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REPOST: The Return of the Christmas Witch by Dan Murphy and Aubrey Plaza, Julia Iredale (Illustrator): The Witch Returns to Battle a Dystopian Holiday

DETAILS:
Series: The Christmas Witch, #2
Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: October 10, 2022
Format: Hardcover
Length: 56 pg.
Read Date: December 17, 2022

What’s The Return of the Christmas Witch About?

Kristtörn wakes from her frozen slumber to find a world she cannot recognize—it’s a dystopian world where the joy of Christmas is gone and everyone is left with an automated, sanitized, homogenized, corporation-run day of market-driven consumption. Santa is nowhere to be found—and many doubt he ever existed—in his place, we have the Kringle Corporation.

We get to spend time with one family—grandmother remembers Santa and longs for his return, but her grandchildren don’t (but aren’t fans of Kringle, either). Kristtörn watches the girl and the two strike up a relationship at a distance, and ultimately team up to take down the corporation and bring back Kristtörn’s brother.

That’s a sloppy job on my part, but it’ll do for these purposes. Murphy and Plaza tell it so much better.

The Artwork

On the whole, I’d just want to repeat what I said about the first book, so I will.

Iredale’s work struck me like a classic storybook, the kind of art that was in the books I read as a kid—especially the books that were old by the time I read them. It was fitting for the kind of story. It wasn’t knock-out gorgeous, and I think it would’ve hurt the book overall had it been. There’s some sharpness to the art—almost the kind of thing that would’ve been carved into wood.

It’s vibrant and I can’t imagine a kid who won’t want to pour over the pictures as much as the story.

So much for repeating—I did think this work wasn’t as well done as the previous book. There are a couple of illustrations that…sloppy isn’t the right word, but they don’t seem as finished. It felt like Iredale ran out of time and rushed one or two drawings/characters. That’s likely not right—and probably not that fair of me to say. But that was my impression. I doubt that any of the target audience will pick up on it (or care if they do), but it surprised me that I wasn’t as impressed with the art.

So, what did I think about The Return of the Christmas Witch?

This takes a darker turn than I expected from this story—the first book had a hint of this, and it’s not out of place, but I raised an eyebrow at the dystopia. That said—I thought it was a great choice, and offered a new take on the usual “over-commercialization of Christmas” and “we need to get back to the essence of the holiday” stories. But that’s what it is at its core—and I’m all for that kind of story.

I did think the ending felt a little rushed—like the authors ran into a hard page limit/word count. It wouldn’t have taken much more, but after the well-established set-up, I thought we needed a little more development to the magical ending.

The door is left open to one more book in the series—it’s maybe even suggested. If so, I’m totally on board for it. I can see the authors leaving it here, too—and I’d be okay with that.

The words-to-image ratio for this kind of book leans toward the words side, so that will limit some younger fans—but as long as there’s a willing adult around, I think this will satisfy fans of the first book.

3 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.

REPOST: The Legend of the Christmas Witch by Dan Murphy and Aubrey Plaza, Julia Iredale (Illustrator): The Story of Santa’s Misunderstood Sister

By HCNewton

On December 25, 2025

In Fantasy, Fiction, YA/MG/Children's Books

The Legend of the Christmas Witch

by Dan Murphy & Aubrey Plaza, Julia Iredale (Illustrator)

DETAILS:
Series: The Christmas Witch, #1
Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: November 15, 2021
Format: Hardcover
Length: 56 pg.
Read Date: December 3, 2022

Santa and Me

Let’s start with a personal note, I’m apprehensive (at best) about man-made religious holidays. I don’t do Christmas posts here—and almost without exception, if you see a book on here having to do with any Winter holiday, it’ll be because it’s part of a longer series that I already read.

But having been indoctrinated in American mass culture, I was on the receiving end of more stories, shows, and movies about Santa Claus (both growing up and since) than anyone else. And I’ve probably seen variations on his origin than Batman and Spider-Man combined (and if I never have to see Ben Parker or Thomas and Martha Wayne killed again, it will be too soon). They’re not my favorite things, but I tend to enjoy them and am always ready for a new one.

Which brings us to:

What’s The Legend of the Christmas Witch About?

We open with a couple of twin children, Kristoffer and Kristtörn, both of them have some magic which they mostly use in the games they play with each other. They have no parents when we meet them, and don’t appear to remember them.

They’re separated at one point, and Kristoffer is taken in by a couple from a nearby village and grows up among people—eventually delivering baked goods from his adoptive mother’s bakery. Kristtörn is heartbroken by their separation, and a witch from the woods comes along to raise her.

Time passes and Kristoffer becomes Santa Claus. Kristtörn tries to make contact with him but is unable to. So she starts visiting places just before Christmas Eve, hoping their paths cross. A legend around her (mostly misunderstanding her) grows at the same pace as her brother’s does.

This all leads somewhere, but I’m not going to go further than that.

