The Thursday Murder Club (Richard Osman)

Four friends in a retirement village pass their days by investigating cold cases from decades past. This self-proclaimed "Thursday Murder Club" has a real (and current) adventure on their hands, though, when someone affiliated with their community is murdered. And then another. Determined to be helpful, the unorthodox gang sets out to investigate, and soon finds themselves uncovering a trail of secrets. Can no one be trusted? And can they find the killer?  

It took me a bit to get into it, but this book is gold. Written by known funny television personality Richard Osman, I thought this would be a second-rate mystery focused on comedy. I was wrong! It is funny, but it is also a good and suspenseful mystery. And has a dash of wisdom and surprisingly poignant moments to boot. I especially enjoyed the varied quirks of the four protagonists. This was a good time.

Rating: A

The White Mountains in Autumn

Last week, my wife and I got away for an early 20th anniversary celebration. We spent a few wonderful days in New Hampshire; this post shares highlights.

North Conway

After taking an early flight to Manchester, we drove north and stayed in a new hotel in North Conway, a lovely mountain resort town in east-central New Hampshire. We enjoyed an initial hike east of town before checking out the (surprising) number of outlets and having a nice dinner.

The Kancamagus Highway

The next day, we stopped at a covered bridge (there are many in the region) and then headed out for the main feature: the Kancamagus Highway, which runs west from Conway to Lincoln. This scenic road had plenty of stops for short (or long) hikes and beautiful vistas. Parking at some stops became an issue, but it all worked out. As you'd expect, cell service was not always available, so download local maps as needed before heading out.

Just before Lincoln, we stopped at Loon Mountain, headed up via cable car, and enjoyed the poorly-named (yet exciting) "glacial caves," which are a series of natural granite obstacles [not caves] that force you to contort yourself in fun [and nerve-wracking, for the older] postures to navigate them. 

The Loop Back

After a nice lunch in Lincoln, we stopped for ice cream (I had maple soft serve) and took the northern loop back, which runs through Franconia Notch, by Mount Washington, and had plenty of sights on its own. But we visited there last year, so we just enjoyed the views and meandered back to North Conway. The map below shows the Kancamagus (the southern road) and the northern loop back. The listed drive time of two hours is deceiving and easily exceeded; plan to stop often (and/or be held up by slow motorists).

Lake Winnipesaukee

The next day, it was time to head home. We had driven up from Manchester on the east side of Lake Winnipesaukee, and headed home on the west side. We intended to find a place to hike and enjoy a view of the lake; our first choice, Castle in the Clouds, was out due to a classic car show that day. We drove on through Meredith (it looked pretty; we should have stopped) and Interlaken (not to be confused with its Swiss counterpart) before finding what looked like a good spot. What we didn't know: the road up went from pleasingly paved to dauntingly dirt and rock, with difficult climbs and hairpin turns. We parked in a lot that had some other cars, saw no other hikers, and grew increasingly nervous. After briefly exploring the local trail options and enjoying the view, we decided to head back down. On the way, a passing motorist told us to watch for black bears he had just seen, reinforcing our decision to get out of there.

We drove back to Manchester, stopping at (another) L.L. Bean outlet on the way before catching our flight home.

Thoughts

It was a short but wonderful trip. The people in the White Mountains live life at a different pace. They are polite, kind, and much more relaxed than what we are used to. The area is beautiful, even though the leaves were not as vibrant as we had hoped (the locals told us a drought had affected the maples in particular). There is plenty to do for the outdoors enthusiast, and many options for all skill levels and desires (we focused on shorter hikes and loved it). The food options were excellent, with an array of both chains and local fare. The shopping was surprisingly fun. I wish we had more time to explore the Lake Winnipesaukee area (and foreknowledge of where best to do that), but ultimately, the trip was made not by what we did, but who we were with—each other.

It was the first time my wife and I had gotten away overnight without the children in seven years. It was a much-needed time to relax, enjoy each other's company, and connect without distraction or interruption. We need to make this a habit.

