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Dekker Reveals Paradise Via Showdown
Dekker starts Paradise Trilogy with Showdown
A new author hits the market just about every day. In October 2000, Ted Dekker released his first book, Heaven’s Wager and the literary world has never been the same since. Dekker’s books combine themes of spirituality with the supernatural. I have read several of his books over the years (including Chosen). I recently decided to read Showdown (the first book in his Paradise Trilogy) and I couldn’t put the book down no matter how hard I tried.
The book takes place over seven days and starts off as two separate stories that merge into one. It first opens with the story of a town called Paradise, Colorado. Paradise is your typical old western town, but then a stranger (Marsuvees Black) comes to town proclaiming that God has called him to bring grace and hope to the town. Black starts doing things that lead the residence to believe otherwise. The second story tells of a secret monastery of sorts, where thirty-seven orphans have been sequestered from the rest of the world as an experiment. Project “Showdown” was created to take these students and teach them right from wrong via Biblical principles, later they will be released back into the “real” world to see how they survive. One of the main means of teaching the children is via writing and there are four rules they must obey when they write: 1)Write to discover. 2) There is no greater discovery than love. 3) All love comes from the Creator. 4) Write what you will.
One student (Billy) decides to buck the rules and explore the monastery where he finds a dungeon filled with mysterious books. Billy and several of his fellow classmates decide to use these blank books to write a story about a town called Paradise. Unbeknownst to these children the blank books are the “books of history” and anything they write in them actually happens in the town of Paradise, Colorado. Their actions cause destruction and chaos in a city that has no idea that Black is a part of this plan. Dekker’s novel deals with the concept of free will and how outside forces cannot force one to do things, but merely place suggestions in the subconscious. Several twists and turns make Showdown a very enjoyable read that will keep you up all night reading from cover to cover.
I highly recommend this book and can’t wait to read the final two books in the Paradise Trilogy (Saint and Sinner).
Photo Credit: By Amazon.com
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What Does Your Birth Order Say About You?
Where do you fall in birth order?
Lately I have become obsessed with topic of family dynamics. To be honest with you, I’m not even sure why. Several months back I was rummaging through my local Goodwill, when I came across a book that sparked my interest. “The New Birth Order Book – Why You Are The Way You Are” by Dr. Kevin Leman is a very interesting read that kept me informed from cover to cover. When you mention birth order, people tend to think it only references whether you are first born, middle child, or the baby of the family. While this is true, there are other factors that come into play – what birth order are your parents, how much of an age gap is there between you and your sibling(s), your gender and the gender of your sibling(s), and how your parents raised you are just a few other components that Dr. Leman speaks of in his book.
Your first thought may be, “Oh great! A psychology book!” This book is written in layman’s terms so you won’t have to grab the closest dictionary while you’re reading. Leman is a Christian and uses Biblical stories (like that of Jacob and Esau) to illustrate his points. I am the oldest of three boys and could easily see myself and my two brothers in the examples he gave (trust me, this is not a bad or negative thing, but very informative as to why we act the way we do). He mentions that the oldest child tends to take on characteristics of being a natural leader, a perfectionist, a list maker, and more. I can easily relate to this assessment. Leman reminds the reader that not all children will exemplify all characteristics of their birth order, but it was interesting to see how many actually fit in the description of me and my brothers.
In the book, Leman discusses his own family experiences (he and his wife have five children) which makes it easier to relate. Topics in the book include how to discipline your children with respect to their birth order, what birth orders should and shouldn’t marry, and applying birth orders to your job. I think this book would be a great read for anyone in sales as it talks about how the different birth orders make decisions when it comes to business. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the different components of personality – especially what makes us think, do, and react the way we do.
Photo Credit: By monkeysox
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The Hunger Games – The Odds Are Definitely In Your Favor!
The adventures of Katniss Everdeen!
My oldest niece had been talking non-stop about a series of books that she had read. Not only had she read through all three books once, but she enjoyed them so much that she decided to read through them a second time. I decided that I need to check out this world of The Hunger Games created by author Suzanne Collins and I am glad that I did. This book is definitely a page turner that will keep you reading all hours of the night.
