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Category: book reviews

  • Book Review: Same Kind of Different as Me by Ron Hall & Denver Moore

    As I’ve been reading more and more book blogs lately, I’ve come across a style that I like best. I first saw this format used by Kim at Sophisticated Dorkiness, and have decided to use it for my book reviews from now on. I also want to say that I don’t claim to be especially good at writing reviews, and mine aren’t going to be particularly deep or literary, but since I enjoy knowing what my friends think of a book I thought you might too.

    Title: Same Kind of Different as Me
    Author: Ron Hall & Denver Moore
    Genre: Memoir
    Year: 2006
    Acquired: Borrowed from the library
    Rating:

    One Sentence Summary: The true story of a wealthy couple who become deeply involved with a homeless mission and the unlikely friendship that develops between them and one of its residents.

    One Sentence Review: A challenging, heart-wrenching story that made me think about myself & my world, my faith & marriage, and want to be a better person.

    Why I Read It: This month’s book club pick.

    Long Review: The book intertwines the story of Ron and Debbie Hall, a couple who became wealthy through the profession of art dealing, and that of Denver Moore, who grew up as a sharecropper’s son in what amounts to modern-day slavery and eventually ends up on the streets of downtown Fort Worth. As Ron and Debbie grow wealthier, they also grow apart to the point where their marriage nearly crumbles. But after an incredible act of forgiveness and revitalization, they become closer than ever and throw themselves into volunteer work at the inner city homeless mission where they meet Denver. Although he is hardened and hostile, Debbie has a vision for him and doesn’t give up until they have forged a forever friendship.

    There are so many themes running through this story: marriage, homelessness, prejudice, pain & suffering, forgiveness, and faith, and my heart was touched by each one. I think one of the main messages was how one person can make a difference when there is incredible faith. Because Debbie saw Denver through God’s eyes and looked past his scary external appearance, he was changed and so was the city.

    (Spoilers ahead!)

    I don’t think it’s possible to read this story and not be moved. Debbie’s forgiveness of Ron after his affair, her amazing dedication to her vision for the homeless population of Forth Worth, and her subsequent battle with cancer had me crying many times over. It made me ashamed of my own prejudice, and I spent a lot of time thinking about what I can do to reach out. It also made me appreciate my marriage even more and redouble my efforts not to take my husband for granted.

    In the end, it’s just the story of a few people and how their lives were changed by each other. As Ron says, “Even with my $500 European-designer bifocals, I cannot see into a person’s heart to know his spiritual condition. All I can do is tell the jagged tale of my own spiritual journey and declare that my life has been the better for having followed Christ.”

  • Book Review: Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

    Neverwhere was the book I was sent (by the lovely Nora) for the blogger book swap hosted by Stephany. I was really excited that she chose it because it’s one I’ve been wanting to read for ages but didn’t own. I’m a big fan of fantasy, even the weird stuff, but I think that Neil Gaiman’s fantasy would be palatable for even those who don’t normally find themselves with their head in another world.

    But anyway, back to the book. Neverwhere follows our protagonist Richard Mayhew through an adventure in an underground world of London. He was living a perfectly normal life until he decides to rescue an injured girl who appeared out of nowhere on the street, and the next day he discovers that he has ceased to exist in the eyes of anyone in his (now former) life. Thus begins his descent into an alternate London on his quest to get his old life back, meeting outrageous characters and having adventures along the way.

    This Wizard of Oz-esque story was easy to read and a ton of fun. I thought all of the characters were interesting, but my favorite was probably the Marquis de Carabas because he is clever, sarcastic, and you never could quite determine whether to trust him. There were a few small-ish plot twists to keep things interesting, and the conclusion is satisfying.

    I rate the book 4 stars out of 5, only because it lacked the emotion to really connect me with the characters. It’s hard to describe, but it was just missing some sort of oomph, maybe some sort of depth, to make it one of my favorites. However, I had a blast reading it and sometimes that’s all that matters.

  • Book Review: The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen

    It’s been awhile since I’ve written a book review here, but I want to bring them back. It’s a good discipline for me because it helps me think more deeply about what I’ve read instead of crashing into the next book, and since I love reading my friends’ book reviews I’m hoping that some of you will benefit from reading mine.

    ***

    I recently finished The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen for book club. It came highly recommended to me by my friend Spring, whose taste I admire. When I read the summary my first question to her was, “Is it super depressing?” I wasn’t in the mood for that. She said no, absolutely not, so I jumped right in.

    The story is about a dysfunctional family. The parents, Enid and Alfred, have been married for over 50 years and have never been truly happy together. Now Alfred has Parkinson’s disease, and Enid is obsessed with having one last Christmas in their midwestern home.