Daily Doctrine (Kevin DeYoung)

Daily Doctrine is a devotional of sorts, with 260 entries (five per week). But unlike most devotionals (where each entry focuses on a Bible passage or topic), this book presents systematic theology for laypeople in digestible pieces (about a page per entry). Here, notable pastor and author Kevin DeYoung covers doctrine in 9 categories:

- Prolegomena (Preliminary Considerations)

- Theology Proper (The Being of God and the Works of God)

- Anthropology (Man as Created and Fallen)

- Covenant Theology (How God Relates to His Creatures)

- Christology 1 (The Person of Christ)

- Christology 2 (The Works of Christ)

- Soteriology (Salvation in Christ)

- Ecclesiology (The Nature, Mission, and Ordering of the Church)

- Eschatology (Last Things)

I loved this work. It takes skill to translate skilled theologians and their terminology into something clear and concise, but that is DeYoung's stated gift, and he pulls it off. He presents the Reformed view on most matters, but for particularly contentious topics, he does give a fair summary of different viewpoints. I recommend this to anyone interested in learning about systematic theology but (understandably) overwhelmed by other works on the topic (like John Frame's excellent, but much longer, volume) and simply wants an overview. I only wish there had been 365 entries.

Rating: A

Magpie Murders (Anthony Horowitz)

Alan Conway is a popular 'whodunnit' author. His editor, Sue, is enjoying his latest draft manuscript until she discovers that the final chapters are missing. And it gets worse . . . Alan Conway is soon found dead on his property. Baffled, Sue takes it upon herself to investigate. Having enjoyed mysteries all her life, Sue suddenly finds herself in one . . . and the stakes could not be higher.

This was a fun read. This is two books in one: the manuscript is a ~240 page murder mystery, and Sue's investigation is about the same length. I don't want to say more lest I give spoilers, but it was a fun concept well executed. It has the suspense and surprises you'd expect of the genre.

Rating: A

Loving God

In July, I did a series of posts on love, looking at a Bible-based definition, AI's take, and love's object. Those posts were generic, yet the focus was on loving people. Today, I look at what it means to love God.

My definition of love from the first linked post above was as follows:

Love is the self-sacrificial and self-forgetful care for and building up of others demonstrated by action, affection, attitude, endurance, and optimism.

I think that reasonably covers what it means to love other people, but does all of that apply to God? We can't care for or build up God. Yet Jesus says the first and great commandment is that "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." (Matthew 22:36-38).

So what does loving God look like? How can we love Him with all our heart, soul, and mind?

One important factor is obedience. If we love God we will keep his commandments (John 14:15). That means keeping God's law, but not in a legalistic way as the Pharisees were famous for doing (Matthew 5:19-20); they would tithe down to the most precise amount, yet neglect weightier things (Matthew 23:23). So an important aspect of obedience is doing so in the spirit of the law, not just the letter. The letter kills, spirit gives life (2 Corinthians 3:5-6), and we should live by the Spirit, not by the letter (Romans 2:28-29). For example, the letter of the law says 'do not murder' (Exodus 20:13), but Jesus clarifies that the spirit of that law is not just murder, but even angry thoughts or insults (Matthew 5:21-22). The bar is high. To love God is to obey him. But is that all?

It's not just about obeying; another factor is humility. One aspect of love is sacrifice for another; the Lord demands sacrifice for several reasons in Scripture. Yet the Psalmist recognizes our heart plays a factor here and is ultimately what matters: "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise." (Psalm 51:16-17). God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6). Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall (Proverbs 16:18). And one summary of what God requires is to do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God (Micah 6:8). Why all this emphasis on humility? It is the right response to our sinful state in light of God's holiness. Richard Sibbes wrote a book on the topic; with him, we rightly approach God saying "be merciful to me, a sinner" (Luke 18:9-14). He who humbles himself will be exalted. 

A third factor is gratitude. You can be obedient and even humble but wallow in misery, yet the Bible calls us repeatedly to be thankful. Psalm 50 is helpful here, as it deals with sacrifices in general. After explaining that the Earth is the Lord's (verses 10-13), he says "Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving" (verse 14) and "The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me" (verse 23). We see the theme also in Psalm 107:22 and 116:17. Thankfulness is the right response to recognizing that the Lord loves and has blessed us. And related to thankfulness is enjoying life, which we are called to in Ecclesiastes (see especially 9:7-9 and this book). Life itself is a gift from God, and enjoying what is given to us is a way to show love to the one who gave it. Experientially, anyone who is a parent knows this: we give ourselves for our children, knowing that they cannot pay us back or earn it. Yet they can be thankful for and enjoy it. And we feel loved when they do so.

