The Gathering Storm by Robert Jordan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars 
I was tempted to give this one 5 stars, but there were still a few things that held me back. I think I was most excited to finally get closure on most of the annoying side plots that just seemed to drag on needlessly, and to see some positive movement in the main plotlines.  


The parts that kept this from being a 5 for me were most anything dealing with Rand. His character has just been getting frustratingly darker and darker, leaving you feeling pretty hopeless and depressed. They did finally move toward redemption for his character, but it remains to be seen where they go from there.  


Mat's story arc seemed unnecessary, at best, but we shall see what his next step is and whether the major character reveal (my favorite part of this book) has something do with the reasoning behind that arc. 


As far as Sanderson's style in taking over for Jordan, I think it was a very good choice. It seemed to me that having a new writer helped bring some new life to many of the characters and stories. I actually found myself enjoying certain characters more than I had previously and even laughing out loud at some of the more light-hearted moments.  


All in all, I am very excited to see where the next 2 books go as they move toward the resolution. View all my reviews >>

So I haven't been posting much of late, as I'm sure all of my loyal readers (do I have those?) have noticed.  I seem to be struggling with a serious case of writer's block.   I'm not sure why, but every time I sit down to try to write something, I just wind up staring at a blank page, plodding out a couple half-hearted sentences, deleting them and logging off in frustration.  It's not that I don't have any ideas to post about, I just seem utterly unable to communicate them.  I'm sure it has nothing to do with the chaos of having newborn twins with their 3-year-old brothers running rampant about the house...

Les Misérables by Victor Hugo

My rating: 5 of 5 stars It's tough to summarize everything about this book. Not just because it is over 1400 pages, or because it took me nearly 15 years to finally finish the darn thing, but also because it is not just simply a novel. The story and the characters are incredible, but this book is so much more than that. It is Victor Hugo's masterpiece of the French people. He uses one of the greatest redemptive stories ever told as a platform to expound on his understanding of his nation. He takes many tangents on the history, economics, sociology, and ethos of France. It makes the story so much bigger than the struggle between the characters, it is about the soul of a people.  
That said, the reason I read this book and enjoyed it is because of the characters. My first impression of the story was from seeing the musical version (which I love), but even in that modern opera, many of the characters are given short shrift. Jean Valjean is well explored, and Javert's back story is briefly mentioned, but many of the other characters are barely glimpsed. And in the film version many characters disappear altogether. But Hugo's characters are so rich. Marius is so much more than a French Romeo to Cosette's Juliet. He is a passionate, intelligent man with a strong moral compass, but still young enough to be an idealist. Cosette is not as developed as a character, but much of that is because she is still young and naive, and she represents purity and light to Valjean. To delve her much more would ruin her place in his eyes. Then there are the Thenardiers. This whole family of criminals and miscreants who, while trying to exploit or destroy those around them, seem only to be able to help the main characters. And two of them wind up being the noblest of characters.  
The way these characters interact and struggle with each other is fascinating in and of itself, but then you add the historical and factual aspects that Hugo incorporates, and the story just leaps off the page at you. I have to admit that some of his tangents were difficult to get through and some of the details overwhelmed me at times, but I think much of that is because I am not as familiar with the history of France (though I did pick up my encyclopedia to look up some more info) and I do not know the city of Paris as a citizen would. Yet, despite these handicaps, I still found much of his writing fascinating. All in all, this is probably my favorite story for so many reasons. I highly recommend it to anyone. And don't be daunted by the size. It actually breaks up into smaller reads quite well. View all my reviews >>

Beauty does not create Love.  Love creates Beauty.

As we broke from the trees into the clearing the fog enshrouded us, obscuring our vision. We drew closer together, not wanting to be lost in the rapidly swirling fog. The condensation began dripping off our coats. The sound of our voices seemed to stop inches from our faces, while other mysterious sounds echoed ominously. This was where they said we would meet him, but all we found was a wall of mist. As we inched toward the center of the meadow, the massive trees on the other side began to emerge from the veil of fog. Suddenly, the earth began to tremble. It buckled and heaved underneath us as though it were trying to dislodge us from its surface. We clawed at each other, the long grasses around our knees, the ground itself, anything to keep our center. When it stopped, we all looked around, wide-eyed, searching the hidden world around us for any sign of what had happened. As I peered deeply into the fog at the trees nearest us, I couldn't help but feel that we had moved closer. Then it dawned on me: these were not trees.

I recently had the privilege of performing an original song for our church worship service. It has taken me several annoyingly fruitless attempts to get a recording online, but here it is, finally! The song is titled "Where Are You, O God?" and is loosely based on Psalm 22. This is a very raw recording straight off the live mix, so the balance is not what I would like, but I think it gives a pretty fair shake to the song. Performing the song are: Vocals: Lucas Weston, Piano: Markus Loose (wish that part came through a little stronger), Guitar: Tim Fenderson (who I also need to give credit for helping work out a couple problem spots on the chart in rehearsal), Bass: Bryon Josselyn, Drums: Chris Harman (if you can make them out in the way background without a microphone).

She was quite the unpleasantest person we ever had the misfortune of meeting. No one knew why she was so, though frankly none cared too much. Perhaps that explains everything.

Their clamorous cheers fell hollow on his ears. There was a traitor in their midst. Let them celebrate. He must find the one who would betray them all...

Here is the second half of the set from June 28. This set was done after the sermon to help the congregation reflect on what they learned. The sermon was titled "At War With Yourself" and came from Galatians 5 where Paul contrasts the sinful nature and the fruit of the Spirit. The set was intended to focus on the ideas of surrender and purity, ending with a charge to go out and live for Christ.