Buggies, Blizzards, and Babies by Cora Frear Hawkins

Buggies, Blizzards, and Babies by Cora Frear Hawkins ISBN: 0-8138-0395-0 Hardback: 220 pages Publisher: Iowa State University Press Released: 1971

Source: From library book sale.

Book Description from Book Cover:
Fresh out of medical school at the State University of Iowa, the young and dedicated Dr. Edwin D. Frear set out in 1882 to brave the hardships, struggles, and challenges that characterized the life and practice of the country doctor. His practice took him first to Salix and then to Sloan, two small towns set in the wide-open prairie of northwest Iowa. In later years he taught at the medical college and practiced in Sioux City.

As a child the author often accompanied her father on his medical calls; as she grew older she was able to assist him in his office. This book is largely an account of her recollections of him and his work, with additional material obtained from his diary and other personal and general sources. While some details have been changed, every incident described is based on an actual experience of the doctor or his family.

Capturing a bit of old Americana, Cora Frear Hawkins takes the reader back to the turn of the century - to the favorite old horse and buggy and the first automobiles and rural telephones. Through prairie blizzards and floods, in quarantines and the lighthearted antics of the doctor's children, you will delight in the adventures of a pioneer doctor's life.


My Review:
Buggies, Blizzards, and Babies is a memoir about a doctor (as told by his daughter) who lived in a small town in Iowa around 1900 AD. She tells stories of how things were done and what life (and country doctoring) was like. It's like the "Little House on the Prairie" series, but, while the stories are entertaining, it's more what adults would find funny rather than kids. A different, small black-and-white photo of the family was at the start each chapter. Overall, I'd recommend this book.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt from Chapter One
Sue Frear, dozing in a rocker by the kitchen stove, was aroused by the sound of the wind whistling around the chimney. She drew her grey shawl more closely about her shoulders and went to the window. Cupping her hands, she shaded her eyes against the reflection of lamplight on the glass, but try as she might she could see no light other than her own in the little Iowa village.

It was late. She looked hopefully for some sign that the snowstorm was subsiding, but it seemed rather to be increasing in fury as the wind whirled clouds of fine snowflakes past the house and down the dark street. She strained to see further, but she could see only her own shadow quivering in the patch of light on the shifting snow and the dim outline of the house across the street where the drifts were piling halfway to the eaves.

But Sue's thoughts were less on her neighbors in the town than on a farmhouse ten miles away, nestled in the edge of the hills, where a young mother fought for her life and that of her unborn child. And somewhere on the bleak prairie that lay between, its once lush grasses now buried under a heavy white blanket, Sue's doctor husband, Edwin, battled the stinging cold and wind in the darkness, trying to reach the young wife before it was too late.

The Weather Book by Michael Oard

The Weather Book by Michael Oard ISBN-13: 9780890512111 Hardback: 80 pages Publisher: Master Books Released: 1997, 2006

Source: Bought from a local Christian bookstore.

Book Description from Back Cover:
The earth was created to be the dwelling place of man. It is a complex world and its weather patterns affect our lives every day. Whether you live near the equator, a polar region, or somewhere in between, knowledge of the weather is important.

The Weather Book will teach you:

• Why our exact distance from the sun allows life on earth.
• How the weather on the other side of the earth affects you.
• How clouds form and how to identify the different types.
• What the difference is between a cold and warm front.
• Why you can often see lighting long before you can hear thunder.
• How to build your own weather station.
• How to survive in dangerous weather.
• What the greenhouse effect and the ozone hole are.
• What Noah's flood and the Ice Age have in common.
• How weatherpersons forecast hurricanes and tornadoes.
• How to read a weather map.
• What our responsibility is to the environment.

Learning about the weather is fun! It will change the way you look at the clouds in the sky. You'll have more of an understanding about what is going on miles above your head. And when you hear a weather report on television, you'll understand so much more about the world around you!


