Well, no he didn't.

This is just a shameless plea to get someone to comment on something we post here.

Maybe somebody just needs to start a good argument. ;-)

I have been going through the Harry Potter series in order. I finally finished Book 5 - Order of the Phoenix.

The idea here is to discuss that book only, and not any future books. Please no spoilers. (I have already started Book 6, and I'm about half way.) Here are my previous posts, if you want to go back and talk about any previous book.
1-Sorcerer's/Philosopher's Stone
2-Chamber of Secrets
3-Prisoner of Azkaban
4-Goblet of Fire

The real discussion of "Order of the Phoenix" will be below the break and under comments... Please tell me what you thought!

Read the rest of this entry . . .

In a word: Wow.

(Side note: to those of you who have been putting it off, stop. Read the books. Or better yet, rent them on audio from your local library. Listening to Robert Dale perform these books has got to be the best way to experience them. Better than just reading them, and better than the movies. The Dude is amazing. Plus it's a timesaver because you can listen in your car.)

This book is ... I'm at a loss for words. If I call it a masterpiece, those of you who haven't read it will think I'm exagerating. Let's just say that it is up there among the finest of Children's literature...though this book really isn't for elementary age children.

These books really do keep getting better and better. The end of this one was like reading the end of "Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card. The whole thing is at school kid-stuff, even while the seriousness of the adult world is looming, it's still "out there", in the sense that it's not really in the realm of serious worry. And then you get to the end, and the hero (and the reader) finds out that what's been going on in school was the real world. And it's serious. And wham-o! It's life or death.

Whereas "Prisoner of Azkaban" lays the groundwork, this is where it turns really serious. The endings of books 3 and 4 are both amazing pieces of adrenaline rushes. It's like finally coming to the end of a roller coaster ride, only to find that the final screaming descent doesn't stop...It just keeps going. The endings of these two books just pulled me along.

A few thoughts:

Yaaaay. Finally, one of the books starts somewhere other than the Dursleys. I also liked that there is lots of story before we ever get to Hogwarts. The Quidditch World Cup...

The rift between Harry and Ron was a great addition to the story. Realistic. I began to root for them to reconcile, but was actually surprised (but relieved) that it happened as soon as it did. The scene where they reconcile is brilliant.

Ron is hilarious. "Percy wouldn't recognize a joke if it danced in front of him naked...wearing a house-elf's tea towel." I haven't said much about Ron, yet, but he is a brilliant character. His wisecracks are awesome. Each character in these books has real personality. ("House Elf Liberation Front!")

The Christmas Ball was hilarious. What a great picture of "the middle school dance". Neither Harry or Ron's dates really like them, and end up wandering off. Rowling does a great job of showing that at that age, girls are better at that romantic stuff than boys. She also does a great job of portraying how awkward and uncomfortable and stressful such things like who's taking whom to the dance is to young adolescents. Though it is set in the fantastical wizarding world, it was still so real. This is always a good mark of good sci-fi/fantasy.

Rowling is a great mystery writer too. Every thread every detail of the story ends up being important. When the big reveals come at the end, it turns out that everything that happened in the first chapters had a reason. How a writer has the end so well worked out even in the beginning, I'll never fully understand.

One quibble: if Voldemort's inside man had just turned Harry's Broomstick into a port key in the beginning, half the book wouldn't even have been necessary. ;-)

Please put your discussion and thoughts about book 4 under comments. I want to hear from you! But I haven't read books 5, 6, 7 yet, so no spoilers please!

I admit it. I'm late to the party. Really, really late. But I just finished "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" and now I'm halfway through "Chamber of Secrets." Now I'm starting to see what all the kerfluffle is about. It's good!

As I cruise through every book in the series, I wonder if anyone would be interested in discussing them as I go, one at a time. Discussion will be carried on under comments.

This thread is about the Sorcerer's Stone only. I'll do another separate post for each of the subsequent books. Spoiling any of the other Potter books for me will result in severe punishment for you...like having to do detention in the magic forest. Please don't!

I'll get us started.

One thing I never expected about Harry Potter was the humor. It's funny. Peeves the poltergeist cracks me up. The images of Quirrel, professor of "Defence against the Dark Arts" stumbling, and stuttering, afraid of his own shadow was hilarious. This was supposed to be the guy who fights werewolves and vampires. Oh and then there was Professor Dumbledore's welcome speech.

"Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!
Thank you!"

Hilarious.

Another thing that impressed me was the friendship between Ron, Harry and Hermione.

"From that moment on, Hermione Granger became their friend. There are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them."

Brilliant.

I never saw Quirrell coming. Never. I even saw the movie several years ago, but all I could remember was Alan Rickman, the bad guy's bad guy, as Professor Snape. (For the record, that's the only Harry Potter movie I've seen. I will go through the rest of the books before I see anymore movies.) I was just so sure that Snape would be the bad guy. Rowling fooled me too.

And finally I really liked Hogwarts. The whole atmosphere was amazing. Rowling has created a magical world. And like Narnia, Xanth, and Middle Earth, I found myself wishing I could go there.

Please put your thoughts about the first Harry Potter book under comments. Any thoughts at all.

