Can a guy who takes in stray cats and nurses his ailing father till his death make it as a supervillain?
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When our down-on-their-luck "hero" finCan a guy who takes in stray cats and nurses his ailing father till his death make it as a supervillain?
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When our down-on-their-luck "hero" finds himself at a crossroads in his life, the death of his mother's brother (a billionaire he doesn't know) isn't anything but a blip on the news. Until that is, his uncle's personal assistant comes to him with a favor. A favor that then turns into him inheriting the world's largest corporation of evil. For someone whose dream is to own the local pub and be a good cat dad, getting thrown into the deep end with a bunch of hardened evildoers isn't exactly ideal.
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Cute story. And it answered all the pressing questions about villains from my childhood such as, why do the evildoers sit around stroking their cats menacingly, what's up with volcano lairs, and would it be a good idea to unionize genetically modified dolphins? All it needed was a map showing the location of all that damn quicksand that was supposedly just waiting to suck me under, and I could die happy.
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But I'm not going to lie, the cats made it 100xs better for me. We have 4 cats (aren't they adorable?) so that just lets you know I'm definitely CERTIFIABLE the target audience for this book.
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It's a very tongue-in-cheek kind of story, so it's maybe not going to hit with everyone, but if you're a Scalzi fan already then you'll more than likely enjoy this one quite a bit.
Audiobook read by Will Wheaton = totally worth it....more
Agatha has run away to Wyckhadden because her hair is a hot mess.
At the end of the last book, we find out that the murderess hairdresser had put a de Agatha has run away to Wyckhadden because her hair is a hot mess.
At the end of the last book, we find out that the murderess hairdresser had put a depilatory creme on Agatha's head while she gave her evil monologue. Now poor Aggie has bald patches. No way can she stand for James to see her like this, so she takes off on a "vacation" to a place where she knows no one. And commences to let her hair regrow.
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But when she catches wind of a local witch who is supposedly able to cure all manners of ailments, she finds herself buying a bottle of hair tonic and a small bottle of love potion. Just in case...
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Alright, in this one Agatha ends up making friends with some oldsters at the hotel, getting her lovely fur coat ripped to shreds by an activist, getting engaged, taking in yet another stray cat, making enemies with some oldsters at the hotel, solving a murder, and sleeping with good old Charles Fraith. Again.
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I'm happy to report that James dances around in the background of this one, but he doesn't interrupt the plot. <--excellent! This one had more of the same charm that the original few books had because I didn't feel annoyed when it was over. I hope the next book keeps the same tone....more
Talk about throwing the baby out with the bathwater. My opinion had always been that you don't have to believe Jesus was the Son of God to believe he wTalk about throwing the baby out with the bathwater. My opinion had always been that you don't have to believe Jesus was the Son of God to believe he was a real historical figure who lived and died. One of these things does not have to equal the other.
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I wasn't sure who was even asking this question, but this was one of those books that I found after falling down a rabbit hole. I read The Case for Christ and one of the things Lee Strobel "debunked" was that Jesus never existed. I was like, oh? is this a thing people are actually saying?, and I decided to check into it. Hence, this book.
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Ehrman is an agnostic professor of the New Testament who undertakes the task of pointing out why most historians believe the probability that Jesus actually walked the earth was high. In doing so, he sets out to disprove the mythicists who claim that Jesus wasn't a real person but only concocted later on as a mystic figure to head Christianity. And I think he did.
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Turns out there really aren't that many people claiming Jesus wasn't a historical figure. As I originally thought, it's kind of a stupid thing to postulate. And as long as I'm throwing my personal 2 cents in, I think it's mainly done by angry atheists. Who hurt you, honey? I get the frustration, but coming up with and promoting cockamamie theories like this isn't helpful. You're becoming the very kind of person that you don't like.
