5 to go!

Assasination Vacation is not a murder novel. It is however a ridiculously fascinating story. I feel it is important to note that I grew up in a home that would make most presidential libraries jealous, so I am probably prone to information on our presidents, especially the ones killed in office. In this book Sarah Vowell takes to the road unearthing the minutiae surrounding the first 3 Presidential assassinations. Those 3 assassinations were Abraham Lincoln, James A. Garfield, and William McKinley. The first of these is pretty well known and as a native son of "the land of Lincoln," I had the tale pounded into my head each year along with the stirring exploits of Kazimir Polaski (look it up). Any way, the Lincoln assassination is indeed fascinating, and full of intrigue but so are the lesser known of the presidential assassinations. If I didn't trust the sources of the information I would have a hard time believing that many of the plot lines didn't come from telenovelas. These stories are rife with espionage, conspiracy, bribary, bizarre sexual exploits, teapot manufacturing, And strangely enough Robert Todd Lincoln comes to play in all three stories. Reading this book inspired me to visit Washington D.C. as soon as possible and explore the historical sites that are off of the normal tourists radar, as well as visit the Truman presidential library in Kansas City when I go home for Christmas. He wasn't assassinated, but a couple of people tried. Maybe there is a good story behind that as well.

44! I can see the light

So a few years ago I was reading the book Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem. At the time it seemed like 1300 pages of what could only be classified as theological shock therapy. Looking back on the book, it was neither that overwhelming of a read, nor really that arduous a task, but I'm a little older now and definitely a better reader, so that is to be expected. Anyway, I have asked the guys in my community group to read this book and since I try to not ask people to read books I haven't read myself, you shall now get a blog post describing the book. Grudem took the 1300ish pages of Systematic Theology and "condensed" it down to just under 600 pages for the book Bible Doctrine which was then parsed down to around 150 pages and presented as this book Christian Beliefs.
I really appreciate what Grudem has done in this book, having read the monster version I was actually surprised to find that a couple of the things presented actually seemed clearer in their abridged form. I have very few complaints with the book, I felt the tone and writing style was very accessible and easy to enter into. I did, however, wish that Grudem had chosen to discuss the ordinances of the Church as well as getting into exactly how the Bible was canonized, but I realize he was limited to 20 topics. I would highly recommend this book to anyone hoping to get in on the ground floor of reformed theology, or for anyone wanting to brush up on their knowledge of the essentials.

43

Book # 4 in the Percy Jackson series is completed!

T minus 8

I feel that I need to say this on the record - I am still reading mature adult writing. I just got wrapped up in this story and want to finish it. Like I said last time, I will give a huge write-up on the Percy Jackson series once I am done. But just in case anyone doesn't believe me I am also currently reading God's Passion for His Glory, it is definitely higher level reading. I haven't abandoned scholastic pursuits, but sometimes you have to finish an adventure!