Jesus Is Better Than You Imagined, by Jonathan Merritt

I love the title of this book.  Many Christians would share Jonathan Merritt's experience of emptiness and frustration: "That place within my soul once filled with passion for God was now a foreclosed home with only traces of the family that once lived therein. . . ." God was a "ghost in the distance, blurry and noiseless.  And His church, a place of respite for me nearly all my life, was a painful reminder of the absence I felt."  In Jesus Is Better Than You Imagined, Merritt writes a deeply personal account of his spiritual life as the son of a leading pastor, church leader, and writer, revealing more about himself than about Jesus.

Why is Jesus better than he imagined?  "Because he shatters my strivings for sterility with a radical invitation to live free.  Free from sinful patterns, but also free from moralism, free from legalism, and free from condemnation." Amen to that, brother.  Anyone who grew up in a church that emphasized purity over passion, devotional time over devotion, discipline over discipleship, or law over grace will be able to relate.  Merritt was a Southern Baptist, as was I, but I suspect similar stories could be told from across the theological spectrum.

Merritt is a skilled writer, in the sense that his words are pleasantly and carefully put together.  I agree with him that Jesus is better than we imagine, but I am not sure he really makes a convincing case here. As a memoir, the book gives Merritt an outlet for him to tell the world how he came to believe that Jesus is better than Merritt imagined.  I suspect that writing this book was very therapeutic for him.  Many readers will relate to his experiences and be inspired to move toward a more personal, reflective Christian faith.  Many others will finish the book and think, OK, another self-indulgent Christian writer projecting his experiences onto the rest of us.

I was heartened by Merritt's revelation that his failure to experience and encounter Christ at church was not necessarily and inevitably the fault of church.  Rather, he had to begin to encounter Christ on a personal level before he could experience Jesus in community.  If that resounds with your own experience, pick up Jesus Is Better Than You Imagined.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

The Women of Duck Commander, by Kay Robertson and her daughters-in-law

There is probably no family in America right now as popular and beloved as the Robertsons of West Monroe, Louisiana.  Their A&E TV show, Duck Dynasty, has set ratings records, and their books and merchandise are everywhere.  Now fans of the show can learn all they ever wanted to know about the lives and loves of Kay and her daughters-in-law.  In The Women of Duck Commander: Surprising Insights from the Women Behind the Beards About What Makes This Family Work, Kay, Korrie, Missy, Jessica, and Lisa tell stories of their childhoods, family histories, courtship, marriage, and lives as Robertson women.

The Robertsons have invited TV cameras into their homes and lives for several years now, putting their lives on display, so it's not surprising that they lay bare so much of their personal lives in this book.  Some of the stories they tell are pretty ugly.  The patriarch, Phil, spent many years early in their marriage as a drunk, and nearly tore apart their marriage and family with his terrible lifestyle.  But Kay was patient, and Phil met Jesus, transforming his life.  One of the daughters-in-law had an affair, but they chose reconciliation over divorce, and their marriage ended up stronger.

That hope and transformation forms the real theme of this book.  Each of them reveal personal stories of some bad choices they and the Robertson men have made, but in every case a commitment to family, a dependence on Jesus, and a hopeful outlook sustained them and redeemed their lives.  Duck Dynasty viewers will learn a side of this family that they might only have seen hints of on the show.  Everyone who picks up The Women of Duck Commander will be inspired by this close-knit family who enjoy each other, love their lives, and show a deep commitment to one another.

I did enjoy getting to know these ladies, but I should make a couple of objective comments, in order to be most helpful to interested readers.  The narrative jumps around among the authors.  Each time the voice changes, it's clearly indicated, but I got a little lost sometimes, having to remind myself who was writing when.  For fans of the show, this will be less of a problem; many fans know the Robertson family tree as well as they know their own!  Similarly, the stories they tell are very personal, but much of what they write would probably be of interest only to fans.

As you might expect from a book tied to a TV show, The Women of Duck Commander is essential reading for fans.  Those who are not familiar with the show will read some amusing and inspiring stories of family life, and good reminders that keeping Jesus first and each other second is a key to strong families.  But for non-fans, reading this would be like reading a whole bunch of Facebook posts from people they don't know.



Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

Plastic, Ahoy!, by Patricia Newman and Annie Crawley

Perhaps you have heard of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, where plastics that have been dumped off of boats, washed down rivers, or tossed on the beach have gathered in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. In Plastic, Ahoy! Investigating the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, author Patricia Newman and photographer Annie Crawley ride along on a scientific expedition whose purpose is to examine the garbage patch and evaluate its effect on sea life.

One thing that may surprise you about what they found is what the garbage patch is not.  If you picture it as a gigantic bundle of bottles and other recognizable plastic refuse floating like an island in the Pacific, you're wrong.  (So, contrary to the story line of this graphic novel, no one will be able to establish a colony on the garbage patch.)  There are, of course, bottles to be found, but for the most part the plastic has been broken down into tiny bits and pieces, suspended a few inches below the surface.

Newman and Crawley describe and illustrate the tasks of several members of the expedition while discussing the patch and its potential importance.  The presentation is quite balance, avoiding the hyperbolic scare tactics one might expect from a children's book about an environmental mess.  But they do make very clear that this patch has the potential to do some serious damage to the ecosystem, even at a distance of thousands of miles from land.