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I'm not sure who would be interested in this because it's kind of a niche subject, but I thought it was a very well-done book for the layperson on this subject matter. Recommended. If you're into this kind of thing....more
What if James Bond were someone's grandma? Unexpected. I thought this would be a bit fluffy, and it was. But it also went a bit darker than I thought a What if James Bond were someone's grandma? Unexpected. I thought this would be a bit fluffy, and it was. But it also went a bit darker than I thought a book written in the late 60s about a widowed grandmother would go.
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It starts with Mrs. Pollifax recalling a feeling of uselessness so deep that she almost stepped off the roof of her apartment building. Oh. Yeah. That's not good. So it occurs to her that if she has nothing left to lose, she might as well shoot for the stars and pursue her girlhood dream of being a spy. I've often thought I'd become a P.I. or a bounty hunter after all the kids get gone. No one would see my shit coming... And with that in mind, she heads down to the local CIA office and tells them she wants a job. Due to a mix-up, she's brought on board as a courier. All she has to do is go on vacation in Mexico, act like a normal tourist, and then go to a bookshop and ask the owner for a certain book. She then comes home with said book. The end.
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But that would make for a terrible story! In this one, spoilery things happen, and she ends up trapped in an Albanian prison. With her is another spy who ends up badly beaten after interrogation and with a broken leg after a failed attempt to kill himself by jumping off a cliff. She has no training, no real skills, and no hope that anyone is coming to save them. But she does have a set of cards to play Solitare with and a big purse.
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One thing I do think readers should be aware of going in is that this is not an action-packed spy thriller. It actually does have a lot in common with Bond books, though, in that a bit of luck and a lot of determination not to die play a big part in the plot. And while Bond has a smarmy type of sex appeal, Mrs. Pollifax has kick-ass people skills.
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Plus, you know she makes it because there are 14 books in Mrs. Pollifax's series. I don't know that I'll read any more of these because spy stories just aren't my jam. But I'm not sorry that I read this one, either. Recommended for fans of your grandmother's CIA....more
Finally, a sci-fi hero for all the introverts out there. So, what makes a Murderbot different from a human? Nothing, as far as I can tell. Unless social Finally, a sci-fi hero for all the introverts out there. So, what makes a Murderbot different from a human? Nothing, as far as I can tell. Unless social anxiety is purely an AI construct?
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In this one, our self-named security unit has come back to his friends. Now, I don't think our socially awkward sec bot would refer to them as friends, but that's most certainly what they are. People you aren't related to that you care for = friends. But caring about specific people is emotionally challenging, and making yourself responsible for what happens to them is messy. Even messier when said people need to be protected from nefarious corporations that want to kill them.
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Humorous & fun with an interesting plot, Exit Strategy is excellent. The story comes full circle and leads back to the original humans that started this whole adventure and gave our Murderbot the push they needed to take advantage of their freedom. This is wrapped up nicely enough so that it could have been the end of Well's series, but I'm certainly glad she decided to write more. Read on. Stop here. The choice is yours.
Ok. Not really. But I have always wondered about the book that spawned such a huge cult following. I mean, how do you A must read for everyone!
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Ok. Not really. But I have always wondered about the book that spawned such a huge cult following. I mean, how do you get so many people to take things like this seriously? And then I remember what kind of people populate the earth, and it all becomes a little clearer. Full disclosure: I absolutely adore the Ancient Aliens tv show. Don't judge, it makes me smile. And in a world full of things that make me frown, that's a goddamn gift. A gift from...aliens?
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A lot of what Erich von Däniken postulated back in 1968 has pretty much been proven false at this point. The rest of it is the kind of hummina hummina gibberish that you might expect from a toothy youth pastor telling you why you should load up in the van with the group as they head off to see a Christian rock band. He's an ex-Catholic who found the flaws in the Bible to be a bit too much for him, so he started looking elsewhere to find the origin of life. Basically, it seems as though he traded "finding God in the cracks" for "finding aliens in the cracks". For everything that was mysterious or unknown about prehistory civilizations, Däniken saw the potential that our entire species had been seeded by an ancient race of superior alien life forms.