The story takes place in a futuristic world where North America has been replaced by the country of Panem. Surrounding the capital are twelve districts. Katniss Everdeen, a sixteen year old resident of District 12, shares through her eyes the experiences of the annual Hunger Games. Once a year each district selects (via raffle) a boy and a girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to compete against the other twenty-two “tributes” in a televised battle to the death.
This year, Katniss’ younger sister Primrose is selected to participate in the games but she volunteers to take her younger sister’s place. Katniss is partnered with Peeta Mellark, a boy she knows from her school. In preparation for her role, Katniss must leave her sister, mother, and her male childhood friend Gale Hawthorne and hone her skills by working with former Hunger Games District 12 champion Haymitch Abernathy. The problem with Abernathy – there is rarely a time when he is not drunk and he convinces Peeta to pretend he is in love with Katniss in order to get sympathy from those watching the games. Katniss begins to have feelings for Peeta and later finds out about Abernathy’s plot.
What I really like about this book is that it’s not gory in nature – yes, there are battle wounds and yes, you are told what happened but it is not graphic. You are just told what you need to know in order to keep the story flowing. The Hunger Games is a great book for both guys and girls – for the guys you have the battle of the games and for the girls you have the opportunity for potential romance between either Katniss and Peeta or Katniss and Gale. (Don’t worry guys, the romance isn’t so overbearing that you get sick of it.) The characters (even the minor ones) are believable and you actually care about them. Katniss is a strong young woman who can carry her own, but you also see her vulnerable side when she deals with her potential relationship with Peeta.
I highly recommend this book and can’t wait to see how the book translated into the movie!
Photo Credit: By Wikipedia
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Dragon Tattooed Girl – Don’t Believe The Hype
Don't believe the hype!
Have you ever finished reading a book and thought to yourself – “If I had known from the start what I know now after reading it, I probably wouldn’t have read it in the first place?” That is how I felt about the Stieg Larsson book “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.” The only thing I knew going in was that it was a book about a murder and there was a computer hacker involved in some way. First off, this book was by no means an easy read – the author is from Sweden and the spelling he used as well as the character names were alone enough to give me a headache. Add the fact that there was tons of foul language and a lot of sex (neither of which really added anything to the story in my opinion) and you end up with a book that just made me feel like I needed to take a bath after each read to get rid of the filthy feeling that consumed me.
The premise of the book starts with Mikael Blomkvist (a journalist) being sentenced for libel. Once he is set free, he is hired by Henrik Vanger, a well-to-do retired CEO, to write the history of the Vanger family. Blomkvist later finds out that writing the book is a cover, as Vanger really wants him to solve the mystery of the death of his great niece Harriet. When Blomkvist decides he needs a research assistant, he finds out that Vanger had used a young computer hacker outcast by the name of Lisbeth Salander (the dragon tattooed girl in the title of the book) to do a background check on him. Blomkvist is so impressed with what she found out about him that he hires Salander to help him solve the mystery. Salander has her own problems (including those with her legal guardian who rapes her multiple times). There are many twists and turns through out the book, but the characters feel very one dimensional to me. When Salander sleeps with Blomkvist and then discovers he only wants to see her as a friend and coworker – I just had no sympathy for her…I just wanted to shake her and say “How could you be so stupid to sleep with him?!”
I really wanted to like this book with all the hype that came with it, but I just couldn’t force myself to do it. I think the foundation of the story dealing with Harriet’s murder/disappearance is well written, but when you throw in all the side stories of Blomkvist sleeping with just about every female with a pulse…it just takes away from the story instead of adding to it. I originally wanted to see the American version of the movie when I started reading the book, but after the first couple of chapters I quickly decided against it. One thing for certain, based on this book alone I will not be reading the other two books in this series.
Photo Credit: By Amazon.com
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Top 10 Blog Posts of 2011
It’s hard to believe we are in the final days of 2011. As we look back on the last 365 days, several different lists have either come out or will be coming out within the next few days. What were the best movies of the year? What were the best songs of the year?
Here are my top 10 read blog posts for 2011:
10) Strength
8) The Church of Facebook – Community or Connection?
7) What Have I Gotten Myself Into – The Peachtree Edition
6) Big Brother – A Dissection of (Not So) Good Community
3) “Every Single Man’s Battle” Has The Best of Intentions
May 2012 bring you blessings beyond your wildest imagination.