The Artwork

Iredale’s work struck me like a classic storybook, the kind of art that was in the books I read as a kid—especially the books that were old by the time I read them. It was fitting for the kind of story. It wasn’t knock-out gorgeous, and I think it would’ve hurt the book overall had it been. There’s some sharpness to the art—almost the kind of thing that would’ve been carved into wood.

It’s vibrant and I can’t imagine a kid who won’t want to pour over the pictures as much as the story.

So, what did I think about The Legend of the Christmas Witch?

The best way to describe this book is—imagine that the Grimm Brothers wrote a story about where Santa came from as well as telling us about his sister. Now imagine that someone took that Grimm’s Fairy Tale and sanitized it for contemporary kids. That result would be a lot like this. A little dark, a little light…

Because of that tone, I do think that parents/caregivers/etc. should exercise some judgment in who gets to read this one—some of it is going to go over the heads of young ones of a certain age, and some of it could be considered too dark for some little ones. But for the right reader, this take on Santa’s origin is going to be a lot of fun.

I’m glad that I indulged my curiosity, I’m not going to suggest that this filled me with the Christmas spirit or anything, I’m not off to buy the biggest goose for anyone and my heart is the same size as it was before. But when it comes to a reworking of the Santa Myth, this was a very satisfying one.

3 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.

REPOST: The Real Festivus by Dan O’Keefe: An Explanation for the Rest of Us!

By HCNewton

On December 23, 2025

In Humor, Non-Fiction

I typically do a Festivus post on December 23, but I couldn’t come up with anything to do this year. However, I did finally get a copy of this book

The Real Festivus: The True Story Behind America’s Favorite Made-up Holiday

by Dan O’Keefe

DETAILS:
Publisher: Tarcherperigree
Publication Date: January 1, 2005
Format: Paperback
Length: 134 pg.
Read Date: December 21, 2024

What’s The Real Festivus About?

It’s right there in the subtitle, isn’t it? It’s “The True Story Behind America’s Favorite Made-up Holiday.”

In this book you will learn, should you choose, how to celebrate Festivus according to the true and ancient traditions that have guided it since its birth back in the mists of the 1960s. But be warned: the secrets of this book can be dangerous. Do not read it while driving a car; that would be a bad idea. Do not use it to hold down important papers on a desk; it is flimsy and your papers may blow away. If you handle it carelessly, you may sustain paper cuts that are not only painful, but may attract sharks while swimming at the beach. Also, the way things are going in this country, reading books might soon lead to your arrest and a one-way black helicopter ride to some kind of orbital prison, or forced labor on an undersea kelp farm. Depending on the judge you get.

Why is there a need for this book? Well, O’Keefe addresses that right off the bat with his opening words:

So you think the holiday known as Festivus involves a metal pole, do you? Feats of strength? Commercial breaks? WRONG. That’s just the television version. Because a network audience couldn’t possibly have handled the real thing. A family huddled around a table by candle-light one random evening a year, eating and drinking too much, singing in German about a black pig, bitching about people who didn’t like them into a barely functional tape recorder, and displaying obscene, hand-scrawled signs of a political nature.

But if you go beyond simple belief, if you are one of those lost souls who, captivated by the television portrayal of Festivus, actually celebrates the damn thing… what’s up with that? Don’t get out of the house much, do you? Maybe you should get a pet or a hobby or something.* If you don’t already have forty cats in your studio apartment, which will eat your eyes when you die, alone.

*Hard not to take that personally…

He starts with the need for Festivus (a quick critique of some of the major holidays); then moves into the name and what it could mean; its origin; common misconceptions about the holiday (i.e., the Seinfeld episode); and some of the details about the holiday: the floating date, the poems, music, dinner, and gifts; he then details some particular commemorations of the day; and then spends a few paragraphs detailing what the reader needs to pull off an “authentic” Festivus celebration to wrap it up.

So, what did I think about The Real Festivus?

This is not at all what I expected. Sure, I knew the TV version didn’t match up with the O’Keefe family version exactly. But just how little overlap there was (basically: the name) astounded me.

Once you get past the kvetching about the TV Show’s version of Festivus (which seems a little heavy-handed, I have to say, but I think he was going for funny), what this book really is becomes clear. It’s a memoir about an eccentric family’s equally eccentric ritual. Every family has them—the O’Keefes were just nice enough to record them and have one son who achieved enough notoriety to get a publisher to pay for these memories (and the skill to deliver them).

It’s an amusing book infused with a particular kind of sweetness. I don’t know that it’s the kind of thing that will change my Festivus celebrations in the future (I really like the pole), but it’s a rewarding read.

