Review: MARSHAL OLIVER BLACKSTONE: Oliver's Gold

MARSHAL OLIVER BLACKSTONE: Oliver's Gold by Riano D. McFarland
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Book: **
Performance: ****

The story itself was pretty much as expected for the genre; strong, mysterious and rugged man facing some threat that prevents him from winning his love interest … in this case, it is the marshal’s reputation and all of the young guns trying to win a name by taking him out … and a young lady who doesn’t quite fit into the Boston High Society her daddy’s wealth brings. Over all … it is a fell good tale that follows a well worn and very predictable path. The characters are all too good to be true, but are fun none-the-less (especially Oliver). Here there are two basic plots … how Oliver can become wealthy enough to “deserve” his lady love (which doesn’t hit home for me at all) and how to keep the danger from his violent past from breaking in on his new life of retirement. 

So the first half of the story is focused on trying to keep his history as a western marshal a secret (which is a bit of a stretch … with a bit of a genie out of the bottle problem that never really gets solved). The second half of the story is Oliver chasing his gold to solve the wealth problem. The story moves quickly here and there is enough hand waving to prevent any buildup before we get to the anticipated climax. All of that considered, the narration was quite good and makes this a fun distraction worth the effort.

I was given this free advance review/listener copy (ARC) audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

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Review: DBT Workbook For Emotional Eating: Stop Compulsive Overeating & Quit Your Food Addiction with Proven Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills for Men & Women ... a Healthy Diet

DBT Workbook For Emotional Eating: Stop Compulsive Overeating & Quit Your Food Addiction with Proven Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills for Men & Women ... a Healthy Diet by Barrett Huang
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Book: ****
Performance: ***

Decent Advice for Healthy Eating

The another book in the DBT Workbook series
Previous Review of DBT Workbook for Depression

This is another application of Dialectic Behavior Therapy (DBT) applied to counter emotional eating and the associated health issues. DBT is adapted from Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) that has been found useful in treating emotion based behaviors through talking … with the dialectic presumably using opposing ideas. In that respect, it was not obvious to me how this fits in the DBT treatment arena. Like the previous book, Huang combines personal anecdotes to illustrate the concepts presented in the book, which, while helpful, don’t seem to be that revolutionary or particularly surprising. However, this was good advice and well organized, with an accompanying pdf to help put these ideas into practice. The narration was good for the material as presented and was easy to listen to and stay focused, but was not exceptional.

The chapters and sections in this work are:

Introduction (9:51)
Ch. 1: Understanding Emotional Eating (22:21)
Ch. 2: Dialectic Behavior 101 (11:22)
Ch. 3: Mindfulness Skills for Emotional Eating (17:53)
Ch. 4: Distress Tolerance Skills for Emotional Eating (12:22)
Ch. 5: Emotion-Regulating Skills for Emotional Eating (27:55)
Ch. 6: Interpersonal Effectiveness Skills for Emotional (19:08)
Ch. 7: Developing Healthy Habits (24:08)
Ch. 8: Building a Support System (90:53)
Ch. 9. Dealing with Setbacks and Relapses (8:34)
Ch. 10. Maintaining Long-Term Success (11:22)

Conclusion (3:17)
Appendix (17:20)

I was given this free advance review/listener copy (ARC) audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

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Review: Unfinished Business: Pursuit of an Antarctic Killer

Unfinished Business: Pursuit of an Antarctic Killer by Theodore Jerome Cohen
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Book: **
Performance: **

A Mostly Boring Thriller

Generally I consider myself a fan of mysteries/thrillers and having been to some of the places in the story, I was hoping for a bit of nostalgia to boot … but it was not to be. The story itself had a little action, but much of it was told in passive voice taking away from any suspense that would have made it interesting and not something that sounds like reading a police report. Even the detailed court proceedings were extremely prediction and not that interesting. Perhaps it would have been better if I had read the first of the series, but this was billed as a potentially stand alone sequel that really wasn’t. Without a solid foundation it was just too easy to drift away and miss parts of the narrated story … but when my attention returned, it never really felt like I missed much. At 5 hours for 250+ pages, it is a bit on the short side, which limited how complex the plot could be … which seemed like it just faded out in the end … or I missed something in the rush for it to be over. I am sure this works for some folks … but not for me.

I was given this free advance review/listener copy (ARC) audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

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Review: Hot Spur

Hot Spur by Philip McCormac
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Book: **
Performance: **

A Short, Almost Typical Western

I really do like westerns … both there seems to be at least two types. I prefer the wholesome stories of Zane Grey, Louis L’Amour and Max Brand as opposed to the course, gritty (almost adult themed) where there seems to be a need to highlight the darker side of human misconduct to emphasize just how evil the bad guys are. While not completely in the later camp, this story trends in that direction and was less enjoyable as a result. The story is on the shorter side, and we follow Harry Grant in what appears at first blush to be a hallmark style love triangle that was pretty clumsy all things considered. Still, some of the typical western tropes are there and it would have scored a little better except for the narration, which was told in an halting manner that adds an unnatural feel to often awkward dialog despite very good tone and timber (with good character differentiation). At only 3.5 hours, the action does move along nicely though and it was nice predictable enough to have in the background while I was working.

I was given this free advance review/listener copy (ARC) audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

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Review: Viva McHugh!

Viva McHugh! by Jay M. Flynn
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Book: **

Performance: **

A Short, Silly, and Sometimes Fun Spy Story

Super Spook McHugh is on a mission … on an unnamed island with an hispanic despot looking to extract a missing asset. I would go as far as naming Cuba is the inspiration … giving the authoritarian bend (with inquisitors to test/enforce compliance and “loyalty” … sort of like communist political kommissars). The story itself is pretty basic and predictable, even a bit unrealistic at times as the MC and his buddy careen through the countryside with the occasional help of local rebels and a lot of bluster and gun play. If you are looking for any finesse … you won’t find it here. The narration was choppy and often unnatural, which made it hard to get into what is arguably a simple and very basic thriller that was not all that interesting for much of the story (it is hard to enjoy a thriller that doesn’t generate much suspense).

I was given this free advance review/listener copy (ARC) audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

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Review: Wheel of Fortune

Wheel of Fortune by Theodore Jerome Cohen
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Book: ***
Performance: ****

An Ole Timey Mystery for Today

Another mystery in the Martelli NYPD series that should appeal to folks that like the noir style and police procedurals (think of a 60’s style in today’s NYC). The book itself is pretty standard for the genre (so take it all with a grain of salt) with little to raise it above the pack, but that still leaves it as decent entertainment, especially with the solid narration performance. Standard tropes and stereotypes apply … As mentioned, we get the standard murder mystery with a grizzled, veteran police detective with a Jane Doe and a mysterious connection to an archrival in the FBI who has his own case dealing with the “Boy Scouts” (ref Rodney Dangerfield in Back to School) that run NYC trash hauling business. To solve the case, they both play fast and loose with the rules to collar the bad guy(s) which might prompt an eye roll to two, but nothing that was out of place considering what is typical. The End comes up a little quick. but the Epilogue gives an okay summary to wrap everything up.

