LOVE/HATE/FEAR...

I've never been much of a scary movie fan. I dig stuff that's suspenseful, but for the most part, I stay away from the stuff that's more hardcore.

However, I LOVE scary books. I'm not sure why...maybe it's safer somehow? Maybe it's the fact that I'm controlling the imagery rather than placing my trust in the hands of some director or special effects person. I'm not sure - I just know I'm a sucker for creepy books.

A lot of you are readers, so I thought I'd ask,

"What's the scariest book you ever read?"

BOOKS ARE GOOD

It's taking me forever to get through N.T. Wright's Simply Christian. It isn't a hard read, I just haven't made the time to finish. So far, the book is fantastic and I would heartily recommend it. Read this quote the other night and really liked it:

"Nothing in all the history of paganism comes anywhere near this combination of event, intention and meaning. Nothing in Judaism has prepared for it, except in puzzling, shadowy prophecy.

"The death of Jesus of Nazareth as the king of the Jews, the bearer of Israel's destiny, the fulfillment of God's promises to his people of old, is either the most stupid, senseless waste and misunderstanding the world has ever seen, or it is the fulcrum around which world history turns."

I found this little quote to be powerfully poetic...kept reading it over and over and over. It's great when a book does that - when it captures your imagination and heart and mind all in one little paragraph.

What about you? Share a quote that's grabbed you recently...

PS...just posted a new Christmas Poll over at the blog. Click HERE to check it out!

I'm Working For Thomas Nelson...

Okay, that title isn't exactly true.

I follow the blog and Twitter feed of Michael Hyatt, CEO of Thomas Nelson publishing. A week or two ago, I see Michael's post about free copies of this new book by Stephen Mansfield. I watched a small snippet of Mansfield talking about the book and I was very interested.

Imagine my surprise when I saw that Thomas Nelson would sending out a limited number of copies of the book for review out in blog-world. Well that just sounded too cool to pass up, so I emailed in.

This book is fantastic. I can say going into this I was not Obama supporter. And after reading, I'm still not an Obama supporter. But I'm so glad I read it. Here's why:

The true strength of this book isn't character study. The book's power comes through Mansfield's massive research and insight into the overall political climate of the country as we approach this election. The author's thoughts on the collapse of the "religious Right" and the massive cultural change among people of faith was simultaneously mind-blowing and totally obvious.

Mansfield in right in stating that if faith is going to be more prominent in the future political landscape, then we need to know the beliefs and values and "faith histories" of those who would lead us. After establishing the fact that things are much different than in previous elections, he then digs into Obama's spiritual history, which is fascinating. At times seeming devoutly conservative, other times revealing a passionate statist approach to the idea of "civil religion," Obama is a hodgepodge of religious beliefs and representations. And if he's gonna' be the president...I think we wanna' know that.

My favorite part of the book would have to be the "Four Faces" idea. In this chapter, the author takes Obama, George W. Bush, John McCain and Hillary Clinton and skillfully analyzes their spiritual histories and track record to reveal four warring ideological forces within a religiously-charged nation. I loved it.

I don't plan to vote for Obama. And, in all honesty, this book only served to reinforce that decision. I am grateful for an excellent bibliography whereby readers can verify Mansfield's stories and records.

But, the book didn't make me hate this man. If fact, this book is more about us than about the senator-who-would-be-king. Stephen Mansfield has written a fair, honest and I'd say God-honoring analysis of both Obama and the country he intends to serve.

I know lots of folks with lots of different ideas about the country, but I think every single one of them would love this book.

Buy it here!

My thanks to Michael Hyatt, Lindsey Nobles and Joel Miller for getting this book in my hands. I'm extremely grateful.

I Like Books...

Over the past few months, Chris and some my other friends have been recommending Marcus Luttrell's Lone Survivor, an astounding tale about a young Navy Seal's brush with death in the mountains of Afghanistan.

