The Brainy Bunch, by Kip and Mona Lisa Harding

Kip and Mona Lisa Harding would want us to believe that their family is not at all exceptional, that their kids are not genius, and that any family can send their kids to college at the age of twelve.  Maybe they're right.  The story they tell in The Brainy Bunch: The Harding Family's Method to College Read by Age Twelve will make you wonder what your own kids could accomplish, given the right inspiration and motivation.

Genius or not, this family is impressive.  The Hardings have created and fostered a love of learning and education in their home and have provided the tools, time and resources for the kids to follow their academic interests.  Going to college at age 12 might not be for everyone, but The Brainy Bunch forced me to ask Why not?  Thinking about my own high school experience, which included honors classes and a high class ranking, I know there were way too many wasted hours, both by me and by the curriculum, teachers, and school requirements.  Parents of young, motivated kids would do well to check out the Hardings' experience and consider whether their own children would have the desire and ability to follow in the Hardings' footsteps.

The Hardings are unabashed fans of home schooling.  Some of their comments made me cringe and think, "Why are my kids in public school?!"  For example, "We do not feel that strangers should educate our children."  "Your children's being instructed by you, the one who loves and knows your children the most, is far better than being in a crowded classroom and taught by an overworked teacher who cannot give them the individual attention they need."  And think about this when your trying to get the family out the door: "There is no morning rush to get dressed, eat breakfast, pack the lunches, finish last-minute homework, load up the car, and fight traffic to drop off kids at school.  Homeschoolers can have peace in the morning instead of the mad rat race to get everyone to school on time."  How many hours a week does my wife send driving the kids back and forth to school?  Ugh.

So I read The Brainy Bunch with a mix of feelings.  Even though I think my family has made the right choice for our family to send our kids to public school, after initially homeschooling for 3 years, the success of the Harding children makes me think "That could be us!"  And the Hardings write in such a way that makes it seem possible for other families to emulate their experiences.  At the same time, their story leaves me with feelings of inadequacy and failure.  Shouldn't my kids be excelling on the ACT at age 10?  Why don't my kids have a passion for a profession by age 12?  Am I not fostering the right atmosphere at home?

The Brainy Bunch primarily trumpets the accomplishments of the Harding kids.  But there is a practical element, too.  By example and with specific tips and resources, they give a model that a homeschool family can follow.  They don't have much good to say about public schools, so don't expect to feel affirmed in your well-thought-out decision to send your children to public or private school.  Try to read The Brainy Bunch with thick skin, so you don't fall into comparison and inadequacy.  Read with an open and adventurous mind, and let them challenge you to free your children to escape the limits of traditional educational structures and schedules.


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

Robogenesis, by Daniel H. Wilson

In Robopocalypse, Daniel H. Wilson tells the story of a future in which the robots, controlled by a central super-intellegent artificial intelligence, kill almost all humans and take over the world.  Robopocalypse ended with the humans victorious and the robot army defeated--or so we thought.  In Robogenesis, we follow the survivors of the New War, including humans, humans who have been modified by robot technology, robots who are independent and autonomous (having been disconnected from the central AI), and the bodies of humans who were killed but who host parasitic robot-like structures.  I know, this last one sounds weird.  It is.

The defeated AI from Robopocalypse now is rallying the troops against another powerful AI.  Are the humans and autonomous robots to believe it when it says it was fighting on the right side all along, plotting not to exterminate the humans but to save them?  The new AI power, after all, has designs to obliterate all life on earth.

The story of Robogenesis jumps around from group to group, ultimately bringing them together.  The vignettes of robot life, and of the lives of advanced humans and their interactions are what really make Robogenesis interesting.  As one of the narrators observes, "The line between man and machine is blurring."  Wilson's imagination runs wild as he creates this new world of robot-driven creation.  Not only do the humans adapt robot tech, but some of the high-functioning robot intelligences actual create new, autonomous creations.

Unfortunately, the story starts to feel disjointed and overlong amid these vignettes and explorations of rob tech.  Still, Robogenesis is a fun read with interesting tech, exciting action, and continues the story from Robopocalypse nicely.  Fans who enjoyed Robopocalypse will love Robogenesis, and will be eager for the inevitable sequel.