I was given this free advance review/listener copy (ARC) audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

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Review: Danger Beneath The Surface

Danger Beneath The Surface by Jon Sniderman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Book: ***
Performance: ***

A Short Trip Down Memory Lane

I wanted to give this a listen based almost entirely on a bit of nostalgia … and on that point it delivers. Of all the places I have lived, AK was the best experience that I have had. It is a short vignette that, as near as I can recall, is more or less solid on location and science, so props for that. However, the story itself was pretty slow … a simple mystery plot that might have been a science thriller in a longer format, but there was not really a lot of suspense (most of this was just confirming details on why animals were getting sick and dying … and given the science theme was reasonably predictable). Still … the narration was decent and I enjoyed the trip down memory lane.

I was given this free advance review/listener copy (ARC) audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

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Review: WILDCAT: A Novel of the West

WILDCAT: A Novel of the West by Stephen L. Brooks
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Book: **
Performance: **

A Simple Western

How many times do I need to be reminded that Kat’s pa wanted a boy? I didn’t care for it the first time and it got old fast. I didn’t particularly enjoy the “folksy” language either (doesn’t really add as much authenticity as might otherwise be expected when narrator struggles to differentiate the character voices) … and there is a LOT of dialog to wade through. All of that said … as far as Westerns go, this is pretty average … all the expected elements are there within a straight up, wholesome western plot that would be at home in a Zane Grey novel (although not quite the same quality). The drama can be down right silly and over the top at times. There are a few production quality issues as well … such as an odd skip just prior to chapter 9 (that’s worth subtracting a point on its own).

I was given this free advance review/listener copy (ARC) audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

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Review: Elodia's Knife: Book One of the Visigoth Saga

Elodia's Knife: Book One of the Visigoth Saga by Robert S. Phillips
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Book: *
Performance: ***

There Is So Much Wrong Here

To start … it is poorly written in passive voice with way too much descriptive text making it nearly impossible to actually put yourself into the story. Instead, the reader remains on the outside looking in, reading/listening to the third person narrative describing what happened, broken up by extremely awkward/unnatural dialog.
.
There are zero sympathetic characters in this story. I uniformly disliked them all, not finding any of them to be even remotely believable. I don’t think there was a single relationships that was not extremely dysfunctional

There is way too much detail that doesn’t advance the plot … probably because the plot is MIA making this something of a rape fantasy that for some reason over uses the euphemism “bumping” as if that makes it all okay. This is even more aggravating because most of the historical details are just wrong … the roman military didn’t work like that, roman river patrol boats didn’t work like that, roman weapons and armor didn’t work like that, roman disciple and law didn’t work like that, roman christianity didn’t work like that … and all of these weird anachronisms might be hidden for most readers because the overarching history (the conflict between Rome and the Goths on the Danube) is at least correct in broad strokes. I found the poor research so ubiquitous that it was hard to ignore and I almost DNF.

I was given this free advance review/listener copy (ARC) audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

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Review: The Edith Wharton Collection

The Edith Wharton Collection by Edith Wharton
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Book: ***
Performance: ****

A Nice Way to Enjoy a Classic

First off … this is not my typical fare; in fact, I don’t usually care for relationship drama, but I am on a bit of a classics kick and this seemed like an easy way to move outside my comfort zone … and for the most part that is true. The Narration on this collection was great and made it all very enjoyable. In “The Age of Innocence,” we get a Hallmark love triangle set in the NYC socialite scene that now has a bit of a nostalgic feel to it. I am not sure why “The House of Mirth” was not first, but they are remarkably similar stories to my mind, with perhaps a more stinging critique of social expectations and obligations of the time found here. Enough to make me happy to not be living then (while every age has its issues, I would like to believe that there is more freedom and opportunity today for many folks that traditionally had little or none). Granted this is all first world issues … but is still progress. The last piece, “Ethan Frome,” is the weakest of the three and explores an even darker side of human social relationships. All in all, it was worth the effort, but such stories remain a bit of a struggle for me to enjoy much.

The chapters and sections in this work are:

“The Age of Innocence”
Book 1 (5:47)
Book 2 (5:45)

“The House of Mirth”
Book 1 (6:41)
Book 2 5:32)

“Ethan Frome” (3:14)

I was given this free advance review/listener copy (ARC) audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

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Review: Henry David Thoreau Bundle: Walden, On the Duty of Civil Disobedience, and Walking

Henry David Thoreau Bundle: Walden, On the Duty of Civil Disobedience, and Walking by Henry David Thoreau
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Book: ****
Performance: ***

Great Bundle, Poorly Organized

A collection of classics that most Americans probable encountered at some point in their education (I certainly did) and it was interesting to come back to them many … many years later to contemplate how my perception and understanding of them may have changed. In this case, I definitely enjoyed them more, especially thanks to the excellent narration (I still think he was a loon). As might be expected, the bulk of the bundle is taken up by Walden, with several chapters devoted to certain aspects of Thoreau’s experience. The treatise on Civil Disobedience remains the most interesting IMHO, but it was all good and recommended. The only criticism I have is with the organization … there are no labels to the chapters and entire chapters are devoted to Title and the Words “The End” (You can tell these because they are only 3 seconds long). In light of that, I have tried to outline what is what below.

The chapters and sections in this work are:

Chapter 1 “Walden”
Chapter 2,3,4 - Economy (3:09)
Chapter 5 - Reading (22)
Chapter 6 - Sounds (35)
Chapter 7 - Solitude (20)
Chapter 8 - Visitors (27)
Chapter 9 - The Bean-field (24)
Chapter 10 - The Village (12)
Chapter 11 - The Ponds (54)
Chapter 12 - Baker Farm (15)
Chapter 13 - Higher Laws (25)
Chapter 14 - Brute Neighbors (27)
Chapter 15 - House Warming (33)
Chapter 16 - Former Inhabitants and Winter Visitors (28)
Chapter 17 - Winter Animals (21)
Chapter 18 - The End in Winter (31)
Chapter 19 - Spring
Chapter 20,21 - Conclusions, The End

Chapter 22,23,24 “On the Duty of Civil Disobedience” (53)

Chapter 25, 26, 27 “Walking” (1:12)

I was given this free advance review/listener copy (ARC) audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

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Review: David Hume Collection: A Treatise of Human Nature, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals, Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion.

David Hume Collection: A Treatise of Human Nature, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals, Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion. by David Hume
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Book: ****
Performance: ***

Audible Missing the Principles of Morals book

There really is not much to say about a collection of classic philosophy by such a famous personage. As a classic, it has already stood the test of time and is well worth the effort to explore the concepts and ideas within. It is, however, fairly typical of the genre, so if you struggle with the language typical of the genre, you will struggle here as will (it is not written for the plebeian audiences such as I). Normally that would leave the narration, which is perfectly fine for the task, as the determine factor for my rating; unfortunately, it appears that one of the four books advertised is missing from the audible edition (it is in the kindle edition, which suffers from formatting issues).

