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Epic Fail For Me!

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Well, my goal of finishing “Killing Jesus” by Sunday did not work out well for me. I have managed to make it to chapter 5, as I failed to really pick up the book all weekend. I used my opportunities to read and instead caught up on several TV shows that I did not need to watch but did anyways 🙂 It really wasn’t necessary for me to watch all 4 episodes of Grey’s Anatomy’s new season, but after the 1st nine seasons I guess I am invested in this show. Oh, and Survivor. Same situation. Watched the first 4 episodes that I missed. I am generally not a television watcher, except for The Big Bang Theory. And anyone who enjoys this show doesn’t need me to explain it’s appeal. And then there was Sleepy Hollow. I missed the latest two episodes so I had to watch those as well.

Oh. Back to the story. The 1st four chapters basically deal with the Roman empire, its numerous rulers, and what happened to whom up to the point of Jesus being a young man and staying behind in the temple to discuss religion and Mary and Joseph not realizing he had stayed behind until the next day. I had no interest in the Roman Empire history, which is really strange for me as I am a huge history buff. I have to say, the footnotes have lightened up a bit. This was just a little too far back in time to keep and hold my attention. I have every good intention of getting this book finished ASAP. Now that the story has reached Jesus’ life, I think it will hold my interest more. Even so, I am still trying to figure out what book I will be reading next 🙂 Any suggestions?

I am feeling the need to read C.S. Lewis’s “The Silver Chair” as I have heard they are going to get this movie made, Finally! I also have a couple books on my shelf that I got off the clearance rack at Barnes and Noble. I am also behind on my James Patterson books, as he seems to put out a new book every week 🙂 What are you reading?

What I don’t like about “Killing Jesus”

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Footnotes. Footnotes on every 2 pages. Footnotes that take sometimes up to half of the page. I get that they are trying to make this a factual historical writing. From the introduction:

“In the writing of this fact-based book, Martin Dugard and I do not aim to suggest that we know everything about Jesus. But we know much and will tell you things that you might not have heard. Our research has uncovered a narrative that is both fascinating and frustrating. There are major gaps in the life of Jesus, and at times we can only deduce what happened to him based upon the best available evidence. As often as possible, we relied on classical works.” (O’Reilly, B. 2013, Killing Jesus, pg 2).

I feel like I am reading a college paper (one of many I wrote) that has as many footnotes as story. Which I know is necessary. Give credit where credit is due, right? Maybe I have read so many fiction books based on Jesus that I wasn’t expecting this kind of format.

In all fairness, I am only a couple chapters in, and will continue reading this book. I just don’t like having to stop what I’m reading to read the footnotes and then go back to where I left off at. I am also anal enough that I cannot read this story without reading the footnotes. What if I missed something important? I have to read everything 🙂

So there’s my gripe for the day, and Happy Monday and Happy Reading!

Finished Dr. Sleep, up next for me?

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I finished up the last couple chapters of Dr. Sleep This morning; I really enjoyed this story. I was surprised I was able to get it read in a week with the schedule I was juggling, but it is amazing how much you can read when you have a 5 minute space of free time 🙂 I still intend on getting The Shining and reading it as well. Have you finished yet?

Up next? Killing Jesus by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard. I have never read any of Bill’s books before, but have been wanting to read Killing Lincoln, which he penned as well. I am a huge fan of Abraham Lincoln, reasons unknown 🙂 I have admired him since I was a very young child, and that has never changed. I read everything I can find about him (except apparently, Killing Lincoln LOL). I am not a huge watcher of political shows, so although I am familiar with Bill O’Reilly and where he stands, I am curious as to his writing.

An interesting fact that a friend told me about the cover of Killing Jesus (pictured here) that had a part in me picking up this book with Dr. Sleep? The picture on the front is not of a crucifix, but instead it is a T, which I wondered about when I saw the cover the first time. The reason for this? I was told it is an accurate depiction, and that when persons were crucified, it was on a T, and not a crucifix. If the person did not die as quickly as planned, on the T, they could easily break his neck and kill him; this could not be accomplished on a crucifix.

