Happy Habits for Every Couple, by Roger and Kathy Lipp

I've said it before, and I'll say it again.  I think a married couple can always benefit from input to improve their marriage.  Roger and Kathy Lipp have written a brief, practical, and entertaining guide for couples to use to encourage and enjoy one another.  Happy Habits for Every Couple: 21 Days to a Better Relationship gives daily exercises for couples to try.  The Lipp's don't guarantee a revolution in your marriage, but I don't see how their suggestions could hurt anything!

They don't write as counselors, therapists, or experts, but as a couple who has been through divorce, remarriage, raising teens, and the ins and outs of marriage.  They "gleaned and condensed the very best advices from every marriage books on [their] shelves into short, doable projects [they] could work on together."  The result is 3 weeks of daily projects that anybody can do.  Just like anything else, it may take some planning and effort to pull off, but will be worth it.

As stated in the introduction, "the essence of Happy Habits for Every Couple is about becoming a person of encouragement who serves the one you love."  That is what sets Happy Habits apart.  It's not about fixing a marriage, inducing guilt, or pointing out what goes wrong in a marriage.  It's all about building one another up for a few weeks, and building some habits that can be practiced continually.  It's fun, practical, doable, affirming, and marriage-building.  Give it a shot!


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

Clutter Free, by Kathy Lipp

Just in time for your new year's resolution to get your house in order, Kathy Lipp has a few suggestions for you.  Clutter Free: Quick and Easy Steps to Simplifying Your Space not only gives practical suggestions for cleaning out your closets and drawers but helps with an understanding of the acquisitiveness and impractical thinking that leads to our being swamped with stuff.

Lipp defines clutter as "anything that is in your house that hasn't earned the right to be there, or it has earned the right, but hasn't found its permanent home." More than just finding a place for everything, she emphasized contentment and simplicity.  "Instead of thinking, How do we earn more so we can buy a bigger house? your thoughts must turn to, How do we get rid of more so we can enjoy the house we're in?" Sound thinking, in my book.

As an example of her practical thinking, she mentions considering the purchase of a new egg slicer, which "is going to save me from the laborious task of slicing all those eggs."  It might save her six minutes a year, but what about the time spent earning money to buy it, time shopping for it, "the time I will spend hunting for it the three times a year I want to use it,"and "the time I spend moving it out of the way when I want to find another gadget and have to dig through all the other time-saving devices." Sometimes those labor-saving tools add complexity in other ways.

The main action item of Clutter Free is the Lipp's 2000 things challenge.  She and her family got rid of 2000 things in a year.  It sounds like a lot, but when you start thinking about toys the kids don't play with, clothes you never wear, egg slicers and other gadgets you never use, and countless things stored away in the attic or garage, 2000 begins to sound doable.

Clutter Free is practical, useful, and helpful.  The appendices provide some of her nuts and bolts methods which can help you get started.  Lipp challenges the reader "not simply to get rid of stuff, but to uncover and appreciate the treasures you already have . . . the people, the memories, the treasures that you love."  Now I think I'll go clean out my closet. . . then my attic . . . and the garage . . . and my sock drawer. . . .


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

Finding Jesus, by Winston Rowntree

Do you love the Where's Waldo books?  Do you love Jesus?  Then you'll really love Winston Rowntree's Finding Jesus.  Just like Martin Hadford did for Waldo, Rowntree creates crowded scenes and places Jesus there among the masses.  He's at the grocery store, shopping mall, campground, concert, airport, really anywhere you would go.  Hey, that's a pretty good theological point!  As Rowntree says in the introduction, "if you look closely enough, somewhere in the blur of people J.C.'s waiting for you to spot him."

Rowntree's illustrations are full of funny details.  I prefer looking at the pictures for the little funny scenes and jokes, and just happening across Jesus.  If you just look for Jesus, you miss out on lots of the humor.  I was a little bothered by the number of people who look like Jesus.  At times, I wasn't sure whether I had found him or not.  Of course, that's part of the game, but I need a little more certainty in my life.

Rowntree, a cartoonist and cracked.com columnist, is apparently "a non-religious person" doing "a harmless, lighthearted novelty book that barely involves Jesus."  I have no idea what his true religious background is.  I have no idea if he published this book to mock or honor Jesus.  I'm taking it at face value: In our crazy, chaotic lives, whether we are shopping, working, relaxing, or partying, Jesus is there among us.  He wants to know us, and although he may seem elusive at times, he truly does want to be found.  As Rowntree reminds us on the back cover, Jesus said, "Seek and ye shall find."



Thanks to Blogging for Books and Three Rivers Press for the complimentary review copy!

Macaque Attack, by Gareth Powell

Ack-Ack Macaque is back!  After the saving the world in Ack-Ack Macaque and Hive Monkey, Ack-Ack and his friends have to step up to save the world yet again.  The familiar characters and conflicts from the first two Ack-Ack novels are included, and Powell introduces some new faces and wrinkles to the story.

