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2018

Book Reviews 2018
January 14, 20202018The Jim Crow laws were designed to keep black men and women from integrating with society. After Abraham Lincoln abolished slavery, the remnants of a horrible system that saw an entire people group from Africa marginalized was able to continue in legacy. Black people, particularly in the South, were restricted from drinking from the same water fountains, using the same bathrooms, going to their own schools as if they weren’t human. Thankfully, the Civil Rights Movement was able to quash these blatantly racist rules and the integration of black people into society was complete. Or was it? Michelle Alexander makes a compelling argument that the old Jim Crow laws of the late 19th century were simply replaced. After the Civil Rights Movement, the age of “colorblindness,” where we are not suppose to see the differences in skin color, came full force. Despite this, there was still a lingering air of racism in the culture and the government; how do you achieve racial superiority as a country of white people when you’re not suppose to see color? The answer was in the crackdown on crime during the Reagan administration and into the 1990s. Alexander argues that urbanization and globalization took jobs that black people in the inner city once had. In exchange, they turned to dealing drugs, particularly crack cocaine. During the 1980s, Reagan achieved a series of reforms that brought crack to the forefront. While other drugs were still prevalent, crack was isolated because it was often found among people of color. The crackdown on crime in the city meant that if you were frisked and found with crack, you would be sentenced to a minimum of two years in prison and you could add a felony to your record, In the 1990s, President Bill Clinton took this a step further with his infamous 3 strikes you’re out policy. Many black men were sent to prison in the 30 years between the 1980s and 2000. As a result, you are scarred forever with the felony on your record, unable to get a job or maintain a “normal” life, all under the auspice of the “colorblind” late 20th century (and for that matter, the early 21st century). This book challenges the status quo. It explains how people of color have been marginalized and forgotten. I am personally part of the majority of millennials who are often seen as more passionate about social justice. However, my spin on this particular subject is more then just misplaced moxie; as a Christian, it is genuine concern that the system in our country has failed a minority people. As a Christian, it is our duty to stand up for those who are not able to. Alexander demonstrates how people of color are subjected to stop-and-frisk searches that are suppose to be unconstitutional. With that sentiment, we must say that there have been grave missteps by that same people group. Of course some might think that these people shouldn’t be selling drugs or doing drugs in the first place. I would agree with this. But until Christians become more ardent about speaking out against a racist system, as Alexander shows, these problems with continue to exist. This is a sobering book, one that should be read by those who see the dignity of humanity and their worth to our society. [...]
January 14, 20202018This book grabbed my attention because it was on the New York Times bestsellers list. The premise is this: as tensions thaw between Havana and Washington, so too are the diplomatic questions regarding property. If Cuba was to resort back to a capitalist economy, what would happen to the private property Fidel Castro took away from the Cuban expatriates living in America? Mac McCormick owns a boat in Miami and is offered an interesting proposition: two million dollars to take a boat to a good will fishing competition between the Americans and the Cubans. The competition, as it turns out, is just a ruse to smuggle out private property certificates, money that’s been hidden away, among other artifacts from the grandfather of one Sara Ortega; one of the masterminds behind the plan. In all, sixty million dollars is up for grabs, and Mac wants a part of it. I had really high hopes for this book when I started it. The premise was interesting and I was waiting the entire book for something to really grab me. But the page turning action never really came. In fact, it was really anti-climatic. 2/5. [...]
January 14, 20202018I guess I would say that I am a huge Malcom Gladwell fan. I’ve read all of his books. In fact, this was the only one I hadn’t read. So, I thought it was a must. And it was super disappointing. I put it down for a long time until I pulled it back up recently. And it still disappointed. The book is a collection of essays that Gladwell wrote for the New Yorker, his main gig before writing books. Some of the pieces were interesting. In one poignant article, he talks about fertility amongst native peoples and how the estrogen influx due to monthly cycles could be linked to breast cancer. Another interesting story links football players with hiring teachers. But above and beyond, these short stories lack the depth and interest that Gladwell sparks in his full length novels. Gladwell excels at the long narrative; that is, making one point after another in a cohesive whole. These disengaged stand-alone stories are not as powerful nor as interesting. Check out “Blink” or “Tipping Points” (an excellent entrance into Gladwell’s world) or his podcast to get the real Gladwell. [...]

