Friday, August 31, 2012

House of Mercy by Erin Healy

For whatever reason, it takes me a long time to connect with Healy's writing. I have found this to be true to all of her books - including the books she co-wrote with Ted Dekker. It's not that she's a bad writer, there's just something about it that drags for the first few chapters.




Beth has made a poor decision and this one decision can bring disaster to many people. While riding a horse she shouldn't be on, Beth catches a glimpse of a ghostly wolf who spooks the horse and causes irreparable damage.

Maybe the problem came because I don't engage with "horse stories". It's clear that Healy had some personal connection to this book but it just didn't work the best for me.

It's up to Beth to redeem her mistake and that means traveling to a man she's never met - her grandfather.

While on her trek she's stalked by a wolf...or is it the Spirit of God in wolf form????

This has been Healy's strangest book to date. There are many layers to follow and the characters are fleshed out to a great extent. Healy does a fine job in bring out emotional impacts from her characters and their situations.

I would not call this a fast-paced novel. I wouldn't call many of Healy's books fast-paced but that doesn't mean it's a bad story. If you can pace yourself, you will enjoy the tales and moral-of-the-story climax.




This book was provided for review, at no cost, by Thomas Nelson Publishing.
I review for BookSneeze®

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

It Worked For Me by Colin Powell

Is there anyone who does not have utmost respect for Colin Powell?




Retired four-star general, served in four presidential administrations with his most recent stint as Secretary of State. This man knows how to be civil and courteous while at the same time decisive and assertive.

Powell has written a book on leadership based on his experience in the military and political spheres. He writes extensively on his time in the Army and as many experiences as he could come up with for the anecdotes.

The political stories aren't as numerous but it's great to read the bits he includes. This guy knows how to stay above the mud-slinging and still speak his mind. He addresses how so many people wanted him to run for President years ago and I was one of the people who would have loved to see his ideas play out. There are some who are still saddened that he didn't run for office but his excuses not to are perfectly fine: he didn't have the passion to run.

This book is divided into six parts. Each chapter is self-containing and you can read this book at whatever pace is comfortable. You can blitz through this or read a chapter a week and still gain important insights from a man who's been around the world.

I enjoyed reading through his thirteen rules for life, his understanding of knowing who you are, taking care of others, being a good manager, and ultimately the short bit on his Powell Doctrine of using decisive force.

This is a book on leadership that towers over other leadership books.



Friday, August 17, 2012

The Amateur by Edward Klein

Right off the bat, strong supporters of President Obama will not enjoy this book. In fact, they will not even pick it up.




Edward Klein goes out of his way to repeated tell us that he interviewed almost 200 people for this book. His purpose is to show that President Obama has no experience leading anything and this has seriously hurt his presidency.

The book opens up with a argument between former President Clinton and his wife. It seems that Bill wants Hillary to run against President Obama for the 2012 primary. Hillary wants to remain loyal. When their daughter joins her father's side of the argument, Bill turns on the monologue as to why the country needs her and closes by saying President Obama is an amateur.

Klein then goes to Chicago and talks with barbers, college buddies, fellow lecturers, and other sideliners in order to complete a picture of our President.

What I noticed most of this book, other than Klein's opposition to President Obama, is how many people complain about not getting a single phone call from "their buddy" Barack Obama. It seems like these donors can't stop whining about how they didn't get what they wanted and how the President should at least return their messages.

Klein repeatedly states how Obama is not acting like a President should act: schmoozing with donors, Congressmen and women, making the personal phone calls and trying to connect with people.

I think that was the point of the Obama campaign. He told us he was going to be different. He wasn't going to be like every other President. Klein can't get past the fact that Obama doesn't fit the mold.

The next big target after Obama is Valerie Jarrett. She is Obama's Karl Rove. No one sees the President without going through her. She was the one who got Rahm Emanuel fired. She was the one who dissed Oprah Winfrey. She is the one who has carte blanche for any and every high-level meeting she chooses to attend.

Next up is Michelle Obama. Klein describes her as incredibly jealous: the type of woman who abruptly interrupts meetings at awkward times just to see what her husband is doing. She was not at all happy with Oprah wanting to do interviews. (Watch her final interview before creating OWN, Michelle sits with her arms crossed almost the entire time)

Bottom line: Klein looks at the record of President Obama -  his discussion with foreign leaders, his fumbling of the budget deal with Congress, and how he handled the economy and deems him to be unworthy of the office.

Some of the inside stories are interesting to read. He does have the sources listed at the end of his book so that is at least something he provided by way of evidence.

If you are a Tea Party Republican, you will want to pass this book out to all of your friends. If you are a pro-Obama Democrat you will cry foul and dismiss this book on sight. My recommendation is to at least read through it and see how politics is such a dirty business.





Tuesday, August 7, 2012

What Matters Most by Leonard Sweet

Never before have I been so surprised by a book.




Leonard Sweet has experienced a re-release; What Matters Most used to be titled Out of the Question...Into the Mystery. I was expecting the typical hum-drum faith-based inspirational reading but what I got was punch-in-the-gut awesomeness.

Christianity: a series of truths, or a relationship to be lived out? Maybe both? Sweet attacks this debate from the post-modern worldview and defends the need for relationship with God.

Filled with eight parts, each part containing two sections, Sweet tackles the many areas of this relationship:

1. Faith is a Relationship
2. Our Relationship with God
3. Our Relationship with God's Story
4. Our Relationship with Other People of Faith
5. Our Relationship with Those Outside the Faith
6. Our Relationship with God's Creation
7. Our Relationship with Symbols, Arts
8. Our Relationship with the Spiritual World

I enjoyed Sweet's defining the difference between faith and belief and that maybe we shouldn't call Christians "believers" as we could actually include Satan in this group (as he and the demons believe in God). Faith is the more difficult because it causes an action - a relationship.

Sweet than takes a journey into the story of Abraham and his potential sacrifice of Isaac. His interpretation could cause some people of faith to squirm a bit as he says Abraham both passed and failed God's test. He passed the obedience test but failed the relationship test.

I had to put the book down, open my Bible, and do some study on my own. It's a very interesting take on the sacrifice story and Sweet asks twenty superb questions; such as: Why did God ask him to sacrifice his son but then an angel tell him to stop? Why didn't Abraham argue with God about this scenario like he did about the Sodomites? Did you notice that after this event, God no longer speaks to Abraham? Did you notice that Abraham is alone after he comes back from the mountain?

This early section of the book is worth the entire read.

Later on, Sweet continues his mantra on relationship verses simply having statements of belief and how God desires interaction with his creation more than intellectually concurring with statements . These later sections resonate well with the post-modern mindset and he does an excellent job with the questions for discussion at the end to really bring out deep conversations.

This is a fantastic re-release.




This book was provided for review, at no cost, by WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing.