Author: HCNewton Page 236 of 610

First Quarter Check-In: 2022 Plans and Challenges

Well, this was a humbling post to work on. I’ve got work to do!

One of the few concrete plans that I shared back in January was “Cut down on my Goodreads Want-to-Read list and the unread books that I own (a perennial project, but I made some strides last year).” How am I doing on that?

Audio E-book Physical Goodreads
Want-to-Read
End of 2021 9 45 42 144
Current Total 7 47 43 145

I’m doing a little better with the rest of my plans. A little.

Let’s move on to the Reading Challenges…
2022 Book Challenges

12 Books
I’m on track for finishing this one with no effort–. I still need 1 more recommendation, by the way. (hint, hint)
12 Books Challenge Quarter 1


2022 “Support Book Bloggers” Challenge
Support Book Bloggers Challenge
I decided to nix this one–I’m working on all the things mentioned here, but feel a little uncomfortable doing it because of a checklist–and even more awkward about discussing it.

(still think it’s a good idea, just not for me)


2022 While I was Reading
While I Was Reading
I’m doing okay on this–as usual, I’m not really planning the books for this challenge. When October hits, if I haven’t read everything on the list, I’ll get serious about hunting.

  1. A book with a question in the title.:
  2. A book of non-violent true crime.: I have an idea or two about this one.
  3. A book with a cover you don’t like.:
  4. A historical fiction novel not set in Europe.:
  5. A book with a character’s name in the title.:
  6. A book featuring paranormal activity (fiction or non.):
  7. A book with a number in the title.: Citizen K-9 (starting it this week, which is Quarter 2, but eh…)
  8. A food related memoir.: I have no idea
  9. A book that’s won an award.:
  10. A middle grade novel.: How to Save a Superhero by Ruth Freeman
  11. A book by an author who shares your zodiac sign.:
  12. A book that’s a combination of genres.: Bloodlines by Peter Hartog (I also used this for the next challenge, so I’ll probably replace this on the final list)

Your TBR Reduction Book Challenge

Your TBR Reduction Book Challenge
I’m hitting the target on this one–I even managed 1 Stretch Goal. You’ll note how this isn’t helping that much with my reduce the TBR plan.
January – New Beginnings I give you permission to read the most recent book you got on top of your TBR.: Bloodlines by Peter Hartog
Stretch Goal – Read the oldest book in Mount TBR it has waited long enough: Nice Dragons Finish Last by Rachel Aaron
February – Valentine’s Day Gift
Is there that book by an author you love you picked up and still haven’t read because you do not deserve it just yet? Other items got in the way? You have for this challenge to pick that book up and read it: Troubled Blood by Robert Galbraith
March – Fresh blooms
For the beginning of Spring I want you to open a book in the TBR pile by an author you’ve never read before: The Part About the Dragon Was (Mostly) True by Sean Gibson


I’ve already started planning the 20 Books of Summer Challenge, mostly books that I told myself I’d read in January/February.


(Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay)

Duckett & Dyer: Dicks For Hire by G.M. Nair: No case too tough. No case too crazy.

After you finish this, take a minute to go register for the Giveaway!

Duckett & Dyer: Dicks For Hire Tour Banner

Duckett & Dyer: Dicks For HireDuckett & Dyer: Dicks For Hire

by G.M. Nair

DETAILS:
Series: Duckett & Dyer: Dicks For Hire, #1
Publisher: dS-dF
Publication Date: June 30, 2019
Format: Kindle Edition
Length: 302 pg.
Read Date: March 30-April 1, 2022
Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.org

What’s Duckett & Dyer: Dicks For Hire About?

I have been dreading this day for a little bit now, because I have to answer this question, and I’m not sure I can. At one point, Stephanie Dyer describes their
experiences as:

It’s like Quantum Leap, but if Scott Bakula had a concussion.

I’m tempted to leave it there and move on, but you’re going to want a little more than that.

So, Michael Duckett shares an apartment with his best friend since childhood, Stephanie Dyer. Shares is being generous—he pays the rent, utilities, and food bills. Stephanie tries not to cause trouble for him. Sometimes.

Michael hates his/their apartment, his job, and his life in general. What he doesn’t hate is flirting with a particular woman at the laundromat. There’s really not much more to say about his life—until a woman accosts him on the way home from the laundromat, demanding that he takes her case. He’s confused, and she presents an advertisement for his detective agency.

