Sam Szpor

Really great thoughts on a very important topic!!

Short, sweet, but extremely practical. Does what it says it aims to do. Like all “self-help” you must put in the work. But the road map is clear.

I genuinely think that CE is a intelligent and thoughtful human. I look up to the way that she communicates her thoughts and ideas and you can glean a LOT from this.

My issue is on the premise of this book: that sometimes people won't understand you and that's okay - be who you are. It's not that I inherently disagree but rather the lack of boundaries or nuance she has. With this thesis you have to Assume there is no inherent truth. She seem to see people who disagree with a life choice as people who merely hate rather than people who see the most fruitful way of life within the bounds of a different belief.

She takes the idea of her playing Jesus Christ and people have issue with that as those who are bigoted and hate themselves. She sees Jesus as merely a man, rather than God himself in which there must be reverence. Of course, I believe there is flaw in her just viewing Jesus as a man, yet the concern that I think Christians and non Christians should see is that in CE's view there is no assumption to even see where her critics are coming from.

To have stable society there must be truths and virtues in which we agree. This is where political difference comes in.

And this is the issue with the left in general: that there are no parameters and you can say what you feel and do what you feel, everything is a spectrum and constantly changing. This is a slippery slope that really holds no
Moral high ground.

With that said, there were MANY great insights here, that this is worth picking up!

I mean, I already knew that Allie Beth has a way of breaking things down so clearly and communicating with such a nuance this was going to be a great read. Definitely helps to clearly break down modern issues and how we can biblically think AND act within culture (and why it's important to push back against the progressive agenda).

Because of the fragmented nature of this book, I appreciate it for what it is but the movie did so much with that space that its hard not to favor that over this. A really beautiful story.

I might have to go back and try again. A great general concept but this was a SLOG

3.5 - started off really strong, but the way it was organized wasn't my favorite. Worth the first 4 chapters.

In an age with the hyper feminization of men and on the other extreme you have toxic masculinity, Joby breaks down how he see's scripture break down manhood and why its essentially for a heathy society. He calls out the unhealthy and sinful mindsets that men fall into that ultimately hurt themselves and the women around us.

Honest, convicting, and a clear scriptural analysis gives this a great breakdown on one of the most lost truths of this generation - what does it mean to be a man.

If we can get back what we have lost here, society will heal.

3.5 - his ideas (and others) honestly have changed my life. Everything I have learned about nutrition has clicked and come together.

What I don't like about this is that he teases his story but never actually tells it. The science is there and he breaks things down but he still didn't answer so of my questions. I have found more information on his YouTube page than this is book, which this should be the cumulation of it.

Not the easiest/ most accessible read for those not already aware of biological terms.

Great concepts that are simple - could have broken down there process a bit more and go a bit more in depth.

Fantastic. Short but poignant. Challenging yet encouraging.

Bonhoeffer is a gift to the Christian!

This was great context but the audiobook is AI I am almost certain. I would give it 0 stars if I could but the breakdown of information was very helpful!

Towards the beginning I was enraptured by the descriptive language and a deep male friendship that didn't have to be sexualized - something that has been lost in modern times — in that you never see deep friendships without people assuming (or wanting) it to be more.

But as the book went on the descriptive writing became too much, or too little. It passed over conversations and moments that I wanted to sit in on. I felt cheated. I felt as though I were only a fly on the wall experiencing moments of this story, hearing every other word. The world felt half-baked and didn't make it worth the read.

I realllllly struggled with this - boring. Why is this such a stir for controversy? It's not that great and my hot take is the only reason this got any attention back in the day was because half of its content is sexual discourse (not explicit) in a time where that was more taboo. There were some moments that felt genuine and insightful but this story felt dry, incomplete and far too sex obsessed (without any real meaning or depth from that).

Perfectly fine - but nothing stellar. Thriller might not be my genre. Gone Girl really set the bar too high.

A bit long at 850 pages, but well worth it and it flies by. Less “thrilling” than I would have anticipated, but you get so absorbed in the world you hardly even care what he's there for. It has everything you want in a book and more.

2.5 - I think he's onto something here but I wanted more and less at the same time. I felt he took too much time building something up and setting context to explain something for 2 minutes. I wanted to meat and I felt like this was rice and potatoes.

DNF - this was not good guys.

I hated the ending though and needed to get that off my chest. So all that hoopla and NO ONE dies?? Dumb.

3.5 - love the world and the idea but I felt like this should have been half as long. Most of this was a war simulation and I just didn't love that. I'll read one more before I throw in the towel.

4.25 - Really really good. The further I got into this the more I found myself wanting to go back to reading it. The way TJR wrote about the backside of Hollywood was as if she was an insider her whole life. Evelyn was dynamic and magical, and many have said it before, but it's hard to imagine that she's not a real person. I found myself wanting to google the movies or the actors she rubs shoulders with to learn more. It's no doubt, this world was one I just wanted to be in and I have found myself thinking about the implications of the politics of Hollywood outside of this.

The main kicker for me keeping this 5 stars is Monique - I just did not care for her character, or her resolution with Evelyn. The whiplash in and out of the world of glamour just was too much. I found myself day dreaming of how I could have kept the reader in Evelyns world - it wasn't bad, I just have the strongest feeling that I wanted it to be better.

Romance is not my genre but took a chance on this - fun and lighthearted with some adventure. Dialogue was super cheese but consistent for each character so it felt warranted. But what really pissed me off is Bennett had no character resolution with her “passion” - she found love and suddenly everything was okay - nah don't buy it.

1.5 - Agonizing is the best word to describe this. Predicable and almost entirely uninteresting.

3.5 - good, nostalgic, really nothing wrong with it, but it didn't do much to expand upon the world and what we already know. Was hoping for a bit more world building in a world that is so intriguing.

This is one of those books you come across every so often that both the story and the words the story is composed of move you. It's clear by the end why this won a Pulitzer Prize. One of my favorites of all time.

On a side note - this is what I was hoping This Little Life would be.