The Kings of Big Spring, by Bryan Mealer

Growing up in Corpus Christi, I was tangentially aware of the booms and busts of the Texas oil business.  No one in my family worked in that industry, but I remember my friend's dad talking about gauging the local economy by the flares coming from the refineries along the ship channel.  One popular restaurant had a special that was priced according to the daily cost of a barrel of oil.  My summer job as a construction helper building an offshore oil platform taught me a lot about the lives of these hard-working men (and a few women).

Bryan Mealer's family rode the waves of the booms and bust more than most.  His book The Kings of Big Spring: God, Oil, and One Family's Search for the American Dream chronicles several generations of his ancestor's.  Like many families, his left Georgia at the end of the 19th century to come find new opportunities in Texas.  They moved from place to place, but the West Texas town of Big Spring becomes the focus of the book and of the family's fortunes.

The many stories of Mealer's family are mildly interesting.  There is a lot of hard work and rags to riches here.  But to someone who's not related to these people, I thought, "That's nice but I don't really care about what happens to them."  Mealer ties his family's story to the stories of some more significant figures, particularly his father's partnership with Grady Cunningham, who married Raymond Tollett's daughter.  Tollett had led Big Spring's Cosden Oil through tremendous growth.  Grady longed to live up to his father-in-law's reputation as a community leader, and, of course, as a high-rolling oil man.

Mealer weaves these personal stories together against the backdrop of a history of the oil business in Texas.  For interested Texas buffs, people involved in the oil business, and people in Mealer's family or who know his family, this is a great read.  But for anyone else, in spite of Mealer's excellent writing, it barely rises to the level of compelling.  I certainly didn't hate the book, but finished with a take-it-or-leave-it shrug.

Don't Blame the Mud, by Marty Machowski, illustrated by Craig McIntosh

At some point, we all must take accountability for our own sin.  Marty Machowski's story Don't Blame the Mud illustrates this step of maturity in a simple way.  With illustrations by Craig McIntosh, Machowski tells the story of Max, who, despite his mother's warnings to keep his school uniform clean, choosing to walk home on the path by the creek rather than on the road.  After a few close calls, Max falls, soiling his school clothes, just like Mom said.

Feeling an urgent need to cover up the consequences of his disobedience, he sneaks to his room and sheds his dirty clothes, leaving a trail of mud.  He then lies to his parents about how he got dirty: "It's not my fault that I slipped and fell. . . . It's the mud's fault.  It wasn't me."  When his parents confront him with the obvious, he feels a deep sense of conviction, and his parents take the opportunity to teach him about sin, repentance, and God's plan for forgiveness.

Machowski includes tips to help parents talk to their children about the gospel.  It's a simple story, but with a profound purpose: turning children's hearts away from sin and toward Jesus.  The lesson holds for believers of all ages.  Just as Max strayed closer and closer to the mud, so do we place ourselves in proximity to sin.  It's a message we should never stop hearing and a lesson we all need to hear and pass along to our children and other younger Christians.


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

Life Inside the Bubble, by Dan Bongino

I like Dan Bongino and enjoy his appearances as a commentator on various Fox News programs, as a guest host on Mark Levin's and Sean Hannity's radio shows, and other outlets.  In Life Inside the Bubble: Why a Top-Ranked Secret Service Agent Walked Away from It All, Bongino writes about his formative years, his twelve-year career in the Secret Service, and the perspectives he developed over that time, leading to a run for the U.S. Senate.

Most of the book is Bongino's own story.  He started his career in law enforcement as a police officer in New York City, where he grew up.  Shortly he was accepted in the Secret Service where, ultimately, he led advance teams for presidential trips.  It is interesting to read about what goes on behind the scenes in the Secret Service, and inspiring to read about a kid from humble circumstances ending up in the Oval Office during historically significant events.  But if you're looking for real revelations and inside scoops, there's not a lot here. 

As to the subtitle, he really left the Secret Service so he could be home with his family more.  That's admirable and worthy, of course, but the tone of the title makes it sound like he left over some big scandal or something.  When he reentered private life, he took on the not-so-private task of running for the U.S. Senate.  He won the Republican nomination, but in heavily Democratic Maryland, he fell short of the win.

If you like Bongino, or if you're interested in the Secret Service career track, you'll certainly enjoy the book.  But in the end Life Inside the Bubble is a pretty pedestrian memoir of a decent guy who has had an interesting career.

