Just Like Dear Old Dad's Genre

 

The Realms Thereunder by Ross Lawhead
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It must be difficult to enter into the same genre that your Dad also writes in especially when he does it so amazingly. But Ross takes it head on and is no slouch himself as he introduces us to this series of Christian Fantasy books.

In a nutshell, two teens go on a field trip and are sucked into a world of knights, armor, wars and epic journeys and struggles.

Likeable main characters, a plot that bounces along at a steady pace and good doses of humor and clever dialogue round this off. Not a masterpiece but definitely makes you want to invest the time to read the next book in the series.

Sincerely, Laura-Lee

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Dark Days for Democracy (Book Review)

 

Life Undercover: Coming of Age in the CIA by Amaryllis Fox
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I read the ebook version and listened to the audio version read by the author, Amaryllis Fox herself, simultaneously.

It was an interesting, satisfying, and well-written memoir of how Fox came to work for the CIA. It is fascinating to learn how the organization recruits, trains its workers, and is organized and structured. I also found learning the different methods of trade-craft and all the different training ops very interesting. Amaryllis is a likable person who readily shares her thoughts and does a good job of reading her book aloud with intensity and emotion but without going "over the top" with her narration.

What I disliked about this book was how dark it was as Amaryllis takes us through the various events in her life and world events that deeply impacted her and led her to pursue this type of work as her career. The decline of her mental and emotional state as she is constantly forced to live a lie every day of her life and wonder who she can trust is difficult to witness. As well as the destruction of her close personal relationships and her struggle with keeping her priorities straight and some semblance of reality and normalcy while living a life that is a complete fabrication. It tragically shows the huge sacrifices made by the youngest and brightest among us to gather and disseminate information to keep the world literally "safe for democracy".

Sex is referred to but not in a graphic manner, profanity used though sparingly, and the descriptions of violence are restrained so they don't demean or detract from the reality of what actually happened to the people who suffered. The reality of operating a clandestine life and the pathos that Amaryllis Fox has endured made me wish there was someone around while I read it so I could get a hug and then send someone out to hug Amaryllis too.

I feel like this story needs to be told and these civil servants acknowledged, so if this topic is your "thing” then definitely go for it, but if you need an emotional boost or are already feeling slightly depressed, I think you should move on and pick something else to read.

" For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?" Mark 8:36

Sincerely, Laura-Lee (was here)

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FREE Wholesome Weekend Date Movie - November 11/20

I did not see this film coming, which makes it all the nicer for the surprise. It was a "Youtube recommendation" and listed as a "film-noir" classic. Death and murder. Not exactly what I was looking for to take a break from the way our lives are right now. But the 1949 film,   IMPACT , made quite a one on me.

Briefly, it's the story of a rich couple who are happily married and ...

Ha, ha! That's ALL I'm going to tell you specifically about the plot. However, I will tell you that at its heart it is a sweet, poignant, mystery-thriller. It is filled with plot twists and cool forensics stuff long before CSI came along and made them cool. It also has the Biblical themes of justice, sacrifice, turning the other cheek and good, old-fashioned it's important to tell the truth even when you don't want to. It also shows people going to church and praying! 😯

But let me remind you that even though this is a "wholesome" movie, it contains adult themes and is not meant for younger children. Now let me continue to remind you of my other requirements which are listed below and send you off with a "hope this helps you enjoy yourself for a couple of hours."

I've also decided to add a new element to this feature which has now been running for almost six years. 

"Laura-Lee's Cookie of Choice". The appropriate cookie to enhance your viewing pleasure. And since this is a classic film, dark on the outside but filled with sweetness on the inside I MUST recommend (drumroll) Oreos. And I will even go so far as to recommend Oreo Double Stuf as a reflection of this particular film.

I hope you're not sitting next to a chronic talker because even the small details count in this story and you don't want to miss them with a lot of chit-chat. OR making out. So BEHAVE yourselves, but have a good time. Now off you go, dearies.

Sincerely, Laura-Lee

Full of vitamins and minerals. And don't forget the big glass of milk. Moo!