First off, this is an amazing story. Regardless of writing ability or marketing or overall theme, the story itself is worth the time. The book isn't just about Marcus Luttrell, but rather about the brave men who fought alongside him and in multiple cases, saved his life. But the book has a lot of that other stuff working for it.

The book reads pretty fast. Rather than get bogged down in a lot of military jargon, the reader can feel pretty comfortable with any particular terminology that might arise.

I also found Luttrell's mini-rants on the state of the American media to be spot-on. Here's a guy, in the trenches, risking his life day in and day out; and he knows what's up. He knows what's really happening in the streets of a war torn country. He knows what happens when he and his team stare down the barrel of a gun. And he's saying things that more people need to be saying.

I don't think your personal position on the war would prevent you from appreciating what this solider has to say.

If there's anything I didn't dig about the book it would have to be the obvious arrogance. (Luttrell recognizes it, even, but still makes use of it.) The first few chapters are supposed to awe me at the strength, endurance, never die attitude of the U.S. Navy SEALs. And it did. But, I think I would have been just as impressed with maybe fewer paragraphs on "why we're awesome."

The book's got some profanity (if such things concern you,) but it is a fantastic book. A great story, a pretty in-depth look at Pashtun mountain culture and a surprising assessment of American media's influence on military affairs.

To buy the book, click here!

Anybody else read it?

Let's Play Oprah...

Okay....I know a lot you out there are currently reading this.


If you've read it, I'd love to know your thoughts on it. I've got a lot of my own, but I really would like to know what you think.

However, if you're out there and you're not finished with it, we will wait for you.

Just type a comment w/ something like:

"Todd...I'm almost done with the book. Please hold the discussion until I am done."

And I will.

Because here at Todd's Blog, readers are king. Or...kings.

Readers are THE kings.

That doesn't sound right.


Here at Todd's Blog, readers are the kings and queens...of the blog...kinda. But not really.

Wow...this has just turned horrible, hasn't it?

The Weirdest Blurb In History...

Yes, I'm reading The Shack.

Yes, Johnny is giving me grief about ti.

And, yes, I have lots of different thoughts about the book so far. (Maybe we'll do a book-discussion post once I finish it...)

But for now, the thing I can't get away from is the strange author's bio line on the back of the book:

"WILLIAM P. YOUNG was born a Canadian and raised among a stone-age tribe by his missionary parents in the highlands of what was New Guinea. He suffered great loss as a child and young adult, and now enjoys the 'wastefulness of grace' with his family in the Pacific Northwest."

What?

In all honesty, I thought that bio was a joke when I first started reading it. It's vague and weird and really contains non-information. Born a Canadian? Suffered great loss? Lives somewhere in the Pacific Northwest?

Who is this guy, Salman Rushdie? They can't be more specific?

Anybody else find it to be weird?

A Million People...

I just finished reading James Frey's A Million Little Pieces.

I'm not sure if you remember this book, but it stirred up quite a bit of controversy back in its day.

The book sailed to the top of all sorts of bestseller lists and nabbed a coveted spot in Oprah's Book Club. Oprah bragged on it, tons of women bought it and James Frey was heralded as the new tough poet of our generation.

Not long after all the buzz started, an investigative website uncovered some inaccuracies in Frey's account of his criminal background. Eventually, Frey conceded that he had embellished the criminal record, but everything else was true.

Frey went on Larry King to defend himself and even Oprah called in to defend him on the air! It looked as if Frey was the real deal.

Eventually, Frey's publisher discovered that many of the details of the book had been fabricated. Frey appeared on Oprah where he was blasted for lying after he admitted to many lies within the book.

Frey ended up losing some some money, the publisher offered refunds for anybody who wanted one (not too many did,) and Frey is now back with a new book that is already getting good reviews.

Now that I've read the book, I'm a bit confused.

I'm willing to admit that the whole scandal may have already colored my opinion, but as I read it, I thought...

"How could so many people believe this was real?"