He has no idea what she’s talking about or where the advertisement came from. Stephanie doesn’t, either. Soon they’re hired to look into a woman’s disappearance by that woman. Somehow, she knew she was about to disappear and wants them to find out what’s about to happen to her/has happened to her by the time they get on the case.

Clear as mud? Yeah, I know.

Meanwhile, a grizzled detective is trying to take down a drug dealer—until he disappears in a way he can’t explain. It’s not long before he crosses paths with Duckett and Dyer and things get stranger for him (by this time, they’re already pretty strange for the detectives, but it gets worse for them, too).

The Multiverse of Madness

(with apologies to a certain franchise)

“That’s it?” Michael scowled. “It looks like you took a stopwatch and glued some extra stuff on it.”

Matteo slammed the box closed and yanked it away. “You make your own dimension hopping device on a grad school budget and see how it looks.”

Without giving too much away, the duo finds themselves bouncing from parallel universe to parallel universe—some have a slightly asynchronous timeline, others have bigger differences—some have differences that are so small, like people’s hair color.

The explanation for both their travel and the research that led to it being possible (and how they’ll stop, I should add) is slightly more coherent than a certain someone’s “wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey” speech. Coherent, but goofy and entertainingly explained. The jumping from universe to universe is a great joke delivery mechanism, Nair was able to let his imagination run wild here—and it was worth it.

The Humor

“You’re kidding me. You’re traveling across dimensions using black holes?”

“Yeah. Plus I made the whole thing light up blue. Took me a whole weekend to figure out how to do that. I think it looks cool,” Matteo was quite pleased with himself.

Speaking of joke delivery mechanisms—Nair has quite a few of them at work here. Some of the humor is quiet and observational, some is the classic situational kind of thing that comes from the Odd Couple-esque pairing of Michael and Stephanie, and then there’s the ridiculous SF/Multiverse stuff—I don’t even know how to describe that.

This story felt like the love child of Dirk Gentley’s Holistic Detective Agency and Comedy Central’s Corporate, but sweeter. The humor is sophisticated and juvenile, subtle and broad, cynical and sentimental. Not only was the story unpredictable, but so was the humor—Nair almost never went where you thought he would go with the jokes.

So, what did I think about Duckett & Dyer: Dicks For Hire?

“I can’t believe there are people who actually want to hire a couple of detectives with no experience.”

“Don’t doubt the power of internet marketing,” Stephanie said.

“Also, the ad said we’ve been in business since 1989.”

“We were born in 1989.”

She shrugged, “So, technically, I guess. It’s true.”

This was just absurd (in the best way). It’s not novel to combine any of the genres involved in the novel, but the way Nair does it makes it feel fresh and original—why didn’t anyone think of this before?

Both Stephanie and Michael are hard to like sometimes—okay, Michael is difficult to like as a person more than sometimes—mostly you take him because Stephanie likes him. Actually, just about every character is realistically human and flawed—very flawed. That’s not something you often get in such a comic novel, it’s nice when you do.

Duckett & Dyer: Dicks For Hire is a great start to this trilogy—it’s an SF romp with just a touch of Detective Fiction. Once things get moving, it’s one of the faster-paced books I’ve read this year, and the jokes keep the story moving well. You’re not going to find a lot of books like this one—you’d better pounce on it (and the sequel) when you can.


4 Stars

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, the opinions expressed are my own.



My thanks to Escapist Book Tours for the invitation to participate in this tour and the materials (including the novel) they provided. The opinions expressed by me are honest and my own.

Escapist Book Tours

EXCERPT from Duckett & Dyer: Dicks For Hire by G.M. Nair

Duckett & Dyer: Dicks For Hire Tour Banner
For the next part of my stop on The Escapist Blog Tour for Duckett & Dyer: Dicks For Hire by G.M. Nair, I have this nifty excerpt. Enjoy!


from Duckett & Dyer: Dicks For Hire by G.M. Nair

It was dark outside by the time he left. Michael couldn’t see his watch, but it was definitely around 9:30. He walked down the street past a row of cars, neatly angle parked. At the end sat Michael’s 1982 Mercury Zephyr, a car that he lovingly referred to as “the Garbagemobile.” The otherwise red car had a canary yellow passenger’s side door that failed to function since its previous owner had opted to weld it shut for undisclosed reasons. Still, the trunk worked well enough. Michael thumped his fist on the corner and it popped open, allowing him to toss in his laundry. Or was it clothes, now? When did your laundry stop being “laundry” and become “clothes”? When you folded it? When you brought it home? Or when you put it in your dresser? Michael enjoyed this pointless line of questioning brought on by the euphoria of his potential date with a beautiful woman, as it distracted him from overthinking about said date.