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Because duh. If nothing else, you'll get to look at things from civilizations that I find fascinating in whole new ways. It's not just the Egyptian pyramids that were constructed using lasers. From the heads on Easter Island to the Palenque "Astronaut" of the Mayan civilization, there's nothing that Erich thinks wasn't a product of our betters from the stars.
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To be fair, NASA had plans for landing on Mars by the 1980s. He was writing this during the height of the space craze, thinking that his great-grandkids would look at space travel in the same way he thought of getting on a plane. Sadly, the space program was hit with budget cuts. But hey, we got TikTok!
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I don't know how to actually rate something like this but out of my love for the concept of Ancient Aliens, I'll have to give it at least 3. And for people like myself who enjoy the absurd, I think this is definitely a bucket list book.
Recommended for Ancient Astronauts.
PS - the audio version I listened to was high fun due to the narrator pronouncing gods in this highly sarcastic way that came out as gawds 99% of the time....more
I feel super smart now. Don't worry, I'm still me - my dumbassery knows no bounds. Now, this a fairly long lecture, clocking in at 24 hours and 25 minutI feel super smart now. Don't worry, I'm still me - my dumbassery knows no bounds. Now, this a fairly long lecture, clocking in at 24 hours and 25 minutes, and you really get your money's worth out of every minute. I'm not even going to try to go into all the things I learned, but I thought I'd hit some of the fun highlights.
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Did you know that Ramesses the Great's mummy was growing fungi due to the initial neglect? Nobody thought of the mummies as a treasure at first and just sort of stuffed them in the back rooms of museums. The two easiest ways to get rid of the fungi would have been to freeze it or heat it up, but they couldn't do that because it would have damaged the mummy. So to save him, they used gamma radiation. YES. And that, kids, is the true story of how Ramesses the Great became The Incredible Hulk.
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Did you know the Egyptians never lost a battle? Ok, not really. But they were big believers in writing, re-writing (re-chiseling?), and leaving out anything they didn't feel made them look good when it came to their own history. I'm thinking that's something that I need to do when I write my (much anticipated) autobiography.
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Did you know that the scene in Fantasia with Mickey Mouse as the sorcerer's apprentice is based on an ancient Egyptian story about a magician who tries to get his brooms to fetch water? So much for the older generations not being lazy. Two miles uphill both ways in the snow, my ass...
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Did you know that the ancient Egyptians gave colicky babies ground up poppy? A little dab of opium will do you, dear. GENIUS! <--where was this when I needed it?
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Also, it is entirely worth listening to all 24 hours of this just to hear him pronounce the word "trauma" over and over again in his adorable little New York accent during one of the lectures. TROW-MAH.
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The bottom line was I really enjoyed the way Bob Brier taught this subject. He's enthusiastic about Egyptology and lets you know up front that his goal isn't to cover everything but to spur you on to want to learn more. He's got a good sense of humor and speaks in a way that someone without a degree can understand. Highly Recommended. For those of you who have it, this one is included in your Audible membership....more
Pre-Tolkien fantasy. And if you thought Tolkien meandered...
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I knew going into it that I probably wasn't going to adore it, but I really wanted Pre-Tolkien fantasy. And if you thought Tolkien meandered...
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I knew going into it that I probably wasn't going to adore it, but I really wanted to see what it was all about. Mainly, because someone had recommended it to me a while back, and it looked interesting from a classic fantasy sort of view. And I'm not sorry I spent my time on it. I will say that I used the same tactic that I did with Lord of the Rings and sped the narration up 2.5x. I didn't feel like marinating in all the detail that wasn't important to the main story. And there was a lot that wasn't at all important. I know there are tons of readers who enjoy just swimming around in the lyrical prose, but I'm not one of them.
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The skinny gist is that a group of men go to their lord and make known their wish that he bring magic to the royal bloodline. They simply can't think of a better way to put their village on the map. He then sends his son, Alveric, on a quest to marry the daughter of the King of Elfland. He does a bit of boring questing involving finding the border of Elfland & getting a magical sword, and then finally besting Princess Lirazel's guards. Lirazel quickly falls in love with Alveric and they run away to his home, Erl. So far, so good.
