Spirit Runner, by Richard Ferguson

Ron Campbell, the central figure of Richard Ferguson's Spirit Runner, was just a boy when his whole family died in a car crash, but he was old enough to know that his father was a great Olympic marathoner.  Despite the fact that his legs were devastatingly injured in the wreck, and he face years of rehab before he will even be able to walk and run normally, he carries a determination that he will be a great runner like his father.

Ron's tragic life begins with the auto accident, but that is not the end of the tragedy.  He's placed in the care of his aunt and uncle, who mistreat him and are literally willing to kill for Ron's inheritance.  Thankfully his loving, kind grandparents intervene.  He also has a therapist who lives at the ranch with the family, and who has the skills and determination to get Ron back on his feet.  His favorite nurse from his hospital stay becomes a regular feature at the ranch, as do some kids from neighboring ranches who become his best friends.

In this environment of love and hatred, he faces obstacles, human and natural, which seem determined to ruin his rehabilitation and break his spirit: sabotage of his aquatic training trench, an attack from a rabid wolf, getting swept away in a flash flood, physical abuse from his aunt and uncle, cruelty from his cousin, harassment from bullies, and other struggles.  Somehow he perseveres and, miraculously, does not turn out to be an embittered, mean young man, but a strong, kind young man who turns out to be an even greater runner than his dad.

Some of the drama is over the top in Spirit Runner, but the overall message and the story of redemption from out of tragedy makes this an enjoyable read.  Although he faced hardship and had to deal with hateful relatives, he was fortunate to have such great, positive support.  When things seem darkest, look for the light and press on.


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

The Wind Up Girl, by Paolo Bacigalupi

There are a couple reasons why I went ahead and finished The Windup Girl.  First of all, I have a compulsion to finish any book that I start.  Second, I was interested in the fate of the windup girl.  In the meantime, I became quite distracted and bored.

It's not that Paolo Bacigalupi is a bad writer.  His writing is, at times, beautiful and poetic.  His portrayal of a future Thailand, where fossil fuels are rarely used, sea levels have risen tremendously, and genetic engineering has permanently transformed the world's flora and fauna, including everyone's diets, is detailed, elaborate, and compelling.  But the multilayered story, the political and societal changes that are bubbling up from under the surface, and the contemplative passages interspersed among passages where something actually happened, lost my interest.

I did get to the end.  Some of the threads from early in the story that had seemed extraneous came together, to a certain extent.  But, ultimately, The Windup Girl is not a book to my taste.

Samson, by Eric Wilson

The story of Samson doesn't fill a lot of pages in the Bible, but he is one of the more memorable characters in the Old Testament.  Eric Wilson has written Samson, a novelization based on the 2018 movie about "the original super hero."  I have not seen the soon-to-be-released movie, so I can't speak for it, but based on what I've read, Wilson and the movie's writers seem to have made an effort to capture the essence of the biblical account while humanizing the characters and dramatizing the story.

Samson struggles with his anointing as a judge over Israel.  His eyes wander to the Philistine women and he falls in love with one.  She happens to be a servant of the prince.  When the prince learns of her love of Samson, he recruits her as a spy on Samson, who has proven to be a foe of the occupying Philistines.  Many years later, the prince's own lover, Delilah, is sent for the same duty.  Samson, of course, lets his love of these women cloud his judgment, leading to his downfall.

Samson's story is familiar.  (If it's not familiar to you, go read Judges 13-16.)  Wilson fills in the gaps of the biblical account, putting names and contexts on the bare-bones biblical narrative.  I enjoyed the book, and look forward to seeing the story on the big screen.  Based on the previews I've seen, in this case I bet the movie will be better than the book.

Samson trailer: youtube.com/watch?v=5TXaC3GjuJo


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

Moran Cartoons Vol. 1, by John Moran

John Moran must be a strange and funny guy.  His cartoon collection, Moran Cartoons, Vol. 1 is full of odd, quirky humor that strange and funny guys write and draw.  I enjoyed this collection, which must mean I'm a little strange and twisted.

No disrespect to Mr. Moran, but I couldn't help thinking of Gary Larson's The Far Side.  Many of Moran's cartoons look like they could have been drawn by Larson.  The fat guys in lab coats, the lady with the cat-eye glasses, the deer standing on two legs are familiar to The Far Side fans.  I would be very surprised if Moran did not say Larson was an inspiration and influence on his work.

Even though Larson's influence is evident, Moran has his own voice and his own humor.  Moran does, at times, take things to a darker, grittier place than Larson typically did.  He's willing to step on some delicate toes with his cartoons.

I must say I enjoyed every page of Moran Cartoons, Vol. 1.  You can find some samples of his work at morancartoons.com, but, of course, I'm sure he'd rather you just bought the book.  I hope that his fount of off-beat humor will not run dry for a long time.


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

The Wife Between Us, by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen

Nellie found her Prince Charming, and he was great--until he wasn't.  Now he has a new fiancee, and she's determined to stop the marriage.  The Wife Between Us, by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pakkanen, takes the reader on a few twists and turns in this tale of jealousy, marital hell, and revenge.

Vanessa, who met Richard on a flight and had a story-book romance, wanted to be a good wife, and Richard wanted to be the perfect husband.  They both had secrets from their past.  Anytime Vanessa's secrets came out, or she didn't live up to Richard's ideals, his controlling, manipulative, and sometimes violent side came out.  After they divorced, she becomes determined to stop him from marrying again.