3 Stars

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Front Desk by Kelly Yang: An MG Novel about an American Dream

By HCNewton

On October 31, 2025

In Fiction, General Fiction/Literature, YA/MG/Children's Books

Front Desk

by Kelly Yang

DETAILS:
Series: Front Desk, #1 
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Publication Date: June 25, 2019
Format: Hardcover
Length: 286 pg.
Read Date: October 28, 2025

My parents told me America was this amazing place where we could live in a house with a dog, do whatever we want, and eat hamburgers till we were red in the face. So far the only part we’ve achieved is the hamburger part, but I was still holding out hope. And the hamburgers here are pretty good.

What’s Front Desk About?

I’m not sure where I got the idea—I thought I read it somewhere, but I can’t find it, but I want to say the year is 1993*, and Mia Tan and her parents have been in the U.S. for some time now—having left their family, friends, and lives back in China. Now in Anaheim, they’ve stumbled into a decent job—her parents will manage a motel not that far from Disneyland and they’ll get a place to live, in addition to what the owner has agreed to pay.

(we’ll ignore the way he changes that agreement unilaterally and without warning).

Despite only being ten, Mia starts working the front desk—and really enjoys it—when she’s not in school. She meets and befriends a group of “weeklies” (those who live in the motel). Basically, she’s enjoying life. Until she has to go to school—she can’t bring herself to tell anyone where her family lives, what she does when she’s not in school, etc.

The novel is about Mia becoming comfortable in the U.S., helping her family stabilize themselves in their work, and connecting with a community around them. This comes from the way her parents help immigrants (of multiple nationalities), the weeklies, and other connections she makes by being her irrepressible self.

* The technology used throughout the book fits, for what it’s worth.

The MG-Ness of It

This is very clearly an MG novel—other than the protagonist, the characters are rarely more than an inch deep. This doesn’t mean that I didn’t like them—you just have to know going in that they’re going to have the depth of Candace Flynn.

With few exceptions (and those are very clear), these characters are supportive, encouraging, and wise—except for when they need to do something unwise/foolish for plot reasons.

It’s fine—it’s to be expected for the target audience, really. But I’ve been on a streak of some pretty deep reads lately, and it felt really light to me.

On the plus side—there’s no nuance to either the depictions of the xenophobia or racism or to the reactions to it. Yang kept that nice and clear—you help people no matter who they are? You get the white hat. You show prejudice against immigrants, Asians, Hispanics, and/or African Americans? You get the black hat—and very likely are forced to eat your just desserts. And honestly? That’s a relief—I needed something with that kind of clarity.

So, what did I think about Front Desk?

Sometimes, I wondered what it would be like to have an American mom. Just for a day. I could eat all the chocolate chip cookies I wanted because American moms on TV were always baking them. Or making casseroles. Or organizing birthday parties with themes.

I’ll tell you what they were not doing. They weren’t pestering their kids to do more math.

Although the novel is clear about problems in America—particularly when it comes to economics, xenophobia, and racism. But it loves Americans and American ideals, and while it gets shaken—Mia and her parents cling to some version of the American dream. It’s enough to give a cynic hope.

Speaking of hope—the book is full of it. Not all of it is grounded—but, I’m not sure I care. Mia’s hope and optimism are contagious. You see it in the way she sets about everything she does, the way she changes others, and the way those who have been changed start thinking and doing. Again, it’s only the black hats who seem impervious to this—although they are sometimes compelled to change their actions.

It’s sweet. It’s hopeful. It’s cheerful. It is honest about the flaws (and there are more than a few) of the protagonist/narrator, but it shows how she perseveres in light of them—and grows.

It’s really hard to find things to complain about, so I won’t. Pick it up—if not for yourself, at least for the MG reader in your life (assuming you’re fortunate to be blessed with one).

3 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.
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Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury: Beware the Autumn People

By HCNewton

On October 10, 2025

In Fiction, Science Fiction

Something Wicked This Way Comes

by Ray Bradbury

DETAILS:
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication Date: October 24, 2017 (this particular edition, anyway. 1962 originally)
Format: Paperback
Length: 335 pg.
Read Date: September 27-30, 2025

“Now, look, since when did you think being good meant being happy?”

“Since always.”

“Since now learn otherwise, Sometimes the man who looks happiest in town, with the biggest smile, is the one carrying the biggest load of sin. There are smiles and smiles; learn to tell the dark variety from the light. The seal-barker, the laugh-shouter half the time he’s covering up. He’s had his fun and he’s guilty And men do love sin, Will, oh how they love it, never doubt, in all shapes, sizes, colors, and smells. Times come when troughs, not tables, suit our appetites. Hear a man too loudly praising others, and look to wonder if he didn’t just get up from the sty. On the other hand, that unhappy, pale, put-upon man walking by, who looks all guilt and sin, why, often that’s your good man with a capital G, Will. For being good is a fearful occupation; men strain at it and sometimes break in two. I’ve known a few. You work twice as hard to be a farmer as to be his hog. I suppose it’s thinking about trying to be good makes the crack run up the wall one night. A man with high standards, too, the least hair falls on him sometimes wilts his spine. He can’t let himself alone, won’t lift himself off the hook if he falls just a breath from grace.”