Although I tend to not talk religion or politics Books and TBBT Toys 026) I will be posting some updates on this book, how I think it is written, and the things that are covered.

Is this book on your bookshelf, and if it is, have you started it yet? My goal; finish this by next weekend. It is about a 1/3 of the size of the last book, so that shouldn’t be an issue.

Knuckles Deep in Dr. Sleep!

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I am just about finished with Dr. Sleep. I am very pleased with this book; as I mentioned before, I tend to run hot-and-cold with Stephen King’s books.

 

A quote I came across at about 3am that I thought was great: “Billy likes to tell people that the good thing about being old is that you don’t have to worry about dying young.” (King, S. 2013, Dr. Sleep, pg. 303). Profound, right?

How are you coming along with the book, and is it as good as you hoped?

 

We are going to counseling why?

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Hmmm. I have to admit, having to take my 12 year old to counseling would normally be a chore I dreaded, just because of my work schedule and the inconvenience of the appointment time. But, when I am trying to get a book finished, it is my guaranteed one hour of reading without hearing “Mom, she looked at me!” 20 times an hour (OK, a bit of an exaggeration, but you get my point, right?)

So, I say “You have to get ready for counseling”, only to hear “I don’t wanna go”, only to say “You have to go. If you don’t I have to pay $50.00 for the missed appointment.” True statement.

More true? “If you don’t go, Mom does not have a guaranteed hour of reading time so she can get further in this awesome book!” Ehhh, the way I see it, we both get a much needed hour of therapy 🙂

Spoiler Alert!

I am not much further, but I did manage to get past the point of Abra crying and her parents dreaming; each seeing a different number carved into her chest, 11 and 175. I was surprised when the September 11th connection was made; I certainly did not see that coming. And as it always does, I immediately thought about where I was when I first heard the news that day.

How are you liking the story so far?

 

So Far, So Good!

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Chapter 19, page 83. I am definitely not as far into “Dr. Sleep” as I planned to be, but my schedule this weekend allowed me reading time only when I went to bed. And fell asleep. And woke up having to go back a page to remember what I read 🙂

I feel pretty good about understanding what’s going on without having read “The Shining”. Seeing the movie a long time ago helps the names be familiar to me, but I will get “The Shining” regardless in the near future and read it.

I think this is a story that the reader would understand even without reading/seeing “The Shining” before-hand. I have randomly bought books before (yes, because I liked the cover :-)) only to find out it was the 2nd or 3rd book in a series. Enough of the original story usually gets repeated or touched on that you can understand the book without reading earlier books in the story.

I have a goal of finishing this book by the coming weekend. How well that works out is dependent on so many things I have no control over, that this may prove to be a pipe-dream, so to speak.

I feel like the alcoholic in Dan Torrance is likely close to the heart of Stephen King, and very familiar (based on fact) to his days of alcohol abuse. It gives it an even more realistic feel than if the writer were someone who has never fought the demon Alcohol. Even anyone who has had the hangover-to-end-all-hangovers can likely relate to his very descriptive telling of what a hangover feels like.

Did you get farther than me, and are you enjoying it so far?

Dr. Sleep is on My Bookshelf!

Angela2 Comments

Very excited about reading Stephen King’s latest book, “Dr. Sleep”. I just picked it up today, and hopefully will have time in the next couple of days to begin reading it. I have never read “The Shining” and would like to read that as well! I have seen the movie more than enough times that it still scares me like crazy, but I also know books are always better than movies.

I tend to run hot-and-cold for Stephen Kings books. I either love them or don’t really care for them. But as he has written so many books, I have found plenty of his stories that are just terrific. I read under the dome, but found it to be less than exciting for me. I think his favorite book I have read to date would be “From a Buick 8”. Has anyone else read this story? I have read it about 5 times.

Have you begun reading Dr. Sleep? Is it what you expected? Spoilers ore OK! Just a warning ahead of time for others who don’t want to know anything ahead of time.