Book Review: "Death by Living" by N. D. Wilson

Recently I finished reading Death by Living: Life is Meant to be Spent by N. D. Wilson. According to the publisher, “bestselling author N.D. Wilson reminds each of us that to truly live we must recognize that we are dying. Every second we create more of our past—more decisions, more breathing, more love and more loathing, all of it slides by into the gone as we race to grab at more moments, at more memories made and already fading.”
I'll be really honest - I'm still not entirely sure what I thought of this book. Parts of it I really enjoyed, while some parts left me scratching my head, wondering what I was missing here. My initial thoughts on what a book with this title would be like were completely wrong. I was expecting something of a self-help/encouragement along the road of life for people, like myself, who tend to be more conservative in our actions. What this book actually turned out to be was more of a memoir of the author's generations past and his reflections on his own young family. Honestly, the genealogist in me found the best parts of this book to be the stories of his grandparents. They grew up in a time very different from my own and lived lives that were worthy of being shared. I loved reading them and wished the book had more of them.
All in all, I think maybe my own preconceived notions about what this book would be clouded my thoughts on what it actually was.

Book Review: "Sherlock Holmes and the Needle's Eye"

   My latest read, “Sherlock Holmes and the Needle’s Eye” by Len Bailey was an interesting concept that had me intrigued as soon as I read the subtitle: “The World’s Greatest Detective Tackles the Bible’s Ultimate Mysteries.” I am a lover of mystery books, including Sherlock Holmes, and also love gleaning new understanding of Biblical stories.
   Part of what made this book so much fun to read was the set up. The book is designed for use as a Bible study or just as a collection of stories. You, as the reader, have the choice of answering the questions for each story at the back of the book before beginning to read or not – and just reading it like any other book. I do have one caveat in this regard. I chose to read the book as a Bible study, but my Bible is a Study Bible. I made the mistake of reading my Bible’s study notes while I was answering the questions, which unfortunately solved the first mystery before I even read it. So, if you choose to do it as a Bible study, just read the biblical text. It will make the stories much more fun.
   And the stories really are a lot of fun to read. There are ten different mysteries, from both the Old and New Testament, and it is the job of world famous detective Sherlock Holmes and his trusty sidekick Dr. Watson to figure out the mysteries they have been presented with. Some of them are a little easier than others to solve, and one in particular was actually pretty moving to me as a Christian (“Dead Man Walking”).
   Overall this was a great summer read and was easy to pick up without feeling lost because it had been too long since you put it down last.