What’s Something Wicked This Way Comes About?

I have to say, I felt kind of embarrassed when this book was suggested to me for a book featuring a circus or carnival for a book challenge. I knew Bradbury had written something with the title, but that’s all I knew.

Now, faced with trying to describe it, I’m not sure how to describe it without making it sound underwhelming. So let’s just appropriate a little of the back of the book (especially because most of you will know what the book is about already):

For those who still dream and remember, for those yet to experience the hypnotic power of its dark poetry, step inside. The show is about to begin. Cooger & Dark’s Pandemonium Shadow Show has come to Green Town, Illinois, to destroy every life touched by its strange and sinister mystery. The carnival rolls in sometime after midnight, ushering in Halloween a week early. A calliope’s shrill siren song beckons to all with a seductive promise of dreams and youth regained. Two boys will discover the secret of its smoke, mazes, and mirrors; two friends who will soon know all too well the heavy cost of wishes…and the stuff of nightmares.

Bradbury’s Prose

Just wow. I can’t tell you how many times I had to stop to re-read a line or paragraph. I loved the descriptions, the scenes—the talk about the ache inside a person.

It’s lyrical, it’s poetic, it’s gorgeous–and I don’t know what else to say.

I’ll admit I was underwhelmed by the novel (see below), but the way he wrote it? Boy howdy…it was so wonderful.

So, what did I think about Something Wicked This Way Comes?

“Can they…” said Jim. “I mean… do they… buy souls?”

“Buy, when they can get them free?” said Mr. Halloway. “Why, most men jump at the chance to give up everything for nothing. There’s nothing we’re so slapstick with as our own immortal souls. Besides, you’re inferring that’s the Devil out there. I only say it’s a type of creature has learned to live off souls, not the souls themselves. That always worried me in the old myths. I asked myself, why would Mephistopheles want a soul? What does he do with it when he gets it, of what use is it? Stand back while I throw my own theory over the plate. Those creatures want the flaming gas off souls who can‘ sleep nights, that fever by day from old crimes. A dead soul is no kindling. But a live and raving soul, crisped with self-damnation, oh that’s a pretty snoutful for such as them.”

I’m not sure the characters ever reached three-dimensional—but Bradbury made a good stab at it, but those stabls felt sporadic. That said, for characters that I thought needed some filling out, I really liked them.

Mr. Halloway, the father of one of the two boys, was the only one to take them seriously. He’s the best thing about this book. His humility, his determination, his actually being able to say something to his son about his life and affection for him. He is not a brave or courageous man. But when it comes down to it—he acts like one. He seems to be a broken man early on, but there was something about him I liked as well as pitied—by the end, I admired him. It’d have been easy for Bradbury to turn him into a father who wasn’t really in the story (like both boys’ mothers)—and that’s the way stories like this usually go. But to turn him into someone who works with them? That’s a rarity.

This was creepy, for sure. I liked the take on humanity—both the good and the bad. I thought the story wasn’t bad, even if it felt over-familiar. I thought the prose was deliciously rich, and just wish the characters lived up to it. It’s not my genre, it didn’t all click with me, but it was good enough, and I’m glad I read it.

3 Stars

REPOSTING JUST CUZ: How Not to Be an *SS by Andrew J. Bauman: Essays on Important Topics, That Fall a Little Short

By HCNewton

On August 17, 2025

In Non-Fiction, Theology/Christian Living

How Not to Be an *SS:
Essays on Becoming a Good & Safe Man

by Andrew J. Bauman

DETAILS:
Publisher: Brave Books
Publication Date: December 31, 2021
Format: Kindle Edition
Length: 192 pg.
Read Date: February 20, 2022

What’s How Not to Be an SS* About?

This is a collection of essays* built around the idea that men who are an *ss (the asterisk is courtesy of Bauman, not me) can change and become a good and safe men.

* Plus a couple of poems. Entirely skippable poems (your results may vary).

Bauman calls men to an authentic, Biblical masculinity—one built on humility, kindness, and service. While offering concrete ways to set aside patterns of abuse and neglect.

Good and Safe Men

Bauman’s description of Good and Safe men is maybe filled with a few too many buzzwords. But when you get past that, I really appreciated what he had to say, and I wish I heard more things like that coming from Reformed and Evangelical men.

His definition of “*ss”

A lot of the time he’s talking about an *ss, he’s talking about something worse. Something like a felon (perhaps not a convicted felon, but someone who should be charged, at least). Most of what he describes as an *ss are abusers. I think we should call them what they are.

Even if you take his *ss as a range—from “The Unaware Fool” (although by definition, some of those he considers unaware, are aware) to “The Narcissistic Coward”—he spends most of his time on “The Narcissistic Coward” when it’s the Fool that would be more open to the help and guidance.

