Book Reviews

Takeaway: One of the most inaccurate titles ever. Actually a series of letters to lay Christians working around the world.

Purchase Links: Hardcover, Audible.com Audiobook

This is a book that I picked up because it was free on Audible (I think it was given away to commemorate his death.)  Obviously I did not get right to it.  I stumble across it when looking back through my audio archives.

It is very short, just over 2 hours of audio (did not realize until now that it is an abridged audiobook).  The full book is actually a collection of 150 letters (fairly short blog/newsletter length) that were written to the Secular Institutes.  My understanding from the introduction is that these are people that live and work in the secular world, but take on vows of chastity, poverty and obedience.  Mostly they are lay people (not ordained) and unlike monks or nuns (which are also often not ordained) live alone outside of a community.  I had never heard of this status before, but according to Wikipedia, there are about 60,000 people that live as ‘consecrated persons’.

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Takeaway: More inspiration about how to start something new from whatever position you are in.  Godin is about innovation and if we want a strong economy, we need people at all levels that follow through with this book.

Purchase Links: Hardcover, Kindle Edition, Audible.com Audiobook

I am a mixed relationship with Seth Godin.  On the one hand I think that he is very inspirational, a good writer and has been very good at communicating to a large group of people.

But I have been frustrated with some of his concepts in the past.  But there is not a lot controversial in this book.  Essentially, the book is giving people permission to start something new, be innovative and ‘poke the box’ to see if there is a better way to accomplish or create something.

That is really all that the book is about.  It is worth reading because Godin has the ability to really get at the heart of a matter.  Accomplishing something big is about actually starting something, seeing it to the end and learning from failure, then trying something else.

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Summary: A fictional re-telling of the Gospels from the perspective of Jesus. Sort of like Christopher Moore’s book Lamb, but much less funny.

Purchase Links: Hardcover, Paperback, Audible.com Audiobook

I know Norman Mailer only by reputation.  I have not read anything else by him.  The Gospel According to Jesus is fairly short and I thought it would be  interesting to see what a 20th century fictional account would be like.  In many ways, it was much what I expected.  It is a first person account told through the eyes of Jesus.  Mailer is respectful of Jesus as a character but does not seem to think that much of Jesus the actual person.

Fictional accounts of the bible are fraught with difficulty.  If you have heard some of the controversy over The Shack, then you know some of the trouble one can get into when you try to write a fictional account of God.  Mailer was not the first to attempt it and I am sure will not be the last.  I most want to compare this with Christopher Moore’s book Lamb.  Although Lamb was not first person Jesus (it was instead first person from the point of view of Jesus’ childhood friend Biff), it has much the same struggle of Jesus trying to understand who he is, and whether he really is the son of God.

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Takeaway: It is hard to discuss 3000 years of history.

Purchase Links: Hardback, Paperback,Kindle Edition, Audible.com Audiobook (The price has dropped in all formats so it closer to reasonable).

You may have seen the first 8 posts I made about this book (see bottom of review for links).  It is a very good book for the most part, but it was exhausting to post mini reviews and probably more exhausting to read them.  So about half way through I gave up reading the book and gave up writing posts about the book.

After a couple months I have come back and finished up the last 15 hours of the book and am ready to be done.  Not that it was not a very good book, but a book of this length and depth is not one I want to attempt again soon.

I appreciate the goal, placing Christianity in a historical context and then using the tools of history to give understanding to the whole of Christianity.  MacCulloch is not a theologian (or even a practicing Christian.)  But he does have a very wide and deep understanding of Christianity that he pushes to new depths.  In general, I think the goal was a good one.  Too often we want to look at bits and pieces of history and not look at it as a whole.  But with any attempt, there will be weaknesses.  And I think, some of MacCulloch’s tools were one of his weaknesses.  He is a historian and while using the tools of a historian gave some very impressive insights in some areas, his treatment of pre-Christian influences I thought seems needlessly antagonistic toward faith in general.  And unfortunately, that is the very beginning of the book.  Several Amazon reviews said they stopped in the first couple chapters, which is unfortunate.

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Summary: A thorough review regarding obsessional thought only Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (aka “Pure O”)

Purchase Links: Hardcover, Paperback, Kindle Edition

As a psychologist, I am interested in staying updated on current academic literature. I was interested in reading Imp of the Mind by Lee Baer as I was told it focused almost completely on pure obsessional Obsessive Compulsive Disorder or OCD. So many people have the preconceived notion that OCD regularly manifests itself as Jack Nicholoson’s portrayal in as Good As it Gets (e.g. hand washing, stepping on cracks, being cleanly, etc). This can lead to misdiagnosis as obsessional ONLY OCD is actually the most common subtype. Most of the people suffering from this disorder are secretive regarding their obsessional thoughts as the thoughts tend to be violent or distressing, such as harming others or contracting a serious disease. It is unfortunate that uninformed individuals may fear individuals with OCD if their thoughts were disclosed. The one thing that OCD diagnosed people should know is that they are very unlikely, very very unlikely, to ever act on these thoughts, despite what their mind may tell them.

Dr. Baer conducted an excellent overview of obsessional only OCD as well as its’ treatment and course of therapy. He starts by giving an example of a man who became obsessed with having sexual intercourse with animals. He also discusses a priest with extremely sexual thoughts and a women consumed with believing she may be a pedophile. The very difficult thing for OCD sufferers is they are almost always aware that their thoughts are “unwanted” or “disgusting”, hence the “imp” invades the mind and makes the suffer worry more for having disturbing thoughts. The fact is that most people have unwanted thoughts and are able to brush these thoughts aside and think “That was strange” or “What a weird thought!’ For individuals diagnosed with OCD, they become hyper-focused on the thought and the interpretation of said thought, often characterizing themselves as “evil” or “bad” for having the unwanted thought. This can lead to anxiety and depressive symptoms as well.

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Takeaway: Probably best suited for bored winter moments

I recently read Three Junes after it was recommended to me by several avid readers with glowing recommendations. I was a bit hesitant at first because this book is one of the “œmultiple perspectives” books which, at times, I find exhausting to read. This book has many themes, which include, but are not limited to, infidelity, fertility problems, aesthetic pleasures, extreme family discord, and most prominently, HIV/AIDS contraction and symptom management. Those are many differing and serious themes, even for a somewhat long book.

The problem with Three Junes is not that it is badly written. It tends to drag towards the middle but has some creative prose. The main issue I had with this bestseller is character development- specifically the question of WHY? Why does the main character engage in these activities? Why does he/she act this way? Why did he/she react this way? These questions never really get answered, for any of the three main characters (or main perspectives aka the three Junes/summers of the main characters), leaving the reader confused and feeling like the characters are one dimensional, and to be honest, stereotypical. Fenno, a gay book shop owning main character, feels especially rudderless. The decisions, or more accurately, his lack of decision and apparent apathy for life made him difficult to connect with on any level.

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