4.09.2012

On My Nightstand...

...you will find:

  

Rilla of Ingleside (FREE Kindle Version) by L.M. Montgomery
The Importance of Being Earnest (FREE Kindle Version) by Oscar Wilde

I just recently joined the world of smart phones, and am currently in love with having multiple books with me all the time (love, love, love the FREE Kindle program for my phone, and all the free books that are available).

{In Review}



Rainbow Valley (FREE Kindle Version) by L.M. Montgomery
I remember when my mother first read the Anne of Green Gables series to me (prior to me reading it in the first grade), I decided that there wasn't enough Anne and Gilbert in Rainbow Valley to hold my attention. In fact, as a very "unique" 6-year-old book snob, I decided that the Anne series would end (for me) with Anne of Ingleside, and I held to that for y-e-a-r-s. When I decided to re-read the Anne books this year, I almost stopped at book #6, more out of habit than anything else; however, something made me want to give Rainbow Valley (and Rilla) a second chance, and I'm glad that I did. While these stories will never be as special to me as the earlier parts of Anne's life, I did find myself enjoying the addition of the Meredith family, the late-blooming romances for Ellen and Rosemary, and even Walter's grave foretelling of what the future would hold for him and the other Glen boys. Although I would still like to have seen more of the Anne/Gilbert interaction, I enjoyed watching the characters and personalities of the Blythe children unfold throughout the book, and at a cost of FREE, you can't go wrong.



Me, Myself, and Bob: A True Story About Dreams, God, and Talking Vegetables by Phil Vischer
This was absolutely the surprise of the year (so far) for me. I really didn't know what to expect from this book by VeggieTales creator, Phil Vischer, and after reading so many flops lately, I was skeptical about giving another unknown story a chance, but I would have really missed out if I had skipped this one. While Peter was sick last week, I read Me, Myself & Bob out loud to him - almost finishing the thing in one day. Vischer walks the reader through his childhood, his parent's divorce (and how that affected him), his lifelong love of film and storytelling, the steps and hard work that built up Big Idea Productions (parent company of VeggieTales), and the eventual fall and bankruptcy of everything he had worked for ten years to create. After much introspection, Phil finally concluded that it wasn't about the plans that he had for his life and how he was supposed to serve the Lord, it was about letting go and letting God direct his path. Having been in a situation where we had to let go and trust that God knew what He was doing, far better than we did, this totally hit home for us, and it was encouraging to read of Vischer's travels down a similar path. Donald Miller (who I half-heartedly recommended earlier this year) wrote about creating your own "story" in A Million Miles, but Vischer's view is one of a man who tried writing his own story - the story that he thought God wanted him to write - but when he failed, he finally understood that it wasn't about him pushing God into his story, it was about God bringing him into His Story. Delightful conclusion.


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SIDE NOTE: Since the bankruptcy and sale of Big Idea/VeggieTales, Vischer went on to create a new company (Jellyfish Labs) and a new video series (What's in the Bible? With Buck Denver). After reading Me, Myself & Bob, we were excited to watch the first What's in the Bible? DVD that I had picked up for cheap at a pre-Easter sale. I'm sorry to say that I cannot recommend this series based on the two episodes that we watched (who wrote the Bible and the book of Genesis). Not only was it rather lame (especially compared to our previous, Vischer-run VeggieTales experiences), but there were four times when the theology that was being spouted was questionable, at best. We turned off the DVD, disappointed and disturbed.
(Despite my disappointment with Jellyfish Labs, I still whole-heartedly recommend Vischer's book)

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Linking up to the April 12th Booking It post that Jessica hosts at Life as MOM

5 comments:

  1. oooh hurrah, I love that free Amazon App, definitely going to download it once I get my phone back from my daughter who's playing Angry Birds on it!!!

    Like you I'm bummed that there wasn't more Anne/Gilbert interaction after Anne of Green Gables and I couldn't get into the books that came after that.

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  2. I enjoyed your thoughts on Vischer's book (and Jellyfish). Before we had kids, I LOVED Veggie Tales, but I quickly grew disenchanted with them...something just felt off, and my kids didn't like them, even when they were little!

    Not much in my reading pile lately, but I have a sunburn and sore muscles to explain why! I'm working on The Story of Canada (by Lunn?) and Heretics by Chesterton...slowly. Very slowly. I'd rather go to bed early than read these days! :)

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  3. Vischer's book sounds like a good one to check out!! I just read A Million Miles in a Thousand Years a couple weeks ago and LOVED it, but I think I would have been a little less enthralled with it if not for the chapter where he really focuses on listening to the Author's voice as you're attempting to write a better story... I don't remember exactly how he describes it, and I'm quite sure he stuck with the author/story terminology, but I have no doubt what he described were promptings from the Holy Spirit. I feel like I am butchering this but anyway, although the book communicated more of a personal emphasis overall on writing a better story, I did feel that Miller also pointed readers to Someone who is a much better Writer than we are -- much like Vischer's story seems to do. =)

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  4. Oooh, I'd be interested in Me, Myself and Bob, despite the fact that my kids are utterly terrified of the Veggie Tales!

    Vischer's mom was one of my college profs, and it was so interesting to hear HER take on her son's business. Vischer & co had fallen off my radar since then, so thanks for letting me know about the book. Especially since you loved it so!

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  5. I didn't know that Vischer had written a book; I'll have to check it out. We love Veggies Tales in our house. The What's in the Bible DVD's get better as they go along. I didn't much care for the first one, either, but we now have all seven of the ones that are out. I'm impressed that Vischer talks about sanctification, justification, how the books of the Bible were chosen, etc.. If you get a chance, you might want to recheck out this series.

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