About the Author:
Michael Oard was a meteorologist with the National Weather Frozen in Time Service beginning in 1973 and lead forecaster in Great Falls, Montana.


My Review:
The Weather Book is a nonfiction book about various types of weather and what causes that weather to occur. The author assumed that he had a Christian audience and spoke frequently in terms of "God created." He clearly explained each topic and defined the few scientific terms in the text (though there's also a glossary in the back). I think 11-year-olds on up can easily understand the information in this book.

There were full color pictures and illustrations. In the back, there's a 12 by 24 inch pull-out full-color poster with pictures from the book. Overall, I'd recommend this book to children and adults who are interested in learning more about the weather and the forces that cause the weather.

Chapter 1 explained how the earth shows special design by God. Chapter 2 talked about climate zones, what causes weather, weather trivia (hottest, wettest, etc.), how to read a weather map (like those printed in a newspaper), the jet stream, and El Nino. Chapter 3 explained the water cycle, cloud types, the elevation of those clouds, warm fronts, cold fronts, fog, and the dew point.

Chapter 4 talked about thunderstorms and lightening. Chapter 5 talked about hail and wind damage. Chapter 6 talked about hurricanes. Chapter 7 talked about winter storms. Chapter 8 talked about St. Elmo's Fire, Foehn winds, the lake effect, and ball lightening.

Chapter 9 talked about the clues to the earth's climate in the past--including the ice age--and how Noah's Flood explains the Ice Age better than secular explanations. Chapter 10 talked about the climate in the future, including global warming and the ozone layer. Chapter 11 talked about various weather instruments (thermometers, weather balloon, cloud photography, etc.) as well as how a child can make a weather vane, barometer, rain gauge, and do a condensation experiment. Chapter 12 talked about how Christians ought to relate to the environment.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt from Chapter One
God used His infinite wisdom to create this earth. From the smallest to the largest feature of creation, He displays His intelligence, love, and careful attention to detail.

God placed the moon 240,000 miles (384,000 km) away from the earth--exactly the right distance to cause small tides in the ocean. If the moon were a little closer, it would cause severe tides and flooding. If it were only 50,000 miles (80,000 km) away instead of 240,000 miles, the tides would cover most of the continents twice a day. If the moon were farther away, much of the ocean would become heavily polluted. Tides mix the ocean water. The mixing helps to keep the oceans fresh by exposing more of the water to sunlight and by dispersing pollution. The amount of water in the ocean is important as well, because the oceans are large enough to dilute pollution.

Did you know that the sun is 400 times the size of the moon, and its distance is 400 times the distance of the moon from the earth? That is why the sun and moon, the greater and lesser lights of Genesis 1:16, look the same size in the sky.

The earth spins on its axis at just the right speed--once around every day. If it spun slower, the light side would be too hot for life and the dark side would be too cold. If the earth spun any faster it would cause fierce winds to blow.

If the earth's tilt were smaller, the higher latitudes would be too cold and an ice age would develop. If the tilt were greater, surface temperatures would fluctuate wildly, more so than today, making the climate more unstable. The tilt gives us our summer growing season. God has provided a time for us to grow our food everywhere on earth, except for the North and South Poles.

God placed just the right amount of water vapor and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Our ocean is the right size to maintain the proper balance of water vapor in the atmosphere. These gases cause the earth to act like a giant greenhouse. If there were much less of these gases, the earth would be too cold.

Take a look inside the book.

Crocheting in Plain English by Maggie Righetti

Crocheting in Plain English, Second Edition by Maggie Righetti ISBN-13: 9780312353544 Trade Paperback: 288 pages Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin Released: Dec. 2008

Source: Borrowed from the library.

Book Description from Back Cover:
The definitive classic on crocheting for years, the first edition of Crocheting in Plain English equipped readers with easy-to-follow, friendly advice on creating their dream crochets. A lifelong crocheting teacher and designer, Maggie Righetti offered both basic principles and step-by-step instructions to get crocheters started and to perfect their techniques.