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Forbidden – A Great Start to The Books of Mortals
Dekker + Lee = Forbidden
To say that Ted Dekker is one of my favorite authors would be an extreme understatement. When I heard he would be co-writing another book I was a little worried. I loved the book House that he wrote with Frank Peretti, but I did not like either of the books he wrote with Erin Healey (Burn and Kiss). I had never heard of Tosca Lee, so I didn’t know what to expect when I started reading Dekker’s latest book Forbidden. This is the Ted Dekker I remember and fell in love with when I first started reading his works with the book Thr3e.
Forbidden is book one in a new trilogy called The Books of Mortals. Imagine if you will, a time in the future where human beings are removed of all emotions except fear – this is the concept of Forbidden. Rom, the main character of the story, is given a vial of blood and discovers that when he consumes the blood he is able to feel all of his emotions once again. With such a precious commodity as this life-giving blood, you could imagine the number of people who want to get their hands on it. The book tells of Rom and those in his inner circle as they try to find the source of this magical blood, while trying to keep it out of the hands of those who have the desire to use for evil.
There is a lot of Biblical imagery like the mysterious blood (providing life, just as the blood of Christ) and several other items, which are very involved in the plot so I will not reveal them and ruin the book for you. Forbidden is an easy read that you won’t be able to put down, as it will keep you on the edge of your seat. The down side of reading Forbidden is that you have to wait until June 5, 2012 to continue reading the trilogy when Mortal (book #2) comes out in stores.
Photo Credit: By Christianbook.com
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J.K. Rowling – A Wiz with “Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone”
Photo Credit: By Amazon.com
I know, I am probably one of the last people on the planet to read the Harry Potter series of books by J.K. Rowling. Call it peer pressure – but I have finally read the first book: Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone. Most people would look at the books and think they were only for children – I have to admit that I was one of these people. One of my former coworkers used to constantly talk about the books and told me that I really need to read them because she thought I would like them. I picked up the first book at a used bookstore thinking that if I didn’t like it, there was no great financial loss since I bought it used. To say that I was very impressed with the book would be a huge understatement.
The story is about a boy named Harry Potter. He is left on his aunt and uncle’s doorstep as a baby and knows no other life than the one they so begrudgingly provide for him. Harry is forced to sleep in a cabinet and must deal with the constant abuse of his cousin Dudley. The poor kid later receives several letters (which his aunt and uncle hide from him) informing him that he is a wizard and will be attending Hogwarts for his schooling and training. While at the school Harry discovers that he is some kind of legendary hero of sorts, as everyone knows his name and his story – even he doesn’t know his own story. He finds out that his parents were killed when he was a baby and that one of the professors had a strong dislike of his father.
Along the way Harry befriends Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, and Rubeus Hargrid who join him on several adventures but also become his partners in crime. The main premise of this book is the children find out about the Sorcerer’s Stone (the individual who posses this stone will live for ever) and believe that one of their professors is trying to steal it. I don’t want to ruin the book for you so I will just leave the details at that. I really enjoyed the book and would definitely recommend it. It was a very easy read that kept my interest the whole time. Viewing the first movie is next on my list of things to do, as I’ve heard that you can’t read the book and not watch the movie.
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The Church of Facebook – Community or Connection?
Photo Credit: By ChurchOfFacebook.com
Community is an integral part of life. It’s hard to believe that Facebook started out in 2004 – in seven years, over 750 million individuals have become a part of this social networking phenomenon. What are these people seeking to get from their experience on Facebook? In his book The Church of Facebook, author Jesse Rice seeks to determine the motivating factor(s). One of the main issues he raises is can you really have true community online – without having face-to-face relationships?
This is a great read that I highly recommend. I enjoyed it more and more with every chapter. A few take aways I received from reading Rice’s book:
- “At the root of human existence is our great need for connection: connection with one another, with our own hearts and minds, and with a loving God who intended intimate connection with us from the beginning. Connection is the very core of what makes us human and the very means by which we express our humanity.”
- On Facebook we communicate to get a reaction. It’s not an immediate interaction.
- People tend to have a “whatever goes” mentality when it comes to Facebook – saying and doing what they want without taking into consideration how it may effect others.
- Being friends on Facebook is not a demanding relationship. You click a button and that’s it – you don’t have to do any maintenance on the friendship.
