Review: Sexpectations: Helping the Next Generation Navigate Healthy Relationships

Sexpectations: Helping the Next Generation Navigate Healthy Relationships by Barb Winters
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

“One of Sue’s sons moved in with his girlfriend.” This is literally the fifth sentence of Chapter 1 and it was in response to a generally question asking how Sue was doing. The problem here being that Sue was not actually present and this entire conversation can be classified as judgmental gossip … not exactly a virtue nor something I was expecting. Needless to say … this was a pretty rough start to what promised to be a controversial topic to begin with and I was disappointed. 

Immediately after this, the author goes on a screed about the phrase “As long as you’re happy …” which for me is in the same passive aggressive category as “Bless your little heart …” but for the author apparently represents a capitulation of morals. What follows is a mostly anecdotal review of “hook-up culture” and online pornography before diving into what the author believes is driving this risky behavior: Self-Doubt, No Relationship with Christ, Everyone is Doing It … with the implication that addressing any one of these might short circuit the “perpetual cycle of unhealthy relationships.” … an opinion that is not well supported in the book (citations of actual studies are rare if they exist at all).

The author regains some traction in Section Two (2) with habits of healthy relationships; however, I am reasonable sure most people would accept these general habits prima facie. Chapter 5 gives us a list of relationship red flags and green flags that seemed reasonable and the sections on “love languages” even had some practical advice (although each section was very brief and mostly cursory). Chapter 6 on Communication was the best of the group and almost worth the effort to get there. Chapter 8 on reconciliation comes in a close second. Over all … the book was not what I expected nor ultimately very useful to me.

SECTION 1 - The Deterioration of Relationships
Chapter 1: As Long as You’re Happy
Chapter 2: Consequences of Unhealthy Choices

SECTION 2 - Habits for Healthy Relationships
Chapter 3: Love
Chapter 4: Selflessness
Chapter 5: Mutuality
Chapter 6: Communication

SECTION 3 -
Chapter 7: Healing from Wounds
Chapter 8: Reconciliation and Maintaining Healthy Relationships

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

#Sexpectations #NetGalley

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Review: The Mysterious Affair At Styles: Queen of Mystery's First Published Novel

The Mysterious Affair At Styles: Queen of Mystery's First Published Novel by Agatha Christie
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Performance: ***

The narration was fairly standard for a who done it mystery. Additionally, the story itself was also basic considering the series as a whole; although that probably should have been expected given that this is where Christie introduces her famous Belgium detective who was quite obviously developed in the tradition of another famous detective … Sherlock Holmes … with perhaps more eccentricities without any apparent connection to the reason he was so successful as a detective. 

 In this story, we get Poirot working through what was an apparent murder by poison where he keeps everyone, including the reader (and even his companion Hastings), in the dark as to what he is doing and what he is thinking … going so far as to intentionally allow his companions to come to erroneous conclusions without correction until we get to the final reveal at the end where Poirot shows us all how clever he is. Despite the red herrings and shadows, I thought the story to be quite smart, interesting and entertaining in a genre I typically always enjoy when done intelligently … which this was. While perhaps not the best of the series, it is still worth the read ...

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


#TheMysteriousAffairAtStyles #HerculePoirot

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Review: Augmented

Augmented by MJ Douglas
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was an entertaining cyberpunkish dystopian story with very relatable main characters. One an aging hacker with a chip on her shoulder against the authoritarian rules of future America. Another is a quasi luddite grandmother reluctantly dragged into the world of tech. There is some timeline hopping that introduces a third character and provides for some of the plot tension and relationship drama that was actually well done (speaking as somebody that normally doesn’t like drama). 

Most of the character interaction was designed to highlight the dark corners of the world … where technology has become a means to escape the oppressive reality with virtual (VR) and augmented (AR) versions … with the focus here on augmentation (I hope that is not a surprise). The focus was what really drew me in … imagine you have a chip in your head that overlays an augmented vision that whitewashing the dilapidated and decaying infrastructure around you to make everything pretty. You could hide almost anything in such a world and it is such an addiction that even the dregs of society are willing to submit to monitoring by the authorities just so that can get free (if limited) access to that world. 

Of course, not everybody is on board … and some are working to be free (enter an extreme version of the Free State Project) that are still suffering the consequences of such rebellion. While there are a few aspects of the story that strength rational belief, the author does a great job balancing between fantasy and plausibility to prove an interesting mental exercise that pulls at my techie heart and keeps me into the story.