The chapters and sections in this work are:

“A Treatise of Human Nature” (21 hrs)
Book 1 - Of The Understanding
- Part 1: Of ideas, their origin, composition, connexion, abstraction, etc.
- Part 2: Of the ideas of space and time
- Part 3: Of knowledge and probability
- Part 4: Of the skeptical and other systems of philosophy
Book 2 - Of the Passions
- Part 1: Of pride and humility
- Part 2: Of love and hatred
- Part 3: Of the will and direct passions
Book 3 - Of Morals
- Part 1: Of virtue and vice in general
- Part 2: Of justice and injustice
- Part 3: Of the other virtues and vices

“An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding”
Section 1 - Of the different species of philosophy
Section 2 - Of the origin of ideas
Section 3 - Of the association of ideas
Section 4 - Skeptical doubts concerning the operations of the understanding (in two parts)
Section 5 - Skeptical solution of these doubts (in two parts)
Section 6 - Of probability
Section 7 - Of the idea of necessary connection (in two parts)
Section 8 - Of liberty and necessity (in two parts)
Section 9 - Of the reason of animals
Section 10 - Of miracles (in two parts)
Section 11 - Of a particular providence and of a future state
Section 12 - Of the academical or skeptical philosophy (in three parts)

“An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals”
** Seems to be missing from this collection **

“Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion”
Part 1 - After I joined the company …
Part 2 - I must own …
Part 3 - How the most absurd argument …
Part 4 - It seems strange to me …
Part 5 - But to show you still more inconveniences …
Part 6 - It must be a slight fabric …
Part 7 - But here …
Part 8 - What you ascribe to the fertility of my invention …
Part 9 - But if so many difficulties attend the argument a posteriori …
Part 10 - It is my opinion …
Part 11 - I scruple not to allow …
Part 12 - After DEMEA's departure …

I was given this free advance review/listener copy (ARC) audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

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Review: Religious Appeals in Power Politics

Religious Appeals in Power Politics by Peter S. Henne
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Book: ***
Performance: ***

An Interesting Look at the Use of Religious Appeals for Political Persuasion

This is primarily an academic exercise that looks at the use of religious appeals in three (3) specific instances and draws a few inferences from that. As such, the material is fairly dry, but interesting if you actually enjoy political analysis in any form. Generally we are first given some context of the situation from which the religious appeal is used, followed by how the religious appeal was constructed and finally an analysis of how effective the religious appeal was. In some respects, the targeted view here makes it difficult to make any over arching generalization outside of sometimes it works as expected and sometimes it doesn’t, but such appeals can’t be ignored within the political process. There primary explanation for this is a combination of source credibility and target material gain … which seems somewhat intuitive to me where such things a proof texting is used to justify already existing inclinations … in other words, religious appeals are primarily used to allow people to do what they already wanted to do without any guilt or moral condemnation. As such it seems that such appeals are purely machiavellian.

The chapters and sections in this work are:

Preface (4:06)
Introduction (42:40)
Chapter 1 - Why, How, and When Religious Appeals Matter in Power Politics (1:09:15)
Chapter 2 - Religious Appeals in a Middle East Rivalry: Saudi Arabia and the Islamic Pact (1:33:37)
Chapter 3 - US Engagement in the Global War on Terrorism (1:29:27)
Chapter 4 - Russia: Undermining Western Opposition to the Russky Mir(1:19:10)
Chapter 5 - Expanding the Analysis (45:32)
Conclusion (1:11:09)

I was given this free advance review/listener copy (ARC) audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

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Review: Hayden's World: Volume 2

Hayden's World: Volume 2 by S.D. Falchetti
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Janus 2: ***
Bernard’s Promise: ****

This is the second collection of of hard science shorts in the James Hayden Universe and it looks at First Contact. Over all it was better than Vol 1 with each story having more room to develop and become interesting (both novellas were slow starting up). It is obvious that a lot of thought went into the science for these stories and for the most part the author came across as knowledgable … but that also means that some of the extensive descriptions and explanations slowed down the narrative a bit and I am sure that experts in these science and tech fields could find plenty wrong with the details, but for the casual reader it was an entertaining mind exercise that I enjoyed.

I was given this free advance review/listener copy (ARC) audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

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Review: The Shadowmaker

The Shadowmaker by T.J. Champitto
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Book: ***
Performance: ****

A Solid Crime Adventure/Thriller Story

This is the first of a new action/ thriller series. The main character, Henry Sirola, is a master thief working for an eastern European mob organization. He and long time bestie, Darius, are recruited for the score of a lifetime, which naturally seems too good to be true. Henry’s old flame (Isabell) is also along for the ride and gives us the possibility for a little romantic reconciliation. When it all inevitably goes sideways, the team scrambles to fix everything, going up against government corruption and a Brazilian crime syndicate. Along the way, we see secrets/mystery and betrayal that keeps you guessing with a few late reveals, but nothing too surprising. Henry is a very likable, and somewhat flawed, anti-hero that is also and FBI informant (making him sort of a good guy - right?) … which to be honest, I am not clear on how that advances the plot, which for most of the story seems to be a legitimate salvage and sale … the only question is why are crime lords involved at all. At any rate, the action and pacing is good enough to easily pull your through the story without losing interest and keep it entertaining. The ending was a bit ambiguous, although for the most part satisfying.

I was given this free advance review/listener copy (ARC) audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

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Review: The Unseen Blade

The Unseen Blade by Ambrose Z. Adams
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Book: ***
Performance: **

A Derivative YA Fantasy w/ poor narration

This is a YA coming of age story complete with a school of magic and a “chosen one.” Kids are “sorted” into specialities and placed into small “combat” teams that was ridiculously like a magical fight club (and the required bully). There is a parallel story about a conflict between werewolves and vampires that was highly predictable and not very interesting … at least until it intersects with the main plot late in the last half of the book. Of course … getting there requires a few time jumps punctuated by child combat to grievous injury et al. Despite all that, there is some character development (as might be expected with the coming of age genre). Bottomline, it was not nearly as interesting as I thought it would be given the premise from the jacket blurb. This was aggravated by the poor narration performance where the performance came across extremely awkward and wooden. It might help if playback speed is bumped up.

I was given this free advance review/listener copy (ARC) audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

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Review: The Bleeding Stone

The Bleeding Stone by Joseph John Lee
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Book: ***
Performance: ****

A Slow Fantasy with a Colonizer Trope

The story is told from the perspective of a native tribal culture in retreat from a more technologically advance colonizing civilizations that is an obvious nod how the European powers colonized the Americas. In this case, the “natives” are of course more attuned to nature (Sun Tribe, Wood Tribe, Stone Tribe, et al), with some minor supernatural gifts that are awarded by a special ceremony when they become adults. The invaders primarily use firearms (flintlocks) which apparently are too advance for the natives to figure out a counter So yeah … there despite the very interesting premise, there are parts of the world-building that are overly simplistic and tropey. That makes the main driving force behind the story the characters … with the the bad guy a typical arrogant fool and the FMC an emotional wreck … because she was born under the eclipse and should have been “exposed” as a cursed born child.

The bulk of the story focused on developing the extremely dysfunction relationships between the FMC and various members of her tribe (allies and enemies) while highlighting her self-destructive behavior that made her much less appealing over all. There are slowly revealed mysteries that remained largely unexplored (although there is a hint at the end that is really only there to pull you into the sequel). Still, the bones of a pretty good story are there. It loses points for the time jumping across three (3) separate timelines (not a fan) and the really slow (almost nonexistent) and the unsatisfactory (and rushed) ending. It gets credit for a solid narration though making it a decent piece of entertainment.

I was given this free advance review/listener copy (ARC) audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

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Review: Relics of Tomorrow

Relics of Tomorrow by Brandon Cleland
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Book: ***
Performance: **

A Very Simple Trope filled Dystopian Story

It is a basic coming of age story in a dystopian world that is divided into levels according to net worth. A young, orphaned thief, dreams of making it to a level above the smog where he can ditch the O2 mask and see the sun. Of course … there is something special about the young hooligan … who eventually teams up it a shape changing alien who becomes something of a mentor for the “big league” of possession liberation. There is a little force humor between the pair as they have encounter a few mishaps in each caper/heist, but nothing too unbelievable (and or unexpected). The story does come across as something of a “paint-by-the-numbers” piece all the way to the end (which was a tad on the rabbit/hat or comic book style). Overall it was entertaining, but fairly forgettable.

