This year for the first time we joined a life group at Mosaic.  It is a really great bunch of people whom we have all grown to view more as family than friends.  One of our family is moving to Kansas City.   Renita is a traveling nurse who has worked here for several months and is now returning to her home.  Renita doesn’t always say alot but there is a love that flows from her to her friends.  She has really bonded with Kassidy DeHart.  We will miss her a whole lot, though we have told her that she is only visiting KC and will be moving back to Portland.  We love you Renita, hope to see you soon.

Dark Force Rising by Timothy Zahn; 1993; Bantam Books; New York; 439 pages; 0-553-56071-9; 5/23-5/28

The further adventures of Luke, Han, Leia and Chewie among others.  As Grand Admiral Thrawn moves closer to the Katana Fleet of Dreadnoughts that have been hidden for years, Leia and Chewie visits the home of the Noghri, Han and Lando try to find a the leak inside the new republic and Luke and Mara have a series of adventure.  The character development is amazing and the action rages and moves quickly.  Many of our favorite characters are here with some great new ones.  It is hard to put down to get back to work or get off the bus at the correct stop.  I am really looking forward to reading the final book of the trilogy.  RRRR

Hold Tight by Harlan Coben; 2008; Dutton, New York, NY; 416 pages; 978-0-525-95060-8; 5/21-5/23

The master of the roller coast rides has done it again. Harlan Coben takes us on such a ride with so many twist and turns that you feel like you have just gotten off Space Mountain when you are done. It is a ride that you don’t know where it is going but when you get done you go ‘Whew’ and smile. Thanks for the ride, Harlan.

Mike and Tia’s teenage becomes withdrawn following the suicide of a friend, so they decide to put spyware on his computer and spy on him. Not without much debate, always worrying what is best for their son, to give him his space or to track his every move. More than once during the time I was reading this I had to put it down and remember things we have gone through with our sons. There are some many different things going on that seem to be disconnected but are really connected but we can’t always see how. Harlan manages to tie everything together in a way that makes sense. This is satisfying but disappointing, satisfying because it is always a treat to ride the Coben Coaster, but disappointing because now we have to wait in line again for another ride. If you are a big fan of Harlan’s there are a few characters from some of his other books that are referenced, including Myron. RRRR

Lord, Save Us From Your Followers, Why is the Gospel of Love Dividing America? by Dan Merchant; 2008; Thomas Nelson, Nashville, TN; 978-08499-1993-0; 5/19- 5/21

Lord, Save us From Your Followers should jump start a whole bunch of conversations about why a group of people whose very name implies that they follow someone who taught about loving one another are responsible for so much hate, animosity and down right awfulness.

Dan Merchant traveled the United States talking to people one on one about why Christians are perceived to be more committed to being right than being loving. It doesn’t help when some people on the religious right are so condemnatory. Amazingly it was people on the left who seemed to be more willing to talk with him about things. Al Franken, Sister Mary Timothy and Michael Reagan sit and talk with Dan and help us to see how we are perceived by those outside the church.

This book should make you think about whom you are following and if your faith is really in him or in the hands of some political strategist, whether you believe in the words of Christ or the words of the Republican party. I would recommend this book for everyone but especially for those who call themselves Christians or Christ followers. RRRR

Rogue River Feud by Zane Grey; 1930; Grosset and Dunlap; 218 pages; 5/15-5/19

There are very few openings that leave a last impression on me. One is by Orson Welles, from the beginning of the movie Touch of Evil, any dance by Mischa, and the opening chapter of Rogue River Feud. In the opening chapter of the book Grey traces the course of the Rogue from it’s source at Crater Lake all the way to the Pacific at Gold Beach. It is one of the most beautiful passages of writing I have ever come across, it is possible to actually see the river and it’s landscape as you read. And if that is not enough he takes you back up the river with the salmon as they return to spawn.

The rest of the story is the story of Kevin Hill of Grants Pass, Oregon. As we first meet him he has just returned from a couple of years in a military hospital, while training to go to France to fight in WWII he was involved in a horrendous accident. A cannon exploded and the breechblock hit Kevin in the head, destroying his lower jaw and knocking teeth out and giving him memory problems.  While recovering another man from Grants Pass spreads some vile rumors about him, that make him a pariah when he returns.

He makes his way to the river and meets up with an old pal and they go into the fishing business in Gold Beach and get them selves in trouble with a cabal of fisherman and the a fish baron.  When confrontation grows each believes the other dead and Kevin flees to the wild upon the river, where he falls in love with a girl.  He marries her, gets his good name restored and discovers that his partner has also turned his life around.  RRRR