The Wife Between Us features zero likeable characters (except for Vanessa's aunt.  She's OK.).  This world is populated by people who keep secrets from people they love, make terrible life choices, and see other people as objects useful for their own goals.  Richard is, conveniently, a moneybags, but we don't get much insight as to how he got there, other than he's a hedge fund manager.  I don't guess it matters, but I'm a little bothered by people in fiction who are tremendously wealthy just for the sake of the story without the story telling us how he got there.

The story is suspenseful, but the suspense is a bit overplayed for the payoff.  The back stories are slowly revealed, but, again, by the time I learned about whatever dark secrets the past held, I didn't much care.  This is just the kind of story about nasty people and the nasty ways they behave that makes readers thankful that their own world is not full of such nasty people.


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

The Financial Diet, by Chelsea Fagan

Millennial Chelsea Fagan has some advice for other millennial women: it's not too early to learn to be good with money.  Her new book, The Financial Diet: A Total Beginner's Guide to Getting Good With Money, is aimed specifically toward female millennials, but her tips apply just as well to anyone, whatever sex or generation, who needs to get better with money.

Fagan's successful blog The Financial Diet gave her exposure and a platform for educating and inspiring others to get their financial lives in order.  The Financial Diet covers familiar territory for personal finance books: create a budget, set aside an emergency fund, start investing for retirement, take advantage of your employer's matching funds, etc.  Fagan covers these areas nicely, with plenty of explanations and definitions for the total beginner.

Where Fagan sets herself apart is her chapters on household matters.  For millennials, or anyone else setting out on their own or making adjustments to a household budget, Fagan's practical tips on cooking and furnishing a home are welcome.  Her step-by-step guide to equipping a kitchen, including shopping guidelines and sample recipes, is great for anyone, especially anyone who frequently asks himself or herself, "What will I fix for dinner?" and ends up answering, "Take out."

Fagan has a bit of an attitude and a mild potty mouth.  I guess this appeals to millennials.  In spite of that, The Financial Diet is a great, basic resource.  Maybe my kids, who will be out on their own sooner than I would like, will follow her advice, because I'm sure they won't listen to me.  



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

Sinners in the Hands of a Loving God, by Brian Zahnd

Brian Zahnd, pastor of Word of Life church in St. Joseph, Missouri, challenged Christians to embrace Jesus as peacemaker in Farewell to Mars.  In Sinners in the Hands of Loving God: The Scandalous Truth of the Very Good News, he challenges Christians again.  Responding to perhaps the most famous sermon in American church history, Jonathan Edwards's "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," Zahnd shifts the focus away from God's wrath to the love of Jesus.

Zahnd acknowledges that the Old Testament is overflowing with examples of a vengeful, violent God.  But the perfect revelation of God is Jesus himself, who embodies love and rejects violence.  God didn't change between the Old and New Testaments, but "the Old Testament is the inspired telling of the story of Israel coming to know their God. . . . God doesn't evolve, but Israel's understanding of God obviously does."  Based on the cultures that surrounded them, Israel made assumptions about their God that Jesus negated.

This explanation of Israel's changing view of God is the most satisfying justification for the vengeful, violent portrayals of the Old Testament I have heard or read.  Zahnd reminds us to read the Old Testament in light of Jesus and his character.  In fact, remember that "the Bible is the penultimate word of God that points us to the ultimate Word of God who is Jesus."  Zahnd says he doesn't hold a low view of scripture but a high view of Jesus.  I just wonder if he takes it too far: "Jesus saves the Bible from itself!  Jesus shows us how to read the Bible and not be harmed by it.  Jesus delivers the Bible from its addiction to violent retaliation."  This rings true in part, because Zahnd provides a filter through which to read those horribly uncomfortable Old Testament passages.  Yet it still sounds . . . wrong.  Sure, Jesus ranks higher than the text of the Bible, but the Bible is the record of what we know about Jesus.  It's great to say we default to Jesus, but that means turning to scripture to learn about Jesus.  We either get into a circular argument or else we create the Jesus of our personal experience and preferences.

From there, Zahnd takes a turn toward what might be interpreted as universalism.  He certainly raises questions about the way many evangelicals view salvation.

According to Jesus, the avoidance of afterlife condemnation is not based upon being able to give particular answers to abstract theological questions cribbed from John Calvin and labeled "faith" but on how one actually lives his or her life.  Jesus certainly did not lay the foundation for an afterlife theology that claims all non-Christians go to hell.  This has become a common way of thinking about heaven and hell--"Christians go to heaven; non-Christians go to hell"--but it is not based on anything Jesus ever said!

This is the kind of passage Zahnd likes to write, giving us a lot to think about but studiously avoiding developing a further argument.  Zahnd continues, "The gospel is not the appalling claim that billions of people are fated to unending agony by a capricious God!"  Well, sure if you put it like that. . . .  "Jesus can save whomever he wants."  True.  Of course.  But it seems to me that one message of the Bible is that not everyone will be saved.

The best that can be said about much of Sinners in the Hands of a Loving God is that he inspires me to pull out my Bible for some refreshers and reminders about the gospel.  I think Zahnd would affirm that as one of his missions as a teacher, preacher, and author.  He certainly discourages his readers from wholly embracing conventional theological wisdom.  And his over-arching point remains: Jesus is the revelation of God, and Jesus is all about love. 


Thanks to Blogging for Books and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!