The characters are just too big, too sad and things time out just a little too perfectly for me. I can't imagine reading this book and thinking it was true. Maybe if I hadn't seen Oprah or Larry King or any of that jazz I would have been fine. I don't know hardly anything about addiction. I can only guess how truly nightmarish it really is, but the book was just a little too extreme to ring true.

With all that said, it's a great book. It's well-written, it's got some great things to say about self-preservation and the futility therein, and it's a dramatic read.

Anybody read it? Thoughts?

_____________
Unrelated note: for those who read the blog in a reader, I posted a quick poll on "Best Indiana Jones Movie." Go directly to the blog and chime in!

Thanks, Ebay

Film and television composer Earle H. Hagen died at the age of 88 on Monday.

I caught the blurb on http://www.cnn.com/ and was fascinated to find that Hagen was the composer (and "whistler") of the beloved theme music for The Andy Griffith show.

Hagen performed with all sorts of swing bands, scored a lot of hit TV shows and was even nominated for an Oscar for his work in a Marilyn Monroe film.

I found the entire story so interesting. I wasn't aware of Hagen, but was intrigued at the idea of a man being so successful, so honored within his own field, and yet virtually unknown to the world at large.

The end of the article referenced Hagen's literary accomplishments - two or three books on film scoring and a memoir.

Hagen's memoir sounded like a great read, so I flew over to http://www.half.com/. The site is owned by Ebay. It's not an auction site, though. Folks post what they're selling...you find the price and the conditions you want and you buy. (Lots of folks use it to get rid of college textbooks, I think.) And what did half.com, this amazing online bargain center, ask for Hagen's book?

$110.

$110.

Can you believe that? I thought there must be some mistake. I mean, sure, a hardcover is great and all, but...

$110?

Since I don't have a hundred bucks laying around for film composer memoirs, I went where we all go in the end. Amazon.

$32.99.

A better deal, but still too high. And then I realized what this means...

When I die, copies of All The Freed are going to sell for $95 each.

Anybody want to go ahead give me their hundred now?

Charlie Wilson's War

Kristen and I watched Charlie Wilson's War on Friday night. I read the book awhile back and loved it. We never were able to make it out to the theater to see this one, but we've been trying and trying to find a open night to watch it together.

Tom Hanks is so good in this picture. As somebody who's seen Charlie Wilson in lots of different capacities over the years, I can say that Hanks nailed the character. I'm not one of those guys who thinks Tom Hanks is the best actor in the history of film, but he really did an amazing job in this one.

As much as it pains my wife to hear this, I'm not really a Julia Roberts fan. Her role was kinda' non-existent in my mind.

I AM one of those guys that thinks that Phillip Seymour-Hoffman is one of the best actors in the history of film. This guy amazes me. The role of Gust Avrakatos is a pretty tough needle to thread, but Hoffman does it. Plus, he's a portly gentlemen and you all know I like to see big brothers out there making good in Hollywood.

The movie did a good job of following the book for the most part. Certainly, movies are never as good as their bookish-beginnings, but the movie was still pretty true.

Until the end.

If you haven't read the book or know much about what happened, Congressman Charlie Wilson covertly smuggled weapons to the "mujahideen" in Afghanistan who were engaged in a war with the Soviet Union. It was all very Cold War and a big deal in Washington once the Afghani fighters began knocking Hind helicopters out of the sky.

The problem is that Wilson's effort essentially armed and trained the folks who would eventually fly jet planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The book goes into great detail as to how Wilson's armament and encouragement trickled down to those with anti-American sentiments and speaks openly about why we heard so very little about Wilson in the months immediately following 9/11.

The movie tries to fix that - it tries to paint Wilson in a better light, tries to make him the ultimate hero by showcasing his desire to stay in Afghanistan, educating the children of the mujahideen on America and freedom and such.

That might have happened in reality, but I think it's a departure from the book. That bugged me. I was content to see events unfold as they did. I don't need somebody to go off the text just to make sure I know who the hero is. I think folks are smart enough to recognize the flawed protagonist and to realize that life is rarely as "Cinderella" as the movies would have us believe.