Michael slammed the trunk shut and turned to find the crazed blue eyes and wild hair of an entirely different, entirely angrier woman who had definitely not been there a second ago. He jolted backwards and tumbled onto the asphalt. A jeep whizzed by his head at what felt like 50 miles per hour, but was probably more like 5.

“Oh my God! What the hell, lady?” A situation in which panic was natural. Michael almost felt at home.

“You’re Michael Duckett!” The woman declared in a voice so far from Terri’s melodic tones, it would need a GPS to get within striking distance.

“Uh . . . yeah?” was all he could muster. “How do you know my name? Who are you?”

“I need your help!” She seemed less interested in his questions than her own agenda, whatever that was.

“You need . . . my help?” Michael pulled himself to his feet by leaning on the Garbagemobile’s rear bumper, which shuddered against the rusty nails holding it on. “For what?”

“I saw your ad. I need to hire you. It’s urgent.”

“Sorry. My ad? I think you have the wrong guy. I’m not for hire.” Michael brushed himself off and, being certain his life was no longer in any significant peril, took stock of the situation. He sidled past the woman, who was wearing medical scrubs beneath the folds of a long brown coat, and onto the sidewalk. If she had escaped from a mental hospital, killed an orderly, and stolen his clothes, that would explain the scrubs. It was a bit of a reach, but not an unreasonable conclusion given the circumstances.

“I have a case for you,” she said. Her eyes had a cold fire behind them that complemented the harsh red lipstick that popped against her dark olive skin. She would have been beautiful if she hadn’t been completely off her rocker.

“Yeah, a . . . nut case,” Michael winced. Another joke that didn’t land tonight, but there really wasn’t much time to workshop it. “Lady, I can give you bus fare or . . . uh . . . whatever you need. But I’m pretty sure you have the wrong person.”

“No. I definitely don’t. You’re the detective!” Despite her manic motions, the woman’s frizzy, curly blast of bright blonde hair refused to move very much.

“Detective? What the hell are you talking about?” Michael inched toward the door of the Garbagemobile. “I’m not—”

The woman slapped her hand on the door, blocking his escape. With her other hand, she removed a smartphone from her purse and thrust it at him. “I recognized you from your photo.”

Michael left the smartphone in her hand and awkwardly scrolled down with a single finger. It was not often that Michael got to use a fancy smartphone. His own was an elderly flip affair with a creaky hinge. The screen on this one was brighter and boasted a higher resolution which allowed the bold black headline to leap out of the bright white background in all-caps, silently yelling at him:

“MICHAEL DUCKETT AND STEPHANIE DYER – PRIVATE EYES FOR HIRE – NO CASE TOO TOUGH, NO CASE TOO CRAZY – REASONABLE RATES – ANY TIME DAY OR NIGHT.”

It was a simple internet classified ad—the Hail Mary of desperate schlubs seeking used leisure suits or unlikely missed connections. Below the headline was a picture of him and his oldest friend – and roommate two years running – Stephanie Dyer, standing side by side. It was cropped to focus only on their chests and heads, so Michael couldn’t place where or when it had been taken. Stephanie was making overenthusiastic gun fingers at the camera, while Michael seemed aloof in an attempt to appear cool. It had not worked.

 


Read the rest in Duckett & Dyer: Dicks For Hire by G.M. Nair.

My thanks to Escapist Book Tours for the invitation to participate in this tour and the materials (including the novel) they provided. The opinions expressed by me are honest and my own.