Macaque Attack opens with Ack-Ack and his companions returning to their London of origin, after traveling to various parallel universes.  They have freed many of Ack-Ack's counterparts, other uplifted monkeys and apes, but have also discovered that the villains against whom they have been fighting also have counterparts in other parallels, who have plans to invade again across dimensional borders.

Ack-Ack fans will enjoy the way Powell draws story threads from the first two books, while introducing new elements.  I have not read Powell's novel The Recollection but he brings in characters from that storyline as well.  That's the kind of thing you do when you create a world in which there are an infinite number of parallel universes.  Speaking of parallel universes, just when I (and everyone else in the book) thought I had figured this out, another twist is introduced, sort of Matrix-like.  Interesting. . . .

I'm not sure Macaque Attack is as good as the first two books in the series.  Ack-Ack reflects on his body aging and slowing down.  Paul, Victoria's husband who died but lives on electronically, is deteriorating as well.  In spite of Powell's trademark non-stop action, including lots of explosions, and Ack-Ack's new choice of weapon (a diamond-blade chainsaw works especially well against the cyborg army), I almost felt like this story was running out of steam while soldiering on.

Nevertheless, Powell leaves the ending wide open for a sequel, even referring to the Ack-Ack "trilogy/quartet" in the Ack-Acknowledgements (although he may be referring to the original Ack-Ack short story and the three novels).  If he does write another Ack-Ack novel, I will definitely pick it up.  Mars awaits!


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

Gray Mountain, by John Grisham

John Grisham has issues.  This is no surprise to Grisham fans; many of his novels make a statement about one issue or another.  His latest novel, Gray Mountain, takes on the coal industry, as well as addressing legal issues of the rural poor.  I did enjoy Gray Mountain, but the issues distracted from the story more than Grisham usually allows.

The story: After years of contracts and skyscrapers at a huge New York firm, the recession forces downsizing, and she takes an internship at a legal aid clinic in tiny Brady, Virginia.  She gets a quick course in black lung disease, strip mining, and the evil, unethical practices of big coal.  The story progresses in classic Grisham fashion, although the death of a key character caught me by surprise.  The ending winds up rather quickly, with most of the resolution left to assumptions.  Again, this isn't necessarily uncharacteristic of Grisham, but seemed to be more the case with Gray Mountain.  

I wonder about the coal industry.  Grisham paints them as pure, unadulterated evil.  They lay waste to pristine landscapes and treat miners like dispensable tools.  The only positive nod to the coal industry was a reference to a bumper sticker that read "Like electricity? Love coal!"  I do love electricity.  But is there any way to defend the coal industry?  Not according to Grisham.  It might have been more interesting had there been some characters sympathetic to coal.

The bottom line is that this is not the best of Grisham's novels, but mediocre Grisham is still pretty terrific.  Grisham fans will love it, and even if this is the first Grisham novel you read, I thnk you would be sufficiently impressed to want to pick up some of his other novels.

You Can Lead a Horse to Water (But You Can't Make It Scuba Dive), by Robert Bruce Cormack

As much as I enjoyed the oddball characters and off-beat humor of Robert Bruce Cormack's novel You Can Lead a Horse to Water (But You Can't Make It Scuba Dive), I was disappointed that story never really emerged.  Cormack writes funny scenes, but he couldn't seem to pull together an actual plot.  There is an argument for character development; there is some of that, to be sure.  But I kept waiting and waiting for a point to come, and it never really did.

When Sam Bennett gets fired from the advertising agency where he has worked for thirty years, he's not sure where to go next.  When his daughter and son-in-law come for an extended stay, and he starts hanging out with a security guard from his former employer, they all get into assorted mischief and entrepreneurial pursuits.  House painting, web casting, catering, and children's books take up the group's time, fueled by copious amounts of pot brownies.

You Can Lead a Horse to Water isn't a bad book, it's not poorly written, it just never goes anywhere.  If that suits you, check it out.  If you are like me and seek a little more from novels you read, you will likely be disappointed.


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

Zippy the Runner, by JiYu Kim, illustrated by JeongHyeon Seon

My son Zippy came home from school with a low grade in gymnastics.  Why?  They had a timed mile run, and he didn't make the target time.  He was discouraged, because he knows his asthma slows him down (not to mention his preference for playing video games over playing outside!) and he doesn't want to be the last kid to finish.

About that time, I happened to see JiYu Kim's new book, Zippy the Runner.  What a perfect way to inspire him!  Unfortunately, my Zippy wasn't too impressed with the book.  Granted, he's 13, so he thinks he's above such children's books!  But I was impressed.  JeongHyeon Seon's illustrations are cute and the story is sweet.  I like the fact that Zippy the zebra is always last, yet because he loves to run, he still competes and is willing to help other runners.

As a back-of-the-pack runner myself, I think it's important to acknowledge that even with lots of hard work and dedication, you might still lose every race.  But that doesn't have to get in the way of your love of running and racing.  My Zippy is doing better on his timed runs.  I just hope he'll come to love running as much as Zippy the zebra does, last place or not.