A River in Darkness: One Man’s Escape from North Korea

The American Spirit: Who We Are and What We Stand For

The Lost City of the Monkey God

The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution

Even If You Don’t: A Love Story

The Martian

Yes, Chef

Gosnell: The Untold Story of America’s Most Prolific Serial Killer

The Stormlight Archive: The Way of Kings

All-American Murder: The Rise and Fall of Aaron Hernandez, the Superstar Whose Life Ended on Murderers’ Row

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness

The Remains of the Day

The Stormlight Archive: Words of Radiance

The Stormlight Archive: Oathbringer

Endure: Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance

Educated

Cork Dork: A Wine-Fueled Adventure Among the Obsessive Sommeliers, Big Bottle Hunters, and Rogue Scientists Who Taught Me to Live for Taste

What the Dog Saw and Other Adventures

After the Prophet: The Epic Story of the Shia-Sunni Split in Islam (2018)

I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life

Astrophysics for People in a Hurry

For We Are Many (Bobiverse #2)

A History of the World in Six Glasses

Jurassic Park

Vanished Smile: The Mysterious Theft of Mona Lisa

North: Finding My Way While Running the Appalachian Trail

Preaching That Changes Lives

The Feud That Sparked the Renaissance: How Brunelleschi and Ghiberti Changed the Art World

The Cuban Affair

The Rooster Bar

Star Wars: Last Shot: A Han and Lando Novel

When Breath Becomes Air

Only Human (Themis Files #3)

Airframe

Mistborn: The Final Empire

Hell Divers

God Save Texas: A Journey Into the Soul of the Lone Star State

Star Wars: Thrawn: Thrawn (2018)

Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures as the World’s Most Wanted Hacker

PROOF: Finding Freedom through the Intoxicating Joy of Irresistible Grace (2018)

Gut: The Inside Story of Our Body’s Most Underrated Organ

The Girl Who Smiled Beads: A Story of War and What Comes After

Redshirts

Springfield Confidential: Jokes, Secrets, and Outright Lies from a Lifetime Writing for The Simpsons

Christianity Considered: A Guide for Skeptics and Seekers

Insurgence: Reclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom

Jurassic Park: The Lost World

The History of Jazz

How to Lose a Marathon: A Starter’s Guide to Finishing in 26.2 Chapters

Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything

Survival Guide for the Soul: How to Flourish Spiritually in a World that Pressures Us to Achieve

Brief Insights on Mastering Bible Study: 80 Expert Insights, Explained in a Single Minute

Star Wars: Thrawn: Alliances

The Bible Unfiltered: Approaching Scripture on Its Own Terms

A Mouse Divided: How Ub Iwerks Became Forgotten, and Walt Disney Became Uncle Walt

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Super Mario: How Nintendo Conquered America

Star Trek: Captain to Captain

The Darkness and the Glory: His Cup and the Glory from Gethsemane to the Ascension (2018)

Mistborn: The Well of Ascension

Mistborn: The Hero of Ages

English History Made Brief, Irreverent, and Pleasurable

Michelangelo: His Epic Life

Scientism and Secularism: Learning to Respond to a Dangerous Ideology

Michelangelo and the Pope’s Ceiling (2018)

Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America

Grit

What is the Gospel?

The Interdependency: The Collapsing Empire

Love Your God with All Your Mind: The Role of Reason in the Life of the Soul

The Consequences of Ideas: Understanding the Concepts that Shaped Our World (2018)

On Desperate Ground: The Marines at The Reservoir, the Korean War’s Greatest Battle

The Interdependency: Consuming Fire

The Reckoners: Steelheart

Tactics: A Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions

Firefight: the Reckoners book 2

Ethics and Moral Reasoning: A Student’s guide

Calamity: the Reckoners book 3

Skyward: Skyward

Prey

The Lost World of Genesis One: Ancient Cosmology and the Origins Debate (2018)

Legion: the Many Lives of Stephen Leeds

Reckoner’s: Mitosis

Tell the Truth: The Whole Gospel Wholly by Grace Communicated Truthfully & Lovingly

Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God

The Great Evangelical Recession: 6 Factors That Will Crash the American Church… and How to Prepare

Armada

Knowledge of the Holy

Elantris

Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup

Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

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