Escapist Book Tours

BOOK SPOTLIGHT & GIVEAWAY: Duckett & Dyer: Dicks For Hire by G.M. Nair

I’m very pleased to welcome the Escapist Book Tour for G.M. Nair’s Duckett & Dyer: Dicks For Hire to The Irresponsible Reader this morning! In addition to this little spotlight post, I have an excerpt to share and then I’ll share my take on the novel coming along in a bit. Be sure you scroll down to the bottom of this post for the Giveaway! But first, let’s start by learning a little about this book, okay?

Duckett & Dyer: Dicks For Hire Tour Banner

Book Details:

Book Title: Duckett & Dyer: Dicks For Hire by G.M. Nair
Series: Duckett & Dyer: Dicks For Hire
Publisher: dS-dF
Release date: June 30, 2019
Format: Hardcover/Paperback/Ebook
Length: 302 pages
Genre: Sci-Fi/Mystery/Comedy
Intended Age Group: Adult
Duckett & Dyer: Dicks For Hire

About the Book

Michael Duckett is fed up with his life. His job is a drag, and his roommate and best friend of fifteen years, Stephanie Dyer, is only making him more anxious with her lazy irresponsibility. Things continue to escalate when they face the threat of imminent eviction from their palatial 5th floor walk-up and find that someone has been plastering ads all over the city for their Detective Agency.

The only problem is: they don’t have one of those.

Despite their baffling levels of incompetence, Stephanie eagerly pursues this crazy scheme and drags Michael, kicking and screaming, into the fray. Stumbling upon a web of missing people curiously linked by a sexually audacious theoretical physicist and his experiments with the fabric of space-time, the two of them find that they are way out of their depth. But unless Michael and Stephanie can put their personal issues aside and patch up the hole they tore in the multi-verse, the concept of existence itself may, ironically, cease to exist.

See Also:

Doctor WhoHere it Goes AgainPsych

Book Links

Amazon ~ IndieBound ~ Goodreads

About the Author

G.M. NairG.M. Nair is a crazy person who should never be taken seriously. Despite possessing both a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree in Aerospace Engineering and a job as an Aviation and Aerospace Consultant, he writes comedy for the stage and screen, and maintains the blog MakeMomMarvel.Com. Now he is making the leap into the highly un-lucrative field of independent book publishing.

Duckett & Dyer: Dicks For Hire is his first novel, and in a world with a fair and loving god, it would be his last. Alas, he tends to continue.

G.M. Nair lives in New York City and in a constant state of delusion.

Twitter ~ Instagram

Giveaway

Prize: An eBook, Paperback, or Hardcover Copy of Duckett & Dyer: Dicks For Hire!
Starts: April 4th, 2022 at 12:00am EST
Ends: April 10th, 2022 at 11:59pm EST
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Direct link: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/79e197ac17/



My thanks to Escapist Book Tours for the invitation to participate in this tour and the materials (including the novel) they provided. The opinions expressed by me are honest and my own.

Escapist Book Tours

Highlights from March: Lines Worth Repeating

Highlights from the Month
Here’s a collection of my favorite phrases/sentences/paragraphs from last month that I haven’t already used for something. (I will skip most audiobooks, my transcription skills aren’t what they should be. But when I try, the punctuation is just a guess).

Madam Tulip and the Rainbow’s End

Madam Tulip and the Rainbow’s End by David Ahern

Derry heard herself laugh lightly, in the way you do when a delightful compliment is paid you by a handsome Frenchman with eyes to die for. Any moment now, she would simper; she could feel one coming on. Thankfully years of actorly training allowed her to clamber back from the brink of inanity.

Jacko grinned happily as he pulled a pint of Guinness. He surveyed the place magisterially and winked at Derry. ‘I have found my true vocation,’ he announced loudly. ‘Art you may take or leave, and literature has outlived its usefulness. But here, assisting these good people in imagining themselves witty and wise, I am making the world a better place.’

‘But now, as you say, I am gainfully employed,’ continued Jacko. ‘Not in a mere job, but as a vocation. As a barman, I am playing my small part in saving the planet from seeing itself clearly.’

…Tulip felt the peace of knowing that the future could be befriended but never tamed.


Lives Laid Away

Lives Laid Away by Stephen Mack Jones

Tomás parked and we walked into the urinal cake and vomitorium that is Taffy’s (Nowhere Near to Being) on the Lake.

Summer freeway traffic in Detroit is enough to turn the Pope into a road-rage maniac.

