#5 & #6

After slogging through book number 5 ~ I polished off book number 6 before I even had a chance to review it. Also had 3 & 1/2 hours on  plane...so that helped.  (more of the New Orleans trip in another post)
Book # 5 was Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore.  It came highly recommended by an English teacher friend ~ and I was skeptical at first...was this written to mock or belittle Christianity?  Would I spend my time reading, defending my own beliefs?  My first indication that it would be ok was the "Author's blessing" on the dedication page:  "If you have come to these pages for laughter, may you find it.  If you are here to be offended, may your ire rise and your blood boil.  If you seek an adventure, may this story sing you away to blissful escape.  If you need to test or confirm your beliefs, may you reach comfortable conclusions.  All books reveal perfection, by what they are or what they are not.  may you find that which you seek, in these pages or outside them.  May you find perfection, and know it by name."
And it was ok.  In fact it was thought provoking to ponder about the first 30 years of Christ's life.  If indeed he was a real live human being, there is not reason to doubt that he experienced real live human experiences...yet, I've never really REALLY thought about his growing up in those terms...did he indeed question himself and his own ability to deliver a people and bring the Kingdom?  Whom did he seek out for advice?  Did he have a best friend?
That's the other part that picked at my brain...Biff, his best friend, had the hardest time GETTING what exactly the Messiah meant.  He wasn't quick to pick up the stories ~ the parables ~ and apply them to what was going on around him.  In fact, he didn't figure it out.  The one closest to Jesus, didn't get it.  Rather telling, rather unsettling to me, even thought I can't really put the WHY of that into words.  Maybe it's because of all the craziness I've been going through the past few years at church...
Even with the thought provokingness, I felt the book dragged.  I would fall sound asleep after three of four pages...if it weren't for the plane ride down to New Orleans, I would still be trudging my way through it.
fl: You think you know how this story is going to end, but you don't.  Trust me, I was there.  I know.  The first time I saw the man who would save the world he was sitting near the central wall in Nazareth with a lizard hanging out of hi mouth.  ll: The anger ran out of me then, leaving me feeling as if my very bones were losing their structure.  I looked forward, straight over the Ben Hinnon valley, into a sheet of lightning-bleached rain.  "I'm sorry," I said, and I stepped off the cliff.  I felt a bolt of pain, then nothing.  That's all I remember.
p437 ~ "The H.  His middle name.  It was Hallowed.  It's a family name, remember, 'Our father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be they name.'"  "Damn, I would have guessed Harvey," Biff said.

Because it was a vacation....I took along another book.  Book #6 was The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.  I hadn't gotten wrapped up the The Hunger Game mania...even though all the teachers said what good books they were.  I did put it on my list of books to read, thinking I'd get to it this summer.  I even put it on hold at the library (like #357 in line).  But, as I was buying stuff for our trip at Wal-Mart, I saw the book for $6.00.  I picked it up, thinking, "Good, I'll get it read before I go see the movie." ~ and Jacob says, "Mom, Patrick has that book in his room."  Seems he bought it when it first came out at a book fair.  So, I have my very own copy!  Life is funny that way.
Great story.  It would be a good discussion book; many parallels to our own government taking over "for the greater good."  There were times when the story was way too contrived (very middle school), but the characters are lovable and believable and I can't wait to read the next one! (Which Patrick doesn't have because he didn't really care for the book and didn't want to read on.)
fl: When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold.  ll: I take his hand, holding on tightly, preparing for the cameras, and dreading the moment when I will finally have to let go.