In this latest edition, completely updated and revised for today’s crocheter, Righetti dispenses more of her invaluable wisdom, covering virtually everything you need to know about crochet, including:

* Selecting threads and yarns
* Determining gauge
* Working with the right tools
* How to interpret patterns and instructions
* Increasing and decreasing stitches
* How to fix mistakes
* Basic stitches (chain, double, treble, slip)
* Sixteen different fabric pattern stitches
* Assembling the finished product
* How to block, clean, and care for crocheted articles
* And much, much more!

Each technique is illustrated with clear drawings, charts, or photos. Complete with a new introduction and a detailed glossary of crochet terms, Crocheting in Plain English is one sourcebook no crocheter should do without.


My Review:
Crocheting in Plain English gives in-depth instruction on how to crochet. The author assumes you're an absolute beginner, but this book is also useful for beginners in general and people who have taught themselves to crochet.

Actually, this book almost has too much information for the absolute beginner. When I read the first few chapters, I had never bought yarn or any of the equipment. I was hoping to save time and money by getting it right the first time. I was almost overwhelmed by the depth of information she gave. Yet she sometimes didn't give enough information when I really wanted more (like she said she found one general type of hook better than another, but she didn't really say why). After working with several types of yarns and hooks, I understood that whole section, but it wasn't clear until then. And I did end up having to buy another set of hooks (Susan Bates hooks) to replace the Boye hooks I'd initially bought.

I also found it a bit ironic that she (very poetically) stated that you must hold the hook and yarn in a certain way--and I already knew from watching a few YouTube videos that not everyone did it that way--yet later, when teaching stitches, she was very "do whatever works for you" in attitude.

Overall, though, I found this book to be very useful and instructive. I think it's main strengths are teaching you to read patterns, teaching you to understand how various "fancy stitches" are put together so you can "mix and match" to make your own, and helping you understand how to create your own project patterns. I had problems figuring out three of the non-basic stitches (due to either a poor illustration, an error in the pattern diagram, or her using a term that she usually used to mean something else), but I did eventually figure them all out.


The book covered:
Chapter 1 - The history of crochet.

Chapter 2 - Being honest with yourself when picking projects.

Chapter 3 - Choosing threads and yarns (sizing, quality, finishes, and color & dye lot).

Chapter 4 - Choosing crochet hooks (parts of, shapes, material made of, and sizes).

Chapter 5 - How to determine gauge for a printed-instruction project.

Chapter 6 - Introduction to reading patterns.

Chapter 7 - Other supplies (bag, scissors, yarn needles, tape measure, ring markers, etc.).

Chapter 8 - Basics: how to hold the hook, make a slip loop, and crochet left- or right-handed.

Chapter 9 - Chain Stitch (how to do it and the pattern abbreviation)

Chapter 10 - Single Crochet Stitch (American) (how to do it, what it's good for, and the pattern abbreviation)

Chapter 11 - Half-Double Crochet Stitch

Chapter 12 - Double Crochet Stitch

Chapter 13 - Treble Crochet Stitch & longer stitches

Chapter 14 - Slip Stitch

Chapter 15 - Several ways to add new yarn/change colors.

Chapter 16 - Increasing (several methods)

Chapter 17 - Decreasing (several methods), Puff Stitch

Chapter 18 - You don't have to work through both loops, you don't have to put your hook in the next stitch, and several other variations. Making a circle. Crab stitch. Crossed stitches. Picots. Popcorn stitch.

Chapter 19 - How to improvise and invent.

Chapter 20 - Several ways to fix mistakes.

Chapter 21 - Fancy stitches: mesh fabrics, filet crochet, open V, simple double crochet shells (2 ways), combining a shell and V (2 ways), ripple afghan stitch, fishnet, arch stitch, herringbone, diagonal popcorns, lover's knots, spiderweb, up-and-down stitch, my lady's fan, and Queen Anne's lace.

