May 10 – “Book review”

Once again the students at church have turned me on to a series of books.  A few of them are quite prolific readers, especially of the genre geared at the young adult audience.  That inevitably means fiction, so most of the time I am in.  The Harry Potter series was the one that started the whole adventure.  I remember one year when one of the books in that series was scheduled to come out while we were away at youth camp in New Mexico.  We were scheduled to spend the night on the way home at Josh's church in Arlington, so I called ahead and he him pick me up a copy.  I was definitely the envy of the literary crowd on that leg of the trip.  Of course there is no way I rubbed it in.   One series that I just couldn't get into was that vampire versus werewolf love story between a dead guy who was over 100 years old and a seventeen year old still-human girl.  That whole concept was just wrong on so many levels.  Chris followed it pretty well up until the last book.  I did watch the movies that came out based on the books.  Interesting special effects – not spectacular by any means.  And I found out that the alleged werewolves were not werewolves at all, but shape shifters.  I admit I wasn't prepared for a shift from horror love story to science fiction.  I hear the girl eventually has a baby with the dead guy in the last book.  (Sorry if I ruined the story for you).  Like I said, wrong on so many levels.   This most recent set of books has captivated me, I must admit.  I am still reading the first one, The Hunger Games.  Great concept.  And disturbing as well.  Set in the future.  North America has been devastated by wars and such.  The land is divided into 12 districts.  Used to be 13, but one was annihilated because it rebelled against the central government.  Every year each district must send a boy and girl teenager to the capitol to engage in a fight-to-the-death, televised, seek-and-destroy free-for-all.  This one I won't ruin for you.  Read it.   Proverbs 3:3-4 says, "Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.  Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man."    Father, thank you for the creativity you have instilled in all of us that results in things like novels and music and carvings and art.  Amen.