Book Review: On the Shoulders of Hobbits: the Road to Virtue with Tolkien and Lewis by Louis Markos

Why read fantasy? Are fairy tales really all that great? Can we learn anything or gain any insight from reading them? Louis Markos answers these questions in On the Shoulders of Hobbits. He explains what our culture can learn from the examples set in the fantasy novels of J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis. Markos approaches the subject topically, writing about “The Road”, classical and Theological virtues highlighted in the novels, and finally the struggle of various characters with evil.

As a huge fan of both Tolkien and Lewis, I can say I absolutely loved this book! I read through it quickly, and it has me more excited about my favorite authors than ever! I am motivated to go back and read these stories again with a new perspective! Markos explains how both children and adults benefit from the genre or fantasy, and includes other stories and authors in his analyses of various virtues and struggles faced by fictional characters.

One point the author made that stood out to me was how morals that in times past were taught to children and reinforced through stories are largely neglected today. The classical virtues: justice, temperance, wisdom, and courage, along with the Theological virtues: faith, hope, and love, are not expressly taught in today’s schools or culture. Instead, tolerance, multiculturalism, and environmentalism are stressed. Nothing is wrong with the modern “virtues”, but today's Americans are lacking in the development of the timeless virtues and the tools to resist evil. A solution? Stories! Tolkien and Lewis wrote perhaps the best fantasy novels in the twentieth century, and did a great job instilling these issues in the challenges faced by their characters. They give examples of mistakes as well as success, and evil as well as good.

If you are a reader of Tolkien or Lewis, or find yourself interested in embarking on the journey their tales will take you on, I definitely recommend this book! It provides valuable insight and has the potential to add depth to your enjoyment of the aforementioned and other classic tales!

I received this book for free from the publisher through the Moody Publishers blogger review program. I was not required to write a positive review and the opinions and thoughts I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255

 

Book Review: Fatal Tide, by Lis Wiehl with Pete Nelson

A boy with secrets, a couple in love, and a supernatural battle between demons trying to bring on an apocalypse and Christians aided by angels combine to give a rather complex story. Lives and souls are at stake, and an underground group of Christians fight various threats as they try to prevent evil from taking hold like an infection.

Fatal Tide is the concluding book in the East Salem trilogy, and although I did not read the first two books, I was still able to follow this one.  However, it was difficult to follow at first, because new characters are being introduced in addition to those already established. It took a bit of turning back to previous chapters to remind myself who was who at first. As the story developed, suspense builds. The characters seem to get into some pretty tight spaces, but the story makes it clear that God is watching over them.

I must say it does get a little anti-climactic at the end. There is this great build-up to a final battle but I feel that the end doesn’t really deliver enough of a climax. The story ties up well, but I think the author could have added more conflict at the end. I enjoyed the book, and I am interested in reading the first two. If you read the first two books I would say this is a must-read. Otherwise, it is definitely enjoyable and I would recommend it, but I do think it could have been improved upon.

I received this book for free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review and the opinions and thoughts I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255

Book Review: A Walk Through the Dark, by Eva Piper with Cecil Murphey

It’s scary to think about how your life can change drastically in one moment.  For Eva Piper, that moment was when she was called out of her classroom into her principal’s office to find out that her husband had been in a terrible accident. She soon learns just how serious things are, and eventually finds out that her husband was originally a casualty. Months later, after heartache, difficult decisions, and caring for her husband despite his depression and sometimes his lack of a desire to continue on, she learns of his brief visit to Heaven’s gate before being dragged back to life in a broken body.

I must say I loved this book. Five years ago I read Don Piper’s Ninety Minutes in Heaven, shortly after my own brother went to be in Heaven with the Lord. His book was riveting and charged with emotion, and brought me a sense of relief to think about what my brother is experiencing now. When I saw that his wife, Eva, had written a book telling her side of the story I knew I had to read it as well.

If you have never read Ninety Minutes in Heaven, I do suggest reading it before picking up A Walk in the Dark.  I read several other reviews of this book and you can tell which reviewers read Don’s book first. A Walk in the Dark is Eva’s story, not Don’s. Although they were surrounded by the same physical events and friends and family, their stories are different. Don’t pick up this book thinking you are going to read about Don’s trip to Heaven. Pick this book up to learn about the struggles Eva faced walking alongside her husband as he fought to recover from severe injury and the disappointment of being here on earth instead of the wonderful place he will return to someday.

Eva’s story is also one of hope. She is able to point out so much good that came from her husband’s ordeal. It is difficult to see the good in a bad situation and actually acknowledge it! She points out so many opportunities she had for spiritual and personal growth. I did not get through the book without shedding some tears as I made connections between Eva’s experiences and my own past. Granted her situation was much different, but the reaction to trauma and interacting with others in the immediate aftermath is similar.

