The One and Only Ivan (Katherine Applegate)

Ivan the gorilla lives in a 'mall zoo' off I-95 with an old elephant (Stella) and stray dog (Bob). Taken from the jungle when he was young, he doesn't remember much about his former life. He passes his days well enough and loves to paint pictures. He enjoys visits from Julia, a fellow artist (but a human one) who visits him nightly while her dad cleans the place. 

One day, a baby elephant (Ruby) arrives. It is clear that Ruby is unhappy, and (as an elephant) she remembers everything about her past. Ivan soon realizes he needs to get Ruby to a better place—a real zoo. But how can a gorilla possibly do such a thing?

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Powerful, heartbreaking, and profound, this children's book is a tale of deep sadness, real friendship, and true love. Applegate does a good job of painting an accurate picture of the emotions we experience, neither sugar-coating the hardships nor minimizing the joys of this world—and she does it all through animals that can talk to each other (but not with humans), Charlotte's Web style. Impressive and highly recommended.

Rating: A

Neither Poverty nor Riches (Craig L. Blomberg)

In Neither Poverty nor Riches, Craig Blomberg takes us through a systematic theology of possessions as shown in the Scriptures. He surveys the entire Bible, looking at how various literature looked at riches, to include the Old Testament (both historical books and wisdom/prophetic literature), historical background between the Testaments, and the New Testament (Jesus' teaching, other Gospel writings, James' and Paul's views, and that of the other authors). He concludes with a summary and application section.

Though scriptures on this topic are diverse and "any attempt to summarize the dominant emphases in any large swathe of biblical material inevitably oversimplifies," there are "unifying motifs" worth noting. They are as follows (and quoted from the book or the Bible):

1. Material possessions are a good gift from God meant for his people to enjoy.
• [But those with wealth are expected to give generously to others and not accumulate unnecessary amounts for themselves.]
2. Material possessions are simultaneously one of the primary means of turning human hearts away from God.
• "You cannot serve God and money." (Matthew 6:24b)
• "Love of money is a root of all kinds of evils." (1 Timothy 6:10a)
3. A necessary sign of a life in the process of being redeemed is that of transformation in the area of stewardship.
• Ultimately, one's entire life should be dedicated to God, but a particularly telling area for determining one's religious commitment involves one's finances.
4. There are certain extremes of wealth and poverty which are in and of themselves intolerable.
5. The Bible's teaching about material possessions is inextricably intertwined with more 'spiritual' matters.
• In a remarkable number of instances throughout history, poverty and piety have been found hand in hand, as have wealth and godlessness . . . [These are] just recurring trends. The rich are not necessarily wicked, but frequently surplus goods have led people to imagine that their material resources can secure their futures so that they ignore God . . . Conversely, when the Jews found themselves in desperate circumstances, they more often than not turned back to God.

Perhaps one could summarize Scripture's teaching on the topic with a proverb:

7 Two things I ask of you;
deny them not to me before I die:
Remove far from me falsehood and lying;
give me neither poverty nor riches;
feed me with the food that is needful for me,
lest I be full and deny you
and say, “Who is the Lord?”
or lest I be poor and steal
and profane the name of my God. (Proverbs 30:7-9)

Though this proverb doesn't directly get into the generosity (and social justice) expected of Christians, the main concept of truth and moderation towards self implies a focus on God and others, and meeting the needs of the community.

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This book is excellent. As a broad survey of scripture, it cannot by necessity delve too deeply into any one area, but it is a good overview. Blomberg frequently quotes scholars (the bibliography is nearly 40 pages) for additional background and insights, too. Finally, I learned a lot about other topics, to include the context/audience for many of the New Testament books. Overall, recommended.

Rating: A

Faithful Doubt (Travis Scott)

In Faithful Doubt, pastor Travis Scott walks us through the Old Testament book of Habakkuk.

Habakkuk had a problem. As a prophet, he was called to bring God's word to the people of Judah. Those people were wicked, and Habakkuk complained to God about it, asking why God was silent/inactive in the face of such injustice. God replied that He was in fact doing something: he would send the Babylonians to destroy the people of Judah. That gave Habakkuk a bigger problem: how could God use a people even more wicked than the Jews as an instrument of justice? God responded simply that the just shall live by faith, and said the Babylonians would one day see justice as well. Habakkuk responds with a song of trust and faith, vowing to delight in the Lord even when his world would come tumbling down.