Shortcoming

There are two that seem the most prominent. First, this is an essay collection, not a sustained argument. As a result, it’s a bit scatter-shot and hard to draw any firm conclusions about some of the material. Also, it makes some of the material too surface-level.

Secondly, it’s focused too much on the abusive man, on ways to he can improve. But earlier on, it seemed to be a book for those who weren’t abusive, but are wanting to be better, safer men. Now, don’t get me wrong—I’m all for the former. But I got the impression when I bought the book (and in the early essays) that it was about the latter.

So, what did I think about How Not to Be an SS*?

I’m not sure that what I’ve said here is that helpful without digging in deep into his arguments and suggestions—and to do that is beyond what I have time for here. But hopefully, there’s something useful here.

There’s a lot of good here, a lot of important resources. The theological language is a little imprecise for my taste, but none of it is a deal-breaker for me. The gold outweighs the chaff.

It’s not the book I thought I was getting, but I’m glad that I read it. I wanted more, sure, but I liked what I got.

3 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.

Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life by C. S. Lewis: A Portrait of a Reader/Thinker as a Young Man

By HCNewton

On June 15, 2025

In (Auto)Biography, Non-Fiction, Theology/Christian Living

Further Up and Further In A Year with C.S.Lewis

Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life

by C. S. Lewis

DETAILS:
 Publisher: Harcourt Brace & Company
Publication Date: 1984
Format: Paperback
Length: 238 pg.
Read Date: May 10-25, 2025

The reader who finds these three episodes of no interest need read this book no further, for in a sense the central story of my life is about nothing else. For those who are still disposed to proceed I will only underline the quality common to the three experiences; it is that of an unsatisfied desire which is itself more desirable than any other satisfaction. I call it Joy, which is here a technical term and must be sharply distinguished both from Happiness and from Pleasure. Joy (in my sense) has indeed one characteristic, and one only, in common with them; the fact that anyone who has experienced it will want it again. Apart from that, and considered only in its quality, it might almost equally well be called a particular kind of unhappiness or grief. But then it is a kind we want. I doubt whether anyone who has tasted it would ever, if both were in his power, exchange it for all the pleasures in the world. But then Joy is never in our power and pleasure often is.

What’s Surprised by Joy About?

This is a look at the early part of Lewis’ life—his childhood, education (in boarding schools primarily), his acceptance to Oxford—and taking time off to serve in WWI—then returning and his eventual conversion to Christianity.

As he puts it in the preface,

This book is written partly in answer to requests that I would tell how I passed from Atheism to Christianity and partly to correct one or two false notions that seem to have got about. How far the story matters to anyone but myself depends on the degree to which others have experienced what I call “joy.”…The book aims at telling the story of my conversion and is not a general autobiography.

He’s not striving to be exhaustive, but to tell us enough that we understand what he was going through and how his education/experiences helped shape his mind for converting.

Endless Books

I am a product of long corridors, empty sunlit rooms, upstairs indoor silences, attics explored in solitude, distan; noises of gurgling cisterns and pipes, and the noise of wind under the tiles. Also, of endless books. My father bought all the books he read and never got rid of any of them. There were books in the study, books in the drawing room, books in the cloakroom, books (two deep) in the great bookcase on the landing, books in a bedroom, books piled as high as my shoulder in the cistern attic, books of all kinds reflecting every transient stage of my parents’ interest, books readable and unreadable, books suitable for a child and books most emphatically not. Nothing was forbidden me. In the seemingly endless rainy afternoons I took volume after volume from the shelves. I had always the same certainty of finding a book that was new to me as a man who walks into a field has of finding a new blade of grass.

Just about anyone who takes the time to read this post is going to resonate with that quotation. Possibly be envious of that kind of childhood.

That’s one thing that comes through in clarity through this book—he is the product of so many books. So much of his experiences are shaped by, illustrated by, and reflected in what he reads—particularly what he returns to.

Yes, there’s some creative work. Some dry education. A lot of emotional development (largely phrased in other terms). Even a little socialization outside of his father, brother, and instructors—but really not much outside of that until Oxford.

What’s there throughout it all? Books. Hard not to identify with a guy like that.

So, what did I think about Surprised by Joy?

I was at this time living, like so many Atheists or Antitheists, in a whirl of contradictions. I maintained that God did not exist. I was also very angry with God for not existing. I was equally angry with Him for creating a world.

Sure, it’s about his early years. But I think the emphasis was on the wrong bits. I know, it’s not my life, he knows what got him to the point he was trying to focus on better than I do. But if the book “aims at telling the story of my conversion,” I really don’t see it.

It happens so quickly, with little fanfare leading up to it—it reminded me of one of those books where you stop a sentence or two after something happens, “Wait, did X just die?” That’s an exaggeration in this case, but not by much.

