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2017

Book Reviews 2017
January 14, 20202017After what I thought was a disappointing fifth book, the sixth is its savior. This book is, again, brilliant on several different levels. First, one thing I noticed re-reading the first four books was J.K. Rowlings reliance on reiterating what all these terms mean throughout each successive book; i.e., muggle, Harry’s wealth, Harry’s original run-in with Voldemort, etc. I think this is the first book to be totally free of the constraints of “catching up” in the narrative. If you’ve read up to this point, there’s no reason that we shouldn’t all know these terms. This not only helps the pacing, but it also helps to delve into the world even more. Which leads me to number two: one thing that I believe Rowling is supremely gifted at is being able to immerse the reader in an incredibly thoughtful world with an incredibly thoughtful plot. The world of Harry Potter is so intriguing because it could be real; who really knows if there’s not a Ministry of Magic? This comes out even more in this book. Having already read the series, it’s amazing to see connections everywhere that allude to the end but that don’t give it away. The hints here and there are virtually unknown to the reader for the first time, but give such a satisfying end when we see one question answered just to have another come up. This book was very much in this realm: it seems as if so many questions were answered, and yet there are still more to be discovered. Third, the character development in this book was more fulfilling than the last because of the relationship between Harry and Dumbledore. My favorite parts of this book are Harry in Dumbledore’s office, being sucked into the pensive for another “lesson.” I have such an affection for the character of Dumbledore than I daresay I like him sometimes more than Harry. And speaking of which, Harry is much less bratty in this book than the last. While he still has occasional outbursts, he is not only tolerable but downright likeable in this book. Last in this category, the development of Snape, from becoming Defense of the Dark Arts teacher to interactions between Harry, Dumbledore, and Malfoy, all make him even worse. The first chapter alludes to how dark his character will become and we know that by the end, he is as rotten as all get out. Or is he? Onward to the last book to find out! [...]
January 14, 20202017I first discovered Lesley Hazelton from the book “After the Prophet,” which discusses the Sunni-Shi’a split in post-Muhammad Islam. I couldn’t help but to read this book after enjoying “Prophet” so much. Jezebel was the Queen married to Ahab in ancient Israel where the Bible tells us a significant amount. She was foreign and not a Jew, a sin Ahab would pay dearly for. The Bible tells us she also had to deal with the pesky prophets Elijah and Elisha. With this information, Hazelton tries to convince us that Jezebel, despite what the Bible may convey to us, that Jezebel has been unfairly demonized. She wasn’t a “harlot” queen as they like to say, at least Hazelton argues. While the perspective is interesting, I believe where Hazelton goes too far is to assume that 21st century ethics and morals are embodied in an ancient peoples. For example, Hazelton argues that Jezebel was actually a powerful woman who acts and looks like CEO Cecil Richards who is being unfairly oppressed by the evils of a crazed religious man. Elijah, to Hazelton, is the enemy in this revisionists’ history; his weird dietary habits and uncouth clothing leave the reader thinking he was a crazed man who hears voices and not as much a prophet of God. I think Hazelton has an interesting perspective, but I ultimately think it is wrong. Hazelton does too much to personify the 21st century woman and in turn, does a disservice to the ancient peoples. [...]
January 14, 20202017Star Trek is an interesting universe. However, this book was not interesting. Commander Kruge was obliterated in a Star-Trek’s-episode-past. In this series, however, his ideologies still live on. While at a summit to commemorate the unification of the Klingon and Federation, Captain Picard and crew are attacked by a mysterious group of masked soldiers. The Enterprise crew is split up and we learn more about a nefarious plot to push the two sides apart. Overall, this wasn’t a very interesting book. I thought after reading Headlong Flight that all Star Trek books would be golden. However, this one proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that some can be just mediocre. [...]

Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City

C. S. Lewis’s “Mere Christianity”: A Biography

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2017)

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2017)

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (2017)

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: Parts One and Two

Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis

The Bible Tells Me So: Why Defending Scripture Has Made Us Unable to Read It

Bop Apocalypse: Jazz, Race, the Beats, and Drugs

We Are Legion (We Are Bob) (Bobiverse #1)

Star Trek the Next Generation: Headlong Flight 

After the Prophet: The Epic Story of the Shia-Sunni Split in Islam (2017)

Silence

Star Trek: Prey: Hell’s Heart 

Sleeping Giants (Themis Files #1)

Jonathan Edwards

Columbus Day (Expeditionary Force Book #1)

Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus: A Devout Muslim Encounters Christianity

Inside Delta Force: The Story of America’s Elite Counterterrorist Unit

SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome (2017)

SpecOps (Expeditionary Force Book #2)

A Confederacy of Dunces (2017)

Waking Gods (Themis Files #2)

Bloodlines: Race, Cross, and the Christian

Star Wars: Thrawn: Thrawn

Star Wars: The Thrawn Trilogy: Heir to the Empire

Star Wars: The Thrawn Trilogy: Dark Forces Rising

Star Wars: The Thrawn Trilogy: The Last Command

Jezebel: The Untold Story Of The Bible’s Harlot Queen

Agnostic: A Spirited Manifesto

The First Muslim: The Story of Muhammad

Star Wars: Aftermath

Star Trek: Prey: The Jackal’s Trick

12 Way Your Phone Is Changing You

Star Trek: Hearts and Minds

Six Days of War: June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East

Steve Jobs

Wine. All the Time.: The Casual Guide to Confident Drinking

Huế 1968: A Turning Point of the American War in Vietnam

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking

Outliers: The Story of Success

iGen: Why Today’s Super-Connected Kids Are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy–and Completely Unprepared for Adulthood–and What That Means for the Rest of Us

Leonardo and the Last Supper

Michelangelo and the Pope’s Ceiling

Ranger Games: A Story of Soldiers, Family and an Inexplicable Crime

Blood, Sweat, and Pixels: The Triumphant, Turbulent Stories Behind How Video Games Are Made

The Maltese Falcon

The Interdependency: The Collapsing Empire

The Fold

Paradox Bound

Escape from Reason: A Penetrating Analysis of Trends in Modern Thought

14

Leonardo Da Vinci

An Exorcist Tells His Story

The Storm Before the Storm: The Beginning of the End of the Roman Republic

The Swerve: How the World Became Modern

Einstein: His Life and Universe

Artemis

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