The Return

Review: The Bad Habits of Jesus: Showing Us the Way to Live Right in a World Gone Wrong Leonard Sweet Tyndale House Publishers 2016 Leonard Sweet can be counted on to give his readers a good read.   I think so anyway.   May not like what he has to say or what he says, but the book will be very readable.   He can pour on the academic stuff from time to time, but he generally leaves that for others to do.   He has a way of sneaking up on the reader with a story or something that brings his point home.   Sometimes the point is sharp enough to make you uncomfortable with yourself. The Bad Habits of Jesus he admits was written in record time, six weeks (ix), and some of it he gathered from a crowd-sourcing (x) event on his Facebook page. A new-fangled way of getting material for his book.   Yes, I do look at prefaces and acknowledgements.   Even introductions. As you might suspect Jesus’ bad habits are determined bad only but some tha...

Review: The Lesser Bohemians: A Novel Eimear McBride Hogarth 2016 I had no preconceived notions what expect from this book.   Its other reviews were anywhere from brilliant to not so much so.   The prose style, at least initially, accomplished what I think its purpose was---to show the reader the impressions of a person encountering a new experience.   Short, chaotic type snippets from all directions that begin to take shape as she acclimates to her new surroundings.   Had me thinking of a Beckett novel at times, but less serious.   As the book moves forward the prose becomes more like what the reader is accustomed to except where the experiences are new, overwhelming or in some other way acts to unbalance the status quo.    The book descriptions given in the other reviews and elsewhere sum up the story line.   Young girl in a new town, older guy helping find her way.   Yep, that’s it.   Both of their stories seemed to...

Review: The Great Spiritual Migration: How the World’s Largest Religion Is Seeking a Better Way to Be Christian Brian McLaren Convergent Publishing 2016 I hadn’t read anything from this author in quite a while and when I saw this book I decided to see what he had to say now.   McLaren communicates well and can be very convincing.   He hasn’t lost the touch over the years.   This book is engaging, thought provoking, and will make some folks unhappy.   That’s his style or at least what I have read it is.   This book is not just for those that identify as Christian.   And it’s my opinion that even an atheist might find this a good read.    Each chapter can be read as a standalone, so start where you want after the preface.   Being a bit of a traditionalist I read front to back.   Most of the central thrust addresses what McLaren see as a religion bound by the rigid form of its own belief systems and unable or unwilling...