More of his WWI experience, more about the wrestling with ideas in Oxford. More showing the kind of thinking he encourages others to do about their faith/lack thereof, would be a plus.

Is it a good look at Lewis’ early life? Yes. Does it contain some of his best turns of phrase? Yeah, I think so. Does it deliver on what he aimed to? I really don’t think so. I recommend it for someone who wants to know more about the man—just come in with the proper expectations.

3 Stars

Rift by Cait West: An Important and Moving Story, That Didn’t Completely Work for Me

By HCNewton

On May 18, 2025

In (Auto)Biography, Non-Fiction, Theology/Christian Living

Rift:
A Memoir of Breaking Away from Christian Patriarchy

by Cait West

DETAILS:
Publisher: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company
Publication Date: April 30, 2024
Format: Hardcover
Length: 226 pg.
Read Date: March 23-30, 2025

What’s Rift About?

A gripping memoir about coming of age in the stay-at-home daughter movement and the quest to piece together a future on your own terms.

Raised in the Christian patriarchy movement, Cait West was homeschooled and could only wear clothes her father deemed modest. She was five years old the first time she was told her swimsuit was too revealing, to go change. There would be no college in her future, no career. She was a stay-at-home daughter and would move out only when her father allowed her to become a wife. She was trained to serve men, and her life would never be her own.

Until she escaped.

In Rift, Cait West tells a harrowing story of chaos and control hidden beneath the facade of a happy family. Weaving together lyrical meditations on the geology of the places her family lived with her story of spiritual and emotional manipulation as a stay-at-home daughter, Cait creates a stirring portrait of one young woman’s growing awareness that she is experiencing abuse. With the ground shifting beneath her feet, Cait mustered the courage to break free from all she’d ever known and choose a future of her own making.

Rift is a story of survival. It’s also a story about what happens after you survive. With compassion and clarity, Cait explores the complex legacy of patriarchal religious trauma in her life, including the ways she has also been complicit in systems of oppression. A remarkable literary debut, Rift offers an essential personal perspective on the fraught legacy of purity culture and recent reckonings with abuse in Christian communities.

“Lyrical Meditations on the Geology…”

I really didn’t intended on talking about this, but reading that line in the jacket copy drives me to it. Every time West started talking about the geology, in using contintental rifts as a metaphor for what was going on in her family, and so on–I rolled my eyes.

It was clear what she was doing, but there was no subtlety to it. I’m not trying to say that this kind of thing should be subtle, but it shouldn’t be so heavy-handed and artless. It just came across as pretentious.

Critiquing Patriarchy

I picked this book up because I heard an interview with West and was intrigued by her–when I heard that she had a book out detailing her story in more detail than she could in 30 minutes or so. So please understand, I have very little sympathy for those who would be considered–by themselves or others–part of the Christian patriarchy movement. But I don’t think this book is an effective critique of it.

I do think it’s a tragic case study into what this movement can do, and has done, in one family. And it is easy–maybe too easy–to critique what this father did to his children. It’s hard to see the things that were experienced by others nearby–who thought similarly, but not necessarily identically to, this man.

So, what did I think about Rift?

This is an accessible read–frequently powerful. I do wish that West had curbed her attempts at artistic flair. I also wish that she’d done a more thorough job of trying to show how her father’s beliefs and behaviors lined up with others, and were linked to specific teachings by particular individuals rather than just a vague guilt by association.

I fully believe that documentation could be made, let me stress. But for what are probably good reasons. I don’t get them–but I assume she had them. If for nothing else, it’d change this from a memoir into some other kind of thing. I guess I’d hoped for that something else–a memoir +.

But it’s Cait West’s story, hers to tell how she wants. For this reader, it wasn’t enough. But I’m probably in the minority.

It took a lot for her to put this together–to expose the pain. My problems aren’t with her or what she said. Simply the experience as a reader.

3 Stars

REPOSTING JUST CUZ: Death and Taxes by Mark David Zaslove: The most rootin’ tootin’ shoot ’em up about accountants you’ve ever seen

By HCNewton

On April 15, 2025

In 2018 First Reads Challenge, 2018 Indie-Fever Challenge, Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

This seems like a good day to revisit this (sort of a shame there were no sequels)

Death and Taxes

by Mark David Zaslove
Series: Tales of a Badass IRS Agent, #1

ARC, 219 pg.
Aperient Press, 2018

Read: August 13 – 14, 2018
I’m not sure I can go this book justice with a hand-crafted synopsis, I’ll just copy and paste from Zaslove’s site:

Death and Taxes follows Mark Douglas, an ex-Marine turned IRS agent, who, along with auditing the weird and the profane, also spearheads weekend raids with his locked-and-loaded gang of government-sanctioned revenuers, merrily gathering back taxes in the form of cash, money order, or more often than not, the debtor’s most prized possessions.