Thinkling Readers, I Need Your Help!

My oldest child is a 7 year old boy and in the second grade. He's reading very well for his age. (I'm gonna guess that he's reading on about a 5th-6th grade level or higher.) He reads a minimum of 100 pages a day. I'm having a hard time keeping up with his habit. Our school library lets parents check out books in large numbers, so I've been doing that. The problem I'm having is that (right now) I have the (naive?) belief that just because he CAN read something doesn't mean he SHOULD. It seems that most of the books that are on a middle school reading level assume a middle schooler is reading them. (Understandable) So these books have content that I'm not sure my second grader is ready for. Murder, kidnapping, child abuse, divorce, non-christian religions etc...

None of these books are bad or explicit, it's just that I'm not sure that I'm ready for my second grader to read about kids whose parents don't love them or even beat them.

So here are my questions for you.

#1- Am I being ridiculous? For example, I just checked out some books from "The Sugar Creek Gang" by Paul Hutchens and "Baker Street Sports Club" by Jerry Jenkins. Both series are published by Moody and are quite similar in "conflict". The narrator is a new christian, lots of explicit Bible and Christian talk, witnessing to friends, parents who are alcoholics and beat their children, kidnapping, hurt feelings etc...

I've found many books that are perfect for him reading level wise, but because they are targeted towards "reluctant readers", they are actually assuming a high school mentality reading at a middle school level. So those books deal with things way beyond a second grader.

I just wish that I could find more books like Henry Huggins, Ralph S. Mouse, Homer Price, the Boxcar Children etc...

I'm looking for books where there is adventure without ruining childhood quite yet. Sheesh! He's only 7, but so many of the books that he's ready to read assume he's 12. But books targeted to 7 year olds are just big picture books that he's waaaay beyond.

But I'm starting to think I might just have to suck it up and start letting him read about alcoholics and child abuse. I'm just not sure he's (or if I'm) ready for that yet.

#2 - Do you have any recomendations?

I have an mp3 player that I pretty much just use while doing yardwork. A few months ago I went to the dollar store looking for presents for the kids and bought them "the Wind in the Willows" on audio CD. They listen to it in bed while going to sleep. While there I bought "The War of The Worlds" by H.G. Wells on audio for myself. I've heard the Orson Wells radio broadcast, and I've seen the Tom Cruise movie, but that's it. I thought it would be cool to hear the original. It's been sitting in my desk drawer all this time.

So I finally put it on my mp3 player this morning. Only the file it was put in also had Megadeth's Greatest Hits. On the player each file started with a number. So chapter one was followed by Megadeth's song 1, and chapter 2 was followed by the next Megadeth song and so on. Chapter, megadeth song, chapter megadeth song...

IT WAS AWESOME!!!!

The end of each chapter is a kind of a cliffhanger...totally enhanced when you hear heavy metal music after final words like, "the second craft had landed" or "the missle was headed right for us". And me being weird like I am, I listened to parallels between the song and the chapter, and there almost always were some. (Songs like "Hangar 18" and "Holy Wars" for example.)

The chapters are VERY short. I'm thinking about doing a series here on the blog where I summarize a chapter, then share with you a few Megadeth lyrics that I heard, so you can experience what I experienced, sort of. (So far, I'm on chapter 7).

But who knows, I may never get around to it. I like the idea though.

Have any of you read "War of the Worlds"?

Have any of you read (or listened to) a book and created your own soundtrack for it?

Mine happened totally randomly but I still feel like the creator, kind of a mad scientist. (Cue loud guitar music here.)

As tonight showed, she's not out of it by any stretch. But her shape-shifting as a politician just seems to grow weirder by the minute. From the hippie feminist who made herself over to get back in the governor's mansion, the White House matron with the cookie recipe, the Chicago girl who supposedly grew up a Yankee fan, the Sopranos spoof video, to this latest transparent attempt at manipulation, I just don't see how anyone could take her seriously. While I don't favor any of the Democratic candidates, I can see how someone might want to believe Obama or Edwards. But Hillary?

I pronounce this the official thread to discuss last night's episode...especially the last 5 minutes. So for those of you who haven't seen it yet...Be Warned. Don't read the comments in this thread.

Did you folks expect that ending? Man, it's not safe to be a tailie. Bernard needs to watch his back.

Oh, and you gotta give props to any TV show that riffs on "Say Anything."

I just finished reading The Last Disciple over the weekend after I picked it up at a used bookstore. The Last Disciple is preterism's answer to the Left Behind series.

Since preterism takes the view that much of what was foretold by John in the book of Revelation took place around the time of the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, this book inserts some fictional characters into that setting, and tells a story that brings the history and exegesis behind the preterist position to life, much in the way the Left Behind series has for dispensational premillennialism.

I enjoyed the book. It was a tad bit disjointed, with a lot of different, and seemingly unconnected things going on at once. While it's not Umberto Eco or anything, it is complex, and I think that in a way not demanded by the plot. Maybe that's just me; I think I'm better at following an argument than following characters. I think it could have been thinned down some, but things do start to come together at the end.