A fourth factor is time. When you love someone, you want to spend time with them. We spend time with God in three ways: Scripture, meditation, and prayer. We are called to store up and abide in His word (Psalm 119:15, 2 Timothy 3:16, Colossians 3:16, John 5:38), meditate on His law and deeds (Joshua 1:8, Psalm 77:12 or 119:15), and pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17, Romans 12:12). Jesus clearly made the same a priority, frequently withdrawing to pray (Luke 5:15-16, Mark 1:35). Time with God shows love for God.

So how do we love God? Obedience, humility, gratitude, and time. There may be more, but there is certainly not less. And, if you're like me, you constantly fall short in all of these areas. May we obey God, be humble, be thankful, and spend time with Him this day.

The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship

Today's review is of the 2025 release, The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship. For 1-5 players, it takes 60-150 minutes.

Overview

Anyone familiar with The Lord of the Rings knows the story: save Middle-Earth by destroying the one ring and defeating Sauron and his armies. The task seems impossible, with swarms of Orcs, the fearsome Nazgul, and other threats in the way. Yet hope remains, if the fellowship is true . . . 

This is a cooperative game in the Pandemic line, meaning the basic rules follow that game system. Each player controls two characters from the story. On your turn, you will:

• Perform 4+1 actions (one of your characters takes 4 actions, and the other takes 1, in either order)
• actions include travel, give/take a card from a player, discard a card to take a token, add an army to a location, attack, or capture an enemy stronghold
• Draw 2 cards
• if you draw a 'shadow increasing,' follow the (regrettable) instructions to add threats to Middle-Earth
• Draw X shadow cards, where X=2-5 based on where the marker is on the threat rate track
• resolve them one at a time, which generally means moving shadow armies (and attacking), moving Nazgul towards Frodo (and searching), or other terrible things

There are many details to the above, and this video is an excellent (if lengthy) overview of everything.

Game contents; image from here

The game ends when either you complete all objectives (the introductory scenario has four) and collectively win or your hope drops to zero and all is lost.

Review

I was greatly looking forward to this one. I love both the Pandemic game engine and The Lord of the Rings; I wanted to see how they combined them. I think they did it well. This is more complicated than the other Pandemic games (there is a lot going on), but the core concepts are still there, so it was easy enough for my playgroup to pick up the rules. It is challenging and lengthy, so be warned. It is highly replayable, with 20 different objectives and 13 different characters, each with unique abilities. Overall, this is well done and worth a look.

Rating: A

Little House on the Prairie (Laura Ingalls Wilder)

Little House on the Prairie, book three in a series, is Laura Ingalls Wilder's account of her family's life on a prairie south of Independence, Kansas, where they lived for two years before moving [back] to Wisconsin. The book starts leaving their former residence and heading west on a covered wagon with Ma and Pa, big sister Mary, little sister Carrie, their dog Jack, and two horses. Once they ford a dangerous creek and arrive on the plains, they settle on open land (in Indian territory) and build a home and stable, eeking out a difficult (if content and joyous) existence full of close calls and adventure until they had to relocate due to government decisions on where Indians and settlers could[n't] stay. The book ends where it started, with them taking what they can in their covered wagon and heading out. 

I didn't realize this was book three in the series. And that it took place well before the family's Walnut Grove years portrayed in the television series of the same name. Nevertheless, I enjoyed this read. I was struck by 1) how little they had, 2) how content they were, 3) how hard they worked, 4) how industrious they were, 5) how simple life was, and 6) how resilient they remained in their transient existence. Pouring two years of hard work into a homestead, only to pack up and move and start all over with nothing to show for it, must have been hard. But per Pa, "we're taking more out of Indian Territory than we took in," meaning that their experiences together [and, presumably, the grace they experienced] more than accounted for the material loss. A good lesson for us all.

I'll add: there is a 'weird' mix of self-reliance and need for neighbors on display here. On the one hand, the family had incredible skill in many things, and could get by quite well off the land and their skills. On the other hand, they relied on neighbors (miles distant) for everything from news to a helping hand to supplies to protection. We need each other, but it seems to me that the pioneering way of life was an experiment in how to be as independent as possible. Similarly, their understanding of the Gospel (from what little I could glean in the story) was a mixture of helping others wherever possible, and needing occasional help, too, but also trying to be as self-reliant as possible and not wanting to owe anyone anything. Overall, it was an educational and enjoyable look into life on the plains for settlers in the midwest only 150 years ago. How we have changed since.

Rating: A