The Narration was pretty basic. The reader struggled to differentiate character voices, especially for women, and there was something off that made the delivery feel awkward and unnatural to me. It was not so bad that I couldn’t tolerate it, but it did highlight the rather formulaic nature of the story to the point of amusement.

I was given this free advance review/listener copy (ARC) audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

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Review: Homecoming

Homecoming by Jude Austin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Book: **
Performance: ****

The Cleanup from Book One

We get a little bit more world-building … which is basically just a SciFi veneer over today, with such weirdness as parking-lot asteroids and cryo-sleep for a three (3) day trip. Generally it is more of the same with Kata and Tau now on the run where they encounter more bad guys that want to take advantage of their unique abilities (mostly Kata). There is less violence, but impact of that experience lingers throughout the story here and gets a little long in the tooth towards the end (and less interesting as it devolves into a pseudo courtroom drama). The biggest issue was that it moved sooo slowly that it was hard to stay focused.

I was given this free advance review/listener copy (ARC) audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

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Review: Project Tau

Project Tau by Jude Austin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Book: ***
Performance: ****

An Interesting Clone Story

The world building in this story was interesting if a bit simplistic and anachronistic at times. The primary theme revolves around human cloning … called Projects … that are grown and used in place of humans in dangerous environments (mines) and experiments that have apparently greatly benefited humanity in general, but these clones are always property, treated more or less like animals. But they are hugely expensive and the labs that grow them operate on a very slim margin … so when the opportunity to pass off a human as a project lands in front of the lab executives, they just can’t pass that up … and Kalin becomes project Kata … with skills and abilities no Project has ever had before if only they can “break” his independent streak. And that is where the story turns very dark, especially for a YA genre.

When Project Kata is thrown in with Project Tau (an actual, advanced human clone), the interactions provide a backdrop to explore what is means to be human … and what it means for a human to be reduced to mere property (think chattel slavery). There is also a dimension of human psychology with respect to how these projects are trained (aka broken) that provides an opportunity to highlight the effects of abuse and violence, both physical and mental, that was designed to dehumanize the subjects (not human and clone) and how those in authority can justify their inhuman behavior. It all seemed plausible given my understanding of human history and psychology; although to be honest, I found the focus here a little difficult to take at times, but the protagonists were very sympathetic characters and I was pulling for them the entire time while anticipating a better situation at the end …

I was given this free advance review/listener copy (ARC) audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

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Review: Understanding the New Testament Use of the Old Testament: Forms, Features, Framings, and Functions

Understanding the New Testament Use of the Old Testament: Forms, Features, Framings, and Functions by Douglas S Huffman

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

“In the Old Testament the New is concealed, in the New the Old is revealed”
(Novum Testamentum in Vetere latet, Vetus Testamentum in Novo patet)
literal: New Testament in the Old lies, the Old Testament in the New is clear.
- St. Augustine, Quaest. in Hept. 2,73: PL 34, 623; cf. DV 16.

Within the Christian faith, there is an obvious connection between what is commonly referred to as the Old Testament (OT) and the New Testament (NT), with many of the NT authors being raised and well versed in the OT Scripture that they frequently referenced to varying intentions and purpose (hence the quote from St Augustine above). Recently there has been a resurgence of sorts to the intertextuality between the two in Christian studies and Huffman does a remarkable job presented the current state of research in an accessible manner that can’t help but contribute to a better understanding of both from the Christian perspective. After that, Huffman defines the various classifications and taxonomies by which we can evaluate the use of the OT in the NT, taking into account the Jewish exegetical methods/traditions (such Proem/Introduction, Midrash, Targum, Pesher and Peshat) and literary tools (such allegory, allusion, conflation, echo, paraphrase, recollection, typology, et al) available at the time the NT was written in order to better understand the author’s intent and purpose in his OT references using several different taxonomies of framing, form and function.

All of this takes place in the first third of the book, with the remaining parts taken up with appendices, citations, glossary, indices and call outs … so there is plenty there to support a deep dive into the topic.

The chapters and sections in this work are …

Preface
Abbreviations

1. Introduction to Studying the New Testament Use of the Old Testament
2. Form Classifications for the New Testament Use of the Old Testament
3. Features for Form Identification in the New Testament Use of the Old Testament
4. Framing Classifications for the New Testament Use of the Old Testament
5. Function Classification for the New Testament Use of the Old Testament
6. The New Testament Use of the Old Testament in Luke and Acts 

Appendix A: Apparent Citations Introduced in the New Testament but Difficult to Locate in the Old Testament
Appendix B: A Select Bibliography for the New Testament Use of the Old Testament
Appendix C: Applying the New Taxonomy of Forms to the UBS5 and NA28

Indexes of Old Testament Citations and Allusions for Luke and Acts
Glossary: Common Terms in the Study of the New Testament Use of the Old Testament
Index of Modern Authors
Index of Scripture and Other Ancient Texts

Some of the other points that really got my attention (regardless of whether or not I agreed with them) are:

In antiquity, Marcion of Sinope (ca. CE 85–160) rejected the deity described in the Hebrew Scriptures (i.e., the OT) as a warring creator god who had to be lower than the God of the NT.

The very development of the NT is dependent on the OT, even as faith in Jesus as the Christ of the NT is dependent on what the OT said about the Christ who was coming.

A NT writer may cite one of the OT texts while having the whole network in mind, so uncovering that network may well provide insight for properly understanding the NT author’s use of a particular OT passage.

Allusions and recollections are places in the NT that indirectly borrow from the words and/or ideas of OT passages.

One issue to be faced in charting a taxonomy of forms is the question of where to slot compressed citations, i.e., when a NT author quotes several key phrases from a particular OT source text while eliminating certain parts of the quotation.

Likewise, problematic is the question of composite citations or conflation, i.e. when a NT author cites two (or more) different passages (even from different OT books) as if they are one passage.

A specific allusion involves enough minimal borrowed OT language pointing to a specific OT passage, and a thematic echo is less particular and carries forward ideas and themes found in multiple places in the OT. … literary critics concur that allusion involves (1) the use of a sign or marker that (2) calls to the reader’s mind another known text (3) for a specific purpose.”

Despite the complications indicated above, fortunately most citations of the OT in the NT have introductions of some kind. [“It is written”, “to fulfill”, et al]

Here scholars make distinctions between various first-century practices such as targum (interpretive paraphrases), midrash (interpretation and/or commentary from searching the text itself), pesher (explaining eschatological mysteries), allegory (extracting symbolic meanings), and typology (noticing how historical events, institutions, places, and figures function as divinely ordained symbols of subsequent, greater realities).

I want to suggest that there may well be proper ways to use what scholars have dubbed first-century hermeneutical tools. If there are proper ways to use first-century tools, there are also improper ways to use them, and that means that varying degrees of errant interpretation could occur among ancient writers (even as they do among scholars today!).

The Jewish exegetical practices—resulting in commentary from searching the scriptural text itself—known by the Hebrew term midrash were not designated as such until the early fourth century CE.