Ultimately, the book of Habakkuk is about how we wrestle with our doubts. Since we know God is just and omnipotent, why does evil exist, endure, and sometimes thrive in this world? We have been asking such questions for millenia, and Habakkuk models how to do it correctly: it is okay (and perhaps even good) to have doubts , but we must take those doubts to God rather than complain about God. And even if/when God doesn't respond in a way we like, we must trust.

The content of this book is outstanding; the writing is only average. Though I wish the delivery were better, the content more than makes up for it. Recommended.

Rating: A

Star Wars: The Adventures of Luke Skywalker, Jedi Knight (Tony DiTerlizzi)

In this book, Tony DiTerlizzi condenses the original Star Wars trilogy into one book, focusing on Luke Skywalker's story. Ultimately, his goal is to use the story as a vehicle to showcase Ralph McQuarrie's original concept art for the saga.

The story was far too rushed, re-telling three movies in 64 pages, but I really enjoyed the art (which was the whole point anyway). Since it is concept art, it didn't always portray what ended up in the films, but it was impressively similar most of the time—George Lucas used an awful lot of McQuarrie's ideas. In addition, the art on a given page didn't always directly correlate to that part of the story, but it made sense to pack as much of the art as possible into this book. 

This is a book where you ignore the text and simply enjoy the pictures.

Rating: A-

The Whipping Boy (Sid Fleischman)

Jemmy, former street rat, has the unenviable job of being Prince Horace's whipping boy (he is punished whenever the prince does something wrong). And they don't call him "Prince Brat" behind his back for nothing . . . needless to say, Jemmy's life has its hardships. But things take a turn for the worse when Prince Brat decides to run away one day and commands that Jemmy accompany him. The adventure turns south when the boys are caught by thieves. Out of his element, Prince Brat will learn what it means to have—and be—a friend.

An award-winning children's book, I really enjoyed this. It's about the need for (and value of) friendship. It becomes clear that the unlucky one is Prince Brat, who (despite his royal upbringing) is terribly lonesome and sad. Being spoiled may have its advantages, but a true friend is worth his weight in gold.

Rating: A

Ant-man and the Wasp: Quantumania

Ant-man and the Wasp rescued Hope's mom, Janet, from the quantum realm in the last Ant-man film. She never spoke of her thirty years trapped there; now they'll find out why. 

Scott's daughter, Cassie, has been secretly working with Hank to remotely map the quantum realm. But the portal enabling the study has attracted the attention of a powerful conqueror who has ruled that realm for decades . . . and he wants out. When Scott, Hope, Hank, Janet, and Cassie are pulled into the realm, they must join with the natives—it turns out there is a whole world down there—to fight back . . . but is there any chance against Kang?

I enjoyed the previous two Ant-man films, finding them light-hearted and funny. This one has those moments but features a darker tone. That is inherently fine, but sometimes the humor was jarringly done, inserted at odd moments. The story (once you get by Janet keeping quiet about an entire civilization) is decent enough, and the visuals are stunning. As the story progressed, I felt its pace accelerated and eroded the experience. There was a touch too much going on, with too little development. On the plus side, it was good to be introduced to (what I suspect is) the over-arching enemy of the post-Endgame world. That may give the MCU juggernaut the direction it has lacked in recent years. Overall, Ant-man 3 is okay, but I like it less than the other two films.

Rating: B-

Sleeping Gods

Today's review is of the 2021 release, Sleeping Gods. For 1-4 players, it takes 60-120 minutes per session, with multiple sessions making up a campaign. (The full campaign might take 20 hours.)

Overview

You control the crew of the Manticore, a vessel lthat was lost in a storm and now in a strange land. You learn there are gods in this world that require totems to be freed. Obtain them, and they will get you home. Are you up for the challenge?

This is a cooperative sandbox game, meaning an open world game that you can explore at your leisure. It has a lot going on, but at a high level:

To set up, the eight crew members are divided as evenly as possible between all players. (There is also one captain.) The active player controls the captain and their given crew members. These crew each have special abilities that will help you overcome the various types of challenges (strength, cunning, savvy, perception, craft) and may do something unique in combat. Continuing the setup, you place the ship on the designated page and area on the atlas, distribute tokens and shuffle/place the various decks as indicated.

On their turn, the active player takes the following steps:

1. Visit a room on the ship. Each room on the ship grants different benefits, from drawing ability cards (which you can equip to your crew members) to gaining command tokens (which you spend to perform different actions) to removing fatigue, damage, or used command tokens.
2. Draw an event card. The event card is generally some challenge you must overcome. It may give you a benefit if you succeed, and always damages you (or the ship) if you fail.
3. Perform two actions. You can travel (move the ship to a new location, which may require turning to a different page in the atlas), explore (read a scenario matching a number in your ship's location and do what it says), go to market (if in a market location), or go to port (if at a port location).