Muzzled, by Juan Williams

I like Juan Williams a lot, based on his role on Fox News's "The Five."  As the oldest member of that show, and the token liberal, he carries the persona of the cranky old leftist, fending off Jesse Watters and Greg Gutfeld as they pepper him with barbs (in a friendly way--usually) and respond to Williams's defense of his liberal views.  In Muzzled: The Assault on Honest Debate, Williams tells the story of how he ended up as a full-timer at Fox News and bemoans the lack of balance virtually anywhere in American media.

The impetus of the book, and much of its content, involves Williams's firing from NPR.  In the days after 9/11, he made a comment that he would be "worried" if a group of men in "Muslim garb" were on a flight with him.  For this comment, NPR fired him.  Fox News, on which he was a regular commentator, gave him a full-time gig as the resident liberal.

If you have suspected that NPR has a definite leftward slant (it seems obvious, but they try to present themselves as centrist or unbiased), Williams's account will convince you.  While Fox is regularly dismissed as non-serious, biased news coverage, the reality is that outlets like NPR and others militantly exclude points of view that don't fit their agendas.

Muzzled was published in 2011, so it doesn't touch on the 2016 election or the Trump administration.  Besides his own firing controversy, he covers several policy positions, presenting his mostly predictable liberal positions.  Even though I disagree with Williams on most policy issues, I appreciate the reasonableness with which he discusses policy, in the book and on TV.  These discussions are pretty standard, but the account of the NPR debacle is worth the time to read the book.  We could use more voices like Williams's in public discourse.

Under the Banner of Heaven, by John Krakauer

Author Jon Krakauer has a good sense of relating the human experience, as he writes about summiting Everest, living in the wild, rape in a college town, or military service.  In Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith, Krakauer examines the case of the murder of a young mother and her baby, and the fringe Mormon group that inspired it.

Krakauer gives us a history lesson on Mormonism, with a focus on the fundamentalist, polygamist sects that have spun on the main branch.  As long as I can remember, I have considered Mormonism to be a non-Christian offshoot from orthodox Christianity, with too many fundamental theological aberrations for them to be considered Christian.  Krakauer points out some of these aberrations (although he himself doesn't claim faith one way or another), but more importantly, he describes the questionable historical foundations on which Mormons base their faith.

However, he does a disservice to Mormon history by focussing on fringe groups that have split from "official" church teaching.  I would expect practicing Mormons not only to be upset by his narrow characterization but by his tendency to lump fundamentalist Mormons together with mainstream Mormons.  This led me to consider what parts of my own tradition's history could be represented (or misrepresented) as problematic.  What fringe groups or independent congregations could be described that would embarrass me or that I would call heretical?  To take a glaring example, for much of my life I have been a Baptist, but I in no way identify with the radical Westboro Baptist Church (few Baptists do).  More broadly, sociopaths and criminals regularly justify their actions in the name of religion, but in almost every case, actual adherents to those religions disavow those bad actors.

Krakauer tends to present the bad actors in this book as representative of the fundamentalist sects to which they belong, leaving the reader with the impression that the polygamy, incest, autocracy, and, ultimately, murderous acts, are typical of Mormonism, and that mainstream Mormonism has simply found ways to keep it covered up, both in their history and in contemporary life.  I remain no less convinced that Mormonism is a cult, but I don't believe Krakauer has given them a fair shake in Under the Banner of Heaven.

This was an interesting book to read, even with its anti-Mormon tendencies.  Hopping back and forth between Mormonism's beginnings to current events, and between mainstream Mormonism and many of its offshoots, the story tends to become fractured.  Krakauer used some shocking events as a springboard to paint a biased, unflattering picture of Mormonism.

Twelve Rules for Life, by Jordan Peterson

I first became aware Jordan Peterson, psychology professor at the University of Toronto, when he came  under criticism for his statements against political correctness in Canada.  Since then, he as become a folk hero of the Right in the U.S., even though some of his views on Christianity and politics aren't quite in line with traditional American political conservatism. 

In 2012, he began taking part in Quora, a web site where people ask all sorts of questions and other users spout their opinions and still other users upvote the answers.  In response to the question, "What are the most valuable things everyone should know?" and generated a bunch of positive responses.  He refined that initial response into 12 "rules for life" and now has expanded the list into the book 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos.  I have listed the rules below.  If you don't want to read his book, at least read and reflect on these rules.  They're pretty straight forward and can impact the way you live and think.

