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alisarae's Reviews (1.65k)
This biography is beautiful, interesting, well-written and goes quite indepth about explaining every part of Bonhoeffer’s life and surrounding context. It frequently quotes primary sources like letters and journals from Bonhoeffer, his friends and family, and Nazi officials.
The only problem I saw is that the author tried really hard to paint church heros in a rosy light. Luther wasn’t anti-semitic, he just had health problems, etc. Every possibly negative aspect of Bonhoeffer’s is quickly followed by a quote of someone praising him. I don’t doubt that he was a wonderful person especially near the end of his life, but surely his depression and anger problems that he confesses to his dear friend came up in his life?
I really enjoyed this book, particularly the insights that Bonhoeffer shares about American culture and Christianity. An outsider’s perspective is precious. I also liked when he talked about what it’s like to live in a foreign land and language—so true. I knew virtually nothing about his life before reading this book, I have never read any of his writings, so I am glad that it gave me a strong grasp on how Bonhoeffer justified his deep respect for life with planning Hitler’s murder.
The only problem I saw is that the author tried really hard to paint church heros in a rosy light. Luther wasn’t anti-semitic, he just had health problems, etc. Every possibly negative aspect of Bonhoeffer’s is quickly followed by a quote of someone praising him. I don’t doubt that he was a wonderful person especially near the end of his life, but surely his depression and anger problems that he confesses to his dear friend came up in his life?
I really enjoyed this book, particularly the insights that Bonhoeffer shares about American culture and Christianity. An outsider’s perspective is precious. I also liked when he talked about what it’s like to live in a foreign land and language—so true. I knew virtually nothing about his life before reading this book, I have never read any of his writings, so I am glad that it gave me a strong grasp on how Bonhoeffer justified his deep respect for life with planning Hitler’s murder.
I think I would have really liked this book 10 years ago. For me now it was meh... more like reading journal entries. If you don’t like Lang Leav, you probably won’t like this poetry either.
This book was fine but not exceptionally compelling. One major takeaway for me was how simply even succesful Kenyan runners live. They train in very basic camps, they eat the same simple foods day in and day out, they don’t complain.
Today I was grumbling about not having a track to train on (the closest one available to me is an hour travel time just to arrive there). But then I thought about Kenyans. They don’t train on tracks. They run and they run fast. Their workouts are pretty straightforward— easy runs seem to build to negative splits or perhaps ladders, fartleks are 1’ on 1’ off and repeat for an hour, routes routinely include hills, and most don’t use a watch. The book mentions one runner who ran on an indoor track for the first time in his life at a European championship and he won. Another complains about using spikes. So the lesson here is that doing speedwork on a track won’t make you faster.... doing work will.
May their monastic dedication be a lesson to us all.
Today I was grumbling about not having a track to train on (the closest one available to me is an hour travel time just to arrive there). But then I thought about Kenyans. They don’t train on tracks. They run and they run fast. Their workouts are pretty straightforward— easy runs seem to build to negative splits or perhaps ladders, fartleks are 1’ on 1’ off and repeat for an hour, routes routinely include hills, and most don’t use a watch. The book mentions one runner who ran on an indoor track for the first time in his life at a European championship and he won. Another complains about using spikes. So the lesson here is that doing speedwork on a track won’t make you faster.... doing work will.
May their monastic dedication be a lesson to us all.
I love Allen Say's illustrations, and his gentle stories are so good. In this story, Allison learns that she is adopted and deals with that knowledge in some negative ways. But in the end, she realizes that she isn't the only one in the family who was adopted.
This book tells the story of the Adam Walsh (whose father hosts America's Most Wanted) murder investigation in a way that is easy to follow and keep track of all the details. The active investigation spanned nearly 3 decades, and many different people were involved during that time.
I do think that Ottis Toole was responsible for Walsh's murder, but I don't think that the "smoking gun" that led to his posthumous conviction is a damning piece of evidence. I think the Walsh family wanted to be done with the case and saw what they wanted in the photo. I don't fault anyone for this; I would have wanted closure too.
That said, there are some very interesting alternate theories online, and I want to read more about them.
I do think that Ottis Toole was responsible for Walsh's murder, but I don't think that the "smoking gun" that led to his posthumous conviction is a damning piece of evidence. I think the Walsh family wanted to be done with the case and saw what they wanted in the photo. I don't fault anyone for this; I would have wanted closure too.
That said, there are some very interesting alternate theories online, and I want to read more about them.
Just the right amount of dysfunction, but conveyed so delicately that it makes the characters likable. Maybe the resolution was a bit too Brady-Bunch-perfect for some, but I liked it.
I was disappointed by this book. It is very shallow, about 50% memoir, and I didn't like/disagreed with many of the claims that the author makes.
So fantastic and creeeepy. For fans of Lovecraft and Stranger Things. I'm not a Lovecraft fan (unless I'm having trouble sleeping... zzzz), but this book was so interesting and suspenseful. If you have watched Stranger Things, imagine a team of explorers going into the Upside Down... that's basically the story. I'm for sure going to keep reading this series.