A Snow Day & 2 Book Reviews

Oh, who called it?  I am off work on another snow day.

To be honest, it's officially a "snow" day, but the weather might have been a convenient coincidence.  The school district sent letters home with the kids yesterday (Thursday) letting the parents know that they'd become aware of a threat that was supposed to take place today (Friday). The letter did not give any specifics and said only that school administrators and local law enforcement officers had thoroughly investigated the matter and the responsible parties had been dealt with. However, to soothe any concerns parents may have about their children's safety there would be increased police presence at all schools today.

The parents I've seen commenting on Facebook are not taking it well that the school knew of a threat for two days and never said a word. The thread I was following on a community page got pretty heated before the administrator shut it down.  Some said the kid was still in school yesterday.  Others said he got 3 days out.  Still others said they heard he'd been expelled and would face charges.

What a mess this world is becoming. We sure do need to pray for our young people.

I'm planning to use my extra day off to get started reading my next book, Bear Town.  But first, I promised you reviews of the last two I read.

Lincee Ray is the funny girl who makes every situation fun. She's the girl you want to have as a friend and the one you'd most want with you through just about anything...and after reading her book Why I Hate Green Beans - And Other Confessions About Relationships, Reality TV, and How We See Ourselves, you are going to feel like you've known her forever.

No subject seems to be off-limits to Lincee's self-depreciating humor.  She is a girl who does not take herself or life too seriously.  You will giggle over her stories of being a woman working in the male dominated world of oil.  You will laugh out loud at her recounting of speed dating.  You will laugh hysterically, wipe tears from your eyes, and blot (delicately) at your dripping nose at the tale of Lincee's post-appendectomy need to poop!

There is a more serious side to Lincee and her book and you will also find yourself crying with her over the end of her marriage and wanting to wrap her in a big hug as she struggles with the reality that she may never have children of her own.

Through all of it, Lincee easily and generously shares her faith and how God has seen her through the tough times and blessed her abundantly with friends, family and faith.  

I highly recommend you read Why I Hate Green Beans. It's a fun and easy read and you'll feel like you're at a slumber party with your BFF.

I received a copy of Why I Hate Green Beans from Revell Books in exchange for my honest review. 

If you're a Christian who was offended by The Da Vinci Code or any of Dan Brown's other anti-religion themed books, you're probably going to want to skip this one.  If, however, you can look at it as FICTION and not fact, then you can probably enjoy it as a good adventure.

In Origin Brown takes a look at AI or artificial intelligence and the belief that we are only decades from the "singularity" or the time when computers become smarter than us.  It's a pretty scary concept when you stop to think that we do have computers that learn.  Is it possible that they will one day think independently?

Brown goes a bit further in his premise, but I don't want to spoil it for anyone who might read it.  Suffice it to say he sees a future in which there is a new religion...one true religion that is a melding of humans and technology.

Robert Langdon is back though I thought there was a lot less focus on codes and symbolism in this book that Brown's others.  I actually enjoyed that.  I find the codes and such interesting, but I felt like there was too much of it in past books. 

All in all, it was a fun read through the Spanish countryside as Langdon and the Spanish queen-to-be try to find out what a friend was trying to reveal to the world when he was murdered on a live internet feed being watched by millions of people.  He had hinted he'd answered the questions "Where do we come from? and "Where are we going?"

If you like conspiracy type books you'll love it.