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

On the Road to Find Out, by Rachel Toor

Alice Davis has problems.  She's at the top of her class, is the only child of wealthy, driven parents (one's a doctor, one's a lawyer), and she only has two friends in the world, one of whom is her pet rat.  In Rachel Toor's novel, On the Road to Find Out, Alice steps out the door for a New Year's Day run and ends up on a road to self-discovery.

On a bit of a whim, Alice makes a new year's resolution to start running.  It's painful and embarrassing but she ends up liking it.  Many runners can relate to how she feels once she gets in the groove:

I didn't expect to like it so much.  Sometimes it's hard to get out the door.  When I don't feel like going, I can find a whole lot of other things to do. . . . I tell myself it will still count if I only go for ten minutes.  Once I'm out, and I'm running, I start to feel good.  It's like I have to trick myself into doing it, but when I do, I am happy to keep going.  

She ends up taking a part-time job at her mom's friend's running store, gets involved with the local running community, and meets a cute boy who's a top-notch runner.

The culture of running is woven through On the Road to Find Out, but that is only the backdrop of the story.  This is not a book for runners only.  It's primarily a book about a teenage girl's coming to grips with becoming herself, and trying to figure out what drives her.  Having been rejected by Yale, her dream school, and, subsequently a handful of other top colleges, she is forced to reevaluate her dreams.

Toor's characters tend to be a bit stereotypical (the brainy loner, the overbearing professional parents, the loyal best friend), but she goes beyond the stereotypes and brings them together nicely.  Toor captures the troubled teenage girl mind and provides positive adult role models.  The story is touching, the romance is believable and not overdone, and I was happy to see Alice's growth throughout the story.  Plus, I learned all I ever wanted to know about the joys of having a pet rat!

Toor's target audience may be teen girls, but I'm a middle-aged man and liked it.  (What does that say about me??)  Also, runners and non-runners alike will enjoy this story.  But a word of warning: you might just be tempted to don some running shoes and join Alice in her resolution!



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

One More Try, by Gary Chapman

When a marriage is on the rocks, a great place for couples to turn is Dr. Gary Chapman, one of the best marriage experts around.  Best known for his The Five Love Languages and subsequent love language teachings and writings, Dr. Chapman has addressed, in his newest book, a very specific stage of marriage: on the brink of disaster.  One More Try: What to Do When Your Marriage is Falling Apart is aimed at couples who are separated or whose marriages seem to be on their last legs.

Chapman boils down what unfulfilling marriages lack to "one of three sources: lack of an intimate relationship with God, lack of an intimate relationship with your mate, or a lack of an intimate understanding and acceptance of yourself."  He points out that the first and third of these "can be corrected without the aid of your spouse."  When the goal is reconciliation, which is, of course, the ideal, each spouse has to be willing to work on 1 and 3 in order to make much progress on 2.

I like the fact that Chapman prioritizes getting one's spiritual life in order.  Spending time in scripture and prayer every day is essential.  Starting with the simple routine of reading a few verses every day and seeking to apply it to your life a great start.  Chapman asks, "Can you envision what might happen in your life if you would begin reading the Scriptures daily, listening to the voice of God, and responding to his commands, in the power of the Holy Spirit?"

No matter what the condition of your marriage is, Chapman has some good reminders here.  If you want to be happy, work on making your spouse happy, since "genuine happiness is the by-product of making someone else happy."  And no matter how perfect you think your spouse is, he or she has probably screwed something up from time to time.  With our spouses, "we need to follow God's example," who "no longer holds our sins against us" and "never reminds us of past failures." Moving on from failure, "what is important is how you treat each other today, not how you treated each other in the past.  Forgetting the past is the key that can open the future, bringing reconciliation between your spouse and you."

I was a little bit surprised that Chapman leaves room for separation as a viable, sometimes necessary step in reconciling a marriage.  He makes a good case that as long as, during the period of separation, both husband and wife are working toward communicating better, working on their own issues, and not seeking romantic relationships with others, separation can be a productive time.

