Different Strokes for Different Folks: Books I Read in 2025, Vol. IX

 

SACRED PATHWAYS: Nine Ways to Connect with God
Gary Thomas

“In this updated and expanded edition, Gary Thomas details nine spiritual temperaments and--like the Enneagram and other tools do with personality--encourages you to investigate the ways you most naturally express yourself in your relationship with God. He encourages you to dig into the traits, strengths, and pitfalls in your devotional approach so you can eliminate the barriers that keep you locked into rigid methods of worship and praise. Plus, as you begin to identify and understand your own temperament, you'll soon learn about the temperaments that aren’t necessarily "you" but that may help you understand the spiritual tendencies of friends, family, and others around you. Whatever temperament or blend of temperaments best describes you, rest assured it's not by accident. It's by the design of a Creator who knew what he was doing when he made you according to his own unique intentions. If your spiritual walk is not what you'd like it to be, you can change that, starting here.”

I found this while browsing at the library, but wow, it perfectly fits in with the long-term discussion we Valley Christian Church elders are having about what it means to be a disciple of Jesus and how, as a church body, we can create them. I really appreciate how the author stressed that one of the spiritual temperaments isn't any better or More Correct than any of the others. Different people are just wired differently by an infinitely creative creator. No sense to EVER say, "You don't express closeness to God the way I do. You need to change."

For the record, my top three ways to connect with God, as described in this book, are Intellectual, Enthusiast, and Contemplative. Naturalist is a close 4th, with a noticeable drop in score for everything else on the list.

First Line: Valuable lessons about spirituality can come at the strangest times.

Page 56 / Line 5: Once we are truly humbled, God enlightens us as to what we can do, and this gives us a new sense of dignity.

A Good Line from Somewhere in the Middle: I am not here to offer you a mind-blowing "date" with God. I want us to talk about how to be married to him.

Last Line: There is no greater end in life than this.

To 100K and Beyond

 

Congratulations to our 2017 Kia Sportage!

Neither Beloved nor I can recall ever reaching the 100,000 mile milestone with any of our previous vehicles.

That's a lot of trips from Minnesota to Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Wyoming, and Arkansas.

Alex Cross Catches a Killer Casanova: Books I Read in 2025, Vol. VIII

 

KISS THE GIRLS
James Patterson

“In Los Angeles, a reporter investigating a series of murders is killed. In Chapel Hill, North Carolina, a beautiful medical intern suddenly disappears. Washington, D.C. detective Alex Cross is back to solve the most baffling and terrifying murder case ever. Two clever pattern killers are collaborating, cooperating, competing  -  and they are working coast to coast.”

The strange thing is, I KNOW I've seen the movie that was based on this book, but I don't have a single memory of it. In reading Kiss The Girls, I never once thought, "Oh, I remember how they did this in the movie." One thought I DID have, though, was, "How twisted does James Patterson have to be to even make up this kind of deviant behavior?!!?" The good news is, his prose is engaging and one turn of the page leads to another and another and another.

First Line: For three weeks, the young killer actually lived inside the walls of an extraordinary fifteen-room beach house.

Page 56 / Line 5: Ruskin got in the driver's seat.

A Good Line from Somewhere in the Middle: His body looked like polished rock.

Last Line: This one is a honey, Alex.

Marty: Low-Key Best Picture

 

Seventy years after it was made, I finally got around to watching 1956's Best Picture Oscar-winner, Marty. I had always avoided it because I figured that it had to be some kind of super-dramatic, earnest, issue-banging snoozefest. Ernest Borgnine even won a Best Actor Oscar for his performance.

I mean ... just look at that poster. Something serious is going on there, right?

But when you read the Wikipedia plot description, it seems to soften up a bit:

Marty Piletti is an Italian-American butcher who lives in The Bronx with his mother. Unmarried at 34, the good-natured but socially awkward Marty faces constant badgering from family and friends to settle down, as they point out that all his brothers and sisters are already married, most of them with children. Not averse to marriage but disheartened by his lack of prospects, Marty has reluctantly resigned himself to bachelorhood.

After being harassed by his mother into going to the Stardust Ballroom one Saturday night, Marty connects with Clara, a plain high school science teacher, who is weeping outside on the roof after being abandoned by her blind date....

The movie ends up being a simple, slice-of-life tale with an open-ended ending full of hope.

I can't believe it won the Best Picture Oscar, having gone up against Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing, Mister Roberts, and Picnic.

And look at the list of Best Actor nominees in addition to Mr. Borgnine!

• James Cagney
• James Dean
• Frank Sinatra
• Spencer Tracy

And yet, the man who would become a sitcom icon in McHale's Navy just 7 years later walked away with the trophy.

When you watch this little gem (and you should), look for Gomer Pyle, USMC's Sgt. Carter, The Dick Van Dyke Show's Jerry Helper, and the uncredited screen debut of Jerry Orbach (Law & Order and the voice of Lumiere in Beauty and the Beast).