The term targum is used to refer to this practice of making an interpretive paraphrase of an OT passage translating it from Hebrew into Aramaic (when referencing the written Aramaic translation of the Hebrew Bible, the term is capitalized as Targum).

It is better to understand pesher as something additional to midrash. More than apocalyptic midrash, pesher is particularly caught up with interpreting eschatological mystery.

Properly understood, typology sees actual historical figures and events portrayed in the OT as symbolic foreshadows of subsequent historical figures and events. … In this way typology is viewed as a kind of fulfillment function for the function of the OT in the New.

Peshat or literal interpretation: Understanding a passage to mean plainly and exactly what it says. Longenecker notes that the Hebrew word peshat (“to strip off, to flatten, to rush out, to flay”) has been associated with plain interpretation since at least the fourth century CE and came to be used somewhat synonymously (even if not by all commentators) with the word “to interpret.”

Written before the NT was compiled into Christian Scripture, the referent to “Holy Scriptures” here, or “sacred writings” (ἱερὰ γράμματα), is clearly the OT, and (to the chagrin of people like Marcion mentioned in chap. 1 above) clearly the OT is judged as applicable to the Christian life.

Scripture is fulfilled in one sense when a prediction comes true, in another sense when a promise is still kept or some other pattern is still followed, and in a third sense when a prefigurement comes to light. 

But I also want to acknowledge the possibility that a NT author may intend more than one function for his use of a particular OT text and that those multiple functions may not be next to each other on the continuum as I have sketched it. …

1. Ultimate truths: The author/speaker of the NT text may simply want to declare the message contained in the OT text.
2. Ethical wisdom: The author/speaker of the NT text appeals to the ethical directives of the OT text as applicable to the reading/listening audience.
3. Prophecy fulfillment: The event under discussion in the NT is viewed by the author/speaker as somehow fulfilling a prophecy recorded or indicated in the OT.
4. Promising patterns: The NT author sees God as continuing to keep to his promised and/or characteristic behavior as reflected or recorded in the OT.
5. Typological correlation: Divinely intended symbolism in history whereby historical figures, places, events, or institutions (the “types”) foreshadow subsequent greater realities (the “antitypes”).
6. Historical backdrop: The NT author/speaker uses an OT text to provide the reader/listener with historical information helpful for understanding the subject under consideration in the NT context.
7. Cultural background: The NT author/speaker uses a reference to the OT in order to explain some cultural behavior in the NT story by its background in the OT story.
8. Instructive exemplars: The NT speaker/author refers to the OT as giving an example that is to be followed by the listeners/readers of the NT text.
9. Illustrations and imagery: The NT speaker/author refers to someone or something in the OT as an illustration of the subject matter under discussion in the NT context or otherwise draws upon imagery from the OT.
10. Vocabulary and style: The NT writer borrows upon the vocabulary and style of OT writers without intending particular citations and interpretations.

Programmatic Motives

1. Evangelizing people to faith in Jesus Christ, the fulfiller of Scripture. As already indicated, in several key places in his narrative, Luke uses Scripture to justify the mission of Jesus and the expansion of the gospel message about him.
2. Extolling God’s sovereign plan for history. Luke-Acts proclaims the idea that God has a plan for history. Four Lukan texts make this particularly clear, and each of them references (or at least alludes to) the Israelite Scriptures (see Luke 7:24–28; 16:16–17; Acts 10:42–43; 17:24–31).
3. Authenticating the faith heritage of Christianity. His constant use of the Israelite Scriptures is another way for Luke to stress that the story of the Christian church is the continuation of the Jesus story even as the Jesus story is the continuation of the story recorded in Israel’s sacred writings.
4. Expanding the notion of God’s people to include gentiles in the church. Overlapping with the previous motifs related to evangelism, God’s plan, and faith heritage is Luke’s concern to appeal to the OT Scriptures to encourage the expansion of God’s people to include gentile believers.
5. Encouraging the interpretation of Scripture. As already noted, most citations of the OT in Luke-Acts occur in speeches, primarily with Jesus speaking in the Gospel of Luke and with apostolic preaching in Acts.

I was given this free advance reader copy (ARC) ebook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

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Review: The God Protocol: Dragon

The God Protocol: Dragon by D.L. Wilburn Jr.
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Book: **
Performance: **

A Simple, Tropey Alien Conspiracy Story

It was an interesting premise … a fringe podcaster seeking the truth behind all those alien/government conspiracies only to find out that some of them are actually true. Unfortunately … it was poorly executed. To begin with, there was absolutely no character development (or even differentiation) anywhere. Then the MC podcast dialog seemed to take up way too much of the story … the silliness would have been bearable if it didn’t take itself so seriously (either I didn’t get the humor or there just wasn’t any). Then there was the typical freshman pitfalls such as info-dumps and an incessant focus on trivial details that added absolutely nothing to the story. There is enough tech to call it SciFi … and the author gets most of it right, but it does go off the rails enough that I am pretty sure it is just a bunch of tropes stitched together without much understanding of the actual tech/science behind it. Must of this would have been fixed with a good editor … all of this was exacerbated by a narration that didn’t differential the voices well and delivered the excessive dialog just enough off to seem unnatural … taken all together, it was so boring that I almost DNF.

I was given this free advance review/listener copy (ARC) audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

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Review: The Old Testament as Literature: Foundations for Christian Interpretation

The Old Testament as Literature: Foundations for Christian Interpretation by Tremper III Longman

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Ultimately the Old Testament is a collection of written works designed to communicate some idea or concept to a particular audience. The tools used by the various authors and redactors are not new; they relied upon the same forms and techniques used in contemporary literature that were already well known to their audience … sending signals to their readers to enable them to correctly interpret the intending meaning of the text. While much of the text has developed over time, and many scholars seem to be focused on extracting the original text and meaning, the author here recommends that we focus on the final version and how it has been traditionally interpreted through the ages since as a starting point. 

Part One covers the current state of scholarship for studying the Old Testament as Literature, including some background on how we got here and what literary devices and concepts are used in understanding the authors’ intent as well as how parts of the text or “books” work with other text or “books” of the Old Testament. And while this is an extremely academic undertaking, it remain accessible to the causal reader (although repetition and independent study would also be very helpful). What makes this work exception is Parts two and three where everything that was covered in Part one is illustrated with analysis of specific parts of prose and poetic text … although this also tends to be very technical and, at times, difficult to follow for me (which is why this is something to periodically come back to). Over all, this book can only help any student of scripture that is interested in biblical exegesis.

