Listen, Love, Repeat by Karen Ehman

Title: Listen, Love, Repeat
Author: Karen Ehman
Pages: 256
Published: November 15th 2016 by Zondervan
Source: Library
Links: goodreads, Proverbs31, online bible study

Our culture is self-obsessed – in our schedules, relationships, and especially online. (Can you say selfie?) But in this near-narcissism, people are less content than in decades past. Why? Because we forgot the joy that comes from putting others first. Doing so requires us to live alert, listening for “heart drops,” hints from those in our lives who need a helping hand or a generous dose of encouragement. Living alert lifts our own spirits, showing us that blessing others blesses us even more. Listen, Love, Repeat offers biblical teaching and suggests doable actions that are simple, heart-tugging, sentimental, even sneaky and hilarious.

I recently discovered an online Bible study hosted by the website Proverbs31 Ministries.  I've been looking for a Bible study for a while now.  My in-laws used to host a study once a weekend and we would Facetime in and listen and join in the discussion.  My father-in-law is an amazing Bible study leader and would always leave me feeling inspired and closer to God.  They ending up stopping the Bible study in 2015 so I've been looking for one.  One of my absolute favorite studies that we did was when we all read a book together and then discussed the chapters together.  Similar to a book club Bible study.  The book we read was Twelve Extraordinary Women and I enjoyed it so much.  So when I found out that this online Bible study reads books and then discuses them together I really wanted to join.

The book the group was going to read for April (and it looks like the study goes through May) is Listen, Love, Repeat.  I'm still a little confused how the study works.  I saw that there are live discussions going on certain days on Facebook. I don't really like that, I'd rather have a discussion board like on goodreads so I just have to get used to the different format. Looks like during the month there are videos to watch to listen and learn from also.

This particular book was really excellent. The writing style is as if you are just sitting around speaking to a friend. I read a chapter a night so I could take my time and really read and learn from the chapter. What I really took away from this book was a think called "heart drops".  This is when we really listen to others and what they are saying to us.  Little conversations with our family/friends/people in our life when they share a little something and we set it aside in our memory for later.  It's remembering when someone's dad passed away or remembering their favorite drink and doing something with that information later.  I have tried to already practice this in my life .  I hope that I hear the heart drops of people in my life and am able to remember those drops for later.

There was also a section in this book about remembering the people we deal with everyday.  The person who changes our oil in our cars, or the mailman, the doctor, the dentist.  Giving them a little something.  This can be hard in some situations, for example, I never see my mailman.  We have a community box down the street so I never even know who it is.  The book did make me think about the next time I go to the dentist to give my hygienist something.  I've been seeing her for like 8 years and never thought to bring her a little something.

One thing I couldn't tell with this book was whether or not the site Proverbs 31 was squeezing this book in to make some money?  I think the author is one of the people behind the website so I wasn't sure if the book was picked for the bookclub pick because of this. It was a good book but I don't want to only read books that are by authors who run the site.  So I look forward to check out what the next book pick is. For those looking for some inspiration in their lives, pick up this book.  You won't regret it. Love God, Love Others, Love Yourself.

“Sometimes the best strategy is to keep your mouth shut and your hands open.” (181) And, “The only way to go about loving the difficult is to expect nothing in return.” (182)

Anyone else studied through Proverbs 31 Ministries?  What do you think about it?

The year of Stephen King

 
 

So much King is coming to screens this year. THE MIST, MR. MERCEDES, 1922, GERALD'S GAME, THE DARK TOWER, and IT! This is the year of King.

Comic Adventures Issue #52

I read a lot of comics and rarely review them here on the blog. That's because I really don't have a lot to say for an entire post.  So I thought I would review several comics on one post.  I will still review graphic novels on their own now and then, but this is where I will talk about super-hero type comics (DC/Marvel) or sequels to some that I have already reviewed.

This issue I talk about Batman Vol 10, New Suicide Squad Vol. 4, Wonder Woman: The True Amazon, and Aquaman vol. 1 Rebirth.

Epilogue finishes out Batman's New 52 run (well... at least this Batman there are quite a few Batman titles in New 52). There is a Future's End story at the beginning which I dislike.  A lot of New 52 comics squeezed in Future's End stories and I've never enjoyed those.  It did seem after reading this that perhaps Batman should've stopped in volume 9 since this one was kind of filler.  It has a couple of little stories that give nods to Batman.  In one of the stories there is a power outage in Gotham.  Batman runs around trying to find out what the source is and what bad guy is behind it.  He runs around the city looking everywhere but it turns out (spoiler)  it is just a power outage.  Then Batman says.. he will always be waiting for what is to come to Gotham. (end spoiler).  This was the end of the comic.  I like this closing.  Nothing big and fancy just that Batman will always be around.  There was a Rebirth vol. 1 for Batman but I didn't read it since I want to be surprised by the whole Rebirth Volume. 
3 out of 5