Chapter 22 - Making medallions and Motifs: Black-Eyed Susans, Granny Squares, Spiral Pinwheel Hexagon, Irish Rose Square with Picots, Pineapple in Square, and circular flower motif.

Chapter 23 - How to add lace edgings to linens. Edging patterns: picoted double crochet shells, morning sunrise, handmade rickrack, lovely lace, festive fans, pineapples, and violets.

Chapter 24 - Crocheted decorations: cabbage rose, pansy, double daisy, chrysanthemum, 5-point star, 4-leafed clover, and butterfly.

Chapter 25 - How to do multicolor jacquard crochet patterns. Patterns: balloons, never-ending triangles, and plaids.

Chapter 26 - Several methods of joining several-piece projects together.

Chapter 27 - Decorative finishing touches: how to make fringe, tassels, pom-poms, twisted monk's cord, crocheted cord, and yarn buttons (round or flat).

Chapter 28 - How to store and wash crocheted objects.

Chapter 29 - Project: Sampler Scarf

Chapter 30 - Project: Easiest Sweater

Chapter 31 - Projects: Table/Tray Mat, Treble Crocheted Striped Afghan, Raglan Baby Sweater, and Baby Bonnet.

Glossary, Common Symbols chart, Suggested Websites, Index


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.

Elizabethan Sea Dogs by William Wood

Elizabethan Sea Dogs by William Wood Hardback: 260 pages Publisher: Yale University Press Released: 1918

Source: Bought at library book sale.

Book Description, my take:
Written in 1918 and a part of the Yale Chronicles of America series, this book takes a look at the development of England's navy from King Henry VIII to the death of Queen Elizabeth, notable seamen during this time, and England's attempts to colonize North America up until 1618.


Review:
Elizabethan Sea Dogs is a history of how England's fleet went from insignificant to ruling the seas and their activities in the New World from King Henry VIII's reign to the end of Queen Elizabeth's reign. The book contained some quotes from various sea journals of the explorers and quotes from some sea songs. Overall, the book was easy to read and fairly interesting. I'd recommend the recent re-release of this "classic" to those who enjoy reading about the English navy.

Chapter 1 talked about the voyages of exploration of John Cabot and his family. Chapter 2 talked about how King Henry VIII strengthened England's naval power. Chapter 3 talked about William Hawkins (1530) and the life of a sailor at that time. Chapter 4 talked about what life was like under Queen Elizabeth (mainly the political, economic, and business practices). Chapter 5 talked about John Hawkins three voyages from 1562-1567.

Chapter 6 talked about Francis Drake's treasure hunt (1564-1573). Chapter 7 talked about Francis Drake's sailing completely around the world (1577-1581). Chapter 8 talked about Francis Drake's sailing to New Spain to damage and plunder Spain's towns there (1582-1587). Chapter 9 talked about Francis Drake, etc., against the Spanish Armada (1588). Chapter 10 talked about Francis Drake's Lisbon Expedition (1589) and Richard Grenville's famous "the one and the fifty-three" battle (1591).

Chapter 11 talked about Sir Walter Raleigh and England's various attempts to colonize North America (1577-1618; Sir Humprey Gilbert to James Smith). Chapter 12 talked about Drake's last voyage and death (1589-1596). The Appendix explained more about the development of the various types of ships used during this time period and how the navy had worked before then.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.

I Taught Myself Crochet kit

I Taught Myself Crochet kit by Boye Paperback: 32 pages Released: 2010

Source: Bought at Walmart.

Kit Description from Back Cover (slightly modified):
Even beginners can crochet beautiful things.

