Crazy Busy (Kevin DeYoung)

In Crazy Busy, Kevin DeYoung looks at our "crazy busy" lives and offers:

- 3 dangers to avoid
- 7 diagnoses to consider
- 1 thing you must do

Summary
The points provided here are quoted from the book.

The three dangers:

- busyness can ruin our joy [can encourage anxiety, stress, etc]
- busyness can rob our hearts [we focus on the wrong things]
- busyness can cover up the rot in our souls [we ignore big problems]

The seven diagnoses:

- you are beset with many manifestations of pride
- you are trying to do what God does not expect you to do
- you can't serve others without setting priorities
- you need to stop freaking out about your kids
- you are letting the screen strangle your soul
- you'd better rest yourself before you wreck yourself
- you suffer more because you don't expect to suffer at all

The one thing:

- devote yourself to the Word of God and prayer; no single practice brings more peace and discipline to life than sitting at the feet of Jesus . . . [this] is the place to start because being with Jesus is the only thing strong enough to pull us away from busyness.

I'll conclude with one final comment from DeYoung:

Busyness, as I've been diagnosing it, is as much a mind-set and a heart sickness as it is a failure in time management.  It's possible to live your days in a flurry of hard work, serving, and bearing burdens, and to do so with the right character and a right dependence on God so that it doesn't feel crazy busy.  By the same token, it's possible to feel amazingly stressed and frenzied while actually accomplishing very little.  The antidote to busyness of soul is not sloth and indifference.  The antidote is rest, rhythm, death to pride, acceptance of our own finitude, and trust in the providence of God.

Review
Overall, this is a good book.  It's short, humble, succinct, vulnerable, convicting, and funny.  It is organized, though it seems somewhat rambling; it's conversational and real.  I like that DeYoung doesn't set out a rigorous formula or promise to solve anything; he simply points to common factors and reminds us of gospel truths.  Highly recommended.

Rating: A

Respectable Sins (Jerry Bridges)

In Respectable Sins, Jerry Bridges argues that many Christians have focused on condemning the sins of the world, rather than the sins of the saints.  As new creations in Christ, we should not/cannot tolerate the sin that remains within us, yet we often hold onto "respectable sins"- things that are so commonly done, even in Christian circles, that we tolerate (or even encourage) them.  This should not be, and so this work is written with a focus on sins that Christians may not think of as sinful.  He covers a variety of things, like anxiety, frustration, discontentment, pride, unthankfulness, selfishness, lack of self control, impatience, anger, judgmentalism, envy, jealousy, sins of the tongue, and worldliness, unpacking each to show how they're wrong and calling Christians to overcome them by the power of the Holy Spirit.

This work disappointed me.  Bridges makes a lot of good points- don't get me wrong- but he makes a few assumptions (about most Christians thinking these things are okay), and his tone irked me.  His examples weren't the best- he frequently used others' sins (not his own) and (as a result) came across wrong, even haughty in a way.  He repeats himself a bit, and makes a few blanket statements that might not be totally true.  There is value here, but I had higher hopes for this one.

Rating: B-

All Things New (Hugh Whelchel)

In All Things New, Hugh Whelchel summarizes the Christian "four-chapter gospel," a common way of describing how the Bible is organized: creation, fall, redemption, restoration.

Creation explains the way things were;
the Fall explains the way things are;
Redemption shows the way things could be; and
Restoration shows the way things will be.

Why is it important to describe Scripture in this way?  "The four-chapter gospel is not just a way to read the Bible.  It's the framework through which we live our lives."  It is a good and accurate way to view and understand the world, and "enables us to understand our identity as God's people and to identify our role in his story."  Not us only: "It's the ultimate story of significance for all humanity."

There's a lot of goodness in this 37-page booklet.  I highly recommend this- to believers and non- as an excellent, succinct, and informative summary of life & Christianity.

Rating: A

Tales of the Bounty Hunters (Various)

Tales of the Bounty Hunters is just that- five stories with the 'classic' baddies (Boba Fett, Dengar, 4-LOM, Zuckuss, IG-88, Bossk) seen in The Empire Strikes Back.  Here, we learn of:
- IG-88's creation story (and galactic domination plans)
- How Dengar met and fell in love with Manaroo
- Bossk and hunting wookies
- How 4-LOM and Zuckuss helped the Rebels at Hoth
- Boba Fett chasing Han Solo & Labria (a minor character in A New Hope)

Unfortunately, this book is quite poor- marginally interesting at best.  Each story does tie into ESB in some way, which is cool, but that's quickly overshadowed by poor writing, poor characterizations, etc.  Not worth your time.

Rating: C-

Elements of Style (Strunk & White)

There's a good chance you read The Elements of Style in high school.  In under 100 pages, Professor Strunk provides the essential principles of writing well, "his attempt to cut the vast tangle of English rhetoric down to size and write its rules and principles on the head of a pin."  He, along with E.B. White, covers eleven rules of usage, eleven principles of composition, "a few matters of form," misused words, and thoughts on style. 

An important point that stood out to me: Omit needless words.  "Brevity is a by-product of vigor."

Vigorous writing is concise.  A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts.  This requires not that the writes make all sentences short, or avoid all detail and treat subjects only in outline, but that every word tell.

This is a great little manual.  Read it cover to cover, or refer to it as needed.  Good writing is an important life skill; prepare accordingly.

Rating: A

Dungeon!

Today's review is of the 1975 release, Dungeon!  For 1-8 players, it takes 45 minutes . . . or much longer.

Overview
Take on a role (cleric, wizard, fighter, elf, something else) and dare to enter the dungeon!  On your turn, you move up to 5 spaces (stopping if in a room or chamber with monsters) and fight a monster if possible.  The board is separated into six zones, with two decks for each (a monster and treasure deck).  To fight a monster, draw a monster card from the matching deck, and role two die.  If your number (which varies based on your role) is equal to or greater than the monster's, you win!  Take a treasure card (from the corresponding treasure deck), which grants points or other bonuses.  If you lose, roll again to determine your fate- you may drop treasure, be pushed back, or worse.  Once you've accumulated enough points, head back to the center of the board first to win!

game components; image from here

Review
A very simple game, I had low expectations for this one.  But I was pleasantly surprised- it's better than expected.  Yes, it's basic, and yes, it's mostly dice chucking, with very little strategy.  But a simple concept executed well should not be ignored.  It takes much longer than the printed time, but I wouldn't say no to an occasional play.

Rating: B-

Avengers: Infinity War

Thanos is coming.  Immortal and without equal, he's bent on collecting all six infinity stones to become the ultimate power in the universe, capable of wiping out half of humanity with the snap of his fingers.  The Avengers must put aside their differences (started in Captain America: Civil War) and band with the Guardians of the Galaxy to have any hope of stopping them.  But will they?

This is a decent movie- I'd love to say more, but it's difficult to elaborate without spoiling it.  It has plenty of action and effects, and the humor is well done.  It does suffer from the bloat inherent in trying to tie together so many story lines and characters from prior movies, and you really should be familiar with those movies to understand and enjoy this one.  The movie felt both too fast (trying to tie things together without properly-paced development) and too slow (some arcs seemed out-of-place or unnecessary).  Finally, some characters seemed off- Hulk and Thanos (is his goal based on realistic altruism or deranged megalomania?) among them.  But for all its flaws, it was great to see so many heroes in one movie, and the plot twists deviated from your typical formulaic superhero storyline.  Ultimately, this isn't a movie that can stand alone- it must be viewed with the other movies in mind, and thought of as tying them all together.  Through that lens, they did a pretty good job.

Rating: A-