Climactic quote:

You don't like her, my mother don't like her, she's a dog and I'm a fat, ugly man! Well, all I know is I had a good time last night! I'm gonna have a good time tonight! If we have enough good times together, I'm gonna get down on my knees and I'm gonna beg that girl to marry me! If we make a party on New Year's, I got a date for that party. You don't like her? That's too bad!

5 stars!

Hey, Dewey, What Did You Read for Lent?: Books I Read in 2025, Vol. VII

 

THE FINAL DAYS OF JESUS: The Most Important Week of the Most Important Person Who Ever Lived
Andreas J. Kostenberger & Justin Taylor

“Nearly 2,000 years later, the events that took place during Jesus’ last days still reverberate through the ages.... Combining a chronological arrangement of the Gospel accounts with insightful commentary, charts, and maps, this book will help you better understand what actually happened all those years ago  -  and why it matters today.”

I read this in 2018, and it's STILL a nice tool that walked me through what is popularly called “Holy Week”. This time, I spread out the reading from Ash Wednesday through the day after Easter...kind of a Lenten devotion. One thing that struck me this time around: In the minds of most people, "Holy Week" goes like this: Triumphal entry on Sunday, Eviction of the moneychangers from the temple on Monday, then straight to the Last Supper on Thursday, etc. I rarely think of Tuesday and Wednesday when Jesus spent all day teaching in the temple. How cool would that have been to be in that crowd, hearing Jesus' final teachings before his crucifixion?

First Line: The four Gospels contain eyewitness accounts (and first-hand reports) of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

Page 56 / Line 5: And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it.

A Good Line from Somewhere in the Middle: In these pages you will read the eyewitness accounts of what the most important person who ever lived said and did during the most important week of his life.

Last Line: Come, Lord Jesus!

♫♪ He Rode a Blazing Saddle ♪♫ to Stardom: Books I Read in 2025, Vol. VI

 

ALL ABOUT ME! My Remarkable Life in Show Business
Mel Brooks

For anyone who loves American comedy, the long wait is over. Here are never-before-told, behind-the-scenes anecdotes and remembrances from a master storyteller, filmmaker, and creator of all things funny. [This book] offers fans insight into the inspiration behind the ideas for [Brooks'] outstanding collection of boundary-breaking work, and shares details about the many close friendships and collaborations he has had, including those with Sid Caesar, Carl Reiner, Gene Wilder, Alfred Hitchcock, and the great love of his life, Anne Bancroft.

Let's get one thing straight: Mel Brooks is an extremely talented man. I would never let my grandchildren watch any of his movies, but there's no doubt he knows what's funny and how to deliver laughs. He also knows how to tell the story of his life and career (with the emphasis on his career) with humor AND honesty. And in spite of the bald-faced narcissism of the title, Brooks gives credit and honor where it is due to the talented people he has worked with. This book is full of one interesting story after another. Two thumbs up.

First Line: The writing of this book serves as a kind of confession.

Page 56 / Line 5: Without thinking, I turn the wheel sharply to make the turn.

A Good Line from Somewhere in the Middle: If you don't have anyone in your life like Carl Reiner, stop reading this right now and go find someone!

Last Line: But who knows, maybe we'll meet again in another chapter called: The History of Mel Brooks, Part II.

Too Little Too Fast: Books I Read in 2025, Vol. V

 

NUMBER ONE IS WALKING: My Life in the Movies and Other Diversions
Steve Martin with drawings by Harry Bliss

[This book] is Steve Martin’s cinematic legacy  —  an illustrated memoir of his legendary acting career, with stories from his most popular films and artwork by New Yorker cartoonist Harry Bliss. Martin shares anecdotes from the sets of his beloved films  —  Father of the Bride, Roxanne, The Jerk, Three Amigos, and many more  —  bringing readers directly into his world. He shares charming tales of antics, moments of inspiration, and exploits with the likes of Paul McCartney, Diane Keaton, Robin Williams, and Chevy Chase. Martin details his forty years in the movie biz, as well as his stand-up comedy, banjo playing, writing, and cartooning, all with his unparalleled wit. With gorgeously illustrated cartoons and single-panel “diversions” in Steve and Harry’s signature style, Number One Is Walking is full of the everyday moments that make up a movie star’s life, capturing Steve Martin’s singular humor and acclaimed career in film.

This has been on my to-be-read list at the library for a year or two. When I was close to being done with Gay Girl, Good God, I had the library put Number One... on hold for me so I could pick it up when I returned the other. I took it off the reservation shelf, started leafing through it, and saw that there were plenty of drawings and not so much writing, so I immediately went to the biography section of the library and found what will be my next read (stay tuned). Good thing, too, because I finished THIS book in a little more than an hour. I certainly enjoyed it, but Martin needs to write a whole lot more about a whole lot more memories of his movie career.

First Line: By 1980, I viewed my stand-up comedy act  -  which I had been doing for about seventeen years  -  as a ballerina might view her evening's performance: "I know the steps; they're the same every night."

Page 56 / Line 5: Wow!

A Good Line from Somewhere in the Middle: 

Last Line: Me three!