Powder Burn, by Carl Hiaasen and Bill Montalbano

Before Carl Hiaasen started writing his south Florida comedy/crime novels, he and Bill Montalbano write a series of three unfunny crime novels, the first of which is Powder Burn.  Like all of Hiaasen's solo novels, Powder Burn is set in Florida and features the shady side of the Sunshine State.

When accomplished architect Chris Meadows unexpectedly runs into his ex-lover and her (his?) daughter, his world is rocked when, a few short minutes later, he watches helplessly as they are killed by an out-of-control driver on the losing end of a car chase.  As he runs to the scene, he sees a man get of the chase car and shoot the driver and passenger in the other car.  He then turns to shoot Meadows in the leg.

As he recovers, he vows revenge on the killer and the network that spawned him.  Quickly Meadows embeds himself in the drug dealing culture of Miami in the 1980s.  The Columbians and the Cubans are in a turf war, drugs are flowing from Columbia, and body counts are building.  Designing his plans for revenge as meticulously as he designs his buildings, Meadows schemes to bring down the men responsible for his friend's death.

Powder Burn is an interesting cultural artifact, as Hiaasen captures the reality of drugs and crime in Miami.  The drugs that flowed from Columbia, through the Cubans, into professional offices and luxury homes throughout south Florida.  Meadows embraces this culture a bit too heartily, obviously going after the murderous elements but enjoying the highs, sex, and money.  It's ugly, and, to me, shows the indivisible connection between supposedly victimless vices and the crime that surrounds it.

Fans of Hiaasen's later fiction might enjoy Powder Burn, but it lacks the fun, the colorful characters, and the absurdity that mark his fiction and make it so enjoyable. 

The Ice-Cold Heart, by KS Augustin

The Takamo universe is vast and familiar to those who play this role-playing game.  To the unfamiliar, a new series of novels and short stories introduce and explore the history, politics, and geography (planetograpy? galactography?) of Takamo universe.  KS Augustin's The Ice-Cold Heart follows the career of Benaltep, a Naplian co-emporer.  In a series of vignettes that bounce between Benaltep as an old man writing his memoirs, and different stages of his career, Benaltep's story unfolds.  For the most part, his reflections surround his rivalry with his co-emperor, the arrogant and manipulative Bonate.

I did not particularly enjoy The Ice-Cold Heart.  The characters were cardboard cutouts of power hungry emperor-villains.  Benaltep and Bonate were distinguished only by their scheming.  Nothing about their character showed that they were qualified to rule more than a tiny village.  Their hand-wringing and back biting made me think of rival warlords of Indian tribes or something, not rulers capable of overseeing sophisticated, far-reaching, technologically advanced worlds.  Speaking of worlds, Augustin spent very little of the story actually developing these worlds.  It was just these two guys, talking and talking, and plotting against each other. 

The story does give some background on the political history of the empire and some of the major events.  I would anticipate that it would shed some light on the other Takamo stories, and hope that they start fitting together, building a cohesive history.  But as a stand-alone novel, my heart is cold toward The Ice-Cold Heart.


Thanks to Takamo Publishing for the complimentary electronic review copy!

Never Enough?, by Ron Blue

On the short list of Christian financial experts, Ron Blue is always going to be near the top.  With nearly a half century of experience as a financial advisor and a shelf full of books he's written, Blue is definitely the go-to guy for Christian financial planning.  In his new book, Never Enough?3 Keys to Financial Contentment, Blue, with coauthor Karen Guess, introduces simple principles to apply for financial sanity, stability, and commitment.

Blue tells plenty of stories and anecdotes to illustrate his points, but the principles he teaches are so simple that they can be summed up in a page or two.  Responding the the question of the title: what is enough?  Blue writes, "Scripture teaches that the answer to the 'how much is enough' question is what I have right now."  I hadn't thought about contentment quite like this before, but he's right.  No matter what my status is, the only right attitude is contentment.  That's a good word.

Whatever our financial condition, Blue has provided some principles to follow:

1. Spend less than you earn because every sucess in your financial life depends on this habit.
2. Avoid debt because debt always mortgages the future.
3. Give generously because giving breaks the power of money.
4. Plan for financial margin because the unexpected will come.
5. Set long-term goals because there is always a trade-off between the short-term and the long-term.