The heart of the game is in the explore action. This points you to the storybook, a 172-page collection of numbered scenarios that is where most of your decisions will be made. You will encounter monsters, villages in need, mysterious ruins, and more. You will do combat. Your choices may open up quests (quest cards that unlock progress in the game or give you ideas what to do next), adventures, and items. 

A 2-player game at start (each controls 4 crew); image from here

Review

This game is very highly-regarded and has a sequel in the works. My feelings are mixed. 

The good:

- I love Ryan Laukat's art 

- The open world is fun

- There is a lot of content; a lot of story and planning went into this

- The combat system is intriguing (each enemy has a grid on them, where you can hit different parts of their body to diminish their health or their attack power)

The disappointments:

- There is a lot going on, and the rules didn't address some important points

- As an open world, you can wander aimlessly with no idea how to progress. One friend called this a "slow burn," and a reviewer mentioned "it's the journey, not the destination." We played for . . . 3 hours? . . . and got nowhere. We fought a dragon at the end that was a nice climax, but we made zero progress towards finding any totems. 

- In the action phase, one person's turn could last a long time if they chose the explore action. Other turns (if players chose other actions) could be over in a minute. The disparity made for an odd feel.

Ultimately, I had fun, but that was in part due to playing with good friends who were experienced gamers and knew how to enjoy the journey. I know I will never invest the 20+ hours needed to finish this game. 

I'm coming to realize that sandbox board games are not for me. I love the open world concept but feel it better handled in a video game; replicating it on the tabletop is cumbersome.

Rating: B

What is Reformed Theology? (R.C. Sproul)

In this introductory book, esteemed theologian R.C. Sproul provides "a shorthand introduction to the crystallized essence of Reformation theology." He covers the foundations and five points of reformed theology; a summary follows.

Foundations:

• Centered on God
• Based on God's Word alone
• Committed to faith alone
• Devoted to Jesus Christ
• Structured by three covenants

A few highlights on the above foundations:

Centered on God

"Perhaps no doctrine has greater bearing on all other doctrines than the doctrine of God. How we understand the nature and character of God himself influences how we understand the nature of man," Christ, salvation, ethics, "and a myriad of other theological considerations." To this end, "Reformed theology is first and foremost theocentric [God-centered] rather than anthropocentric [man-centered]."

"Because God is infinite in his being and eternal, and we are finite and bound by both space and time, our knowledge of him is never comprehensive. We enjoy an apprehensive knowledge of God but not a comprehensive knowledge." In addition, God "derives his beaing from nothing outside of himself. He is self-existent." "Our being, by contrast, is derived, dependent, and contingent."

Based on God's Word alone

Reformed theology adheres to sola Scriptura, "by Scripture alone," declaring "the idea that only the Bible has the authority to bind the consciences of believers." It recognizes other authorities, but sees them "as being derived from and subordinate to the authority of God."

Reformers argue "there are two kinds of divine revelation: general [or 'natural'; "God's revelation of himself in nature"] and special [the Bible]." They believe the original manuscripts of the Bible to be inerrant, and "though we do not possess the [originals] themselves, we can reconstruct them with remarkable accuracy."

Reformers' established rules of hermeneutics ("the process by which we seek to understand a message") "for interpreting the Bible." Chiefly, "we are to interpret Scripture by Scripture . . . we are to interpret the obscure in light of the clear, the implicit in light of the explicit, and the narrative in light of the didactic."

Committed to faith alone

Since we are all sinners, and God is holy, "on what basis or grounds does God ever declare anyone just?" "The Reformers insisted that [such] justification is by grace alone (sola gratia), by faith alone (sola fide), and through Christ alone (soli Christo)." The instrumental cause is faith (which is itself a gift). But remember "true faith is never alone. It always manisfests itself in works." But such works "contribute nothing of merit before God." Ultimately, "we are justified by faith int he works performed in our behalf by Christ."

Devoted to Jesus Christ

"Jesus is truly man and truly God. His two natures are not mixed, confused, separated, or divided." Christ has three offices: prophet, priest, and king. As prophet, He "represented God, speaking to the people on God's behalf, mediating his word to the people." As priest, he "represented the people, speaking to God [and offering sacrifices] on the people's behalf." As king, he represented "the rule of God over the people." Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of all three offices.