As a former Marine and ex-cop, I was trained to effectively multitask even if there was a single mission with a single expected outcome. Because honestly: When has Plan A ever actually worked?


The Part About the Dragon Was (Mostly) True

The Part About the Dragon Was (Mostly) True by Sean Gibson

I always have a hard time telling the difference between a pitchfork being raised in anger and one being raised in joy.

“I’m not entirely sure they have running water in this… this… well, I was going to say backwater, but that would sort of undermine my point.”

“It’s funny,” I interjected, “and I don’t mean like ha- ha funny, but, like, interesting funny how you never hear about adventurers standing at the edge of a swamp trying to figure out exactly what disgusting smell it most resembles when bards are singing legendary tales.”


Spelunking Through Hell

Spelunking through Hell by Seanan McGuire

… when you’re already talking about people who have twenty-eight words for “wound” but only two for “friend,” you don’t want to deal with them when they get cranky.

The universe is full of giant snakes. Earth got off easy, since most of our snakes are too small to swallow people, but not everywhere has been that lucky. And some snakes are very nice people, not interested in eating anyone they can carry on a conversation with.


False Value

False Value by Ben Aaronovitch

It’s so much easier to lie when you’re telling the truth.

He’d obviously wanted to tell someone about it for a long time and I was a convenient here.

I get that a lot. Stephanopoulos calls it my secret weapon.

“It’s that vacant expression,” she’d said. “People just want to fill the empty void. “

Nightengale gave me a narrow-eyed look. “If needs must,” he said, “but I want you to be cautious.”

“Hey,” I said, “‘Cautious’ is my middle name.”

“But your first name is ‘Never-Knowingly’,” said Stephanopoulos.


Halo: The Fall of Reach

Halo: The Fall of Reach by Eric Nylund

The only reason they hadn’t drummed him out of the service was that the UNSC needed every man and woman they could get their hands on.

While on the Gorgon, he and the rest of Admiral Cole’s fleet had sped among the Outer Colonies chasing, and being chased by, the Covenant. After four years’ space duty, Lovell had seen a dozen worlds glassed . . . and billions murdered.

He had simply broken under the strain. He closed his eyes and remembered. No, he hadn’t broken; he was just scared of dying like everyone else.


Payback is Forever

Payback is Murder by Nick Kolakowski

Who knew what terrible things someone with a ventriloquist’s doll was capable of?

Miller sighed. Yet another band of hipsters refusing to die with the song still inside them. He applauded the effort, but why did they always choose his street corner for these late- night jam sessions?

Scott buried his head in his hands. “We’re so doomed.”

“Cheer up. There’s a lot of opportunity in doom.”

Beside him, the gray- haired woman boasted cheekbones sharp enough to slice glass. Her expression suggested malice, boredom, or a special mix of both.

A traitorous part of his brain tried bringing up all the ways he had failed over the past few days, until he forced it into silence. If you wanted to live through a job, you needed proceed without doubt. Especially if the plan was flawed.

…maybe he had this thievery thing all wrong. Give someone a gun, and they can rob a bank—but give someone a job in banking or government, and they can rob the whole world.


(Image by DaModernDaVinci from Pixabay)

Payback Is Forever by Nick Kolakowski: There’s a lot of opportunity in doom.

Payback Is ForeverPayback Is Forever

by Nick Kolakowski

DETAILS:
Publisher: Shotgun Honey Books
Publication Date: March 24, 2022
Format: Kindle Edition
Length: 170 pg.
Read Date: March 29-30, 2022

What’s Payback Is Forever About?

Miller’s a thief, a fairly successful one. This comes in handy because he’s not as successful when it comes to gambling. He needs to pay a debt, so he takes a job with a couple of strangers. They betray him, the job goes wrong, and Miller (and the cash) escape without his partners. They don’t know his name or home base, so he figures he’s safe for a little bit.

He’s soon contacted by a figure from his past, Rick Redfield:

“I’ve entered into an arrangement with some… men of violence, shall we say. Which means I need the services of the most violent man I know. Which is you.”

“I’m no bodyguard.”

“No. You’re capable of terrible acts, and that’s the necessary thing here. Besides, bodyguards ask too many questions.”

With the promise of a large payday on the horizon, Miller’s in—and soon finds himself involved with some Nazis who escaped from Germany in the waning days of the war, Nazi hunters, and a few more dead bodies than Miller was prepared to deal with.