If you're gonna' see it, be prepared to hear some creative cursing. There's also a little bit of nudity in the first ten minutes. (I wasn't prepared for that...)

If you've read the book, I think you'd dig it. If you're not familiar with the whole Charlie Wilson thing, I think you might find it boring.

However, he does mention Lufkin and Nacogdoches and there's a picture of the meeting room at Crown Colony, which is here in Lufkin.

Anybody else see it? Anybody like it?

Todd Recommends...

Through A Screen Darkly (Jeffrey Overstreet)
Regal Books, February 5, 2007

I loved this book!

Essentially, this book highlights some of Overstreet's most influential film experiences, identifies their larger themes and then finds that same theme supported and celebrated in other movies.

In addition to this great collection of redemptive images found in movies, the book also speaks honestly and powerfully about "Christian movies" and "Christian movie critics." Overstreet is respectful, but its clear that he comes at film in a manner quite different from most other religious film organizations. The author talks very honestly about making good choices with regard to what we put before our eyes, but he also has a brain in his head and offers some nice counterpoint to the "hunker-in-the-bunker" mentality of many Christian movie critics.

I also found the book to be a great tool - throughout the work, Overstreet is actually teaching the reader HOW to watch movies; how to open my mind and heart to look for God in films that I might normally just pass over or consider unworthy of my time.

If you love film, I think you'll love Through A Screen Darkly.

ONE BOOK, TWO MOVIES...

The final "Harry Potter" book, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," will be adapted into two films, Warner Bros. said Wednesday

.Titled "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1" and "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2," the movies are set to be released in November 2010 and May 2011.

David Yates -- who is directing the adaptation of the sixth novel, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" and is slated to helm the seventh film -- will direct both movies, which will be shot back-to-back. Steve Kloves, who has written all but one of the "Potter" movies, also is returning to write the two-parter.

"Hallows," which sold more than 11 million copies in its first 24 hours of release, is J.K. Rowling's biggest book, weighing in at 784 pages. Adapting the novel would have resulted in truncating large swaths of it or making an extra-long feature in order to fit everything in. The studio found itself in a situation similar to Quentin Tarantino with "Kill Bill," where splitting one long movie in two worked best creatively.

The decision makes financial sense for Warners because the movies are sure hits, and the "Potter" franchise has brought in billions of dollars for the studio, which distributes the movies worldwide and has no financial partner on them.

It already has been confirmed that the cast of the sixth movie, led by Daniel Radcliffe, will return for the final adaptation.

HT: Hollywood Reporter

Anybody heard this yet?

Without a doubt, my favorite blog in the world has to be 6YearMed. It's brilliant, sincere and funny and never disappoints.

A few days ago, Danielle, who IS 6YearMed posted a video about buying a new book written by Robert Rummel-Hudson. I checked out his blog which is pretty cool to read as his book is beginning to make waves.

I plan on checking out the book as soon as possible.

Blogs are awesome.

YEAH, I BOUGHT IT...

Believe the hype.
Find a way to read it.

Got this book as a Christmas gift. I had been interested in it when it first came out, but had forgotten it.

I only just started it, but it is fantastic. I'm actually quite shocked kids don't hear more of this story in school. It's a great book, well-documented and brilliantly written.

If you dig history, Abe Lincoln, or assassination stories (and who doesn't?), then MANHUNT will not disappoint.

And for those of you who don't enjoy reading, I hear there's a movie in the works based on the book. So hang in there.

What I Read...

Just finished Jeffery Deaver's Garden of Beasts. I am a huge fan of this author. I find his writing amazingly creative (though sometimes a bit too grisly) and funny. This book in particular marked a unique change for Deaver - rather than penning some forensic crime thriller, he's written a really smart story about espionage and redemption in Germany during Hitler's rise to power. If you're looking for an easy, fun read. This one is great.