I swore I was done with Suicide Squad from the New 52.  But then I couldn't stop reading it.  The good news is that this was really good compared to the other ones.  I do think though that this lost it's following.  Looking at Goodreads there is one review on it.  It brings in a lot of the team from the movie which might have been to bring in more readers but I think it was too little too late. I this issue Harley thinks a group of people are out to help them get freed from Amanda Waller and so they all follow this new group only to find out it's a trap.  This crazy guy sets up an event similar to the Hunger Games. There were some new characters introduced that I hadn't heard of before and that was refreshing. Captain Boomerang and Deadshot have some great chemistry in this too.  It's just too bad the good issue came at the end of the run.  Again there was a Rebirth preview which I didn't read.  I was excited though to see that Suicide Squad is a Rebirth launch title.  I should get it from the library soon.
5 out 5 

I'm sorry but I just don't get all the great reviews for this comic.  I think maybe if I was a 10 year old girl I would've liked this book.  It seems like that is who this book is written for, but then I was confused because there is one part where Wonder Woman uses the word Bitch so I'm not sure if this is a young adult book???  I'm not really into the artwork either. I appreciate the style but I like my comics to be more realistic art. The author Thompson wrote and illustrated this book. I did like the lessons the story taught, but Wonder Woman is portrayed not how I ever imagined her.  The story tells of Diana being a spoiled brat, a princess who gets everything.  The story retells everything you thought of Wonder Woman's origins and I had a hard time with that. Instead of Wonder Woman being good for the sake of being good, this comic tells a story of a mistake that Diana made and that she feels like she need redemption for it.  I like that Diana was always good because that was her spirit.  I don't think this was a terrible book, I just didn't feel there was a need for a retelling of Wonder Woman's origin story.
2 out of 5

Aquaman Vol. 1 for Rebirth was really good.  Though I will say it's the same story Aquaman always gets.  Trying to get the Atlanteans and the land dwellers to get along, poor Arthur always having to have to try to do this.  This time though he has built an embassy which was a good idea till it wasn't.  There is an attack on it which makes the Atlanteans look bad. I didn't realize that this comic was going to have anything to do with the New 52 but it is mentioned about Aquaman's brother Orm who flooded the coast of the USA.  Which is why the USA still has a hard time trusting the Atlanteans. The one part about the comic that did bother me was when Superman makes an appearance and basically threatens Aquaman telling him to get his people together and to watch out if he doesn't.  Are they not friends?  I haven't read the Justice League Rebirth yet so maybe there are tensions there. The book also points out that Aquaman is seen as a funny guy by the public mainly because he talks to fish.  That is kind of funny after I typed it but I don't think it makes him a strong character if this bothers him.  Strong characters to me don't care what people think of them.
                                                        4 out of 5

This counts for 17 comics towards my 2017 Graphic Novel Reading Challenge

Beauty and the Beast: Lost in a Book by Jennifer Donnelly

Title: Beauty and the Beast: Lost in a Book
Author: Jennifer Donnelly
Pages: 352
Published: January 31st 2017 by Disney Press
Source: library
Links: goodreads

Smart, bookish Belle, a captive in the Beast’s castle, has become accustomed to her new home and has befriended its inhabitants. When she comes upon Nevermore, an enchanted book unlike anything else she has seen in the castle, Belle finds herself pulled into its pages and transported to a world of glamour and intrigue. The adventures Belle has always imagined, the dreams she was forced to give up when she became a prisoner, seem within reach again. The charming and mysterious characters Belle meets within the pages of Nevermore offer her glamorous conversation, a life of dazzling Parisian luxury, and even a reunion she never thought possible. Here Belle can have everything she has ever wished for. But what about her friends in the Beast’s castle? Can Belle trust her new companions inside the pages of Nevermore? Is Nevermore’s world even real? Belle must uncover the truth about the book, before she loses herself in it forever.

I read this book before the new movie came out because I was so excited for the film.  It's my first Beauty and the Beast retelling. I didn't realize that it was loosely based off the new movie. If you haven't seen the new movie and want everything in it to be a surprise skip this review.  It's not a spoiler but it will take away a surprising addition so I don't want to spoil that for you. There are a few things added to the new movie.  One of those things is an addition of a book in the library that Beast and Belle are able to enter.  In this book, Belle discovers this book by herself and enters it nightly. The book adds the characters Love and Death.  Love is technically the one who puts a spell on Beast. She is hopeful that Belle will be the one to break the spell.  Death on the other hand wants them to fail so she can collect money that she bet with Love.  Technically, neither Death nor Love are supposed to interfere with destiny but Death of course can't help herself.  Death sets this book in Beast's library for Belle to discover.