Supporting Cast

Miller and most of the characters that he deals with are of a fairly typical sort—you’ll recognize the types easily. They’re interestingly-drawn and well-used, but they’re types.

Then there’s Jill Reilly—she’s Miller’s love interest and is a secretary in the Medical Examiner’s office. Given the proper circumstances, she’d probably make a pretty good Examiner herself—but between the education, she’d need, and the rampant chauvinism in the office, that’s probably not going to happen. Reilly feels like she’s got one foot in the Girl Friday type, but with a rebellious streak that keeps the other foot out of the type.

The other character that stands out as not fitting into a typical mold is Scott, Redfield’s friend who acts as a liaison to the outside world when Redfield needs to stay out of the light. He’s a timid, uncertain man—who needs to use a ventriloquist’s dummy, Colonel Longshanks, to communicate those things that are too much for Scott to handle. Miller has no patience for either of them—but can force himself to work with Scott. The Colonel on the other hand…

There was a moment where I wondered if Scott/Colonel Longshanks would over-take Monkey Man as my favorite strange Kolakowski character. He didn’t, but that he was in the running says something about the character development in this short novel.

The Hidden Agenda

If what I’ve described seems pretty straight-forward, it is. If anyone’s read Kolakowski before, that’s not how he rolls. Right?

There is something else afoot here. I don’t know that it added much (if anything), but it didn’t hurt anything either. Maybe if I was in a different mood when I read this I’d have a more positive take on the “something else,” but right now, I can take it or leave it.

The material with Miller, the Nazis, Nazi Hunters is enough to focus on and keep you entertained. If you happen to get the rest of it, that’s gravy.

So, what did I think about Payback Is Forever?

This feels like the kind of pulpy thrillers from the 1960s and 70s I’ve read—just in a post-WWII setting with a dash of Nathanael West thrown in. It’s a surprisingly effective combination, and I’d have read another 200 pages of it without blinking. Although I do think this lean, mean, streamlined approach is far more effective.

Miller’s absolutely the kind of character you want in this setting—his morality is stuck in the gray—it’s a pretty dark gray, but he’s not a full-on villain. And he’s thinking about reforming, at least a little.

There were two scenes—or parts of scenes—that make this more than a quick, fun read. There’s a visual in the last big gunfight that’s so ridiculous, so comical, in the middle of a big action scene that makes you want a film version immediately (but it may be better in your imagination).

Before that there’s another scene that I can’t describe—you start it assuming X might happen, and yet when X does happen you still sit up and pay attention because you can’t believe that Kolakowski actually did that. And then over the next 3 or 4 paragraphs, the shocking scene becomes something so unexpected that you have to read it a couple of times to make sure you read it right. Cackling while you read it every time makes the comprehension a little difficult.

A solid, stylish thriller with Kolakowski’s style and sense of character is exactly what I needed to read last week, and Payback is Forever delivered. Do yourself a favor and pick it up.


4 Stars

Recovering Our Sanity: How the Fear of God Conquers the Fears that Divide Us by Michael Horton

Recovering Our SanityRecovering Our Sanity:
How the Fear of God Conquers
the Fears that Divide Us

by Michael Horton

DETAILS:
Publisher: Zondervan
Publication Date:  February 14, 2022 
Format: Kindle Edition
Length: 320 pg.
Read Date: February 27-March 13, 2022
Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.org

Even in more conservative contexts today, the reading of a “fear of God” passage is often quickly followed up with an explanation, dying the death of a thousand qualifications. The upshot is that fear doesn’t really mean “fear.” In such widespread dismissals we are not only failing to give God his due but are depriving ourselves and each other of the only antidote to the crippling fears that haunt us.

…The fear of God leads to trust, and trust bears the fruit of the Spirit, producing a harvest of blessings for ourselves and for others. Fear really is worship— we fear what we believe is ultimate, what we think has the last word over our lives.

What’s Recovering Our Sanity About?

In Part 1, “The Fear to End All Fears,” the goal is to remind readers about the Biblical virtue of the Fear of God—what it means, how it contrasts to other fears, and how when our focus is on the Fear of God, other fears lose significance and power.