- Don’t define what a friend should be for you. Find out what others need in a friend and be that for them.
- Which is more important – being authentic or being liked?
- We have become a society that is too focused on what is new instead of what is now.
I love how the author uses the story of the woman at the well and how Jesus established a relationship with her based on her needs – correlating this with the whole Facebook experience. We tend to get on Facebook and play the comparison game by looking at how successful or active our “friends” are and either looking down on them because they don’t have what we do or we wish we had what they have. We also use Facebook and other social media venues to create a facade of who we think others want us to be and project that as our “real” self.
Rice even gives some great examples of how to enhance your Facebook experience – these alone are with the price of the book. The Church of Facebook is a must read for anyone in social media or ministry (or both).
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“Every Single Man’s Battle” Has The Best Of Intentions
Photo Credit: By Christianbook.com
About a year ago, I read “Every Man’s Battle” by Stephen Arterburn and Fred Stoeker with Mike Yorkey. I read the book with six other guys in a single men’s small group through my church. The overall message was much appreciated, but we found out the book was geared more toward married men. When I found out about “Every Single Man’s Battle” (by the same authors) I was very excited, that was until I actually read the book. To my dismay, I was disappointed for a few reasons.
- “Every Single Man’s Battle” constantly refers to “Every Man’s Battle.” What gets me is there wasn’t a whole lot of information from that book that was geared toward single men. They should have just taken what little information that was for single men in “Every Man’s Battle” and just put the information in “Every Single Man’s Battle” instead of saying “read chapters 1-5 of Every Man’s Battle.” It’s like the sole purpose they did this was to sell more books and I have a big problem with that.
- The author’s writing style was a little bothersome as well. Everything was “you need to do…” or “you should…” which comes across as if the authors were not single men, but married men who are not currently experiencing the whole issues trying to be a sexually pure single adult male. I would have liked it a lot more if the authors changed the wording to “we as single Christian men should…” or “we should…” that way it doesn’t come across like the authors have no idea what single men are going through or like they don’t sympathize for them.
- This book is better suited as a small group study curriculum, otherwise it is a very difficult read.
The message of the book is a good one that is definitely needed for all single Christian men and I found several take away items including:
- “Actually, sexual impurity is a series of bad decisions on our part – as a result of immature character – and deliverance won’t deliver you into instant maturity. Character work needs to be done.”
- Our sexuality is not just about obeying God’s commands but also a way to honor our relationship with Him.
- “When you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” – 1 Corinthians 10:13
- “Being about our Father’s business is our rite of passage into manhood.”
- Single men should not live alone, but have at least one male roommate to help provide accountability in the area of sexual temptation.
I definitely recommend this book (with the above disclaimers) and even though it is a challenge at times to abide by this, the long term rewards are well worth it.
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Choose “Chosen” As Your Next Read
Photo Courtesy of Ebay
Ted Dekker is one of my favorite authors. I first discovered him by reading his book Thr3e and was immediately hooked. Several of his books have the good versus evil vibe to them and Chosen is no different. The first book in the young adult series introduces us to Johnis, Billos, Darsal, and Silvie – four teenagers who are chosen to lead the Forest Guard against the evil forces of the Horde. Thomas Hunter (supreme commander of the Forest Guard) selects these four individuals who are 16-18 years of age to find and bring back to him four large catalina cacti to prove they are worthy of him choosing them.
Along the journey they run into several roadblocks created by the Horde and the Shataiki bats. Johnis learns that he is responsible for finding the seven books of history and convincing his other three companions to help him with the task of which Thomas Hunter did not inform him. Will they return with the cacti? Will they find all seven books of history before it is too late? There are six books in this particular series (The Lost Books – consisting of Chosen, Infidel, Renegade, Chaos, Lunatic, and Elyon), but they are also a of part of the Circle Trilogy (Black, Red, and White). The Lost Book series fills in the fifteen missing years between Black and Red, but you can read either series before the other.
The book was an easy read that I thoroughly enjoyed. There is a little violence, but there is no foul language so it would be a good book for parents to let their preteen or teen read. It has sort of Lord of The Rings meets The Matrix kind of feel to it. I highly recommend Chosen and I’m looking forward to reading further into the series.
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Scott Couey 