If you are already doing all of these things, you probably don't need to read this book.  OK, even if you are doing these things,  you will benefit from Blue's insights.  If you are not doing these things, well, you are Blue's target audience.  He doesn't go into a ton of details procedural depth with these goals, but gives some guidelines to help you get there.

I liked his pie chart method to see where your money is going.  There are basically four places our money goes: live, give, owe, and grow.  One slice of the pie, usually the largest, goes to living expenses.  The next slice, which Blue encourages us to make bigger than it probably is, is give.  He believes in a lifestyle of giving to church, to other causes, to help out friends and family.  Third is owe, both debt and taxes.  Finally, grow, saving and investing for the short-term and long-term future.  I know most people need this slice to be larger.

The first step in growing slices of the pie that we want to be larger, like give and grow, is to work on making the live and owe slices smaller.  Blue helps with that, and gives examples of clients and others who have applied these principles.  This is actually the part of the book I didn't like.  One the one hand, it's inspiring to read about families who give sacrificially, and then receive abundantly later on.  Blue talks about giving to a ministry even though it meant giving up a summer vacation that year.  Well, "God in his grace provided not one but three all-inclusive vacations . . . We did not pay for a vacation for years after that experience."  The problem is making something like this normative, where we give expecting God to deliver like that.  It's dangerously close to the "health-and-wealth," vending machine type of gospel.  I believe God blessed the Blues, and he can bless my family, but I'm uncomfortable with a theology that teaches this as the norm.

There's no question in my mind that, whatever your view of God's provision for your life is, if you follow the basic principles in this book, you will be financially better off.  And trusting in God, being content in his provision for your life, is never a bad idea.  Never Enough? is a good kick-start for you to make sure your financial life is on track and focused on God.


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

The World's Greatest Collection of Dad Jokes, by Glenn Hascall

Dad jokes.  I have been accused of telling a few.  Now, thanks to The World's Greatest Collection of Dad Jokes: More Than 500 of the Punniest Jokes Dads Love to Tell I have plenty more ammunition.  The title tells it like it is.  This is a bunch of jokes, ranging from one-liners and riddles, to more extensive stories.  Some are classics.  All of these, I expect, have been passed down through a few generations of Dads, now lovingly preserved and organized into a dozen categories by Glenn Hascall. 

This collection is published by Barbour Publishing, a Christian publishing house, so you can be sure that the jokes are clean and, for the most part, inoffensive.  Just to be sure you know this is a Christian book, each chapter starts with a scripture.  I love the Bible, but the scriptures didn't add much to the book.

Hascall included some old favorites, like "repaint, and thin no more," "shave it," "the reception was great," and "no one can play it, and we really need more light."  If you don't recognize those punch lines, well, you'll have to read the book!

True to the publisher's roots, there are good number of church-related jokes, like church bulletin gaffes and funnies.  ("The class on prophecy has been cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances.")  I particularly enjoyed the "funny things kids say" jokes, too.  (The little boy at the tiger exhibit at the zoo: "Daddy, if the tigers escaped and ate you . . . how would I get home?")

I've tried some of these out on my teenage boys.  Reaction?  "Stop, Dad, just stop."  Mission accomplished!


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

Talking with God, by Adam Weber

Adam Weber is pastor of one of the fastest-growing churches in America, Embrace Church in, of all places, Sioux Falls, South Dakota.  His new book Talking With God: What to Say When You Don't Know How to Pray is for everyone who doesn't "have prayer figured out . . . who is curious about prayer . . . who wants to talk with God."  When Weber asked his friend, retired pastor Roger Fredrikson, how he would describe prayer, Fredrikson replied, "Talking with God."  And that, my friends, is all there is to it.

Weber wants Christians to understand that, in spite of what you might hear during Sunday morning prayers, one need not learn a new vocabulary in order to pray.  Perhaps little kids are the best example: "When it comes to talking with God, what can we learn from kids? Pretty much everything. Keep it short, simple, and honest." (53)

Sometimes we feel inadequate, unprepared or unworthy to talk to God.  Weber writes, "Instead of being discouraged or feeling disqualified, start talking with God today. . . . He's not looking to scold you.  He's just so glad to talk with you.  He delights in you.  Whenever you start talking with God, he's glad to be with you, as any good father would be." (65)

Weber spends a good chunk of the book helping us to know "How to pray when. . . ."  With entertaining examples from his own life and church family, and with actual, simple model prayers, Weber writes about praying when:

• You face storms.
• You're discouraged.
• You're stuck in the mud.
• You're exhausted.
• You need an anchor.
• You want to be used by God.
• You're trying to extend grace.

