian, that there would be much that I disagreed with, but I had no idea what a bunch of baloney it really was until I bought it and read the first fourth. It struck me as something that could easily be believed if you have been hurt by people claiming to be Christians, but not acting like it. It is the same new age bunk that proposes all roads lead to god that we have heard a million times. It is Hinduism more than anything else, although Tolle would likely not agree. It is surprising to me that someone with as much sense as Oprah would fall for this junk. I could not finish it, so maybe it gets better at the end.

Congratulations! You finished this blog. If you would like to add your own review for one of the books that I reviewed, or if you have a similar or a differing opinion on anything I have written, I would love to hear what you think. You can post your comments here or email me at swbeam@gmail.com.