The chapters are super short.  I did find that odd.  Some were like 2-3 pages long. When the book begins it's basically a retelling of the animated Disney film.  At first I thought I was only going to re-read a book about that film. The world (Nevermore) inside the book that Belle finds is really neat.  I always enjoy reading about someone entering a magical world.  I guess what I didn't love is that the way Belle acts in this book is not how I would picture Belle acting.   Wanting to go to balls and meeting men. I just see her as enjoying things different then this.   I did love the side characters in the book and the relationship Belle has with them.  The book covers evenings that take place in between what happens in the movies so we get to read about the nights Belle spends with Ms. Potts, Chip, Cogsworth, and so on.  Chip and Belle become great friends and I like reading about that relationship develop.

I did enjoy this book although I didn't expect it to be more for middle school readers. I would really like to read more about Love and Death and enjoyed those characters so much I wish they had a place in the movies. Perhaps Donnelly will write another book with these characters in it.  I would recommend this book for those that love Beauty and the Beast and want more from that world.

Comic Adventures Issue #51

I read a lot of comics and rarely review them here on the blog. That's because I really don't have a lot to say for an entire post.  So I thought I would review several comics on one post.  I will still review graphic novels on their own now and then, but this is where I will talk about super-hero type comics (DC/Marvel) or sequels to some that I have already reviewed.

This issue I talk about Justice League Vol. 8,  Wonder Woman vol. 9, The Flash vol. 9, and Catwoman Vol. 8.

So this is the end of the New 52's Justice League. I really did enjoy the run of this comic.  It's fun to me when a group teams up... for example my favorite book in the Lord of the Rings trilogy is the first one because the whole team of characters are traveling together. The end of the Justice League comics has us reading a part one and part two of the Darkseid War.  The problem I had with this comic is the whole Crime Syndicate part. That was the big story in the New 52 and I never found the comics to read all of that story.  So here in this comic the Crime Syndicate is back and the Justice League has to team up with them. There are quite a few surprised in this book which made the war fun to read.  The art I really enjoyed too. The author Geoff Johns has moved on from comic books and now works on the DC movies.  Hopefully that means that he is trying really hard to make the Justice League movie be amazing.  The trailer just came out and I'm looking forward to the film.  I'm glad that the Justice League will get a new story arc in Rebirth. 
4 out of 5

I also read the end to the New 52 Wonder Woman series.  I really enjoyed the start of this comic.  Vol. 9 continues the story of Zeke, who is technically Zeus reincarnated as a baby.  Wonder Woman has been trying to protect Zeke all through this series. I liked that this comic goes back to the Greek story.  We get to read about even a new character Hecate who was really a great villain. The artwork is great.  In the story Wonder Woman has to go and find a few items to give to Hecate to help save Zeke so we get to see London, Tartarus, and some spots in Olympus.  I miss the writing of Azzarello but Finch did a good job trying to finish off the Wonder Woman New 52. I enjoyed seeing Wonder Woman making tough decisions on where she needs to keep her loyalties in this book.  Wonder Woman Rebirth #1 is featured at the end of this volume but I didn't read it because I want it to be a surprise when I read Rebith vol. 1. 

4 out of 5

Finishing out Flash New 52 is Full Stop. So the last comic pretty much finished up the whole Zoom story line so I'm not sure we really needed another comic in the Flash's new 52. So Barry's father/captain wants Flash off the streets since he thinks he's a menace to society.  But what he doesn't know is Flash is Barry. The Rogues get brought in to help capture the Flash.  I do like the Rogues!  Captain Cold, Mirror Man, and some I didn't know.  There is a great villain behind all of the trouble.. urging the police force on to hunt Flash.  I'm not going to give spoilers but the person behind it all was a big surprise to me!! Flash New 52 was really my introduction into the world of Flash.  I loved the artwork especially in the earlier issues. I thought the stories were usually pretty funny.  I'm actually sitting here writing now writing this while watching the Flash on CW.  I've grown to just love that character. There is a Flash #1 Rebirth issue in the back but again I waited to read it. 
3 out of 5

This is the Catwoman I've been wanting to read about for a long long time.  Selena went off into some dumb story lines about the Crime Syndicate and then became the boss of gangs or whatever... and now she is finally just a thief. She's hunting down a diamond, getting revenge on other villains, fighting with Black Mask and White Mask!  It's just great.  And the artwork.. I loved it so much.  Great detail.  I loved that the art showed a lot of detailed backgrounds which I don't think most comics utilize.  I even enjoyed the two side stories at the end of the comic that are about Black Mask.  I typically hate side stories that have nothing to do with the main story.  I'm not sure what is going to happen with Catwoman in Rebirth.  I'm not sure if she'll have her own title but she's such a popular character that I'm pretty sure she will though it's not a launch title.  If you didn't read Catwoman read the fist ones in the New 52, skip the middle of the series and just jump to the end. 

5 out of 5



This counts for 13 comics towards my 2017 Graphic Novel Reading Challenge