Book notes

I thought I'd make a few notes about some recently completed books, and maybe a movie or two as well. This gives me an opportunity for reflection, and you a review of my opinion, should you want one...
The No. 1 Ladies Detective Series by Alexander McCall Smith is simply a delightful series. It contains many endearing characters as well as many cultural history items about Botswana. If you are looking for a lovely, easy-to-read escape, these books are wonderful. I'll be heading to #5 as soon as I can lay my hands on it.

After reading (or more appropriately, listening to...) O Pioneers, the third Willa Cather novel I have read, I have to say that I believe Death Comes for the Archbishop to be her best so far. I enjoyed O Pioneers much more than My Antonia, but neither can approach Death for its interest of story and beauty of description. Still, Ms. Cather has a way of describing a landscape that makes you love it and feel part of it. I enjoyed this novel, and it could almost make one love Kansas, were that possible...


Nobody beats Jane Austen for painstaking, close-up detail regarding the foibles present in the human condition. This was my first time finishing Mansfield Park, and I enjoyed it because I am an Austen fan. One has to admire Fanny and Edmund, and disdain most of the others, but I didn't find this to be as strong or compelling as Pride and Prejudice (certainly), or Emma or Sense and Sensibility, or even Persuasion. Still, I am glad I read it.



I finished off the Ender quartet by Card with both Xenocide and Children of the Mind. Card is a good story teller, with some fascinating ideas, but becomes increasingly preachy about his ever-present Mormon convictions. The farther along in the series I read, the more irksome I found this. The strength of the story kept me going, and I'm glad I finished them, but I won't likely be rereading these.


Collin Hansen's book, Young, Restless, Reformed: A Journalist's Journey with the New Calvinists, was an easy and fascinating book about the Reformed faith popping up in unexpected places. We read and discussed this in Sunday School, with the goal of seeing outside of ourselves a bit, and it's been an enjoyable break from the heavy-duty theology we've been doing in there the last 5 years: The WCF Larger Catechism, the book of Job, and John Owen's Mortification of Sin. If you want to know what's happening with Calvinist influence in our culture, you'll enjoy this book.

On the movie front, we really enjoyed this quirky film, but maybe you need to have some background in Catholicism to really get it and enjoy it. I could SO relate to the little guy who wanted to be a Saint, and found his imaginary saints hysterical. While there are a few brief unfortunate moments that make this viewing for more mature viewers, it is a sweet little movie, and I recommend it.

Coraline is another quirky movie. I would call it both creepy and charming in the way a Roald Dahl story is, or the way Corpse Bride or Nightmare Before Christmas was. If you enjoyed those movies, you will enjoy this one.

One Netflix bomb for us was the old PBS series "The Flame Trees of Thicka". Poorly written, poorly acted. Don't bother.

Perhaps one of my favorite recent views was the documentary, Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed. This was well done, and rings true for us, particularly for Dave, who is constantly flabbergasted at the peer pressure and censorship being practiced today in the scientific community. This is an excellent look at what happens when political correctness overtakes a community.