The chapters and sections in this work are …

Introduction: Scope and Procedure

Part One: Literary Theory and the Conventions of Biblical Narrative and Poetry
1. The Location of Meaning
2. History of the Study of the Old Testament as Literature
3. Genre Triggers Reading Strategy
4. Narrative Prose as Genre
5. Poetry
6. Intertextuality

Part Two: The Analysis of Illustrative Prose0 Narrative Texts
7. Literary Readings of Prose Narratives from the Torah
8. Literary Readings of Prose Narratives from the Historical Books

Part Three: The Analysis of Illustrative Poetic Texts
9. Literary Readings of Poetic Texts from the Psalms
10. Literary Readings of Poetic Texts from the Wisdom Literature
11. Literary Readings of Poetic Texts from the Prophets and Epic Poetry

Postlude

Some of the other points that really got my attention (regardless of whether or not I agreed with them) are:

• My most important conclusion is that authors send genre signals to their readers to convey how to take their words and thus trigger a reading strategy.
• Readers should primarily be interested in the final, canonical form of the biblical book. Even if a passage such as Elihu’s speech was added later, we must ask how it functions within the book as it is now.
• John the Baptist is thrown in jail, where he hears reports about Jesus’s ministry. Yet what he hears disturbs him because Jesus doesn’t seem to be executing the judgment John predicted. Jesus is healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, raising the dead, and preaching the good news. When John hears this, he thinks “I may have baptized the wrong person!” This is why he sends two of his disciples to Jesus to ask, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?” (Matt. 11:3).
• Besides writing in an ancient language, the biblical authors used genres, literary conventions, and figurative language that were immediately familiar to their original audience but are likely unfamiliar to modern readers. Likewise, these authors refer to ancient institutions and customs that may be unknown to a modern audience or misunderstood by those who are outside the original historical context.
• It can be unsettling to consider that our reading of the biblical text is constrained by our status, previous experience, and level of education. But the obvious solution to this problem is to recognize that interpreters need to read in community. We understand the biblical text better when we listen to diverse voices.
• What went by the name “literary criticism” was not an analysis of the text in its present final form but rather a type of textual archaeology, an attempt to look behind the text to find its putative sources, often with the idea that these earlier sources were somehow more authentic or important than the final form.
• With its goal of recovering the original meaning of a text, historical-critical scholarship tends to downplay or ignore how the text has been interpreted through the ages.
• According to Gottwald, Israel originated in a revolt of the underclasses of Canaanite feudal society. Evidence for this revolt and the emergence of Israel is seen archaeologically in the dissolution of Canaanite coastal cities in the thirteenth to the eleventh centuries BC and the appearance of small towns in the highlands to the east.
• “Every culture, even every era in a particular culture, develops distinctive and sometimes intricate codes for telling its stories, involving everything from narrative point of view, procedures of description and characterization, the management of dialogue, to the ordering of time and the organization of plot.”
• Phelan and Rabinowitz tell us that the best reading takes place when actual readers do their best to acquire the competencies of the implied reader: “Readers typically join (or try to join) the authorial audience, the hypothetical group for whom the author writes—the group that shares the knowledge, values, prejudices, fears and experiences that the author expected in his or her readers and that ground his or her rhetorical choices.”
• The Hebrew narrator is often reticent to provide a moral evaluation of a character’s actions in the story. Rarely do narrators give explicit pronouncements that a character is doing the right thing or the wrong thing. This does not mean that the narrator does not subtly lead readers toward such moral evaluations, but readers must look hard for the clues.
• In contrast to life—where we are invariably confronted by an endless stream of incidents occurring haphazardly and disparately—the plot of a narrative is constructed as a meaningful chain of interconnected events. This is achieved by careful selection, entailing the omission of any incident which does not fit in logically with the planned development of the plot.”
• The Hebrew word for this area is midbar (cf. 1 Sam. 25:1–2, 4, 14, 21), which most translations render “wilderness” (NLT, ESV) or “desert” (NCV, NIV). The term “desert,” however, can be misleading and may evoke the idea of a barren, sandy expanse, whereas Nabal is able to raise sheep in this area.

I was given this free advance reader copy (ARC) ebook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

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Review: McCabe's Luck: The Feud Goes On

McCabe's Luck: The Feud Goes On by Patrick Lindsay
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Book: ****
Performance: ****

A Classic Western Well Told

I am a fan of westerns, growing up with the classics from Zane Grey, Max Brand and Louis L’Amour. This story has all the hallmarks of such a classic with a likable MC and the typical power hungry antagonist (although not really a good comparison, it did remind me a little of the Sackett Saga). Throw in a light romance and some gun play with a reasonable plot and you have the basic all American feel good story the genre is famous for, and I enjoyed it a lot. The narration was solid and comfortable for the story and gave it a bit more of an authentic feel with the first person POV. Most of all … it was a clean story, which I appreciated so much given what I have found in more recent western stories. Finally … it is in Kindle Unlimited … so it is definitely work a read in you subscribe to that.

I was given this free advance review/listener copy (ARC) audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

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Review: Leaders, Do Unto Others: Brief Meditations on Leading and Learning and Loving

Leaders, Do Unto Others: Brief Meditations on Leading and Learning and Loving by David Harwood
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Book: **
Performance: ***

Highly Repetitive and Jumbled Collection of Scripture Points

It was a good concept/sentiment that just didn’t deliver for me. because it was basically a bunch of scripture quotes with a ton of shallow, fluffy, word salad that knits it all together in a confusing mass that has no practical point outside of telling the reader to just be good. In fact, if you are even remotely a student of christian scripture, this book offers very little beyond that (with almost no exegesis or explaining of how the quoted scripture actually applied to the point being discussed) … and it was even less of a help on how to actually be an effective christian leader (for which it has nearly zero examples or illustrations outside of simply quoting scripture). After each “reflection”, there is a quick prayer that has the potential to explain some of the point the reflection was trying to teach … with some being more effective than others. While the narration was good enough for the genre and material, it wasn’t anything special.

The chapters and sections in this work are:

Introduction: How to Lead? The Golden Rule! (6:44)

1: Our Foundation (11:10)
2: The New Command, Part 1 (9:13)
3: Getting Up from Supper (16:08)
4: The New Command, Part 2 (8:19)
5: The New Command, Part 3 (14:04)
6: An Epiphany of His Affection (10:26)
7: Loving the Corporate (8:28)
8: Loving Leadership and Praying For People (5:48)
9. Carte Before Horses (10:09)
10. A Loving Environment and the Fear of the Lord (13:49)
11. Recognizing Love’s Limitations (10:24)
12. Knowing You’re Called: A Confidence Key (9:54)
13. Transferring Ownership: Another Confidence Key (10:37)
14. Determining Your Life Message (6:19)
15. The Hireling Minister (12:58)
16. Empathy (16:02)
17. “Lord Jesus, Shepherd Your People!” (17:50)
18. Something Overlooked: Mercy (954)
19. Sarah Laughed (10:28)
20. Modeling Courage (10:18)
21. Honor? Go First! (12:58)
22. Discerning Order: “With” (5:04)
23. Spiritual Parenting (10:14)
24. Leading United and Effective Prayer (17:03)
25. Restitution (4:23)
26. Be For - Giving (4:21)
27. Criticism (7:12)
28. Generosity (4:07)
29. Slow Down (7:35)
30. Faithfulness (10:21)

I was given this free advance review/listener copy (ARC) audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

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Review: Classroom Management for Effective Teachers: How new teachers learn to stop reacting and start delivering smarter lesson plans that captivate and inspire.

Classroom Management for Effective Teachers: How new teachers learn to stop reacting and start delivering smarter lesson plans that captivate and inspire. by Catherine L Brooks
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Book: ****
Performance: ***

A Solid Reference, but more for younger students

It is actually a fairly basic reference that most teachers are probably already aware of; although perhaps a bit of review and reinforcements might help here. In addition, the focus is really on the younger side of the targeted students, with very little that I could see that would provide “effective” for middle school students. The narration was also pretty solid enough for a reference book, so that wasn’t much depth needed in the performance other than a good pace and intonation to keep your attention on the lecture. There are both about a 3.5*, so I am splitting the difference and rounding up, giving the nod to the book as it is also available in kindle unlimited.