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Of course, Alveric wants to convert Lirazel to his human ways and to his human God, and Lirazel struggles with how different things are in her adopted homeland. They have a boy they name Orion and things bump along alright for a few years before Alveric really starts to pressure Lirazel to get with the program. Well, like any relationship with a huge cultural divide, things get a tad testy. Meanwhile, the King of Elfland is freaking completely out because his beloved daughter was "stolen" from him, and has moved into that world where time doesn't stand still. She's aging and he's terrified she'll die. So he sends a troll to our world with a rune that will bring her back. Except she kind of knows what it is and avoids looking at it because she loves her little boy and her husband - even though the latter is really working her nerves at this point.
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Then one day, after a particularly bad fight, she takes a peek at the rune because she's homesick and tired of Alveric's shit. BOOM! She's dragged back to Elfland! And not only that but her father moves the border and basically bars the way in so he can keep the creepy human boys away from his little girl.
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At this point, Alveric realizes what a dumbass he's been and sets out to get his wife back. Ooooh this is getting good! <--is what you probably think, right? Wrong. This is where the whole story grinds to a halt and starts to go sideways. The rest of this is an incredibly tedious bunch of quests that could. not. be. less interesting. Orion learns how to hunt and then spends an amazing amount of page time hunting unicorns. In excruciating detail. Not the killing! Just the growing up, meeting hunters, getting a dog pack, tracking the scent, running one to the ground, blah, blah, blah.
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And his dad picks a group of guys to go find the border of Elfland. Complete with a couple of crazies who eventually turn crazier and basically hold him prisoner to keep him from leaving them. And while that might sound interesting, it's not.
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Dry questing and descriptive prose take up the rest of the book. Nothing, and I mean nothing that happens to either Alveric Or Orion makes any difference one way or the other to the conclusion of the story. Meanwhile, the parliament of men who went to the original lord and asked for a magical bloodline to rule them gets more than they bargained for when trolls and other magical creatures decide to take a vacation from Elfand. Be careful of what you wish for is the moral of the story here. However, due to Lirazel missing her husband and son, the King of Elfland finally relents and they all get a happily ever after.
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I guess what Dunsany was trying to say is that if you marry a girl from Elfland, don't expect her to be anything but a girl from Elfland. Trying to convert her to your religion and tamping down her wild side isn't going to lead to a happy marriage. A hot elf chick fell in love with you - just enjoy it, idiot.
Agatha gets her hair done and uncovers a blackmailer.
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Charles Fratih is her co-pilot in this mystery, as the vile James is still off being vile.Agatha gets her hair done and uncovers a blackmailer.
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Charles Fratih is her co-pilot in this mystery, as the vile James is still off being vile. Charles is such a loveable scoundrel. I mean, he's awful but at least he doesn't present himself as a paragon. And when he screws Aggie (view spoiler)[over in the end by claiming he was the mastermind behind discovering the killer, (hide spoiler)] at least she can say she got something out of it.
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The mysteries are always a bit shit and Agatha kind of annoys me. But I keep on reading these for some unknown reason. I can't in good conscience recommend these to anyone, but I'm pressing forward....more
Harder to get into than the others. I dislike Springer's use of real characters in this fictitious world. It was ok when she stuck Florence NightengalHarder to get into than the others. I dislike Springer's use of real characters in this fictitious world. It was ok when she stuck Florence Nightengale in there, but now we've got Rudyard Kipling as a client and I just...yuck. There's something weird about it for me. It's an ick, as the kids would say.
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For the first time since I started reading this series, I was bored and just wanted the book to be over. By the end, things picked up enough that I wasn't trying to find a way to skim, but it never got what I would call good. But to be honest, I thought this was just a weird addition to the Enola Holmes books.