In Part 2, “Facing Our Fears with Eyes Raised to God,” Horton puts shoe leather to this understanding of Fear of God vs. other fears. He looks at our fears of death, suffering, disease, the future—and, perhaps most importantly, other human beings.

Confronting Our Fear of Each Other

Once we regain the fear of God— indeed, of Christ as well (he’s not just the friend of sinners but the judge of all)—and face up to who we are before him, coming with empty hands to receive his Son, we’ll begin to lose this fear of the world. We will not be embarrassed when the unkempt widow sings off-key with the gusto of heartfelt conviction or when the building is drab or if we have never had a brush with greatness and our pastor has never been photographed with anybody in the news. The faithful preaching of the Word, baptism, and the Lord’s Supper; the gracious care, encouragement, and warnings of elders and the wider body; the extension of Christ’s love for temporal needs through the deacons; common prayers, singing, confession of our faith and of our sins, Christ’s declaration of forgiveness, and even God’s greeting at the beginning and his benediction at the end— all these will seem so marvelously familiar and new to us at the same time. And then we will begin to not need the world’s affection any longer.

Roughly the last third of the book is taken up by the third part of Part 2, “Confronts Our Fear of Each Other.” In this Horton talks about the fear we have of other Christians and other people outside the Church—there’s a focus on social and political issues and how American Christians ought to react to them instead of how we tend to. Horton avoids a “Left Wing” or “Republican” response—finding positive things on both sides of an issue (many of which shouldn’t find binary responses, but it seems impossible for Americans to do anything else), as well as things to critique on both sides.

Horton goes out of his way not to demonize those who disagree, but reminds his readers that there are those on each side who are fellow image-bearers, and all need Christ more than they need to be corrected or encouraged about their stances on any issue. The Church’s calling is to set aside the focus on the temporal and point others to the eternal and the world to come, while showing our gratitude for Christ’s work by serving those around us.

This sub-section is worth the price of the book (not that the rest was a waste).

So, what did I think about Recovering Our Sanity?

My goal in this book is not to take sides in cultural and political debates. Instead, it is to raise our eyes to heaven so that our sanity can be restored, as Nebuchadnezzar experienced in Daniel 4.

There were more than a few times where I wondered if Horton had lost track of the thesis of the book—I found each chapter, each topic that he covered very valuable and was impressed by the wisdom that Horton offered.

But I was wrong about that—and by the end, it was easier to see where he was going all along. Horton’s been one of those writers that have been helpful to me for a couple of decades now and it’s good to see that hasn’t changed.

There’s a lot to chew on here, and as I said, a lot of wisdom to be gleaned. I can’t imagine every reader is going to agree with everything he has to say (and I can’t believe that Horton expects that, either)—but his major points are sound, Biblical, and needed by the American Church so that we remember what our priorities are supposed to be.


4 Stars

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, opinions are my own.

Saturday Miscellany—4/2/22

Odds ‘n ends about books and reading that caught my eye this week. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:
bullet Brandon Sanderson’s record-breaking Kickstarter campaign ends with $41.7 million—ruminate on that number for a bit, will ya?
bullet Your Guide to Independent Alternatives for Books, Audiobooks, eBooks, and Beyond—libro.fm has put together a handy list of bookish resources without a tie to “The River.”
bullet Everything You Want To Know About Requesting Books on NetGalley—This is too much effort for me, NetGalley approvals aren’t a huge priority (but I could easily let it become one), but this is another handy resource for those who want to get more approvals.
bullet Witty and Sarcastic Book Blog brought us a new Fantasy Focus this week, this focus is on Grimdark—a sub-genre I appreciate, even if I’m vague on understanding it (some of these posts have been very educational for me). Check it out.
bullet Why is Literature so Important?, asks Booksh Brews
bullet What I learned from my self-imposed three-month book-buying ban.—an impressive feat. Not one I think I could pull off.
bullet How Kindle Has Changed My Reading Experience!

A Book-ish Related Podcast episode (or two) you might want to give a listen to:
bullet Blood Brothers Podcast Episode 85 with Steph Broadribb—Broadribb talks about her Retired Detectives Club and a slew of other topics

This Week’s New Releases that I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
bullet Sweep of Stars by Maurice Broaddus—Broaddus has given us his spin on Arthurian tales and steampunk, and now turns to Space Opera,
bullet Monarch by Candice Wuehle—The cryptic worlds of Hanna and Stranger Things mingle with the dark humor of Dare Me in this debut novel about a teen beauty queen who discovers she’s been a sleeper agent in a deep state government program, and whose love for a fellow pageant girl sparks an underworld journey to the truth of her being.” After reading this post on Crime Reads, I had to put this on my list.

