Crossroads by Wm. Paul Young

This is Young’s second book after his controversial and popular book   The Shack.  For the first few chapters I thought it was too much like the Shack to bother with reading.  And then somehow the story took hold in my mind and I had a hard time putting the book down.

Anthony Spencer is a self-made millionaire, twice divorced and twice married to the same woman.  He’s vindictive, selfish and lousy at relationships.    And he’s in a coma.   While in the coma he “wakes up” in another time and place.   The first person he meets is Jack and they have a conversation about God and belief and unbelief.  This is where the story mirrors the Shack.   But as the story moves along Tony encounters the Holy Spirit portrayed as a First Nations woman.  As Tony begins to examine his choices throughout his life he comes face to face with the kind of person he was.   Finally he is told he is going on another journey.  I’m not going to describe this part.  Suffice it to stay that I’ve watched enough Star Trek not to be wierded out by entities inhabiting human beings.   I enjoy a good science fiction story.  It’s a little harder to follow in a spiritual sense but as the story continues I was able to ignore the way Tony was getting around and enjoyed the characters he was meeting.  Each person helps him with the decision he needs to make and along the way he, well you should really read the book if you want to know how it ends.

Young has found his writing style and it is improving in my opinion.  The characters are endearing; the conversation crisp and humorous and there are spiritual nuggets to glean and enjoy.  I doubt this will be as controversial as the first book was.    I wasn’t expecting to but in the end I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it if you can read it with an open mind and heart.

 

Morning Cup of Murder by Vanessa Gray Bartal

I desperately needed a break from reading Anna Karenina so I downloaded    Morning Cup of Murder by Vanessa Gray Bartal to my Kindle.

This is what would be termed a cozy mystery.  The main character is Lacy Steele, a 25 year old writer who is back home living with her grandma after a failed relationship.  Life isn’t perfect but she loves her Grandma and is working out what to do next in her life when there is a murder in town and her Grandmother is inexplicably arrested for the murder.  

A lot of the story is a formula; geeky high schooler returns to home town a beauty and runs into the popular jock who is now the good cop in town and at first they don’t get along etc.  but the characters are believable; the mystery itself is a good one and the ending is a surprise.   Along with the good cop there is a new single pastor in town.  He adds and interesting faith element to the story.  I would not immediately label this Christian fiction but grace and mercy are definitely themes in the story.

I enjoyed this.  It was easy to read and only cost .98 cents for my Kindle.  It’s the first of a series so I’ve also downloaded the second one.  If you’re looking for an easy and entertaining read I would recommend this book.

Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan

I often pick the books I’m going to read based solely on the title.    I like quirky names; I picked Jasper Fforde’s books to read because of the two F’s in his last name.  So when I saw this book that not only had a quirky name but was about a bookstore I was sold.

Web designer Clay Jannon has lost his job and is on the hunt for a new one.  Being tired of sitting at a computer all day he decides to take a walk and discovers a sign in bookstore advertising for help.  But this is no ordinary bookstore as he finds out on his first evening shift.

This is a remarkable story based on the oldest theme in the world, the quest for immortality.  The story combines modern day technology with old world literature and charming characters. The mixture of old and new in the story is part of what makes this book so remarkable.  I don’t want to give away any spoilers so I can only say that technology helps to break an ancient code that is hiding in plain sight.  Old vs.  young is also a theme as the young Clay Jannon is mentored by the elderly Mr. Penumbra. And finally the book is about friendship; old and new and what friends will do for each other.

This is Robin Sloane’s first book, I sincerely hope that he’s working on another.

Immortality

I’m reading a novel about the quest for immortality.  This seems to be the theme of many books both fiction and nonfiction.  As humans we have a natural desire to live forever.   But I don’t think we really start thinking about this until we hit 50 or 60 years old.  All of a sudden time speeds up and years go by in the blink of an eye and we start to wonder about eternity. 

There are many ways to prolong our lives from living a healthy life style to cryonics (the act of freezing the body after death hoping for resuscitation later on).  There are also ways to ensure we leave a legacy after our death; having families, producing a great piece of art or literature, becoming a philanthropist etc. 

The Bible says in Ecclesiastes says that God has put eternity in our hearts.  Our quest for immortality is really a God shaped vacuum longing to be filled put there by the Creator Himself.   The search for immortality is ultimately a search for God.    The good news is that God wants to be found and that He has provided a way for us to live eternally. 

  For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  John 3:16