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The skinny gist is that Rudyard Kipling insulted Enoa, and now she feels she must solve the case of his missing friend. This leads her to a club of laborers who mark themselves as vigilantes AND into the realm of the first rabies inoculations. And while that doesn't sound at all bad, it had very little of original charm from the first books. Without the mystery of her missing mother, or her trying to hide from her brothers, what we are left with is a middle-grade mystery series that takes liberties with historical figures. And that's fine. I'm not the target audience. But I had been enjoying these and this was...not it. I'll try again with the next book, but if it's as dull as this one, I think I'll probably call it a day with the Enola Holmes books....more
The funny thing about these is that Agatha is a pretty shit detective. She consistently guesses that the killer is whoever has insulted her or has theiThe funny thing about these is that Agatha is a pretty shit detective. She consistently guesses that the killer is whoever has insulted her or has their eye on James Lacey. And she's almost been killed how many times now? Girl, go back to London where it's safe.
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But for whatever reason, I can still identify with her terrible qualities and can't seem to stop reading these. Yet.
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The gist of the mystery in this one is that someone has murdered a small-town councilman. Was he murdered to stop him from voting one way or the other on allowing a spring to be used by a bottling company? Or was it just everyday village shenanigans that got his head bashed in? And since this is an Agatha Rasin book, it doesn't really matter. No, the only thing we're here for is to see if she eventually stops feeling bad about having casual sex with all these men who are into her, and finally gives Lacey the heave-ho in her headspace.
I don't know why I'm still reading these because Agatha is a complete trainwreck. Then again, maybe that's why I can't seem to stop myself from immediaI don't know why I'm still reading these because Agatha is a complete trainwreck. Then again, maybe that's why I can't seem to stop myself from immediately downloading the next book in the series each time I finish one.
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James leaves Agatha in Carsely to "get away" and Agatha promptly hops on a flight to Cyprus to track him down. There's no cunning plan in place other than to heavily douse herself in a scent called Desperation, run James to ground in a foreign country, and get butthurt when he rejects her overtures. Leave him alone and get on with your life!
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When a flirtatious woman who is a lot smarter than she's pretending to be turns up dead, Agatha and James decide to investigate. Why? Well, they and several other people they met were having a night out together when the woman was stabbed in the darkness of a club, making them all suspects. To be honest, this murder mystery wasn't all that interesting.
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Charles Fraith turns up again in this and I just don't know how to feel about him. Part of me was thrilled that Agatha got laid by someone other than James, and part of me was annoyed that James (while still treating Agatha like dirt) was getting angry and jealous over it. But Charles, while not an obnoxious stick in the mud, seems just as terrible a match as James.
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I keep thinking there must be some kind of resolution to this James thing. Agatha has to eventually stop panting after him. Right? Right?!...more
A lot of your enjoyment will hinge on how much you want to hear a behind-the-scenes account of the making of The Princess Bride.
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I don't normalA lot of your enjoyment will hinge on how much you want to hear a behind-the-scenes account of the making of The Princess Bride.
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I don't normally read books on pop culture. In fact, this may be the first time. But it had been recommended to me several times over the years as an especially good read, so I decided to go for it.
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I would suggest the audiobook simply because so much of the charm (for me) was hearing all of the various people involved in the movie tell their part of the story with their own voices. Not to mention Elwes himself is a fantastic narrator and quite good with impressions! Did you know that god-awful little ponytail on Wesley was actually a weave? Now I feel sorry for blaming Elwes for his poor fashion choices all these years when it was someone else who affixed that rat tail to his head.
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I do love both the book and the movie, so I think that helped. Just so you know, I'm one of those people who can go their whole life without knowing about the actors' experiences on the set. That's not to say I'm impervious to celebrity gossip. Or that I don't get judgmental and nosey and start digging around on the internet like I'm getting paid for it when I see some stunning actress standing next to an uggo troll on the red carpet. But I do that with everyone I meet. And stop lying - you do it too!
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Anyway. This was unexpectedly endearing. And it turns out there were quite a few cool stories that actually do make the movie experience a bit more fun. Elwes broke his toe on Andre The Giant's ATV while trying to impress him, and as a result, he hops in some of the running scenes. It is also the reason for the way he sat on the log with one leg out in front of him.