People vs Books

The Friday 56 for 4/1/22: The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi

The Friday 56This is a weekly bloghop hosted by Freda’s Voice.

RULES:
The Friday 56 Grab a book, any book.
The Friday 56 Turn to Page 56 or 56% on your ereader. If you have to improvise, that is okay.
The Friday 56 Find a snippet, short and sweet.
The Friday 56 Post it

from Page 56 of:
The Kaiju Preservation Society

The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi

From the platform, a walkway stretched up and over into a gathering of sequoia-size trees. Among the trees were wooden platforms and walkways and buildings, the whole affair swaddled in what looked like fine nettings and coverings.

“That’s Tanaka Base?” I asked.

“It is.”

“Did you mean to make it look like an Ewok village, or was that just an accident?”

“Well, technically speaking, Tanaka predates the Ewok village by a couple of decades. So it looks like us.”

“Does George Lucas know that?”

“He might.”

March 2022 in Retrospect: What I Read/Listened to/Wrote About

I was fairly surprised by my counts this month—22 books completed or 7235+ pages (or the equivalent)—it felt like I read more than that. But those are decent numbers, especially when you figure in the average rating of 3.68 Stars. I had a lot of fun with the books I read/listened to this month, and that’s the aim, right? (as easy it is to be distracted by numbers)

I was also surprised by what I’d actually written, especially after being gone for 5 days and then feeling like I had to catch up after that, when I put together that part of this post I expected it to be a pretty anemic list.

All in all…it’s been a good month, as you can see here:
Books/Novels/Novellas Read/Listened to

Troubled Blood One for All Percy Jackson's Greek Heroes
3.5 Stars 4 Stars 3.5 Stars
Madam Tulip and the Rainbow’s End Lives Laid Away Demon Magic and a Martini
4 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars
The Part About the Dragon Was (Mostly) True Recovering Our Sanity Spelunking Through Hell
4 Stars 4 Stars 4 Stars
Hard Reboot Drown Her Sorrows False Value
3 Stars 3 Stars 5 Stars
Death in the Sunshine Glorification: An Introduction Pay Dirt Road
3.5 Stars 3 Stars 4 Stars
Double Take The Two Towers Halo: The Fall of Reach
4 1/2 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars
DoubleBlind Murder Under Her Skin Free Billy
3 Stars 3 Stars 5 Stars
20/20
3 Stars

Still Reading

The Story Retold Faith & Life Duckett & Dyer: Dicks For Hire

Ratings

5 Stars 2 2 1/2 Stars 0
4 1/2 Stars 1 2 Stars 0
4 Stars 8 1 1/2 Stars 0
3.5 Stars 3 1 Star 0
3 Stars 8
Average = 3.68

TBR Stacks/Piles/Heaps

Audio E-book Physical Goodreads
Want-to-Read
End of
2021
9 45 42 144
1st of the
Month
6 47 41 144
Added 5 3 6 3
Read/
Listened
4 3 4 2
Current Total 7 47 43 145

Breakdowns:
“Traditionally” Published: 18
Self-/Independent Published: 5

Genre This Month Year to Date
Children’s 0 (0%) 1 (2%)
Fantasy 2 (9%) 9 (15%)
General Fiction/ Literature 1 (5%) 3 (5%)
Mystery/ Suspense/ Thriller 11 (50%) !!! 28 (45%)
Non-Fiction 1 (5%) 5 (8%)
Science Fiction 2 (9%) 4 (6%)
Theology/ Christian Living 2 (9%) 9 (15%)
Urban Fantasy 3 (14%) 8 (13%)
“Other” (Horror/ Humor/ Steampunk/ Western) 0 (0%) 1 (2%)

Review-ish Things Posted

Other Things I Wrote
Other than the Saturday Miscellanies (5th, 12th, 19th, and 26th), I also wrote:

Enough about me—how Was Your Month?

Page 236 of 610

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén