Pentheo created a list
Bucket List Books
Please read these before you die! Thanks! -DJ
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Do You Believe?: 12 Historic Doctrines to Change Your Everyday Life
Paul David Tripp
Pentheo wrote a review...
This book was perfect. Please do yourself a favor & go get a copy
Pentheo wrote a review...
This book is great at getting a lot of fun facts on Einstein (i.e. he was great at math but bad at French) & Walter Isaacson does a fantastic job in condensing relativistic physics into simple (but certainly not trivial) thought experiments. However, since the five years after I completed this book the trivia & thought experiments are the only things which stick with me. To me, Einstein the man in this book, was much less interesting. Which is a bummer because I forgot most of what I learned about his character.
Pentheo wrote a review...
This book reads like a JFK puff piece. Unfortunately it only offers a few pages on Wernher Von Braun (the ex-Nazi chief engineer behind the Saturn V rocket) but Mr. Brinkley does not lean into Von Braun's character. This is sad because he was a man who committed war crimes to build the first guided rocket (the V2) but who was also instrumental in America's 'Moonshot' (the Apollo program). Like Philippe Petain, (though in opposite order) Von Braun was 'successively glorious, then deplorable'. Brinkley would have done well to lean into deplorable & glorious moments & his relationships with NASA personnel (especially the Jewish ones) & his relationship with politicians (like JFK). But he doesn't, which is a bummer. Instead he focuses more on the good side of JFK which makes the book feel incomplete, lopsided, & misguided. Also Rice University (Mr. Brinkley's alma mater) gets a lot of praise which feels cheap.
Pentheo wrote a review...
I really enjoyed this book! The characters are truly funny, so much so that you'll laugh out loud (& get a few odd looks in the process). Unlike Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five, in which oddity hampers the narrative & the overall message Adams humor & oddity support his sly agnosticism. There is a scene when the characters witness the end of the universe & the god of a religion shows up at the end of the universe but is unable to stop the universe's destruction. The scene is really funny but also is telling of Adam's true beliefs (or what I believe his true beliefs were). In this sense his oddity supports his narrative & fits into the universe he created. This book is a masterclass in absurdity.
Pentheo wrote a review...
In the movie Life of Brian, the eponymous character is juxaposed against Jesus Christ. Though the movie is a comedy, one cannot deny the gravity of the historical background & Monty Python's jabs & criticisms of Christianity. However, in one scene, Brian is literally abducted by aliens but ends up back on earth after several seconds. The scene kills the momentum of the movie & detracts from the historical background & Python's religious critiques. Slaughter House Five commits the same sins but on a grander scale. Vonnegut's experiences in WWII & his witness to the fire bombing of Dresden are significantly impacted by his bizarre (mis)adventures after the bombing which, putting it mildly is a bummer. I wanted to love this book & I did love it when he recounted the war & the firebombing; however, this is watered down by everything else. Why? "Everything else" is just odd & not in a good way (unlike Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy)
Pentheo TBR'd a book

The Only Plane in the Sky: The Oral History of 9/11
Garrett M. Graff
Pentheo TBR'd a book

The 9/11 Report: A Graphic Adaptation
Sid Jacobson
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The 9/11 Report: A Graphic Adaptation
Sid Jacobson
Pentheo started reading...

Everyday Gospel: A Daily Devotional Connecting Scripture to All of Life
Paul David Tripp
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What Made Jesus Mad?: Rediscover the Blunt, Sarcastic, Passionate Savior of the Bible
Tim Harlow
Pentheo TBR'd a book

Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Cure
D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Pentheo TBR'd a book

The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert: An English Professor's Journey Into Christian Faith
Rosaria Champagne Butterfield
Pentheo TBR'd a book

The Wise Man’s Fear
Patrick Rothfuss
Pentheo started reading...

A Canticle for Leibowitz (St. Leibowitz, #1)
Walter M. Miller Jr.
Pentheo wrote a review...
Pretty good (not great). The science part is interesting though the Chinese history is even more so. Book stalls whenever Wang goes into the world of three body; but this plot device adds to the narrative. I look forward to the higher rated sequels.