Friday, March 30, 2012

Stand By Me: Book Review

I read Stand By Me by Neta Jackson as part of the booksneeze.com blogger program where you are provided with free books in exchange for an honest review.

And since I am being honest, I was not a great fan of this book. It is the story of people who are involved in the SouledOut Community Church and particularly focused on two characters and seasoned member of the church, Avis, and an idealistic college student, Kat, and their interactions. One of the reasons I wasn't a fan of the book was that neither character was all that likeable or well developed (as a side note...at the end of the book I did discover that Avis was a character in some of the other books by this author so her character may have been developed in those.) There were also topics that were touched upon in the book, but not developed: racism, church crisis, homelessness, HIV, domestic abuse, family dynamics, calling in life, educational crisis, being new to faith, etc. Now I realize that no author could develop all of these topics in a book, but none were really developed. Overall, it was a below average book and I am not sure I would have finished it if I had not agreed to review it.

As a side note, this book was an example of what I find often in Christian entertainment. In many cases, it is just OK. Now I recognize that many publishers and producers do not have the big budgets that some of the big name movie studios, music producers or book publishers have, but does that mean that quality has to be sacrificed. Just because it is Christian doesn't mean it has to be crap. OK...off my soapbox. Happy Reading Everyone!

Friday, March 16, 2012

March Madness

How is it already March 16? Time sure flies. Sorry I haven't been posting much lately (or at all.) I have a few blog posts brewing in my head of a more serious nature that will come out at some point. In the meantime, here are few of the random things floating around in the world of Amy 4.0:

*I LOVE watching March Madness and filling out a bracket. The odd thing is that I don't really pay attention much to college basketball until the tournament starts. I think it has to do with my OCD brain liking to fill in the bracket. :-) I am hoping that a Big 10 team wins it all...especially if it is my Boilermakers (which I can write because at the moment they are ahead at the half of their first game.) Boiler UP!!

*What is up with this weather? 80 degrees in March...I LOVE spring, but not sure I am ready for it to feel like July just yet.

*I REALLY want to go to Disney World! I think I go to the Disney Parks Website at least 3 or 4 times a week looking for deals and packages. Right now, it is just wishful thinking...but my birthday is in a month so if anyone wants to surprise me with a trip I would be happy to receive it. :-)

*Speaking of Birthdays, I am turning 42 in April. Not sure why, but I am dreading 42 more than other birthdays.

*Anna has NO interest in potty training. I hope that she isn't still in Pull-Ups when she goes to college. :-)

*I am getting excited for Easter at Living Stones Church. We are using some Science experiments and demonstrations to tell the Easter Story in Kids Kanyon. As long as I don't blow up the church, it will be great. :-) We are also starting a series called "The Walking Dead" for the adults. I got a call today about being a zombie in a video we are using for that series. I am strangely excited to be a zombie....if we film early in the morning I probably won't even have to do much acting. :-)

Guess that it is it for now! Happy St. Patrick's Day!