Hope by Pope Francis
Read as part of CBR17 bingo: white cover Will preface this by saying I know a lot of people have suffered religious trauma, especially at the hands of the Catholic Church. This review is not meant to convert or convince you that your pain is not real. I also know that faith is not for everyone. This is not meant to be an evangelizing post. Despite my frustrations with the Roman Catholic Church, I had always been a fan of Pope Francis. I believed he […]
The Exvangelicals: Loving, Living, and Leaving the White Evangelical Church by Sarah McCammon
The story: The Exvangelicals is a nonfiction book written by Sarah McCammon, who grew up in the white evangelical Christian movement in the 80s and 90s. As an adult, she deconstructed (began examining and questioning her religious beliefs), and discovered that many others who had grown up in the same circumstances as her were doing the same. The book includes recollections from her childhood and her deconstruction process, interviews with others who have left the white evangelical church, and information on the history and current status of […]
To Start A War: How the Bush Administration Took Us Into Iraq by Robert Draper
The Travelers by Chris Pavone
A Walk Among the Tombstones by Lawrence Block
Dark Fire by CJ Sansom
The Menendez Murders: The Shocking Untold Story of the Menendez Family and the Killings that Stunned the Nation by Robert Rand
Stasi Child by David Young
The Cover Wife by Dan Fesperman
So Thirsty by Rachel Harrison
Revelations of Divine Love by Julian of Norwich
Geiger by Gustaf Skördeman
Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001 by Steve Coll
Slow Horses by Mick Herron
The Devil Knows You're Dead by Lawrence Block
I’ve read some interesting stuff lately and I wish I had made more time to document it but life gets in the way that life sometimes does. Not all bad, just life. To Start A War**** I had a long thing here about connecting this to the 2024 election but I don’t want to talk current electoral politics on here, at least the specifics of them. A good book if you want to know the intelligence (ha) perspective of how we wound up in a […]
Dinner for Vampires by Bethany Joy Lenz
CBR16 Bingo: Rings – A lot of people get married in this book – at least four couples, including the author Lenz to the cult leader’s son. Bethany Joy Lenz is famous for playing Haley James Scott in the cult TV show One Tree Hill, but her experience of this time is even stranger than one would expect – she was in an actual cult at the time. I never watched One Tree Hill, but with a premise like that, who cares? Besides, TV show […]
Conclave by Robert Harris
Read as part of CBR16 Bingo: detente. A cardinal attempts to keep peace while the church world is suspended over who will be the next Pope, despite shenanigans happening on the side. Also, shoutout to Spencer Hall, whose tweet eleven years ago still makes me laugh and is the title for this review. When I saw the trailer for Conclave, I knew I would be reading the book it was based on no matter what. I have mixed feelings on Robert Harris’ books but they […]
Duck, Duck, Tiger by Brittany R. Jacobs
For the Beauty of the Earth by Folliott S. Pierpoint
Two more I read via online reader copies (and are available) titles are below. Sadly, no themes, just two fun books that people need to know about. And as we know, knowing is half the battle! One little girl feels like a tiger. Which would be fine except all the people in Duck, Duck, Tiger are, you guessed it, ducks. The classic idea of trying to fit in, when you are very different, is alive and strong here. And yes, we have seen it before, […]