Things turn ugly when Mark’s much-loved boss and dear friend Lila is tortured and killed over what she finds in a routine set of 1040 forms. Mark follows a trail dotted with plutonium-enriched cows, a Saudi sheik with jewel-encrusted body parts, a doddering, drug sniffing, gun-swallowing dog named The Cabbage, a self-righteous magician with a flair for safecracking, a billionaire Texan with a fetish for spicy barbecue sauce and even spicier women, and an FBI field agent whose nickname is “Tightass.” All of which lead to more and bloodier murders – and more danger for Mark.

Enlisting his IRS pals – Harry Salt, a 30-year vet with a quantum physical ability to drink more than humanly possible; Wooly Bob, who’s egg-bald on top with shaved eyebrows to match; Miguel, an inexperienced newbie with a company-issued bullhorn and a penchant for getting kicked in the jumblies – Mark hunts down the eunuch hit man Juju Klondike and the deadly Mongolian mob that hired him as only an angry IRS agent can. There will be no refunds for any of them when April 15th comes around. There will only be Death and Taxes.

This is hyper-violent (not that filled with blood and guts, really — there is some), a lot of guns, bombs, more guns. Sometimes played for comedic effect, sometimes it’s the good guys vs. the bad guys. Sometimes, it’s a little of both. It never got to the overkill point for me, probably because this felt more like a cartoon than a “realistic” thriller.* What was overkill for me was the hypersexualization of every woman under the age of sixty. I didn’t need to hear that much about every woman’s physical appearance — there are more gorgeous women with perfect (sometimes surgically enhanced) bodies in this guy’s life than an episode of Miami Vice.

But man, is this funny. There are sections — sometimes a sentence or two, sometimes several paragraphs long — that are the literary equivalent of a shot of espresso, they are so taught with action, cultural references, and humor that you just revel in them. This reminds me a lot of the John Lago Thrillers by Shane Kuhn — I think Kuhn shows more discipline in his plots and characters, but on the whole, these two are cut from the same cloth. The same energy, a similar style, similar sense of humor — and frankly, that stuff is catnip to me. I think the plot got a little convoluted, a little confusing — but it was worth working through.

Am I planning on reading Tales of a Badass IRS Agent, #2? Yeah, I will be keeping an eye out for it. This is a heckuva romp, and will entertain anyone who gives it a shot.

* Really, what thriller is realistic?

Disclaimer: I was provided with a copy of this novel in exchange for my honest opinion, which you see above.

—–

3 Stars

God of All Things by Andrew Wilson: Ordinary Stuff also tells of the glory of God

By HCNewton

On March 3, 2025

In Non-Fiction, Theology/Christian Living

God of All Things: Rediscovering the Sacred in an Everyday World

by Andrew Wilson

DETAILS:
Publisher: Zondervan
Publication Date: March 2, 2021
Format: Paperback
Length: 202 pgs.
Read Date: January 12-19, 2025

But instead [God] made a universe filled with things. Objects. stuff Planets, weather, colors, animals, vegetables, minerals. People, complete with noses and kidneys and bodily fluids. It is Curious: an immaterial and entirely spiritual God created a thoroughly material and physical world. Perhaps it should surprise us more than it does…

For Paul in Romans 1, creation reveals God’s invisible power and divine nature. Few of us can stand in front of the Grand Canyon or see a high-definition picture of the Horsehead Nebula without wanting to praise somebody or something for the majesty of what is before us. Some of us will suppress that urge. But those of us who don’t and allow the song of gratitude to swell within us like a storm will find ourselves concluding all sorts of things about our Maker. The God of the Sahara must be vast, boundless, and expansive. The God of quarks must have an unimaginable eye for detail. The God of wombats must have a sense of humor. Everything in creation has theological implications, and one of the joys of being human is figuring out what they are.

What all of these answers have in common is the fact that creation points beyond itself. Things ‘exist not for their own sakes but to draw us back to God. In Augustine’s image, the gifts of God in creation are like a boat which takes us back to our homeland: a means of transport which we can {and should} celebrate but never mistake for the destination itself. C. S. Lewis talks about following the sunbeams back to the sun so that we enjoy not just the object of goodness but the source of good. Creation preaches to us. The things of God reveal the God of things.

What’s God of All Things About?

That extended quotation from the Introduction is basically the foundation for this whole book (he does expand it a little from there). God made things. He uses those things to point to Him in various ways. This book takes 30 of the common, everyday things in this world and shows us (some of) the ways that they pointed to God and His redemptive work in Scripture—fifteen items per testament.

I won’t list all thirty things that get a short chapter devoted to them, but to give you an idea some are: earthuqakes, tools, honey, donkeys, flowers, pots, viruses, and flowers.

An Example

I really don’t know the best way to describe how Wilson approaches these items (although I don’t want to sound like every chapter follows the outline), so here’s a paragraph and change from Chapter 3, “Pigs: The Welcome of God”:

As gentiles, by nature unclean and separated from Israel ourselves, we can feel a certain sympathy for [pigs].