LAURA-LEE'S   REQUIREMENTS:   

• Good Story
• Appeals to BOTH Men & Women
• Funny
• Witty
• Good acting
• Plot Twist
• Evokes "warm fuzzies"
• Motivates snuggling
• No Graphic Sex, Violence, or Swearing
• Leaves you with good feelings/thoughts
• "Jazzed" and anxious to share it
• Available on the Internet right now for FREE (so you can watch it Immediately)

LINK "Impact" Immediately FREE at YouTube

 NOTE: Although a good quality upload it has several advertisements that you have the option to "SKIP".

LINK Impact IMDB Page

 DON'T peek at the plot until you've seen the movie. LL

Book Review: A New Theological Dance or Same Old Boring?

 

Romans Disarmed: Resisting Empire, Demanding Justice by Sylvia C Keesmaat
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I SO wanted to like this book. I was on Hold at the library for weeks to get it AND my library app tells me there are several more waiting for it now, so I'll try and keep this brief. (Especially for me)

Romans Disarmed starts by depicting a situation where a group of Christians are meeting and dancing with extreme joy. One person suddenly is overcome with his personal grief and is enveloped by the Community of Believers who wish to "Rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn." (Romans 12) Great. Sounds like a wonderful foundation to reexamine the book of Paul to the Romans.

But then we are confronted with a HUGE political agenda by the writers. They have been swept into the legal fight of Indigenous Native Canadians and how they were relocated to various Catholic-run schools in the mid-twentieth century where a great many were abused. The Canadian Government looked into these issues and has since offered a public apology to those (most who are now dead due to age) and the generations that followed. Not to mention backing it up with TONS of government money as well as free homes, and free education to all natives in Canada. As my Native friend used to say, "Being Native is where it's at, Laura-Lee." Knowing I was of French Canadian descent she would urge me, "If you can prove that you are just one-quarter Native or Metis (a new race formed in Canada from the generations of the French Canadians intermarrying the Natives) then you can get your entire education for free!"

Anyway, back to the book review. Somehow the authors got involved with the Canadian Natives plight, swept up in it through the years, and have viewed the book of Romans as a way to fight "colonialism" and stick it to the "Truth and Reconciliation Commission" which actually exists for the sole purpose of "reconciliation." I don't think their comments and assumptions on behalf of Paul are helping in that regard. But everyone has some agenda, so let's move on.

The only problem is that the authors can't. And if that's not enough after they get all warm and "touchy-feely" at the beginning and are encouraging us to use our hearts more while reading Romans to get to the core of Paul's "longings" as he wrote it, they dissolve into a hypothetical question and answer that involves one dry and "brainiac" answer after another to display that their "Phds" are well-earned.
Examples: "The Truth and Reconciliation Commissions call to repudiate the ideology of conquest, assimilation, and genocide amounts to the disarming of the foundations of a colonist society."
"Did this letter legitimate or subvert the foundational myths, symbols, practices, and structures that characterized life at the center of the empire?"
"Paul repeatedly emphasizes an ethos of mutual welcome that abstains from exclusionary judgment".

Get the idea. Page after page of talk like this. I feel very bad for people who picked up this book thinking it would give them a fresh and deeper view of the book of Romans. I feel very bad that it took many years to write this book because the authors were forever rewriting after test readers would ask for clarification (although now I understand why). I feel very bad that I didn't have the heart to see this book to end. I feel very bad that my own mother attended one of these Catholic-run schools but NOT for free and NEVER got any apology or any free education from it.

But on the other hand I realized that, as much of a "brainiac" as he was, the apostle Paul never "subverted" the basic meaning of his letter to the Romans by using all the big words he no doubt knew. He wrote from the heart to people he loved, preached "Christ crucified" and did it so my eleven-year-old self had no problem understanding his "longing".
Skip THIS book, open the Bible, and read Paul's letter to the Romans. And all the others he wrote from the very mouth of God as he sat condemned in prison simply because he loved Jesus.
Nuf said yet?

I hope this helps. Thanks for reading another one of my reviews even though it doesn't put things into "the sociohistorical context of Paul's systematic theology". Yikes!

Sincerely, Laura-Lee

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