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

#Augmented #NetGalley #KindleUnlimited

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Review: Pauline Theology as a Way of Life: A Vision of Human Flourishing in Christ

Pauline Theology as a Way of Life: A Vision of Human Flourishing in Christ by Joshua W Jipp
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

St Paul, the Apostle to the Nations (Gentiles), whose epistles to the early churches account for nearly all of the New Testament outside of the Gospels has always had a major influence on the theology of Western Christianity (sometimes known as Pauline Christians). Recently there has been a lot of debate about Paul, with some theologians finding his interaction to be very restrictive and conservative while others point to areas where his is radically progressive for his time … all depending on what part of the corpus you emphasize and how you apply context to your interpretation. This book takes a more holistic approach in order to identify the primary concern of Paul … the promotion of human flourishing. Drawing on contemporary (positive psychology) and historical (Stoicism and Epicureanism), the author first works to define what Paul actually means when he talks about happiness and the good … and it is not exactly what most moderns think.

The basic idea here is that we are truly happy (aka flourish) when we are doing what we are supposed to be doing … what we were created to do … and for Paul, the ultimate end goal, or telos, is to share in the divine life of God. In addition to supporting Paul’s concern with how to help “persons-in-Christ” flourish with direct citations from Paul’s letters, the author compares and contrast Paul’s position against these other humanist philosophies to help reveal the nuance of what Paul is saying in a series of theses within an over arching topical chapter using language easily understood by a casual student … progressing from definitions to individual characteristics to social or communal obligations expected from anyone who wants to be like Christ (christian). More importantly, I think this book goes a long way to helping the modern reader understand that Paul’s ultimate goal was to build up the body of Christ (aka the Church) to be a community of sacrificial love of each other where the self is all but invisible (aka dead). It is a fairly quick read and well worth the effort.

1. Pauline Theology as a Quest for Living a good Human Life.

Part 1 - Ancient and Contemporary Visions of Human Flourishing.
2. Ancient Philosophy and the Quest for Human Flourishing
Thesis 1: Human Flourishing Necessitates a Supreme Good That Should Function as the Basis for All Human Activity
Thesis 2: Human Flourishing Is an Undertaking That Requires the Cultivation of Virtue, Good Character, and Self-Integration
Thesis 3: Human Flourishing Requires Cultivating Good Relationships among Friends and Family
Thesis 4: Human Flourishing Requires the Ability to Respond to Adversity and Prepare for One’s Own Death
Thesis 5: Human Flourishing Requires Cultivating Good Practices

3. Positive Psychology and the Quest for Human Flourishing
Thesis 1: Positive Psychology Is Devoted tp Helping People Flourish
Thesis 2: Humans Flourish When They Use and Actualize Character Strengths
Thesis 3: Flourishing Requires Good Relationships in All Spheres of Life
Theiss 4: Adversity Can Make Important Contributions to Human Flourishing
Thesis 5: Flourishing Requires Practices and Exercises

Part 1 - A Pauline Theology of the Good Life
4. Transcendence: Sharing in Christ’s Resurrection Life
Thesis 1: Relation to Christ Is Humanity’s Supreme Good (Phil 3:2-16)
Thesis 2: Death Is the Fundamental Human Predicament
Thesis 3: Christ Shares Divine Life with His People

5. Moral Agency: Sharing the Mind of Christ
Thesis 1: A Debased Mind Is Living Death, but a Transformed Mind is How We Experience Sharing in the Life of God
Thesis 2: Persons-in-Christ Are Divinely Given an Integrated Moral Agency Aiming toward Sharing in the Life of God
Thesis 3: Christ Is the Foundation for a New Epistemology for Persons-in-Christ

6. Love: The Body of Christ
Thesis 1: Persons-in-Christ Are a Sacred Community Related to Christ and to One Another
Thesis 2: Persons-in-Christ Compose One Unified People Despite Diverse Social Identities
Thesis 3: The Church Life Together Is a Visible Embodiment of Christ’s Love and Hospitality

7. Spiritual Practices: Cultivating the Character of Christ
Thesis 1: The Flourishing Life Is One of Active Engagement in the Pursuit of Christlike Character
Thesis 2: Flourishing Requires Generously Sharing Resources with One another
Thesis 3: Flourishing Requires Faithful Endurance and Patient Hope in the Promise of Resurrection Life in the Midst of Adversity
Thesis 4: Flourishing Requires Corporate Worship of the Triune God

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

#PaulineTheologyAsAWayOfLife #NetGalley

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