I agree with Dr. Chapman that marriages "are either growing or diminishing.  You must continue to do the kind of things that stimulate growth."  Couples who are separated or on the brink of divorce should pick up this book, but even couples whose marriages are in good condition can glean some insights.  And, like Dr. Chapman's other books, One More Try can be a great resource for pastors, counselors, and others who might counsel married couples, formally or informally.


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

Farewell to Mars, by Brian Zahnd

Like most Americans, I spent some time on Memorial Day contemplating the sacrifices made by the men and women of our armed forces.  In fact, I got to spend some time with my nephew, who was home on leave after serving with the Air Force in Africa.  But I also spent a good portion of the day reading Brian Zahnd's new book, Farewell to Mars: An Evangelical Pastor's Journey Toward the Biblical Gospel of Peace.

Zahnd, pastor of Word of Life Church in Saint Joseph, Missouri, describes how his thinking changed when he "encountered Jesus in a fresh and new way" and he "began to take the 'words in red' seriously."  He repented of his voyeuristic cheerleading during the broadcasts of the events of the first Gulf War, and of his "war prayers and war sermons," particularly after 9/11.  It is not unusual to hear theologians and pastors on the theological left decrying war and preaching peace, but Zahnd seems to be otherwise in line with more a conservative, evangelical theological grounding.

The problem he points out is that "the gospel of peace is being obscured by a church that has long been more interested in serving as a chaplain to its host superpower than embarking about the risky path of following Jesus as the Prince of Peace."  Christians have tended to overlook, ignore, water down, or outright reject those parts of Jesus' teachings that decry war and violence.  Justify our interpretations of the Sermon on the Mount as we might, but "at some point, you have to decide what Jesus did mean with his kingdom imperatives on nonviolence and enemy love."

Zahnd makes a convincing case, forcing any follower of Jesus and believer in the Bible to carefully consider what he says.  By focusing on the words and character of Jesus, and pointing out the church's tendency to ignore Jesus' peacemaking, "relegat[ing] [Jesus] to the hyperspiritualized role of personal Savior," Zahnd leaves little room to argue against what is so self-evident in Jesus' teaching.

Yet I wish he would have addressed the centuries-long debate over the issue of peace and war.  He never mentions just war theory.  He doesn't engage justifications for violence, whether by individuals or the state.  Is it just to use violence to defend a child against an aggressor?  Is it just to use military force to defend innocent people against a warlord?  When one nation attacks a neighboring nation without provocation, is another nation justified in intervening militarily?

I found myself agreeing with Zahnd on every point.  Yet I am still troubled by the duty of a Christian, for that matter of any person, not to stand by in the face of violence.  If my nephew's next tour of duty takes him somewhere to take up arms against, for instance, a band of terrorists plotting to attack a peaceful country, or an opposing sect in their own country, should I not support him in that, and rejoice when good triumphs over evil?  Even more, should I pray for him to have the victory?  Should I pray for the terrorists to be utterly destroyed?  These types of questions certainly do come up in A Farewell to Mars, but aren't explored to the extent that he probably should have.

Even so, Zahnd will challenge even the most red-blooded, flag-waving evangelical, assuming he or she is willing to take seriously the words of Jesus.  Unfortunately, Mars, the god of war, has sneaked into our theology.  In addition, Zahnd goes so far as to say that "the moment the church took to the Crusades in order to fight Muslims, it had already surrendered its vision of Jesus to the model of Muhammad." Ouch.  I, for one, want to follow Jesus, and to take his words seriously.  I know that won't look like Mars or Muhammad, but I'm also fairly certain that, as Zahnd argues, it won't look like what we see taught and practiced in evangelical churches today.  I am grateful that Zahnd has challenged my thinking with Farwell to Mars.


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

Rescue Mode, by Ben Bova and Les Johnson

On the heels of last year's Mars, Inc., sci-fi legend Ben Bova takes a slightly different tack on kicking off a mission to Mars in Rescue Mode.  I don't know whether it was his teaming up with Les Johnson that caused the writing to be much improved over Mars, Inc., but Rescue Mode is a much better book.