Kit includes:

• Complete instructional DVD
• Special section of tips and techniques for left-handers
• Boye crochet hooks, sizes F, G, H, I, K
• Afghan hook, size I
• Plastic tapestry Yarn needles
• Stitch marker rings
• Bulky knit yarn bobbins

Note: I own the 2010 version sold at Walmart which includes an instructional DVD. The book has a lady with a blue crochet sweater on the cover (see right), but the rest of the kit looks like the top picture.

Includes 16 Patterns:
(11 Beginner patterns, 4 Easy patterns, 1 Intermediate pattern)

• Cro-Hook Cool Coasters
• Easy Crochet Bag
• Easy Scarf
• Cell Phone Case
• Color Block Mesh Poncho
• Hairpin Lace Skinny Scarf
• Ruffled Skinny Scarf
• Broomstick Lace Pillow
• Wavy Baby Blanket
• Bright Nights Wrap/Throw
• Mesh Scarf With Posies
• Girl's Wrist Warmers
• Summer Stripes Throw
• Summer Strips Pillow
• The Gift Poncho
• Soft Sage Camisole

My Review:
The I Taught Myself Crochet book was pretty bare-bones, but it did get the basic necessary information across. It explained the different Boye crochet products and what they're used for (steel crochet hooks, aluminum crochet hooks, jumbo crochet hooks, afghan hooks, CroHook, and two sets). It explained the different yarn weights, what hooks are good to use with the different yarn weights, yarn weight metric equivalents, crochet hook sizes, and a long list of crocheting abbreviations.

The book taught how to do a slip loop, chain stitch, slip stitch, single crochet, half double crochet, double crochet, treble crochet, increasing and decreasing, joining yarn and changing colors, finishing techniques, gauge, afghan stitch, how to use the cro-hook (needed equipment not included), how to make broomstick lace (needed equipment not included) and how to make hairpin lace (needed equipment not included).

Clear black-and-tan illustrations were included, though I would have liked more of the steps illustrated. It's great for a refresher, but not enough for an absolute beginner who's never crocheted, knitted, etc. The instructions were very good, but I guess I'm a visual learner when it comes to crocheting. There was also a tan-tinted photo of what a square of each stitch would look like, however it was difficult to see due to the coloring. All of the basic stitches (slip loop to treble crochet) were also taught for left-handers.

The patterns look fun, but this book didn't teach you how to read the patterns. You might be able to muddle through them with frequent looks at the included abbreviation chart, though. Three of the patterns required equipment not included in this kit.

The DVD included with this kit was Learn to Crochet with Erin Elkins. The DVD was 11 minutes and 47 seconds long. We were shown how to do a slip knot, chain stitch, slip stitch, single crochet, double crochet, and finish off the yarn ends on your piece.

It was easy to see what the presenter was doing, however, she sometimes didn't do what she told us to do. (For example, she described a "yarn over" as putting the hook under then over the yarn, but sometimes she did the opposite. She never explained why she sometimes didn't do it the way she said to, so I'm assuming she just goofed.) Because of this, I found the DVD more confusing than helpful.

Personally, I found naztazia's YouTube videos, How to Crochet - Part 1 - Basics for the Absolute Beginner and How to Crochet - Part 2 - Basics for the Absolute Beginner, very clear and much more useful. She also taught more of the basic crochet stitches.

The hooks included with the kit were easy enough to use, but I've since bought a full set of Susan Bates hooks and I much prefer them. The book and DVD didn't explain how to use the included stitch marker rings or bulky knit yarn bobbins. (I learn pattern-reading and the use of stitch marker rings from another book, Crocheting in Plain English.)

Overall, this kit was a cheap way to see if I'd enjoy crocheting, especially since I had the additional help of the YouTube videos. I'm sure I'll use the book to refer back to about abbreviations and to double-check how to do the various stitches (now that I've done them some). However, this probably wasn't the best set to get in a longer-term perspective.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.

The Great Turning Point by Dr. Terry Mortenson

The Great Turning Point: The Church's Catastrophic Mistake on Geology--Before Darwin by Dr. Terry Mortenson ISBN-13: 9780890514085 Paperback: 272 pages Publisher: Master Books Released: September 28, 2004

Source: Review copy from the publisher.