If you like the rules you will love his book.  He expands on each rule in very personal, sometimes humorous, and usually profound ways.  Some themes persist throughout.  One is a rejection of the totalitarianism of Communist movements in the 20th century.  Peterson makes repeated reference to the dark, murderous results of Communist ideology--one of the primary sources of the chaos he refers to in the title.  Another theme is responsibility.  We must take responsibility for ourselves and those under our care and in our circles. 

Every rule has the potential to stick with you, and every chapter has multiple points of potentially profound revelation.  A highlight for me was Rule 4, Compare yourself with who you were yesterday, not with who someone else is today.  Under rule 1, he points out how few people in any field--music, writing, scientific inquiry, wealth--accomplish widespread success.  (Google Price's law.)  This idea frees me from the self-condemnation that can come from my feelings of inadequacy.  Peterson would say be proud of what you have accomplished and determine to improve each day.  This may be an over-simplification, but that's what I got out of it. . . .

Each of the rules and Peterson's discussion lends itself to self-discovery and challenge.  He writes with a lot of wisdom and wit.  Please, if you have a perception of Peterson that he's some kind of racist or radical right-winger, forget it.  He's not.  Here's what he is: a resource to offer solid advice for improving yourself and the world around you.

Rule 1 Stand up straight with your shoulders back

Rule 2 Treat yourself like you would someone you are responsible for helping

Rule 3 Make friends with people who want the best for you

Rule 4 Compare yourself with who you were yesterday, not with who someone else is today

Rule 5 Do not let your children do anything that makes you dislike them

Rule 6 Set your house in perfect order before you criticize the world

Rule 7 Pursue what is meaningful (not what is expedient)

Rule 8 Tell the truth – or, at least, don’t lie

Rule 9 Assume that the person you are listening to might know something you don’t

Rule 10 Be precise in your speech

Rule 11 Do not bother children when they are skate-boarding

Rule 12 Pet a cat when you encounter one on the street

Rediscovering Americanism, by Mark Levin

Mark Levin is one of the more thoughtful and intelligent voices of right-wing radio today.  He worked as a lawyer in the Reagan administration, and has published a number of books dealing with the founding principles of the United States.  His book Rediscovering Americanism: and the Tyranny of Progressivism challenges current American political thinkers (and non-thinking followers) to reject the siren song of progressive ideology.

Much of Levin's argumentation is based on the idea that "the principle of natural law permeated American thought from the beginning of our republic and well before."  Progressivism is bound up in the denial of natural law, but, Levin writes, "the abandonment of Natural Law is the adoption of tyranny in one form or another, because there is no human or benevolent alternative to natural law." 

Levin then digs into some of the roots of American progressivism.  Some of the names you will recognize, others will probably be new to you but wielded influence on the more well-known thinkers and leaders.  The progressive idea, according to Levin, boils down to the idea that "the American heritage and founding principles must be thrust aside if there is to be human progress."  This idea took hold in the early years of the 20th century and is enjoying a resurgence today (even if it never really went away). 

Levin argues convincingly against the "administrative-state tyranny" that progressivism yields and in favor of constitutional republicanism and property rights.  While his argumentation and sourcing are sound, his exposition is somewhat lacking.  I respect the reliance on the original sources, but at many points his lengthy quotes could have used some condensation and his own exposition could have been refined.  This was especially true listening to the audiobook, as the quotes and Levin's own contributions were hard to distinguish.  Similarly, in the Kindle version, there are no block quotes or variations in font, so while reading it's hard to distinguish between Levin and his sources.  I have not consulted a print version to see how it treats extended quotes.  This may all be a result of my own inattentiveness, I don't know, but I would have liked more distinction between the quoted part and Levin's text.

As I have noticed in Levin's other books, the bombastic, confrontational voice we hear on his radio show does not show up much in Rediscovering Americanism.  This is not quite an academic tome, but it is dense in its argumentation and source materials.  Wrestle through it and you will be rewarded with a better understanding of the intellectual foundations that underpin today's political controversies (whether or not today's politicians realize it).  You will also gain a deeper appreciation for Levin's radio show, as he shows the substance behind his on-air discussions.