The chapters and sections in this work are:

Introduction (6:13)
Ch. 1: Utilizing active learning in your classroom (29:15)
Ch. 2: Promoting student agency (32:38)
Ch. 3: Creating a happy and productive classroom (27:41)
Ch. 4: Instilling positive disciple (22:39)
Ch. 5: How to manage a loud or disruptive classroom (16:52)
Ch. 6: Dealing with bullying and teasing (19:26)
Ch. 7: How to get the parents on your side (21:11)
Ch. 8: How can the parents facilitate their child’s education? (20:32)
Conclusion (6:53)

I was given this free advance review/listener copy (ARC) audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

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Review: Seven Challenges That Shaped the New Testament: Understanding the Inherent Tensions of Early Christian Faith

Seven Challenges That Shaped the New Testament: Understanding the Inherent Tensions of Early Christian Faith by F Scott Spencer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was an interesting look at how tensions between the “basic tenets and apparent countervailing realities” help to determine the evolution of Christian doctrine. I was especially interesting in this topic since I have frequently been exposed to the idea that interpreting the Jewish Torah often requires a both/and approach where western thought more frequently sees an either/or interpretation. While related, this work does not use the same framework; rather, it focuses on the struggle to adapt the former to the latter in a way that more or less represents a compromise position rather than a contextual continuum. In that respect, it was a bit of a disappointment while still providing a solid understanding of context when much of the doctrine of the Church was determined … and so is very helpful in approaching and understanding the Christian New Testament.

As indicated by the title, the focus is on seven (7) areas of theological tension: the apparent differences between the “old testament” of the Jews and the “new testament” of a more Gentile community; the differences in determining what was righteous and what was not for each community (eg circumcision requirements and kosher laws) and the apparent dissonance of finding they still had to deal with a fallen world even while anticipating the paradise of God’s Kingdom (changing expectations) … that last being the principle concern of the book (for five of the seven chapters) … dealing with difficult questions such as why do we still die if Christ has “conquered” death … or why has Christ not returned yet … or while does evil and division still exist in the world. Chapter six takes a side trip into the gnostic heresy and its appeal that was interesting from the aspect of how the Church responded to this perennial threat to orthodoxy. Overall it was a solid addition for anyone interested in Christian religious study.

The chapters and sections in this work are …

Prologue: Creative Tension of Mind and Heart

1. Old and New: The Historical Challenge of Innovation and Evolution
2. Right and Wrong: The Moral Challenge of Hypocrisy and Apostasy
3. Weak and Strong: The Political Challenge of Authority and Tyranny
4. Weal and Woe: The Material Challenge of Infirmity and Poverty
5. One and All: The Social Challenge of Particularity and Partisanship
6. Seen and Secret: The Perceptual Challenge of Skepticism and Gnosticism
7. Now and Near: The Temporal Challenge of Delay and Deferment

Epilogue: Streaming the Good News

Some of the other points that really got my attention (regardless of whether or not I agreed with them) are:

Accordingly, I read the New Testament less as a strict evolution and resolution of doctrines than an ongoing negotiation of tensions between basic tenets and apparent countervailing realities.

Jesus’s most famous “sermon” appears in two forms: Matthew’s “Sermon on the Mount” (Matt. 5‒7) and Luke’s “Sermon on the Plain” (Luke 6:17‒49). These are not transcripts of synagogue sermons but rather collections of Jesus’s public teachings.

Festinger posits three common ways people try to ease the dissonance of challenged cherish beliefs or practices: (1) change their convictions and actions, opinions and habits; (2) gather new data bolstering their original position and debunking counter-information; (3) push the problem out of mind through denial, delay, diversion, or delusion—whatever it takes to restore equilibrium.

Significantly, anxious dissonance over issues such as persisting poverty and postponed parousia served as productive challenges, as creative tensions for the New Testament writers, spurring them to refine, reformulate, stretch, and strengthen the fabric of faith in Christ and faithfulness to Christ.

The truth is, not all Pharisees agreed among themselves. Distinct rabbinic “schools” or “houses” advanced different interpretations of Torah and routinely cited multiple opinions in their written commentaries, known as the Mishnah and Talmud.

The Old Testament offers select glimpses of afterlife: direct ascensions to heaven of two figures, Enoch (Gen. 5:24; Sir. 44:16; cf. Heb. 11:5) and Elijah (2 Kings 2:11‒12; Sir. 48:9); resuscitation of two deceased sons (1 Kings 17:17‒24; 2 Kings 4:32‒37; Sir. 48:4‒5); restoration of Israel, pictured as reassembling and reviving bones from a mass graveyard (Ezek. 37:1‒14); and a general end-time resurrection (Dan. 12:1‒4).

Today “righteous” and “righteousness” are rarely used in everyday conversation. They are mostly limited to religious speech, and not always in a positive way. The biblical scholar Marcus Borg reports, “When I have asked Christian audiences about their associations when they heard the word righteous, some terms they used were holier-than-thou, judgmental, condemnatory, hypocritical, priggish, legalistic, moralistic, full of themselves, pompous, and arrogant.”99 That’s quite an ugly, “unrighteous” list!

But in reality no one follows Christ perfectly, and whatever righteousness emerges owes to continuing immersion in divine grace, love, and power. No room for self-glorification: “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord” (1 Cor. 1:31; cf. Jer. 9:24).

The Torah is less concerned with punishing the individual malefactor than with restoring communal and terrestrial wholeness.

Overall, Jesus’s saving mission seeks to realize God’s kingdom on earth as a commonwealth promoting the common good (weal) of God’s creation, especially in therapeutic (wellness) and economic (wealth) dimensions of life. Forgiveness and freedom from sin are integral to this mission.

Ekklēsia designated any group “called together.” It was “the standard term for the political assembly in a Greek city” and applied to various religious groups. Synagōgē (“synagogue” or “gathering/meeting place”) is a close synonym.

The biblical Greek term ethnos, commonly rendered “nation,” more accurately denotes a particular ethnic people sharing social, cultural, and religious histories, values, and practices.

The plural “nations” (ethnē) often designates all non-Israelite/Judean peoples—the Gentiles—distinguished from the covenant ethnos and laos (“people”) of Israel.

Walls segregating Jews and Gentiles evoke Torah and temple boundaries. God’s “law with its commandments and ordinances” (Eph. 2:15) was given to Israel to delineate God’s blessed way of life, set apart from others’ adverse ways. But Jewish law also advocated considerate treatment of aliens/immigrants on a par with neighbors:

The Greek word for “son” (huios) is embedded in the term for “adoption” (huiothesia). This linguistic link fits the Greco-Roman cultural pattern of male family heads adopting adult sons to carry on the family line in the absence or incompetence of natural sons. The paterfamilias adopted his successor to secure his political and economic legacy, not out of charity toward an orphan-adoptee.

Some commentators distinguish between two terms—hypomonē (“endurance”) and makrothymia (“patience”)—James uses for perseverance: the former connotes a more passive resignation by mistreated underlings (hypo [under] + monē [stay]); the latter a more active resistance of harmful people and situations for an extended time (“long [makro]-suffering”).