Plastic, Ahoy! doesn't shy away from introducing complex language and ideas, and includes a glossary, bibliography, and suggestions for further reading.  It would be appropriate for older elementary school readers and older.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

Stay Where You Are and Then Leave, by John Boyne

Sometimes the best wisdom and perspective on adult issues is best received from the point of view of a child.  Many know John Boyne's work from the moving story of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, which was made into an award-winning film.  In his new book, Stay Where You Are and Then Leave, Boyne tells the story of the home front in London through the eyes of Alfie Summerfield.  He says he remembers the start of the war better than most, since it was on his birthday, and put a damper on the celebration.

The ruined birthday party was only the beginning.  His father signed up and went to the front.  His neighbor and friend, who was born in London and lived all her life down the street from Alfie, but whose father was from Prague, was sent to a relocation camp on the Isle of Man.  His mother worked a double shift at the hospital.  His male teachers went to war, so retired teachers came to fill in.  To help out his mother, who said they are "perilously close to penury," Alfie skipped school several days a week to shine shoes at the train station.

At first, Alfie's father wrote letters from his training camp, then from the front.  Alfie's mother said the letters stopped because his father was on a secret mission.  But Alfie discovered disturbing letters that his mother had hidden, giving a bleaker picture of the war and of his father's state of mind.  When he learns that is father is in a hospital a train ride away from his home, he makes it his mission to bring his father home.

Boyne powerfully communicates the horrors of war, not through graphic descriptions of life and death at the front, although he does touch on that, but through his portrayal of life at home.  It has been 100 years since the outbreak of World War 1, but Boyne reminds us, in a timeless way, of the lessons of that conflict, and the human story of families touched by the terrible finger of war.  This is a book written for young audiences, but, like much great children's literature, deserves to be read by adults as well.


Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

Someone Else's Wedding Vows, by Bianca Stone

Disclaimer: I don't read a lot of poetry.  Does that make me unqualified to review a book of poetry?  I don't know.  I see poetry as lyrics without music, a chance to saw something in a way that transcends the limits of prose, and to offer turns of phrase that force the reader to examine the lenses through which he or she reads.  Bianca Stone's new collection of poems, Someone Else's Wedding Vows, does just that, but left me a little flat.

These poems contain snippets of powerful imagery, and snapshots of insight, but didn't congeal into much coherence for me, either individually or as a collection.  I was reminded of a song with a few good riffs but that never really goes anywhere.  Someone Else's Wedding Vows felt a little like someone else's stream of consciousness, or someone else's inside stories to which I am not privy. 




Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

Big Fat Beautiful Head, by Stu Heinecke

You may have seen Stu Heinecke's cartoons in the Wall Street Journal.  He's got great insight and wit, and distills some his best in his new book, Big Fat Beautiful Head: A Book of Cartoons by Stu Heinecke.  Each of the 50 cartoons is accompanied by a few sentences of background, explanation, or (sometimes only marginally related) commentary.

The sly humor of his cartoons combined with the personal, political, and economic points of view he reveals in the commentary make me think Stu would be a great guy to shoot the breeze with.  Speaking of breezes, you'll breeze through this book.  But Stu is a marketing guy; he'd probably agree that you should always leave the customer wanting more.  You will definitely want some more laughs from Stu.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

How to Fight Presidents, by Daniel O'Brien

In case you were wondering what you would do if, by some remarkable coincidence, you manages to travel backwards through time, and, for some reason, found yourself face-to-face with a U.S. president and felt the need to fight him, well, you are in luck.  Daniel O'Brien has your answer.  In How to Fight Presidents: Defending Yourself Against the Badasses Who Ran This Country, O'Brien examines the strengths and weaknesses of our commanders-in-chief, and gives some tips on how to defeat each.

The first thing to understand is that every president is crazy.  You'd have to be, to want the job.  "The desire to be president is a currently undiagnosed but very specific form of insanity."  With that in mind, O'Brien tells stories from the presidents' lives to show how crazy, how strong, how smart, how headstrong each is.  Although I get the feeling O'Brien did a great deal of historical research, he does play fast and loose with the truth, and his use of hyperbole distracts from the actual facts.

For example, he states that the story of Washington's wooden teeth "isn't technically true.  In truth, it wasn't his teeth, it was his testicles, and it wasn't wood, it was stone-cold steel."  But his stories of the hardships suffered by various presidents, and the strength of body, mind and will to overcome them, are pretty inspiring, even if occasionally padded.

My one disappointment is that he doesn't cover any living presidents.  I would be curious to see how he would treat our wimpy presidents Carter and Obama.  O'Brien seems pretty liberal, so he would probably find some reason to laud them (Carter can swing a hammer, after all).  I'm also disappointed he didn't spend at least a couple of chapters on presidential throw downs.  Reagan versus Ike, Teddy Roosevelt versus Ford, something like that.

All in all, this is a funny book with lots of historical (and, alas, certainly a few pseudo-historical) tidbits.    (By the way, it's funny, but rated-R funny.  Please don't order a bunch of copies for your kid's social studies class.)



Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!