Book Reviews

Imaginary Jesus by Matt Mikalatos
240 Pages

Mikalatos writes this in first person. He takes us through his world of Imaginary Jesuses. We first meet him and his traditional imaginary Jesus, the one with blue eyes and long blonde hair, but we quickly see that our view of Jesus is not traditional through the eyes of others, but rather we imagine Jesus the way we need him to be.

Mikalatos runs into the Secret Society of Imaginary Jesuses, and is quickly overwhelmed with a bevvy of Jesuses for every occation and every individual.

This is mainly a book about searching for the true God, but it has a humorous slant. My favorite part is when Mikalatos meets the Mormons Elder Laurel and Elder Hardy (yes that's right Laurel and Hardy), and their conversations are laugh out loud funny.

Interesting enough to keep your attention but not offensive to turn a Christian off.

4 out of 5 stars

Accidental Genius by Mark Levy

Audiobook narrated by Bronson Pinchot

Unabridged 4+hours

In this book, Mark Levy talks about how free writing can help generate ideas. This is not just a guide for writers, it is a guide for anyone who needs to generate new ideas, whether it be in business or life.

Throughout the 29 chapters, Levy gives insight as to how the process works. He gives examples and prompts and shows why it works. At the end of each chapter he suggests an excersise.

Free Writing can be a useful tool, especially when we are stuck.

One prompt that stuck with me, that I've used several time now is:

The night smelled like...

This book is narrated by the smooth voice of actor Bronson Pinchot. I cannot tell you how important it is to have a good narrator for an audiobook.

GUSH Time - My new favorite movie and some great reads

Suicide Kings (1997)
American neo-noir/comedy-drama film, starring Christopher Walken, Denis Leary, Sean Patrick Flanery, Johnny Galecki, Jay Mohr, Jeremy Sisto, and Henry Thomas. It was based on Don Stanford's short story, The Hostage, and directed by Peter O'Fallon.

I hate when I've been under a rock. I've seen this movie listed on Netflix and IMDB, but never paid it any mind. I like Christopher Walken but it didn't seem like something I could get in to. And the term neo-noir ??? I like film-noir but wasn't sure if I'd like neo-noir.

Of course I thought this movie was brilliant, and I'm probably the last person on earth who hadn't seen it. But it has now become one of my top 5 favorite movies of all time.

The Plot in a short form from Wikipedia:
Moving in a non-linear fashion, the movie follows the exploits of a group of young 20-something rich kids who are plotting a kidnapping in order to save the sister of one of the friends.

Scottish-German Walken plays an awesome Italian ex-mobster named Charlie Bartolucci who these idiots have the nerve to kidnap and mame!!

What I liked about this movie was the psychological mind-games Charlie played on these young men. Who can you trust? Who should you trust?

The other actors were amazing. Jeremy Sisto, Denis Leary and Johnny Galecki were the three (other than Walken) who stole the show.

I'm usually not one to gush too much about movies, but I loved this one. So if you are one of the few people (like me) who have not seen this, I recommend this highly. How highly? I gave it a 5 out of 5 stars.



Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah by Richard Bach (1977)

This book questions the reader's view of reality, proposing that what we call reality is merely an illusion we create for learning and enjoyment.

I read his 1st book "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" many years ago. I thought it was quaint, but it didn't rock my world. I was surfing around one day and found this listed somewhere and read the synopsis and thought it might be worth the effort. I ordered it from my local library. I was done in 1 hour (191 pages). I loved it!

Synopsis from Wikipedia:
Donald Shimoda is one of the two main characters in Illusions. He is a messiah who leaves his job of being a messiah (and also of being a mechanic at a garage) after deciding that people value the showbiz-like performance of miracles and want to be entertained by those miracles more than to understand the message behind them. He meets Richard, a fellow barn-storming pilot and begins to pass on his knowledge to him, even teaching Richard to perform "miracles" of his own.

OK so it sounds way out there, but it is actually very good and thought provoking. Not a hard read, not cerebral at all. Written in plain every day language with plain every day imagery. I recommend. 4.5 out of 5 stars.


CURRENTLY READING


Imaginary Jesus by Matt Mikalatos (2010)

I got this book the other day for my Kindle for free from Amazon, but now it costs.

I'm a few chapters in and OMG, this book is hilarious.

From Amazon:
The Apostle Peter punches Jesus in the face, then chases him out of a coffee shop. And that's just chapter 0.

OK so now, what do you think this book will be like? People on the train must think I'm nuts cracking up to myself. I love books that take religious subjects/figures and make them into laugh out loud stories. We all need a good laugh.

I've only read two other books that did this, one was a fiction story the other a memoir. Both were great, I recommend both:

Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore

Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs