Defeating A Resolution

As I mentioned at the top of the year, I have a lot of goals in 2016. One of the most important ones, (to me) was to start reading again. My goal was a total of 5 books in 2016. I'm quite happy to say, I managed to do in under 4 months!

Here's a run down on what I read and what I thought of each book.

House of Silk - Anthony Horowitz

House of Silk is the first official book in the Sherlock Holmes series since the death of the original author - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I was sceptical at first... but did Horowitz ever nail this one. He managed to capture Doyle's writing/ mystery style perfectly. The mystery itself... was unexpected. It took a pretty dark turn pretty fast in the last few pages. However, as a die hard Sherlock fan, I'm still glad I gave it a read.

House - Frank Peretti and Ted Dekker

Peretti and Dekker more or less wrote the books that defined my childhood. I stayed up really late getting absorbed in Thr3e, Blink, The Oath and The Circle Trilogy (which had 4 books in it....). More recently, I haven't been able to enjoy Dekker as much. Still love Peretti.

House was o.k. It didn't seem like a Christian book for the first 300 pages... by the time the allegory kicked in it didn't really work for me. The set up didn't line up with the payoff. After waiting years to read this... it was a bit of a let down.

Murder On The Orient Express - Agatha Christie

As you may have noticed, I like mystery/ thriller novels. This is a classic, so why not? Well, it turns out it's a classic out of a series of classics... so I kinda dropped into the middle of the main character's run as a detective! Once the mystery started, I enjoyed it. Before that I was confused as to who everyone was and  why the book was acting like I should know who they were!

Airframe - Michael Crichton

This book both made me terrified of flying and totally confident all at the same time. It's about a plane crash that shouldn't have happened and the investigation to figure out why it did. I learned a lot about air planes, most of which probably isn't true. However, if I even get into a discussion with a pilot, I may actually understand him now! The book was enjoyable. There was some strong language in it, so bare that in mind before picking this up.

The Visitation - Frank Peretti

After the disappointment of House, I decided to revisit my favourite Peretti novel. Would I still like it as much as I did as a kid?

Yes. Yes I did! It's weird... I've had a lot of life happen to me since I read this the first time. That life experience made me appreciate this book all the more. It's not a book for everyone. especially if you don't like supernatural elements. However, if you're a Peretti fan, grab this one! It's 520 page masterpiece of thrills and faith. My Christian walk is better for reading this one.

There's what lead to a successful resolution! What have you been reading? I need to get some new books!

Ratings

There is a lot of debate about the ratings systems in place today. People seem to think it's suppressing art.
Personally, while I don't think they are perfect, I like having them. I almost always rely on some form of content advisory when going to see a movie (mostly IMDB and Plugged In), but having a big PG-13 on the sign helps the decision making along! You  know what to expect going in.

TV also has a rating system. So does music... however, I've never had to use that one!

What confuses me is why books don't have ratings. Yes, there are a lot of books on the market. Around 300,000 were released and re-released last year alone... however, it's weird there isn't some sort of system in place.

There aren't even content advisories. Plugged In will review hip new books and Common Sense Media has a few... but it's hard to find a consistent source for content in novels.

I've started reading a couple of books only to bail within a couple of chapters because of excessive harsh profanity or lewd content. These aren't even obscure or edgy books. One is considered to be the grandfather of science fiction. The other was 1984 which is taught in high school... which I guess means I'm being too uptight? I donno... I thought it was a little racy.

Book industry - Get your junk together and start putting content advisories on your stuff!

My 2016 Goals

I meant to have this posted a week after December 31... whoops!

I don't make resolutions at New Years. Too much pressure. I make goals. LOTS. This year I have 25. I know, that seems like a lot. But, I figure if I only accomplish 15, that's 10 more than I would have pulled off had it been 5 goals.

So far it's going o.k. Some of them can't be done during the winter, so they are on the back burner. Others involve me being in a creative mood... which hasn't happened this week. Hopefully next week!