Book Description from Publisher's Website:
Many people in the Church today have the idea that “young-earth” creationism is a fairly recent invention, popularized by fundamentalist Christians in the mid-20th century. Is this view correct? In fact, scholar Terry Mortenson has done fascinating original research on this subject in England, and documents that several leading, pre-Darwin scholars and scientists, known as “scriptural geologists” did not believe in long ages for the earth. Mortenson sheds light on the following:

• Before Darwin, what did the Church believe about the age of the earth?


• Why did it believe this way?


• What was the controversy that rocked the Church in 19th-century England?


• Who were the “scriptural geologists”?


• What influences did the Church contend with even before Darwin’s book?


• What is the stance of the Church today?

This book is a thoroughly researched work. The history of the Church and evolution is fascinating, and it is interesting to see not only the tremendous influence that evolution has had on the Church, but on society as well.


My Review:
The Great Turning Point is a look at the historical background of an ongoing debate in geology relating to the age of the earth and the origin of the various rock layers. The author explained the intellectual, religious, and cultural context of the debate, including what Bible commentaries were saying about Genesis. He also explained the marks of geological competence in the early 1800s. Personally, I found this section the most interesting.

The second part took a closer look at Granville Penn, George Bugg, Andrew Ure, George Fairholme, John Murray, George Young, and William Rhind. The author gave a short biography for each person and talked about how knowledgeable they were in geology, what they said about geology, their attitude toward the study of geology, their view of the relationship between Scripture and geology, about their writing, and more.

The book contained quotes from the writings of the scriptural geologists and of those against them so you could hear their positions in their own words. The information was well-footnoted so you could see where the quotes and information came from. The language was formal, and a lot of information was covered (information-dense). It took concentration to absorb everything, but it wasn't difficult to follow. If you're interested in this subject, then this book contains some very good information.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt from the Introduction
Geologist H.H. Read prefaced his book on the granite controversy a few decades ago with these words, "Geology, as the science of earth history, is prone to controversy. The study of history of any kind depends upon documents and records. For the history of the earth's crust, these documents are the rocks and their reading, and interpretation are often difficult operations."

This book analyzes one such controversy, an extremely important one at that, during the first half of the 19th century in Britain, which has sometimes been called the "Genesis-geology debate." At that time a tenacious and denominationally eclectic band of scientists and clergymen (and some were both) opposed the new geological theories being developed at the time, which said that the earth was millions of years old. These men became known as "scriptural geologists," "Mosaic geologists" or "biblical literalists."

The label "scriptural geologists" is preferred since three of their book titles used these terms and it was the most common label used by their contemporaries and by later historians. However, we need to be aware of the label's liabilities. It has not always been used carefully, resulting in confusion and inaccurate analysis. Calling them scriptural geologists obscures the fact that some of them were competent geologists while others were not (and did not claim to be). Conversely, it sometimes is and was used by opponents to imply, erroneously, that these men all developed their objections to old-earth geological theories solely on the basis of Scripture. Also, at least one of their contemporary critics, an old-earth geologist, also described himself by the same title. Finally, a few of their contemporary critics and several later historians have lumped scriptural geologists together with their opponents under this label. So it is necessary to have a clear view of what they believed.

The scriptural geologists held to the dominant Christian view within church history up to their own time, namely, that Moses wrote Genesis 1-11 (along with the rest of Genesis) under divine inspiration and that these chapters ought to be interpreted literally as a reliable, fully historical account. This conviction led them to believe, like many contemporary and earlier Christians, that the Noachian flood was a unique global catastrophe, which produced much, or most, of the fossil-bearing sedimentary rock formations, and that the earth was roughly 6,000 years old. From this position they opposed with equal vigor both the "uniformitarian" theory of earth history propounded by James Hutton and Charles Lyell, and the "catastrophist" theory of Georges Cuvier, William Buckland, William Conybeare, Adam Sedgwick, etc.