    Their three children, Gary, Chip, and Denise, have all moved to the east coast. Gary is trying to convince his wife and kids that he’s not depressed, Chip is struggling to make a living as a writer after being fired from his job as a professor, and Denise is the chef for a successful restaurant but can’t get her love life figured out.

    All of them are severely flawed, but I couldn’t help but love them anyway. In fact, I could choose any one of them as my favorite character. I really enjoyed reading about a family with three grown children because that’s the phase of life I’m entering now. I have two brothers and although we and our parents aren’t quite as old as the characters in the book, it was interesting to compare the way my family and I relate to each other to the way the characters do.

    I agree that the book isn’t super depressing – it does have a lot of humor – but it’s not exactly what you would call happy or uplifting, either. Mostly, it’s real, and it’s stuck with me.

    By the way, this is the first time I’ve read anything by Franzen, and now I get why he’s so popular. He can go on for pages about the most mundane topic and I will be enthralled. At times the prose goes a little overboard, but most of it begs to be read aloud and underlined. I’ll definitely be reading his other books at some point.

  • Book Review: Fearless by Max Lucado

    Although I don’t consider myself chronically plagued by fear or anxiety, this year has been hard in ways that I never imagined, and I find myself experiencing a lack of the confidence I usually have in life. Despite this realization, I still wasn’t sure that Max Lucado’s newest book, Fearless, would apply to me, but when I burst into tears on page twenty-three, I knew I had some deep issues with fear.

    I don’t think it’s just me; I think everyone is afraid of something, especially during these precarious days. This book deconstructs some common fears one by one, such as fear of not mattering, of disappointing God, of worst-case scenarios, of what’s next, of not protecting your kids, and that God is not real, for a few examples. He then goes on to show how that fear is misguided and unnecessary, and gives advice and encouragement in how to overcome it.

    I had never read a book by Max Lucado before this one, and I can say that it was certainly inspiring and uplifting. It caused me to look at myself in a different way, and raised questions that might not have otherwise come to the surface, at least not without difficulty. The reason why I’m saying that I liked this book and I didn’t love it is that it struck me as somewhat brief. The chapters are short and easy to read, and because of that some depth is lacking. I think a workbook or study guide would be a helpful addition.

    Overall I definitely recommend it, if for no other reason than to help you take a fresh look at yourself and your fears.

    ***

    Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

  • book review: animal, vegetable, miracle by barbara kingsolver

    As the author herself describes it, “This is the story of a year in which we made every attempt to feed ourselves animals and vegetables whose provenance we really knew…and of how our family was changed by our first year of deliberately eating food produced from the same place where we worked, went to school, loved our neighbors, drank the water, and breathed the air.”

    Sounds like a nice little memoir, but this book is much more than just their family’s story of eating nothing but local, organic food. It’s also a well-researched defense for this way of life, and I have to say, I’m sold. Give me a few acres of land and a pitchfork and I’ll learn to garden & farm to my heart’s content.

    OK, maybe I won’t go that far. But seriously, this book has had an enormous impact on me. It has hit me from all sides: logically, emotionally, medically, ethically, and even spiritually. It is impossible for me to eat the same way – or even shop the same way – now that I’ve read this book.

    Already I’ve made changes. If there’s an organic option at the grocery store, I’m choosing it. In fact, I’ve started frequenting farmer’s markets and all-organic stores like Georgia’s Market. Sometimes it’s really hard to do, because the price difference is noticeable, but to buy conventional food now would require me to actively ignore what I know to be true, and I just can’t do that. I’m not going to get into it here, because I couldn’t even scratch the surface – and that’s what the book’s for.

    I want to make even more changes eventually. I signed up for a class to learn how to make my own cheese and dairy products at home, for example. And I want to learn how to garden, although I didn’t know the first thing about it before reading this book. I couldn’t have even told you what fruits or vegetables are in season when, except that watermelons are for summer and pumpkins are for fall. I have a backyard, and I don’t want to use it just as a giant toilet for my dogs. I want to grow things, and eat them.

    Does this sound boring? It’s not. If you’ve ever read anything by Barbara Kingsolver you know that she writes beautifully, and this holds true for nonfiction. (Incidentally, if you’ve never read The Poisonwood Bible do so as soon as you can. You’re welcome.) I was captivated from beginning to end, and never felt the words coming across were judgmental or snobbish.

    I may not ever like vegetables as much as the next girl, but I do plan on retasting some of the ones I previously rejected: asparagus, for one. And I may not ever be able to tell the difference between a Yukon Gold and an All-Blue potato, but I do believe I can make a difference with the way I eat.