Always a sucker for spy books, I was so glad to finally remember Robert Baer's See No Evil. This is one of those books that I kept reminding myself to read, but I'd always forget to check it out at the library or look for it at the bookstore. If you're unfamiliar with Baer, he's a very highly respected former CIA agent. In fact, two of his biographical books formed the basis for the screenplay for Syriana. (George Clooney's character is patterned after Robert Baer.)

My favorite part of the book comes when Baer is discussing highly sensitive issues. As a rule, the CIA requires all former agents to submit any and all manuscripts before publishing memoirs, articles, etc. What's so cool is that Baer actually leaves the "black-outs" in the book. You'll be reading through the paragraph and find a whole 2 sentences completely blacked out. Kinda' fun imagining what those sentences might say! Great book for all of you spy-nerds out there.

A lot of you know that I've spent the last few months making my way through Lee Strobel's The Case for Christ. About 6 months ago, Krist mentioned that she wanted us to read through something together that might encourage us as we talk to our kids about faith and Jesus and the church - all the things that are so important to our lives.

It started with Kristen. One night, she was talking about how she wanted to always be sure that we would be able to tell our kids WHY we believe in Jesus. She wasn't doubting our belief or anything, but she told me that she wanted our kids to know that their parents hadn't just invested their "faith" in Christ, but their minds, as well.

We started talking about the WHY - do I believe these things because my parents did? Do I believe in Jesus because I just want to? Do I know, for sure, that historical evidence supports the story of Jesus, His death and resurrection?

I remembered the book (I actually had it in my office at church!) so we went and got it.

I have to tell you that this book has meant so much to us over the past few months. Kristen read through it really fast, while I've taken my time with it. (Totally opposite for us, by the way; I'm usually the one done with a book in a day. 'Course, I can't remember anything about it after I'm done...)

The articles, interviews and hard questions in this book have indeed strengthened my faith and I'm so thankful to God for what He's done through Lee Strobel. Because of the enormous impact this book's had on me, I've decided to lead a small group through the book. There really isn't a "curriculum" for the book, but each chapter has some pretty cool discussion questions which naturally lead to some pretty big issues being bandied about.

Right now, I'm formulating how the classes will work, how we'll get the word out to the church and how the heck I'm gonna' lead this thing!

I strongly encourage everybody to read this book...I believe that it will encourage you and fill your mind with clarity and focus!

Anybody read this? I just finished it, and can't decide if I liked it or not. (I'm odd that way.)

If you read it, here's my question - was it helpful? Did this book make your life, theology, friendships, etc. better or more "holistic" (as the book likes to say)?

I would love to hear your thoughts!

So good...

Know what this means?
It means I won't hear from my wife for two days.

Just finished Crowder and Hogan's book on death, the soul and Bill Monroe. (Thanks, Jinx, for throwing it my way.)

The book started a bit too "Crowder" for me - complete with a little too much in the way of self-deprecation and humor that felt a little flat initially. However, the more I read, the more I loved the book.

It's a fantastic read; the historical stuff alone is well worth the time and money the book would ask of you. I didn't pay for this book. Jinx let me borrow it. (Thanks again, Jinx.) I loved the idea of understanding the "soul" as a concept throughout the ages. I think both Crowder and Hogan were painfully candid with their own feelings regarding the loss of Kyle Lake, an aspect of the book that was quite powerful.

My only real complaint about the book is that it was too short. It's as if the end of the book snuck up on me. I had read the soul stuff, I had read the bluegrass stuff, and I was ready for more. I also thought the "columns" sections were creative - maybe a bit too proud of their postmodern typesetting - but a neat set of stories about connection. (I still don't get the 1.6 thing. Maybe somebody who's read it can help me out.)

I encourage you to pick up the book. I think it's one of those that most everybody can gain something from.

I'd just like to say that Justin Jinkins let me borrow this book. Thank you, Jinx. You are a good friend and I always enjoy spending time with you. You are a great guitar player, man, and a Godly young chap who's doing his very best to be all that he can be.