I have 3 goals that are really important to me. These are the ones that I have to do by Dec 31 next year. Here they are!

1. - Read 5 Books
The number of books is pretty low... but I also wanted to give myself some grace. The idea with this goal is to read more. I used to read all the time when I was growing up. Loved it! However, I've slacked off recently. I figure by the time I get 5 books read, I will have a routine in place and be able to double it by year's end. I have read a book and a half so far. It's good to be back!

2. - Improve Devotion Time
I'm usually pretty good to make time for devos... but I admit I slacked a lot in the latter half of 2015. I got busy... and allowed devos to suffer... So far I haven't missed a day (including Saturdays, which is something I've never done before!)

3. - Exercise More
Man... this list is cliché... seriously though... Almost everything I love involves sitting. Watching movies, reading, work, editing video, gaming, board gaming, filming (sometimes... usually standing), guitar (again, I only stand when I'm not practising)... that's a lot of time in a chair. Add in the fact that I don't like sports and you can see why it's on the list!

So far number 3 has been the hardest. Mostly because it hurts... a lot... I like exercising... just hate what it does to your body!

What are your goals this year?

I Can't Read Non-Fiction

I learned that about myself when I was still in grade school. Any time I picked up anything that wasn't fiction for casual reading... well.. I set it back down again.

I've heard a lot of people say that they can only read non-fiction, which reminded me of my original conclusion. So I decided to test it.

It's been years since I thought this, surely I have grown out of it and I can enjoy non-fiction now! So I bought a book about a guy trying to make it in Hollywood. I think movie making is a cool subject, I know the guy is successful, so that should add some meta humor and it's a short book. This will be a piece of cake!

It's been 3 months since I touched it.

And I was enjoying it too.... I just don't seem to do well when I know something actually happened!

It's amazing I've been able to read the Bible as consistently as I have over the years. Considering I can't even finish a 200 page biography I'm interested in!

Are you only able to read one class of book? Or are you capable of going between the two without giving up?

To Kill A Mocking Bird

I went through Christian education. It's was great, but because of that, most of the books I read in highschool aren't the same ones you did.

Catcher in the Rye? Nope. Nineteen Eighty Four? Nada. Animal Farm. Yes actually, I did... but that was more because my Mom had a copy and I wanted to give it a read.

I've been working through some "classics" recently. To Kill A Mocking Bird was at the top of my list. 

Good thing it was too -- It's awesome.

I'm also glad I didn't read it in high school. It wouldn't have meant as much. 

If you missed out on this gem, it's about childhood. Sure, there's a court case and racial tensions and drama. However, it's not about that. It's about growing up. Kids living in an adult world. 

The thing that sells it for me, is how believable the whole thing is. Kids really would interpreter situations the way the kids in Mocking Bird do.

They would dare each other to touch the scary house, make up stories about why the cranky old lady down the road is cranky and would notice when stuff isn't right.

I loved it.

That being said, there is some mild language. FYI.

Next up - The Giver. What's a book you've really enjoyed?

Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes. 

I'd been told most of my life the books were good, I knew I'd likely read 'em sooner or later, but never got around to it. Then, last year I watched a trailer for Sherlock Holmes 2. My immediate thought? Forget the movie! I'm reading the book.

It took 8 months, but I finally read "The Book". Or books. 

Turns out Sherlock is a whack (and I do mean whack) of short stories. There are 4 long form books, but the rest are from an old school (think 100 years ago old school) magazine.

I really loved them.

I think it's the way the problems are solved. With CSI being the standard in mysteries anymore, a different format was a refreshing experience.

Another thing that surprised me was how messed up Holmes is.

He's moody, rude, a slight chauvinist and even has some less the terrific habits.

Sounds like us doesn't he? Messed up. Yet, he was a hero in fiction world and in our world.

Believe it or not, God used this as an analogy for me. 

Just like Holmes was used despite his idiosyncratic, God uses us despite ours.  

I did wind up seeing the movie... just read the books...