Structured by three covenants

"Reformed theology sees the primary structure of biblical revelation as that of covenant." There are three: 1) The covenant of redemption "involves the parties who work together to effect human redemption: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit." 2) The covenant of works promises life to Adam and his posterity "upon condition of perfect and personal obedience." 3) The covenant of grace, where God freely offers to sinners life and salvation by Jesus Christ, granted through faith in Him.

Five Points:

• Total depravity ("Our natural inclination is to flee from God," and we are unable to incline ourselves to the things of God. We "suffer from corruption that pervades the whole person." "We are not sinners because we win; we sin because we are sinners.")
• Unconditional election ("the grounds of our election are not something foreseen by God in us but rather the good pleasure of his sovereign will.")
• Limited atonement ("Christ loved his church and gave himself for it . . . the ultimate aim of God's plan of redemption was to redeem his elect.")
• Irresistible grace ("regeneration precedes faith," which "is simply to say that this grace, which is so vital to our salvation, is sovereign.")
• Perserverance of the saints (God's "sovereign purpose to save his elect from the foundation of the world is not frustrated by our weakness.")

Though this makes the memorable acrostic "TULIP," some of the terms can lead to misunderstandings. "If we adjusted these phrases in the interest of accuracy, we would have something like this: radical corruption, sovereign election, definite atonement, effectual grace, and preservation of the saints."

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This is an excellent introduction to reformed theology. Sproul knows how to convey deep theological concepts with clarity. Recommended.

Rating: A

New York Slice

Today's review is of the 2017 release, New York Slice. For 2-6 players, it takes 30 minutes.

Overview

You run a pizza parlor and are charged with creating the best pizza. You'll collect your preferred types, eat others, and try to avoid the dreaded anchovies. Can you collect (and consume) your way to victory?

To start, each player gets 11 slices of pizza, randomly selected. The first player reveals their pie and slices it into a number of portions equal to the number of players. (The portions needn't be equal, of course.) Then, the next clockwise player selects one of the portions and chooses to keep and/or eat each slice in that portion. 

- Keeping means to keep it face-up it in front of you and save it for the end of the game. If you have the majority of that type of slice, you get points based on the total number of that kind in the game (this is printed on each slice, from 3-11). 

- Eating means to keep it face-down in front of you. At the end of the game, you get points based on the number of pepperoni on each slice you have eaten minus the number of anchovies. Eaten slices do not count in the majority decision for those slices kept. (Example: if there are 11 slices of a given type in the game, but 5 were eaten during the course of it, the person who has the majority of the 6 remaining 'kept' slices gets 11 points.)

A pie sliced for 4 players; image from here

Play proceeds in clockwise order until all portions are chosen. Then the next player reveals their pie, slices it, and portions are chosen. Turns continue until all players have sliced and distributed their pies. There are also special cards (one shown in the example above) that players may obtain to give them a boost. Most points wins!

Review

This set collection game with a twist is okay. A few more plays may improve my opinion, but I thought it only fair. The two meaningful decisions are 1) how to slice up your pie and 2) which portion to choose each round. 

- The first is often hard to do and feels like complete guessing. Any favorable portions will be immediately snapped up, so you don't want to make things obviously good for another player. Any terrible portions will be left for you (as you pick last on the turn your pie is sliced), so it's a balancing act that ultimately leads you to try to make things as equal as possible. 

- The second can be pretty obvious (or forced upon you, if you're picking towards the end), so this didn't enthrall me. You can (and should) track what other people have, and can decide to help yourself or hurt them, but it feels like you often don't have much control over either.

In this genre, I prefer Animals on Board.

Rating: C+

Monikers

Today's review is of the 2015 release, Monikers. For 4-16 people, it takes 30-60 minutes.

Overview

Monikers is based on a game in the public domain called Celebrities. At the beginning of the game, each person draws 8 cards and chooses 4. A card has a name/object/etc. on it, with a description, category, and point value. The chosen cards are shuffled into a pile, the players are split into two teams, and the game begins.

sample cards; image from here

Monikers is played over three rounds.

- Round 1: the clue giver gets his team to guess the title of the card by saying anything except that title. If successful, the card is kept. This person gets through as many cards as he can in the time alloted, and then the deck passes to a player on the other team to be the next clue giver. Play proceeds in this fashion until the deck runs out. Points are tallied and the deck is reconstituted with the same cards.

- Round 2: same concept, only now each clue giver can say only one word.

- Round 3: same, only now each clue giver can use only gestures.

Whichever team has the most points at the end wins!

Review

This party game is simple and fun. Going through the same deck three times has its advantages, but it is still impressively difficult to remember all the cards, so hilarity can ensue, especially in the third round with only gestures.

Rating: A