Set just a few decades in the future, Rescue Mode follows the first crewed Mars mission from prelaunch to return.  Bova and Johnson give a lot of detail about the requirements and preparations for the mission.  Johnson, a long-time NASA scientist, must have added technical, logistical knowledge to the novel.  Everything is very believable, and made me feel like this could start happening today!  As Johnson points out in the introduction, "We have the technology to get people to Mars and to bring them safely back to Earth."

These guys are definitely cheerleaders for a Mars mission.  Through the course of the story, they address the superiority of human astronauts over robots ("One human mission will gather more information, make more discoveries, than a dozen robot probes."); on the economic impact of space exploration ("We don't shoot the money into space! It's spent right here, on scientist and engineers, on technicians and mechanics and schoolteachers and truck drivers and grocery workers.  It adds to our economy.  And the knowledge we'll eventually earn will bring an enormous bonus to our economy.); and the overall benefit to society (Exploration of space and Mars "gives people hope, excitement, something to be thrilled about, something to be proud of.  And the technology we develop builds our economy better and faster than all the handouts we offer to the people.").

The great thing about Rescue Mode is that even with the didactic, almost propagandistic tone, the story is still primary.  There's no hiding that fact that a mission to Mars is perilous, perhaps even fatal for the astronauts, and that difficulties abound.  Yet the story offers hope and confidence in human ingenuity and resilience in the face of impending catastrophe.

I was a little disappointed that Bova didn't continue the theme of privately-funded space travel he established in Mars, Inc.  I guess Johnson, the NASA guy, convinced him that NASA was the only outfit that could handle such a mission.  I enjoyed the characters, the story, and the great push for travel to Mars.  Bova and Johnson have me hoping and believing that we'll be sending crewed missions to Mars in my lifetime!


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

Money, by Steve Forbes and Elizabeth Ames

Anyone who has read Steve Forbes's columns in Forbes or any of his prior books will not be surprised that his new book, Money: How the Destruction of the Dollar Threatens the Global Economy--and What We Can Do About It, is well-written, accessible to the non-specialist, and quite convincing.  He and Elizabeth Ames, with whom he has collaborated on several prior books, make a solid argument for a return to sound money.

Forbes and Ames argue that the economic problems of the last several decades are the result of the lack of stable currency, and that the means to a stable currency is the gold standard.  "Without an economy based on stable money," they argue, "we will face an ever bigger government, stagnation, and ever more severe political troubles."  That sounds pretty much like the story of the last 40 years, since Nixon abandoned the gold standard.

Money describes what money is: a measurement, a signal, basically information.  Without a measure of what things are worth, transactions turn chaotic.  Could a butcher sell his meat if the number of ounces in a pound was in constant flux?  Could a builder build a house if he wasn't sure how many inches are in a foot this week?  By the same token, an economy without a stable measure of value is subject to the whims of, well, the Federal Reserve.

Forbes and Ames are highly critical of quantitative easing, the most recent move to weaken the dollar.  They write, "QE did not just fail as a stimulus.  It prevented recovery by causing a destructive misallocation of credit" and caused "spikes in the prices of commodities that raised the cost of food and fuel, inflaming political divisions and unrest in many developing nations."  Proponents of QE are followers of John Maynard Keynes's theories.  But "Keynes and monetarists are on the wrong side of history.  Increasing the supply of money cannot create prosperity because that is not how wealth is created.  Wealth and growth come from innovation."  Any Keynesian growth is artificial.  The only genuine growth is from innovation.

Even though Forbes and Ames make a convincing case, I am not sure they believe anyone who matters will listen to them.  They know Keynesianism dominates among politicians and economists today.  But I think we can also see the tide turning.  When Ron Paul called for a return to the gold standard, and demanded that we audit the Fed, he was, at first, written off as a loon.  But voices like his and Forbes's seem to be taken more seriously now.  Perhaps, against all odds, the right people will read Money and be spurred to agree that "the way to growth and a more prosperous future is not through weak money or tight money--but through sound money."


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