I was given this free advance reader copy (ARC) ebook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

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Review: Containing History: How Cold War History Explains US-Russia Relations

Containing History: How Cold War History Explains US-Russia Relations by Stephen P. Friot
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Book: ****
Performance: ***

An closer look at the History of the Cold War

An interesting review of the history of American and Russian relationships that can go a long way toward understanding where we find ourselves today. It is most helpful in the “behind the scenes” examination of intent, motivation and pressures that informed each political encounter that gives each side a real and relatable positions, goals and understanding. With the current deteriorating relationship between these two super powers, there is plenty of blame to go around as each side tried to manipulate the other over the years for their own benefit, without truly understanding the mindset of their opponents. Frankly it is truly amazing that we didn’t destroy ourselves many times over given the stupid games we all were playing. Of course, while the book does a good job of helping us understand how we got here … it is very short on advice on how to dig us out (not that I really expected such). Perhaps most important is a clear understanding of our limitations in this political dance and perhaps a reset toward more reasonable goals is in order.

The chapters and sections in this work are:

Preface (7:35)
Prologue (15:08)
Chapter 1. It Took Centuries to Get to Yalta (1:01:56)
Chapter 2. The Geopolitics of the Peace 1945-1952 (1:18:08)
Chapter 3. Truman and Kennan (36:40)
Chapter 4. Geopolitical Realignment Becomes a Reality (49:23)
Chapter 5. Two Years That Set the Stage for the Next Four Decades (1:09:49)
Chapter 6. A Reflection on US Leadership in the 1940s and Early 1950s (16:08)
Chapter 7. The Russian Bomb (19:44)
Chapter 8. NSC-68: The Militarization of Containment (18:47)
Chapter 9. Politics and Policy in the First Decade of the Cold War (1:59:58)
Chapter 10. From Korea to Krushcheve and the Thaw (1:03:49)
Chapter 11. Communism and the United States Supreme Court (49:06)
Chapter 12. Avoiding Armageddon (1:40:55)
Chapter 13. From Camelot to Saigon (1:28:39)
Chapter 14. Stalemate and the Birth and Death of Detente (43:51)
Chapter 15. From the Wilderness to the Promised Land (1:42:41)
Conclusion (1:41:16)

I was given this free advance review/listener copy (ARC) audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

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Review: How Did Christianity Begin? Hallucinations? Fabrications? Myths? Resurrection? A Look at the Evidence

How Did Christianity Begin? Hallucinations? Fabrications? Myths? Resurrection? A Look at the Evidence by Christopher Hearn
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book as an interesting premise; however, it is by no means an academic or scholarly work. The entire focus is on proving the Resurrection of Jesus, and while it marshals an impressive amount of circumstantial evidence, there is little to no direct evidence (as might be expected), so it is unlikely to convince skeptics; although it might comfort believers. No where does it cover anything about the origins of Christianity outside of the resurrection narrative, so if that is what you are looking for, this is not the book for you. The book is divided into three (3) parts, with each part organized differently. Part One proposes that the resurrection has been denied with the claim that all witnesses were experiencing some form of mass hallucination … and makes the unsupported point that this is the principle means by which the resurrection story is denied. I count myself as fairly knowledgeable in christian apologetics, and I have never found this to be true, not have I encountered this anecdotally; however, there is still some good information here (such as a convenient table of all the biblical post resurrection sightings of Jesus) as well as provides a few basic reasons for the early resistance to the message of christianity … and then it undermines its own credibility with poor scholarship such as the insistence of inserting a creedal statement into 1 Corinthians that was adopted no more than 9 years after the crucifixion with no supporting citations. That is not to say anything in this part is complete wrong, just that what is there is not really a strong supporting argument if you are trying to convince a non-believer, so the best use here would be as a supplement to private or personal reflections by believers.

Part Two focuses on the Empty Tomb … with the basic claim that resurrection deniers attempt to explain how the early believers could have found the tomb of Jesus empty. There are 10 more specific claims here, each with a response. And while I don’t have the credentials needed to verify how accurate this information is, it seems reasonable in many cases and does have some supporting citations (from people that I have not previously encountered in my own studies). For example, there is an interesting connection on why Joseph of Arimathea was the one who had to claim the body of Jesus that was connected to his belonging to the Sanhedrin that was pretty investing and not something that I had heard before (will still need to do some follow-on research to verify though). Additional there was an interesting discussion about why the tomb had to be new in order not to run afoul of custom and law; however, the discussion of why we are so certain of the tomb’s location doesn’t appear to follow any consensus and fails to mention any of the competing claims, giving the a impression of certainty here. Additionally he talks about the James ossuary as if it has been determined to be authentic, while that is actually still contested. This might be inferred by the fact that Oded Golan was eventually acquitted of personally forging the ossuary, but the courts made no ruling on the items actual authenticity.

Part Three attempts to defend the New Testament as a whole; doing so with a combination of strawman arguments and historical inferences (the later being a list of extra biblical documents that mention Jesus by name). An immediate problem here is the inclusion of Thallus, who, while a favorite of Christian apologists because of its early date (52AD), really only confirms that solar eclipse around the time of the crucifixion and it was Africanus writing nearly 200 years after the fact that made the connection to Jesus. So the best external reference we have is actually Josephus as part of his histories, who mentions Jesus primarily in passing as the founder of a Jewish sect that was [believed to have been] executed on a cross by the sect members. In short, all of these arguments have potential, but they are all circumstantial and fairly weak on their own.
…
The chapters and sections in this work are:

Introduction
Part One - Hallucination Theory (1 claim w/ 8 responses)
Part Two - Empty Tomb (1 main claim w/ 10 subclaims and responses)
Part Three - The New Testament (1 main claim and response with 4 counter arguments and responses)

Some of the other points that really got my attention are:

Jesus made thirteen recorded appearances, at different times and locations, over the span of forty days.

When we look at what happened to people who gathered followers in Israel both before and after Jesus' life, we find that all of the movements failed and were finished off. Done. Yet only Christianity survived the death of its leader and did so in a spectacular way.

This brings us to the second hurdle. Jewish custom at the time stated that if a Jewish person was crucified, being a criminal, his or her body could only be retrieved by a member of the Sanhedrin. Family members or friends were not allowed. This explains why Mary, Jesus’ mother, or any of His siblings or even His disciples did not ask for Jesus’ body for burial.

According to the rules and customs of that time, Jesus' body should have been buried in a tomb for criminals. But Joseph asks for Jesus' body and places it in his own, brand-new tomb which had never been used. This works because as a new tomb, it is neither a place of honor or dishonor.

I was given this free advance reader copy (ARC) ebook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

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Review: The Thirteenth Koyote

The Thirteenth Koyote by Kristopher Triana
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Book: *
Performance: ***

NSFW-DNF-TW Graphic Torture, Sex and Violence

I don’t know what I was thinking; I was obviously not familiar enough with the splatter sub-genres. First, I should say that if you are even remotely triggered about anything, this book is definitely not for you. Second, the graphic descriptions also make this audible not-safe-for-work (or any place public really). This was an 11 of 10 score for gratuitous, and mostly gross, depictions of torture, sex and violence that I really … Really … REALLY did NOT care for. I am sure there was a stock plot in there somewhere, something to do with outlaw werewolves, but it was hard for me to find amid all the blood and gore. I get it … they are some really bad dudes … I don’t need to be hit over the head with that in virtually every paragraph. I made it about 50% before I quit … and that is saying something for an audiobook (I can count on one hand the number I was not able to gut it out to the end). Now … if you will excuse me … I need a shower.

I was given this free advance review/listener copy (ARC) audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

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