Tom Hanks, Bears, and Two Mysteries 🎞️ 🐻🔎🔍

 

 I like Tom Hanks because I'm not a monster. His novel The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece is fun and informative. My involvement in movies is I've watched many from my couch. Tom Hanks's novel is a worthwhile read, but I find myself asking, would this have gotten published if the author wasn't Tom Hanks? Maybe not. The writing can be clunky; lots of description that doesn't further the plot, many simplistically rendered characters to keep track of. Though Hanks does try, his characters are either good guys or bad guys without much nuance or development. The book could have benefitted from multiple storylines and more tension. However, it was heartwarming. The good guys triumph, and the bad guys get their just desserts.

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  My daughter asked me to read Mama Bear Apologetics: Empowering Your Kids to Challenge Cultural Lies by Hillary Morgan Ferrer, General Editor. It was written by seven Christian women to address what our culture teaches about spirituality and thought trends. Something I've seen depicted is wealthy people are evil, and that is discussed in a chapter on Marxism. The book is well-researched, and the women are passionate about defending Christianity and safeguarding their children. The format is designed for a study or class with questions and action points. The book proposes teaching a "spit and chew" method of evaluating cultural messages--keep the pearls, spit out the swine. Talking with our kids about world views of the things they consume is a great idea. 

  I found the book's voice somewhat uneven as it jumped from author to author. The writing of one would be playful and jokey, and another would be deadly serious. Mama Bear would be a great book to read and discuss with others, but reading it on my own was a bit of a slog.

    One of the contributors is Alisa Childers. I reviewed her book, Another Gospel, here: https://barbpruittwrites.blogspot.com/search?q=Alisa+Childers  

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Sophomore effort, good continuation,

  Robert Thorogood's book Death Comes to Marlow is a good follow-up to his first effort. His characters are fleshed out with interesting backstories and problems. He keeps the tension throughout the book and even folds a crossword plotline. If you liked the first, you'll enjoy the second. 

Here is my review of the first book: https://barbpruittwrites.blogspot.com/search?q=Robert+

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Third in the series, madcap fun, 

  My murder mystery book club is reading the first in the series by Elle Cosimano, Finlay Donovan is Killing It (review here: https://barbpruittwrites.blogspot.com/search?q=Finlay+Donovan) for July, but I've been reading her latest book, Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun. Cosimano's writing reminds me of Janet Evanovich, with crazy characters and madcap adventures. Finlay is a reluctant mystery solver propelled by circumstances, which adds to the insanity. 

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