That is not where the similarity between pigs and gentiles stops. The first person who ever preached the gospel to gentiles was the apostle Peter, and he did so only because he saw a vision of a sheet full of unclean animals (Acts 10:9~16)—a vision in which, we may assume, pigs played a starring roleand heard a voice telling him to eat them, since “what God has made clean, do not call common” (v. 15). Non-Jewish people like me got baptized only because Peter saw a bunch of pigs and other unclean animals, and then saw a bunch of gentiles, and then saw the resemblance. “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation,” he explained to the gentiles who had invited him over for a visit, “but God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean” (v. 28). That’s a nice way of putting it. Even Peter, not always the most diplomatic of the apostles, had the good manners not to mention that his hosts were the equivalent of a sheet full of pigs, scallops, and snakes.

Not only does that give you a little hint of Wilson’s voice, but it gives a flavor of his approach. That’s from the Old Testament portion, but he’s invoking Peter and events from the New Testament. He looks at the use of whatever item throughout the canon, showing how they’re used in the primary texts he’s considering, what they say about God, they say about redemption and people.

Strengths

There are several, really. Some of the chapters (like Rainbows) seem pretty obvious in the aim and content. The chapter on the Wind, on the other hand, went in directions I wasn’t expecting. But beyond that, what he did in a few pages to describe the work of the Spirit—particularly the discussion of “being filled with the Spirit”—was so rewarding.

The chapter on Salt was also helpful—if only for the discussion of how metaphors can have several interpretations and meanings at the same time. As anyone who has ever heard more than one sermon on Matthew 5:13 knows too well, it’s ripe for interpretation. Wilson wisely encourages readers to embrace the probability that Jesus meant more than one thing by the metaphor of salt.

So, what did I think about God of All Things?

We worship a God of things. The cosmos is filled with them: everyday, mundane, quotidian, humdrum, ordinary things. Sometimes they delight, sometimes they exasperate, and sometimes they escape detection altogether, but whether quietly or loudly, they insistently point beyond themselves to the God who made physical stuff. Everything in creation tells us something about our Creator.

More than once on The White Horse Inn, I heard Rod Rosenbladt say, “God likes stuff [or matter], he made it.” It’s this notion—reflected in this quotation here, or the one that kicked off this post—that is too easily forgotten by modern Christians who (like many others in the last 100+/- years) have adopted a quasi-Gnostic attitude toward matter and spirit. So any book that seeks to remind anyone of that deserves attention.

In many ways, this reminded me of Finding God in the Ordinary by Pierce Taylor Hibbs. But where Hibbs looked at things around him and used them to launch his thoughts God-ward, WIlson looks at things around people in the Bible and uses them to take in the themes from Scripture and launch thoughts God-ward from there. Similar ends, similar means—just slightly different starting points. I’m not suggesting one is superior to the other in any way. In fact, I’m trying to work both exercises into my own life.

It’s a quick read, it’s a fun read (Wilson’s gentle wit and fairly mainstream pop culture references are nice for that), it’ll likely cause you to think of a few things you haven’t before, or will be a reminder that it’s not just the big things in nature that testify to the glory of God (the heavens, stars, and so on), it’s the little things, too (salt, lilies, sparrows, falling hairs)—and things in-between. I recommend this for your attention, it’s fit for High School (maybe younger) and up. Which probably includes you, reader.

3 Stars

Tag: 3 Stars Page 1 of 55

What’s The Return of the Christmas Witch About?

The Artwork

So, what did I think about The Return of the Christmas Witch?

Santa and Me

What’s The Legend of the Christmas Witch About?

The Artwork

So, what did I think about The Legend of the Christmas Witch?

The Real Festivus: The True Story Behind America’s Favorite Made-up Holiday

What’s The Real Festivus About?

So, what did I think about The Real Festivus?

What’s Front Desk About?

The MG-Ness of It

So, what did I think about Front Desk?

What’s Something Wicked This Way Comes About?

Bradbury’s Prose

So, what did I think about Something Wicked This Way Comes?

What’s How Not to Be an *SS About?

Good and Safe Men

His definition of “*ss”

Shortcoming

So, what did I think about How Not to Be an *SS?

What’s Surprised by Joy About?

Endless Books

So, what did I think about Surprised by Joy?

What’s Rift About?

“Lyrical Meditations on the Geology…”

Critiquing Patriarchy

So, what did I think about Rift?

Am I planning on reading Tales of a Badass IRS Agent, #2? Yeah, I will be keeping an eye out for it. This is a heckuva romp, and will entertain anyone who gives it a shot.

What’s God of All Things About?

An Example

Strengths

So, what did I think about God of All Things?

What’s How Not to Be an SS* About?

So, what did I think about How Not to Be an SS*?