Dispatches from the unwilling seer
Speaking truth into the void, as is tradition.
Why do I say imbibed instead of read? Well, cuz I am an Audible guy. I love, love, love to hear me a good book. However, I have a friend, Roger, who chides me when I tell him I have read a book when I have "only" listened to it.
So I turn to a drinking term with a double meaning that fits my need. Besides, listening to a book read by a truly great narrator is remarkably close to drinking a fine bourbon.
Here's looking at you, Elijah Craig — and R.C. Bray.
Expeditionary Force, Book 1
This is an awesomely fun jaunt. The first third of the book is entertaining, but it turns to pure gold once Joe meets Skippy. The series is closing in on 20 books, and I’ve listened to nearly all of them multiple times.
And R.C. Bray? Mamma mia! I’d listen to that man read the phone book.
Get it. Listen. Repeat.
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I'll admit at least half of why I got this book was because I was slogging through a facade of entertainment called The Facade. Heh, see what I did there? OK, if you stop following me, I won't blame you. And I needed a good narrator as a balm.
Ray Porter is not a good narrator, he is a GREAT narrator. I would listen to him read the phone book.
On top of that, the story is outstanding! Compelling and a bit of a tear-jerker, honestly. I highly recommend it!
I enjoyed The Unseen Realm and thought I could gain insight into what Dr. Heiser believes by imbibing a fictional work that was not as constrained by academic rigor.
Maybe… but the audio quality of this book is SOOOOO soooo, SOOOOO bad. The narrator never modulates his voice except to be snarky. As a result, every character sounds exactly the same. He also is oblivious to vocal clues. Many times a loud, giggly 12-year-old snark would be followed by something like, "Malcolm whispered." It made the book nigh unconsumable.
Also, the book had several very sexually explicit scenes. That is not what I expected from a biblical scholar. I powered through it but did not enjoy it.
Even if the audio were stellar, I would only give it 3 out of 5 stars. But with the audio, it was terrible.
We are at war. Not with a foreign government or domestic terrorists or a creepy new artificial intelligence hell-bent on taking over the world. No, it's a war we feel deep inside our own chests: we are at war with lies.
The problem isn't so much that we tell lies but that we live them. We let them into our bodies, and they sabotage our peace. All around us in the culture and deep within our own body memories are lies: deceptive ideas that wreak havoc on our emotional health and spiritual well-being, and deceptive ideas about who God is, who we are, and what the good life truly is.
The choice is not whether to fight or not fight, but whether we win or surrender.
What do you do with the passages of scripture that are just weird?
"The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of mankind, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown." — Genesis 6:4
Or what about the exchange between Daniel and the angel Gabriel in Daniel 10? Who is the prince of Persia, and how can he stand against an angel sent by God for three weeks?!
Heiser has put together an intriguing and vital book that dives deep into the "weird" areas of the Bible, seeking to understand them, not gloss over them. He is a well-credentialed scholar and willing to engage outside his ivory tower. Check out his website for more info on him.
I already have more books of his on my "to be read" list.
Book two of the Monster Hunter series
Owen Zastava Pitt, known as "Z" to his friends, once again finds himself embroiled in a world-ending disaster that only he can stop.
Like the first Monster Hunter book, this good-versus-evil escapade is a fun romp of gunfights, fistfights, and verbal sparring. If you are looking for something light-hearted and engaging to take your mind off the day-to-day and don't mind a bit of gore, then the Monster Hunter books might be for you.
Negotiating as if Your Life Depended on It
I have read this book three or four times, and each time I get something out of it.
Life is a series of negotiations. The better prepared you are, and the more skills and tools you have, the better off you will be.
Learn things like mirroring, the FM DJ voice, and bending reality. I recommend this book to my friends — but not those I may one day need to negotiate against!
I have been on a Correia tear recently. I enjoy how his heroes are manly men, full of honor, courage, and determination.
Accounting sucks. It's worse when your boss is an overbearing, impatient, and demanding person in his position solely because someone promoted him beyond his skill level only to get him out of their department. Unfortunately, Owen Zastava Pitt discovers those are his boss's good qualities one night as he works late, and his boss tries to EAT him!
Thus begins a fast-paced adventure of good versus evil where many of Hollywood's monster movies are more documentary than fantasy.
In an earnest and searing wake-up call, the author of the bestseller Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy warns of the haunting similarities between today's American church and the German church of the 1930s. Echoing Bonhoeffer's prophetic call, Eric Metaxas exhorts his fellow Christians to repent of their silence in the face of evil before it is too late.
Book two of the Malcontents
The Malcontents are back in action!
Now under the leadership of the reluctant Lieutenant Kelvan Cleasby, the Sixth Platoon of Storm Knights has been ordered to accompany an archeological expedition from the Royal Cygnaran University deep into the Wyrmwall Mountains to investigate an ancient site of potentially great historical value. But what seems a simple enough assignment will rapidly turn into a test of the platoon's survival skills — an abandoned fort, the lone survivor of a horrifying attack, and a ferociously territorial tribe may be more than even the Malcontents can handle.
Book one of the Malcontents
A knight of Cygnar follows a strict moral code. His integrity is beyond reproach. He holds himself to the highest standards whether dealing with friend or foe. And he values honor above all.
Nine essential works by C.S. Lewis in one deluxe audio edition:
A man should look at his wife or fiancée and gasp.
Do you know what God has given you or is in the process of giving you? That woman, that terrifying, glorious woman made in his image, was created by God and redeemed with the precious blood of Jesus, and the Holy Spirit has taken up residence in her. She is of immense value to God. She is precious to him. She is his daughter, an heir of the promise, a co-heir of the grace of life with you. Do you feel that? Does it make your chest knot up? Do you get a little bit afraid? Maybe a lot afraid? Good. Hold that pose.
(Sex Rules) — a novel
Pastor Douglas Wilson continues his cheerful assault on stupidity with this provocative satirical novel. Wilson pulls no punches when it comes to hypocrisy, love, sex, and providence in contemporary culture. His darkly amused insights will either make you furious or make you laugh, or make you laugh furiously, but they'll never leave you bored.
Doug Wilson of Blog & Mablog fame exhorts in this short book how to accomplish great things by simply using the time you have wisely. Embrace the plodding pace. Don't be fooled into thinking the only way to accomplish work is via the sprint.
Also, don't be a neophile or a Luddite. Rather, look at technology as wealth and tools the Lord has showered upon us.
On All Hallow's Eve in 1517, a young monk named Martin Luther posted a document he hoped would spark an academic debate but that instead ignited a conflagration that would forever destroy the world he knew.
"Call me Ishmael." Thus starts the greatest American novel. Melville said himself that he wanted to write "a mighty book about a mighty theme," and so he did. It is a story of one man's obsessive revenge-journey against the white whale, Moby Dick, who injured him in an earlier meeting. Woven into the story of the last journey of the Pequod is a mesh of philosophy, rumination, religion, history, and a mass of information about whaling through the ages.
Nothing on the shelf matches that. Try clearing a filter.
Bonus points if the narrator is great. Tell me why it belongs on the list.