{Book Review} The Hidden Brain by Shankar Vedantam

A Fascinating Book about Our Sub-Conscious and How It Influences Our Lives

The subtitle to this book is “How much our unconscious minds elect presidents, control markets, wage wars, and save out live.” And that is exactly what you get in this book. The book is a well written exposition on how our unconscious brain controls many of our decisions, prejudices and actions without us ever even knowing it.

Now basically the author Vedantam, has compiled the research of various studies and experiments on this topic and presented it in a way that is accessible, interesting and entertaining. I was truly fascinated at how much a part of brain that we never really “Think” with controls our everyday lives, sometimes causing us to do and say things that if we really thought about it we would never do, and other times that same part of our brain saves us from danger and trouble we would never see coming.

The author, Shankar Vedantam, is a journalist for the Washington Post and some people have knocked that fact, since he is not a Ph.D., researcher, or a scientist, I actually don’t mind. As a journalist I think the author presents all his content in very easy to read, understandable and well organized format, with a mix of some great individual stories of real people and how their lives were changed by this "hidden brain".

While this may not be a truly new concept to many; and other works like Freakonomics and The Tipping Point have covered similar areas, I still found this to be a really thought provoking and if the subject interests you and I would recommend this book.

{Book Review} Drop Like Stars by Rob Bell

A different book with different ideas

Before getting this book I was really surprised by many of the comments and reviews I had read about it. It seemed like people were completely surprised by what this book was, what it contained and what it was about. It seemed like people didn’t research or read the product description of the book before purchasing it, or that they expected something completely normal from Rob Bell.

For me, this book met my expectations and really presented some ideas that made me think. First, this is not a small little hardback book like Rob’s previous works (Velvet Elvis, Sex God, and Jesus Wants to Save Christians). This is a larger hardback, 12 inch by 10 inch; basically the size of a good coffee table book. True to what others have said the book does not contain a ton of writing but rather is full of colored pages and photos/portraits of objects and scenes. The writing is interspersed in the same parsed style of short sentences and fragments that are Rob Bell’s style. As far as the book and artwork go they are quite nice and do a good job of helping Rob make his points, but everything is in a matte finish, I feel the book could have benefitted from glossy sheets, but I can only guess that would have raised the price of the book significantly. Oh and no, you can’t read through this book in 10 minutes as I have read some people say. If you work your way through this book in ten minutes you miss the point and I recommend you return the book, because you will get nothing more out of it.

As far as content goes, I think Rob came up with the idea of this being an “Art Book” hence the chapter’s titles: “The Art of Disruption”, “The Art of Honesty”, “The Art of the Ache”, “The Art of Solidarity”, “The Art of Elimination” and “The Art of Failure”. And I think by reading those chapter titles you can get an idea of where Rob is taking the reader. And an interesting note the table of contents is at the rear of the book rather than the front, an interesting idea that gets the reader right into the book without any presuppositions.

Overall I found the book to be thought provoking and it made me think about subjects like disruption, ache, and failure in ways I had not before. This book doesn’t delve into deep theology, hermeneutics, or psychology but rather it explores what it means to be human and what we all experience. I benefited from reading this book and I pray you may too.

{Book Review} Pax Romana by Jonathan Hickman

Very Fun & Interesting Read, Disappointingly Short

I took up this graphic novel at the recommendation of Blair Butler. And I am happy to report I was not disappointed. The pages contain an original story, compelling artwork, and a tale filled with interesting characters. My only complaint was that I found it painfully short. I finished it in a few hours and I was left desperately wanting more. But in the grand scheme of things, I suppose that is a good thing. Better to be left wanting more at the end of the story then to be sick of it and just want it to be over.

Most likely you already know the basics of the story, in the future the Catholic Church funds research and discovers time travel and decides to send a force of people back in time to right the wrongs of the church and other. Hilarious high jinks and frivolity ensue….okay not really, but we do get an interesting at an alternate history and how the human condition shapes the destiny of man. In between wonderfully composed panels you have the occasional page or two of written transcript that is used to reveal characters motivations and feelings in long form, but fear not, for even that read is quite fascinating.

So if you are look for a remarkable story that will get you thinking and you don’t mind a concise (If not short) telling of that story then I believe you will thoroughly enjoy this book, as did I. After this introduction to Jonathan Hickman I plan to read his other works very soon.

{Book Review} A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller

Feels like It Was Thrown Together

This book that I just finished reading wasn’t originally what Donald Miller had in mind when he started writing his new book. However while in the process of penning his new book things weren’t working out, he went to his publishers told them that and what we got was “A Million Miles in a Thousand Years”.

Now don’t get me wrong I really enjoy Donald Miller. I like the fact he doesn’t take himself too seriously. Most of the time his essay style works quite well and makes for easy reading and he can be quite funny. He has good observations and he really can speak to the Millennials of this generation. But, I just feel like this book was thrown together.

This book is organized in Miller’s typical essay form. And centers on few central topics: The writing of script for the movie “Blue Like Jazz”; the idea of story, what makes a good story ,and the fact we are all living stories and should try to live good ones; and the Donald dealing with his issues with his Father who was missing from his life. In between these central topic s he peppers various essays about different topics and relates them to his “Story” and how he is trying to live a great “Story”.

I did like the book, I don’t feel bad that I read it, Don is still a heck of a writer, but I just felt like this book was all over the place and that the theme he used to hold it together “Story” was rather week. Also Miller would jump from one essay where he would be joking and not taking himself seriously at all and then move into a subject that you could tell he really cared about and it just didn’t flow well. So while this is an enjoyable read it is not one of Miller’s best and I really think he can do better, and I just think he kind of had to force this one out, and you can tell he did.

{Book Review} Christianish by Mark Steele

A Good Book, But Not That Original

In “Christianish: What If We're Not Really Following Jesus at All?” author Mark Steele asks us to examine our lives and see if we are really living a life that imitates Christ or if we are merely living a life that is “Christianish”. To be honest this concept is nothing new and there a handful of books out there that address the same topic. What makes Steele’s effort at this topic different than others is his presentation and style. This style can be seen as either positive or negative depending on the reader. The language is simple and lacks complex theological terms. There are not many Bible verses referenced. Chapters typically begin with a funny or interesting story out of the author’s own life. Few if any other authors or books are referenced, which I suppose is to lend that to the fact that, what is being written is all of the author’s original ideas, but it also fails to add support for the authors points/ideas. And the book references modern culture often to give an up to date feel.

This would be a good book for someone who does not enjoy or like “Religious” or “Preachy” books about Christianity. It is very accessible to the lay person and it is also very easy to understand. On the other hand this book is not for one who is looking for something deep or theologically rich. The book embraces pop culture without endorsing it and I can’t say that I say I found anything I disagreed with theologically either, however I just felt that the lack of Bible verses to support points or references to other books makes me feel that this is more the just the author’s idea of “Christianity” rather than the orthodox view. Not that this is a bad thing, I just like more support in my books so I can better understand where the author is coming from in his text.

So while the book may not be a great choice for a seminary student or mature Christian it would be a great book for a pre-teen through young undergraduate or even someone who just doesn’t like preachy overtly “Christian” books. Also I feel there are many other books out on the market that take a much more comprehensive and in depth approach to this topic, but may not appeal to the audience that this book was intended for. Keep that in mind when considering the book for yourself or others.