The Great Gatsby…

As the band plays Jazz and the lights, they flash and the dancers dance and the drinks go round once more, as a thousand times they have already, and shatter-drops of tipsy laughter sparkle on the floor, young Carraway watches the world’s most extravagant shadow stare with a longing at a light on the a other side of a too-far pond.

Sometimes only a run-on can express, exactly, or maybe, begin to express. F. Scott Fitzgerald deftly placed words in the way one might imagine that a jazz bands plays- catching up motion, emotion, excitement in a sentence or two, and honest-to-goodness love in a page. To bring characters to life is something every author dreams of- and that’s usually it. Gatsby’s smile, and uncomfortability, was undeniably alive.

Gatsby is a story about humans being human, from the perspective of a life-tossed wordsmith. At sea in the bright lights of the 1920′s with a cousin, her husband, and a madman in a suit, Nick Carraway recalls the life that was lived between betrayals. Wild partying, to be followed by flying, a downtown ride in the summer sun, the gaze of two ever-watching eyes, and a tragic, pointless loss.

Read the Great Gatsby, not for moral uplifting, but for the opportunity to see life come alive on a page like it really hasn’t before. Like a movie, actually, without the whirring of a projector in the back. Delve into another period, that is more colorfully our own, and meet a narrator who has, quite simply, brought his characters to life.

Base image courtesy of “From a to z” on Pinterest.

“I had the strangest feeling, like I had lost something without ever really having it in the first place – that I wasn’t what I once was, and wasn’t at all what I was meant to be. The sensation made me feel hollow down to my bones.” – Alexandra Bracken’s The Darkest Minds

The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken was, unsurprisingly, dark – and in a multitude of ways.

The book begins with the reader completely in the dark. There is little explanation of recent events, enough so that, even 50 pages into the book, I was still uncertain of its purpose, as well as several critical plot points. (For example: “Why are all of the adults so evil?” “What kind of government, or people, would put up with corruption like this?” And, “Who are the ‘good guys’?”)

Outside of this unfortunate vagueness, I actually enjoyed the book quite a bit. The plot, narrated in the voice of Ruby, the main character, is very personal, and, therefore, personally terrifying. The abuse of the unnaturally gifted is realistically portrayed in the lives of the children of a dystopian Earth, where a new virus has caused the majority of its children to die – or morph into something new, something more powerful than any human ever before.

These “Psi” children, in their evolution, have become outcasts from society, and reality as is known to the rest of the world. Sent away to camps where they are tyrannized, abused, and strictly prohibited from regular interaction with their peers, they slowly begin to either corrupt, or revolt.

But never escape. Escape is impossible from a prison world, one that labels you “broken,” “inconvenient,” and “dangerous.” Children band together to fight for normality, and eventually, control. But can such a conclusion ever be obtained?

For dystopian fiction, Bracken’s Darkest Minds is okay. But I would not go so far as to call it anything more than that. The language is very rough; not, I think, deserving the book’s prerequisite rating of readers 12 and older. And there is a notable lack of any redemption. By the end, I was left in a melancholy slump, hoping without success for some kind of light at the end of the tunnel.

The tunnel stayed dark.

For the older reader, The Darkest Minds is an interesting dystopian read, not in the ranks of Collins’ Hunger Games, per say, but certainly worth checking out of your local library for a quick holiday read.

Photo Credit: Richard Pilon (on Flickr)

This book is my answer to the question, “What’s so great about reading outside your comfort zone?” This. I got to read this. “Here, borrow my copy. Not the history reading type? Forget it, man – this is WAY too real to be history.”

Bill O’Reilly’s Killing Lincoln is anything but an old story. That would be like calling Nutella “just a hazelnut spread.” Au contraire, mes amis. It is delicious heaven-paste. And Killing Lincoln is not fairly described as “just an account” – it is more like a window with pages. Booth’s outrageous mindset is displayed clearly, murders realistically, and people, wholly.

The book successfully recaptures the chaotic atmosphere of the end of the Civil war, and places you inside it.You will flee the streets to avoid the post-war mobs, drunken with victory, or defeat, or just liquor. You will dodge the blows of an assassin in the night. And along with the masses, you will cry, “SPEECH! SPEECH! SPEECH!” at the President’s window.

That man with the top hat, tall, skinny build, and commoner’s tongue will lead you out of years of evil into blessed peace. He’ll calm your doubts with quiet words, but urge you to be better than any before you. He will love his wife, his family, and his country like no President before him. And in the end, he’ll stand unshaken to stare into the eyes of Death.

I received this book as a gift from my grandparents for review. This in no way changed my opinion, or review, of the book. It only made it more clear to me how fantastic my grandparents are.

Base Image Credit: Martin-missfeldt.de (No affiliation.)

Hey, Death! What happened to your big win?
Hey, Death! What happened to your sting?
- The Voice New Testament

53 steps from my front door, through 3 hallways and inside a soundproof studio, you can find a set of V-drums. You pop your headphones into the jack, turn the set to Courtyard (because come on: How could you not?) and jam ’till you’re sweating, smiling, and happy to be alive. (There’s nothing better than hitting things for feeling alive. Well, almost nothing.) I love those V-drums.

HOWEVER. Were one (being you) to tell me that there was another set - a real set, mind you – in the chapel across the street, (Approx. 57 steps from our welcome mat.) I would sprint to the chapel as if my feet had caught fire. Forget V-drums; A real set, in the real chapel, is the real deal. An extra four steps is easily looked over in light of a better reality.

This is how I feel about The Voice Bible by Thomas Nelson Bibles (various authors contributed). Easy reading, but not for those who are really trying to dig in to the theology. And I’m preeetty sure the translation isn’t exact. (What happened to your big win?)

So here’s my point: The Voice is fine. But you are looking for a Bible. A Bible deserves better than fine. Take the extra four steps.

I received this Bible free of charge from Thomas Nelson Bibles in exchange for a review. This in no way affected my opinion, or written opinion, of the book.

Have you ever been hit in the face with a frying pan? All of its wide, metal, possibly stainless steal glory pressing up against your face as if you were just one more pancake? Reading Jeff Goins’ You are a Writer was nothing like that.

It was better.

I’ve taken hits like that. I read my Bible. I’ve got the theological bruises to prove it. Writer was different. It was a subtle coxing of the inner writer to realize the inner writer’s purpose. This is something I can do. Someone I am. It was a reminder of something I have been told before but never actually heard. I’d taken it as the typical teacher’s, “Well, this report is really good! Have a sticker!” Forget stickers – This was a tattoo. No, more like a birthmark. I am a writer.

You are a Writer is a plea from the author to all who have ever aspired to write to please, please, stop aspiring. To recognize that when you are saying “I would love to write,” you are saying, at the same time, “I am not writing yet.” Be a writer. By writing. (This is how these things work. )

And tips on how to write. To publish. To connect with people. It is a guide for realizing who you are, and how to best and most genuinely continue being that person. You are a Writer is one brilliant, prolonged “AHA.” moment, from start to finish. Click the link below to get a copy. Crack [click] it open. And make sure to have a notebook and pen on hand.

Buy the eBook. >> http://amzn.to/K9HpIM
Jeff’s blog >> GoinsWriter.com