This last chapter on extending grace was particularly moving to me.  "Extending God's grace to someone when we've been hurt at the core is impossible on our own. . . . It's only possible as a result of praying. . . . Prayer empowers us to extend grace to the person who has hurt us more than anyone else on the planet."  Anyone who has been hurt and tried to forgive and be reconciled on his own will attest to the difficulty of this.  "When I read Paul's description of grace and his challenge to 'distribute' God's grace, all I can think of is an overwhelming amount of grace. . . . I picture us handing out mass quantities of grace to everyone.  I picture crates and crates stacked with bottles and bottles of grace, God's grace. . . . there's an endless supply. . . . We get to generously hand it out" to spouse, family, coworkers, strangers, enemies, through our words, actions, time and money, and forgiveness.  "Grace is an undeserved gift.  We have received it.  Now it's ours to give."  That is such a powerful image to me.  I want to prayerfully pack my backpack every morning with these bottles of excess grace and seek opportunities to empty them every day, keeping in mind that there's more where that supply came from.  But I can't do it on my own; I have to let God fill up my supplies.

For some readers, Talking With God will probably be annoying.  The prose is so conversational and informal that it was, at times, almost insulting.  I know, that sounds snobbish.  I'm just being real.  Plus, his end notes (he calls them "field notes") were a mix of scripture references and other secondary sources, as you would expect, along with autobiographical side bars, shout outs to his friends and favorite haunts, and other assorted silliness.  The notes are sort of fun, but sort of distracting.

Like any book on prayer, Talking With God is worthless unless it's put into practice.  To learn and grow in prayer, we have to pray.  Weber observed the fruit of his friend Roger's life.  "Perhaps this is why Roger's faith was so deep.  He learned about God from God.  Through years of conversations. . . .  The best way to know God is to spend time with him." (179)  Give Talking With God a bit of your time, and you have some framework and models to get you started.  Weber's model prayers probably aren't any that you'll want to pray verbatim, but they give a good idea of the conversational, personal prayer that should be a part of our walk with God.

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

Where Will I Live? by Rosemary McCarney

Just as she did in The Way to School, Rosemary McCarney captures the experiences of children around the world in Where Will I Live?  McCarney, Canada's Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the U.N., spotlights countries around the world where refugees have been displaced due to war and conflict.  What a scary experience, especially for children.

McCarney's photographs capture both the uncertainty and fear of the children, and the joy and optimism that many share.  Even in the worst of circumstances, children still forge friendships with their peers and find time to play.  Most kids never have to endure the kinds of experiences the kids in Where Will I Live? go through.  For that vast majority of children (and adults) Where Will I Live? provides colorful examples to inspire us to be thankful for national and residential stability.  More importantly, McCarney inspires us to think about how we, individually and as a nation, might be able to help refugee families.

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

The Fireside Grown-Up Guide to the Cat, by Jason Hazeley and Joel Morris

I think cats are great.  I don't own a cat.  But then again, can anyone really own a cat?  Jason Hazeley and Joel Morris are full of advice and insight about cats.  Their book The Fireside Grown-Up Guide to the Cat may be just the thing to convince you that you need to get a cat.  Or that you should never even consider such a thing.

Cats and humans have a long history:
"Over thousands of years, we have developed a special relationship with the animals that share our homes.  Dogs have evolved to serve many sorts of human needs.  And humans have evolved to serve many sorts of cat food."

Cats are helpful to have around when you are reading:
"A cat waits until its owner has indicated which books and magazines might be interesting by opening them.  Then the cat sits on the book and reads through its bottom."

Also, "They may seem selfish and pampered, but cats can be very useful around the house.  If Zara did not have a cat, she would have to shred this duvet herself."

The Fireside Grown-Up Guide to the Cat has much of the same humor as other Fireside books, but this one takes a more bizarre, absurdist twist to the humor.  It's a combination of great cat-lover humor and stuff that's just a bit weird.




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