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this book. If you have lost someone, become caretaker for a loved one, or watched a family member or close friend fight for their life, this book will provide valuable insight. Like I said earlier though, I do suggest reading Don’s book first.

I received this book for free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review and the opinions and thoughts I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255

The House Project: The Past Nine Months

My last entry about the house detailed the installation of the Austin Stone. Since then, we haven't had any major projects or contractors out to work on anything. We are at a point where there are countless small projects and a few big one that we still plan on doing ourselves.

I had to go around the house and put a second coat of stain on all the trim, a job made necessary by a combination of mortar splatter and rain. It took forever! Well not really because I did finish it but it took several days of work! Bruce and I stained the front door together

It turned out beautifully!

As we started working on the house again this Spring, it became necessary to have some more lights in the work areas, and since we have to get all the electrical work finished before the sheet rock can go on the walls we went ahead and installed the garage lights!

Here is a view of the garage from the laundry room. You can see the plywood we put up where the garage doors will go.

We also ran some wires for the dining room lights. The circuits aren't complete yet, mainly because we haven't put all the fixtures and switches in yet, but Bruce ran the wires and installed the boxes!

We've also done a ton of work in the kitchen! Actually scratch that. Bruce has done a ton of work in the kitchen! I gave some input here and there and kept him company a little, but he worked and worked on it while I was off at work and he was home from his job. My Dad came over a few times and helped him out, as well as giving him input on light placement when he went into analysis paralysis!

One of Bruce's projects was to build this pony wall. He basically just built out the wall so that our cabinets could be placed against it to give us the deep countertop space we wanted along the West wall.

What you see below is the duct that vents the downdraft for the gas rangetop. It had to be a certain cross-sectional area, so Bruce did the math to figure out what size and shape it would have to be in order to fit it behind the cabinets and not lose any usable space. He designed it and had it built! Then he put it together, installed it, and built out the wall in the corner around it! We will have a double oven backing up to the corner on an angle.

This is quite a work of art isn't it?

Here is another view, where you can see the return vents up at the top (they will allow some air back in to the house so you you don't get a vacuum when the downdraft is running!)

OK this next part is fun! We went back and forth over whether or not this change was worth the effort. We both really wanted it, but couldn't decide if it was worth it so Bruce went ahead and just did it one day. (I helped a little with putting a few nails in but basically he just went for it!) He recessed the ceiling over the kitchen! We have designed the kitchen with several 45 degree angles (such as the doors to the pantry and laundry room as well as the oven) and now the ceiling ties all that in! There will be two drop-down lights in the middle that hang down over the island. You may be able to see in the picture where he put the boxes  in for them.

Isn't this cool!

Moving through the house from the garage to the kitchen and dining room, I decided to show this next picture so you can see some previous work. Bruce had raised the ceiling before I even met him, but a few years ago we finished out the wall and painted the living room, two front bedrooms, and the front bathroom. We completely remodeled the front bathroom (I'll have to blog about that sometime!) and Bruce had also altered the floor plan a bit to remove a hallway and hall closet, allowing more square footage to be added to the living room and one of the bedrooms. We also chose ceiling fans. The two in this picture took us a long time to pick out! They had to be just right because there are two of them! The open floor plan of the house requires some good air circulation, thus, two fans!

 Aren't they awesome!

The view is taken from the front door, and I think it gives a cool perspective. You can see areas of the house in various stages of completion!

Another job that I got to do recently was sealing the inside of the main AC return. It was built into the wall with plywood, and just big enough for me to crawl into and stand up after a ladder was creatively placed inside. The tight space made it imperative that I got this done, as Bruce (or most people in general) would have found it difficult or impossible to get inside! I had to spread a putty sealant at all the seams, cracks, and nail holes. It took awhile, and my Dad came over and helped by handing me more putty through the return vent (yes I had to crawl through that!).

This wall cavity we use for a return leads all the way up to the unit in the attic!

The other job I completed over the summer was cleaning excess foam off all the windows. It's funny the work that comes up that just doesn't seem like that big a deal, but it is tedious and takes forever! That yellow foam stuff sure knows how to stick to vinyl! I had to use a putty knife, some gel chemical that helped remove the foam, and a razor for the glass! Oh yeah, and my fingernails! They were pretty much gone by the time I got finished!

This blog post has me caught up to where we are right now. I have thought about taking some pictures of the front bathroom that we already remodeled, but I didn't really photograph the process, so I don't think it would be as fun. I do have another book review coming up later this week, but other than that I will start writing about the house as we work on it. Lets just hope my next enry about the house isn't too far in the future!