It is intended as part of a series. The next book, The Last Sacrifice, just came out. Although I think I'll enjoy reading this series and recommending it to others, I think this diminishes much of the force of these books. Consider that dispensational premillennialism has a much greater following than preterism. The Left Behind series doesn't have to explain dispensationalism in a nutshell, since there's already a fairly widespread understanding of it. And its distinctive components (the rapture, tribulation, rise of AntiChrist, etc.) lend themselves to distinct volumes. But preterism is not well known. And it doesn't lend itself to a series of stories in that same way. I think a single volume would have better served to illuminate the essential features of preterism.

With all of that, I think you can probably see that this is a case where ideology drives the story. While that is generally a criticism, given that this was a response to the the Left Behind series, I don't have a problem with it. The afterward of a few pages discusses this basis of the series. This brings me to another point. Hank Hanegraff labels his version of preterism "exegetical eschatology." He has said, "I coined the phrase ' exegetical eschatology' to underscore the fact that above all else I am deeply committed to a proper method of biblical interpretation rather than to any particular model of eschatology." I'm sure he is, but somehow I find that label less than helpful. I don't think it would help the state of theology if R.C. Sproul decided to proclaim that he was a defender of "exegetical baptism," or James White announced his view as "exegetical soteriology," or . . . well, you get the idea. Whatever their flaws, dispensationalists certainly would demur to any suggestion that they derive their eschatology from a means other than exegesis.

I do have another criticism, but that acts as something of a spoiler, so I'll insert that in a comment below.

Have you ever wanted to get a handle on Cartesian metaphysics, probe the sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" by Jonathan Edwards, and laugh your socks off, all at the same time?

Of course you have.

Here's your chance.

My wife gave birth this morning! We are now the proud parents of triplets!

Wow-eee. We had no idea. Three plus two makes five boys.

I guess now I can have the basketball team I always wanted. If only we were taller...

Have you ever read anything by him? Brouwer is a Christian novelist whose work rises above the genre. You know how so many Christian novels are formulaic? And most of them inject the obligatory "Christian shares the gospel" scene, where the conversation is more of an artificial sermon than anything that contributes to the story? Brouwer is far better. While you might categorize his work as "thrillers" or "mysteries", they are well-done works of fiction that are worth your time.

As I read his books, I have watched him grow as a novelist and as a Christian. Some of his early works are Christian westerns that can be safely ignored. I discovered Brouwer when I read Double Helix, a decent but mediocre thriller about cloning. Then he got a whole lot better with "Blood Ties", a serial killer story. (You will not figure it out. The ending is a definite surprise.) With that novel, I realized his tremendous potential. Then he wrote some young adult stuff.

After a trip to Israel and some Historical Jesus research, he wrote "The Weeping Chamber", a work of historical fiction about Jesus from the perspective of a relatively minor Gospel character. It's very well done and worth the read. At this point he was in a "Jesus" phase, so he did some coffee table books on Jesus that were OK.

Then he graduated. He switched from Word to Tyndale, and began a new series, following a character named Nick Barrett. The first book was called "Out of the Shadows" and is a character study/mystery and is a definite literary work. Second, he wrote "Crown of Thorns" which continues with the same setting (Charleston) and character. These two books should not be missed. This post just made me check Amazon. There's a third in the series entitled The Lies of the Saints. I'm off to buy it right now. I can't wait... I also just found out that he co-wrote a book with Hank Hanegraaf entitled The Last Disciple. It seems to be a novel about Biblical Prophecy/Revelation from -GASP- a preterist perspective. How cool is that? From Amazon-

What if the Antichrist has already been revealed? The first book in a gripping new series by best-selling authors Sigmund Brouwer and Hank Hanegraaff explores the lives of Christians who struggle to survive and spread the Gospel during the climactic turbulence of "the last days." With the enemy seeking to decipher the code of John's letter, Revelation, and destroy the church, believers must cling to the hope Revelation provides as they face the greatest of all persecutions. A spellbinding story of faith and fulfillment of prophecy. Discover the "code" of Revelation as you begin to see it through the eyes of the persecuted believers to whom it was written.

Update: Here is Sigmund Brouwer's Biography and Bibliography. Another mission of his is to encourage children to read. This is why he has written so many young adult fiction books. The sports series are intentionally aimed at non-readers. You got to admire a guy who tries so hard to turn non-readers into readers. He goes to schools and speaks on the subject. Check out hiswebsite - www.coolreading.com.

Sigmund's faith is also an integral part of his creative goals. Although an overt Christian agenda doesn't appear in his novels, an underpinning of morality and redemption make his books more than tools of escape. Not surprisingly, on of his greatest writing influences is C.S. Lewis. "C.S. Lewis is definitely one of the writers I admire most," Sigmund says, "He wrote as well as possible, knowing that the Truth would speak for itself. He always tried to be logical, and true, and never tried to inject things for the sake of putting them in there. He's the one who said, "There's no Christian way to write, just as there is no Christian way to boil an egg. Writers, whether they are Christian or Agnostic, have to follow good rules of writing and he did. And because of that, the Truth spoke for itself."

Read Brouwer and tell me what you think.