They also rejected, as compromises of Scripture, the gap theory, the day-age theory, the tranquil flood theory, the local flood theory, and the myth theory.Though all but the myth theory were advocated by Christians who believed in the divine inspiration and historicity of Genesis 1-11, the scriptural geologists believed their opponents' theories were unconvincing interpretations of Scripture based on unproven old-earth theories of geology.

Read excerpt from chapter one.

To Be Perfectly Honest by Phil Callaway

To Be Perfectly Honest by Phil Callaway ISBN-13: 9781590529171 Trade Paperback: 216 pages Publisher: Multnomah Books Released: May 3, 2011 Book on Publisher's Website

Source: I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

Book Description from Back Cover:
Veteran author and speaker Phil Callaway is no stranger to daunting challenges. He has been laughed at—repeatedly—by large crowds of people from Halifax to Hong Kong. He fathered three children in three years, spent much of last year on airplanes built by the lowest bidder, and flipped an out-of-control ATV, which doesn’t mean he sold it for a profit. So who better than Phil Callaway to boldly accept a challenge that would make the average person run and hide?

Phil promised to tell the truth for an entire year, and he wasn’t joking. Twelve months later, his journal was crammed with successes, near-successes, and outright failures. During his year-long experiment with veracity, he made a disastrous financial investment, fielded hundreds of intrusive questions from friends and strangers, attended a thirty-year class reunion, and waded into possibly the most revealing—and hilarious—situations he has ever documented.

Find out what happens when a follower of Jesus does his level best to always tell the truth. There is no doubt you’ll be entertained. But don’t be surprised if you are left with a question: how might your life be changed if you sold out to the truth—with no exceptions?


My Review:
To Be Perfectly Honest is a humor book about Christian living. My main problem with the book was that I thought it was about insights (illustrated by true stories) into the unexpected benefits of always telling the truth. That took up only about 10-15 pages in the book. The rest of the book was mainly about getting a laugh out of the reader.

The author stated that he didn't feel that jokes counted as lies. So a book about telling the truth contained deliberate lies for the purpose of getting a laugh. Not so much a problem in theory, but I sometimes had a hard time figuring out when he was telling a true, naturally funny story and when he was lying in order to make the reader laugh. While I love to laugh and find life quite funny, I unfortunately didn't understand or enjoy most of his humor.

Why did I read this book? I don't struggle with telling the truth. Nonetheless, I was interested in the subtitle's claim of "One man's year of almost living truthfully could change your life. No lie." Since the humor was a flop for me, it's too bad that I didn't even get any new "honesty" or "Christian living" insights out of the book. Every time he had an "aha!" moment, I was thinking, "You mean, you didn't know that?" But I guess I gained the insight that not every longtime Christian knows these things.

I should mention that I was bothered that the author felt that telling the truth was an excuse to be cruel or arrogant toward others. (For example, he said mean things about his wife's cooking and justified it as being truthful. He refused to laugh at someone else's jokes if he didn't find them funny, which he used to do just to be polite. He never understood that you can find something both nice and truthful to say in "be polite" situations.)

And while I appreciate the author's willingness to be open about his struggles as a Christian and while he did come to some good conclusions, I didn't like his attitude toward practically everyone in his life (made me glad I didn't know him) and I didn't agree with every Christian insight he came to. (I'm glad he no longer feels the need to pretend about his feelings when praying to God since that's pointless, but I don't agree that God's pleased by him being openly angry at Him. Phil's angry because he thinks he knows better than God about how things ought to be done, but, well, that didn't go over too well with God in the Garden of Eden.)

There were some discussion questions at the back of the book that focused mainly on telling the truth and the insights Phil gained. They, like this book, seem geared mainly toward those who lie frequently.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.