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Another fun fact is that he's not faking it, and actually did get accidentally knocked out by Christopher Guest in the Fire Swamp scene. On the upside, he didn't have to do the take again.
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I'm not sure how much I trust all of the lovely remembrances of everyone, but then again, I think it's pretty sweet that Elwes seems to try to show every single person involved in a good light. I'm sure there were assholes or people he didn't get along with, but I respect that this is a book that is seemingly just there to make fans of the movie happy.
This was a bit darker than the previous books. Isaiah is making an attempt to come out of his shell and do real person things. Maybe he can even find lThis was a bit darker than the previous books. Isaiah is making an attempt to come out of his shell and do real person things. Maybe he can even find love?
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Dodson is (as always) my favorite and trying to figure out how to be a dad. It's sweet. And funny. The main mystery concerns this big conspiracy where Isaiah and Dodson have to figure out why Grace's Dad is dead and her mother took off like she was the guilty party. And...ok.
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This is my least favorite of the IQ novels so far. I don't know but I didn't really like the ending of this one. Here's hoping the next book brings things back on track....more
The gist of this one is that Billy Goat Gruff is a scary-as-hell monster that wants to wear your face.
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The premise is weird but interesting. WeiThe gist of this one is that Billy Goat Gruff is a scary-as-hell monster that wants to wear your face.
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The premise is weird but interesting. Weird because these kids seem too talented to be in high school, and interesting because it involves what happens to a family after a child goes missing. Ok. So, there's this teenage filmmaker, Brenda. And she's just oozing talent. Her little sister, Amanda, is also oozing talent as an actress who stars in her older sis' films. Both girls are well-liked and like each other. So when her little sister traipses out into the woods to sneak a few beers and never comes home, Brenda is devastated. More so when her parents blame her in a local television interview for not keeping a better eye on Amamda.
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Fast forward a few years and Brenda is 18. She hasn't picked up a camera since Amanda disappeared, her parents are zombies, and she's now living on her own. She's been hearing local legends about some kind of a freaky supernatural bridge that appears in the same woods that swallowed her sister. The whole thing is connected to a creature called Opso that is spoken about only in whispers when a random hiker goes missing. She feels like whatever this thing is, it might be responsible for her sister's disappearance. But no one will believe her unless she gets some kind of evidence. So Brenda packs up her equipment and heads into the woods to get this thing on video.
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That won't end well, will it? Hmmm. You might be surprised.
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This wasn't my favorite but it was still a decent offering for the Creature Feature Collection. If you're looking for a short horror story, you could do a lot worse. Recommended....more
Who else thought this one was going to be about an evil leprechaun?
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Man. This was EXCELLENT. I'd never read anything by Jason Mott before, but Who else thought this one was going to be about an evil leprechaun?
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Man. This was EXCELLENT. I'd never read anything by Jason Mott before, but I'm definitely on the lookout for his stuff now. The opening hooked me - Pow! Oh, what's going on?!
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I don't want to spoil anything but the skinny gist is that a man feels like his lifelong friend has been stealing his luck and sets out to force him to admit it. Why does he think this? It's best if you just read the story for yourself. Highly Recommended....more
Who's afraid of the big, bad wolf? Your husband, if he's smart.
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This was dark and a bit more complex than I was expecting. I never really knew hoWho's afraid of the big, bad wolf? Your husband, if he's smart.
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This was dark and a bit more complex than I was expecting. I never really knew how I felt about the character, not even at the end. The POV switches were great. And even though I knew what was going on, there was still one surprise that got me (view spoiler)[How Mason died - not what I was expecting at allllll. Well done, Baker! (hide spoiler)]
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So the gist is that you have this married couple who have two young girls. When it opens they're both annoyed with each other, and it's bordering on resentful. Seemingly just those petty (and not so petty) things that eat at marriages. Who does more for the children, who gave up what so the other person could have their dream job, who didn't show up on time for dinner, etc.
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Things escalate pretty quickly and go from normal side-eying & squabbling to weird - to really weird. Throw in a male off-brand Buffy the Werewolf Slayer, a husband and father who is seriously questioning his life choices, and two frightened children that will most definitely need therapy in the future, and you get a decent little horror shorty. Recommended.
These are free for Amazon Prime members through Prime Reading....more
Not for me. Baseball bores me to tears, and while one of the main characters purports to hate it as well, that's what a massive chunk of the story revoNot for me. Baseball bores me to tears, and while one of the main characters purports to hate it as well, that's what a massive chunk of the story revolves around. They say baseball is as American as apple pie. I say, keep your baseball and give me the pie.
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A journalist with unresolved feelings toward her roommate interviews a man about an event he witnessed as a child. He spins her a tale about his now-deceased father and the contentious relationship they had due to his dad's unlikable personality...and the fact that he forced him to play baseball. Their last day together was at a local game where some kind of supernatural swamp blossoms did something that he's still trying to understand to this day.
This kept popping up as a book atheists and agnostics should read before pooh-poohing Christianity. And like FOX News, I strive to be fair and balancedThis kept popping up as a book atheists and agnostics should read before pooh-poohing Christianity. And like FOX News, I strive to be fair and balanced. If it was as good as advertised, it might give me something new to mull over. I like to mull in my spare time, so why not? The premise of this book is that Lee Strobel was an atheist who decided to use his investigative journalism skills to find out if Jesus was real. Alright. Sounds interesting. And then I read it. Do you know where liars go, Mr. Strobel? I'm kidding. But only kind of. And if you think I'm being too hard on this author, go read all of the 5 star reviews of this book. The vast majority of them took this dude at his word and really think that the interviews in THIS BOOK were what convinced this "skeptical atheist" to ask Jesus into his heart as his Lord and personal savior. I'm angry on their behalf.
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Because this does not read like a skeptic trying to find out if Christianity was the way to go. It reads like someone who knew this would be a catchy title and thought that most Christians would be gullible enough to swallow it. My personal feeling is that Strobel was at best someone who wanted his beliefs to have some basis in fact, and at worst just completely lying about his reasons for writing this book in order to sell it. I find it very hard to believe that a skeptical atheist would only interview prominent Christians with talking points that he wanted to be rebutted. He didn't interview any of the so-called liberals whose books, ideas, or theories he brought up. Sir, I find that sketchy.
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Strobel opens each chapter with a different salacious court case that has literally nothing to do with the book's subject matter, and instead seems only to be there to lend credence to his "investigative journalism". He then describes each person he interviews in glowing terms. Listing not only all the degrees they hold, but also their hairstyles, manner of dress, and charming character traits.
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The big win seems to be that there is a historical Jesus. And maybe that was being debated when this was written. To me, that's like debating whether Muhammad, Buddha, or Zoroaster were real historical figures. It's cool that you can point out they were a real person, but it doesn't mean I'm going to take up their religious or philosophical views based on the fact that they walked the earth. They existed ergo what they said is true?
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The more I listened to the book, the more flabbergasted I was at the "gotcha" moments Strobel threw down. Nothing any of the experts said surprised me. It was all fairly standard stuff that anyone who has ever looked into Christianity would know, mixed in with the usual fundamental evangelical willingness to gloss over anything that doesn't agree with their viewpoints while looking for ways to leapfrog over the fairly obvious answers and into supernatural answers. All the "evidence" hinges on you believing that ancient people wouldn't have made anything up, and if they had there would have been some enormous backlash. You only have to look around you today to see that if enough people want to believe something is true, there's no telling them anything different. AND WE HAVE THINGS LIKE DNA AND VIDEO EVIDENCE.
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I had a whole list of things written out about this book that bothered me, but I don't see any point in putting it in my review. Anyone with a working brain could dismantle any of his arguments with little to no research. By the time I got to the end, it was abundantly apparent that this was just more of the same tap dance I grew up with....more
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