Tag: books

Never Again Sighs the Dawn

James HoganLeave a comment

Monday morning here…hello friends!!  A quick few words.

Firstly…this is my 900th post here on livejournal.  I suppose that’s not too momentous and really only matters to me, but I wanted to make it known.  When will I get to 1000 I wonder…

Secondly…another book I need to log – even though I feel it’s cheating a bit since I really read most of it last year and then stopped reading it for about…9 months!?  Finally picked it up the other night and finished the last few chapters.

7. Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow.  Maryanne gave me this for Christmas of 2016 I believe, so quite a ways back now!  I do so love biographies even though I typically focus on Christian ones.  This was still quite good – got such a good glimpse into the historical details of the Revolutionary War period – and finding out more about Hamilton was indeed so fascinating!!  Of course this book has now become super popularized because of the musical(which YES is amazing if you haven’t heard it yet!!), but the book deserves praise on its own merit.  An extremely fun and easy read – I would definitely recommend to anyone who likes history and reading about interesting individuals.  (And no excuses for me taking over a year to actually read this)

Thirdly…last night I went to bed far later than I should have.  Two reasons for this.  I for some reason felt in the mood to throw together a playlist of a lot of my most recent songs I’ve acquired(via John or my random youtube listening)…and then I realized I actually had enough for another CD and so I put them on a playlist and had to listen through to see what stuck.  While I was doing that…I started my next book – a re-read of a series that will probably take a while but it is one of my very very favourites.  The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan.  I forgot how good this book is.  I got sucked into the world of Rand al’Thor and the village of Emond’s Field…and before I knew it, I had enjoyed listening to a fantastic playlist(CD of which now sits in my car!  It might be terrible though because it’s been vetted much less thoroughly than I usually do…) and read far too many chapters of EotW.  Ah well.  It was a pleasant Sunday night…I could have done far worse than had a night reading a good book while listening to lovely music…

Fourthly…I am consequently very sleepy today.  All hail peppermint mocha and much espresso therein!

Peace and love.

Your Palms

James HoganLeave a comment

Happy Friday friends!!  Quick few words before work begins.  (Wanted to write more but sadly time does not allow!)  Firstly, need to log my latest read…(which you’ll probably not be surprised at if you’ve read any of my entries lately)

6.  The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien.  This book is one of my very favourites.  And I typically like to re-read every few years…but this past re-read was after a little longer gap than most, mainly because of my nostalgia for the last re-read, which was in Aberdeen(in which this was my “garden read” whenever it was sunny outside!)  So although I wanted to hold onto that Scotland memory, I could eventually wait no longer and started this book anew in the latter part of last year.  Every time I read it, I do kind of wonder if I’m going to still have the same love for it…and every time I am reminded of my why I love it so.  A book that is gorgeous and full of pathos and hits me in the inner parts of my soul.  If I could write half as well(nay, a quarter!) as Tolkien, I would be thrilled.  Alas!  But reading this again, new passages continue to thrill me and I fall in love with Middle Earth and all my favourite characters all over again.  I must confess, I didn’t read the appendices, but I don’t think I have to read those to count this book as read, right??  (Although – I did read a little bit of one appendix…after finishing the last chapter last night, I read the story of Aragorn and Arwen Undómiel.  What love!)  So I have written many words but little substance, so to conclude this I will just say that this book remains unparalleled amongst fiction – so beautifully does it rhyme with my soul and present glimpses of that more perfect Truth.

And now – the sand runs swift through the glass, yet I will press on a bit longer.  Today I was blessed with a special gift…waking up extra early and actually being able to stay awake long enough to enjoy a gorgeously long coffee and reading morning.  Fresh-ground coffee and wonderful words to be read and a few special moments with my God.  What can compare?  So I had over an hour to read and so I got to read a bit of David Brainerd’s diary, then Psalms 9-10, Proverbs 2 and Daniel 10-12(gorgeous chapters…love what Daniel is told at the end…terrible paraphrase: “Keep on keeping on…until you die and then someday at the end of all things you will rise anew – gloriously, wondrously!”  Oh that I were a man who might also be called “one who is greatly esteemed” by my Lord) and also Romans 8.  Sometimes I struggle to make it all the way through Romans 8…but today I had the time to luxuriously read through the entire chapter.  Still – that first verse was almost too much for me and I can still barely grasp its magnitude –Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  Bliss.  And…who will separate us from the love of Christ?

Might my heart always burn so hotly for the love of my Lord.

The Steward and the King

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‘Then you think that the Darkness is coming?’ said Éowyn.
‘Darkness Unescapable?’ And suddenly she drew close to him.
‘No,’ said Faramir, looking into her face.
‘It was but a picture in my mind.
I do not know what is happening.
The reason of my waking mind tells me
that great evil has befallen
and we stand at the end of days.
But my heart says nay; and all my limbs are light,
and a hope and joy are come to me that no reason can deny.
Éowyn, Éowyn, White Lady of Rohan,
in this hour I do not believe that any darkness will endure!’
And he stooped and kissed her brow.

And so they stood on the walls of the City of Gondor,
and a great wind rose and blew,
and their hair, raven and golden,
streamed out mingling in the air.
And the Shadow departed,
and the Sun was unveiled,
and light leaped forth;
and the waters of Anduin shone like silver,
and in all the houses of the City men sang
for the joy that welled up in their hearts
from what source they could not tell.

-Tolkien, LotR, p962

the Pathetique

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Far above the Ephel Duath in the West the night-sky was still dim and pale.
There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains,
Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while.  The beauty of it smote his heart,
as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him.
For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end
the Shadow was only a small and passing thing:
there was light and high beauty
forever beyond its reach.

-Tolkien, LotR, p922

Northampton

James HoganLeave a comment

Hello friends and happy Wednesday!  I am most sleepy and thus shall not write long…(even though at some point would love to chronicle my past weekend in North Carolina…), but for now – my latest read:

5.  Jonathan Edwards: A New Biography by Iain Murray.  My second favourite biography of all time…and one of my very favourite books ever.  I hadn’t read it in a few years and I thought it was time.  And yes – it was as encouraging and inspiring and convicting as ever.  I do love it so.  One of the great men of God, humble and longing to please God in all things.  Would I possess even a small fraction of his love and passion for God.  Murray’s writing is – as always – enthralling and uplifting and supremely factual, while also seeking to glorify God in the telling of a story of a man.  The book is truly a story of the works of God, not the works of man.  And that is what I love.  And this book did something all good books should do – it got me pointed to my next read – now reading the diary of David Brainerd, which has continued to deeply convict and encourage me.  Oh that I might be more conscious of God and His glories and less desirous of mine own.  

Contradictory Wildcats

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 Happy Thursday friends!!  It’s very sadly not cold outside anymore(not close to cold, even.  It’s approximately 75.  Ugh)…but I still can’t complain.  I have my peppermint mocha here, which is…not traditional for Thursdays, but that’s just because tomorrow I won’t be going to work – no, tomorrow at this time I’ll be in airport awaiting my flight to Charlotte to see Maryanne.  Hurrah!!  Can’t wait for that.  We shall have a glorious weekend of being together and doing adventerous things…mostly I just am looking forward to good chats.  Anything else going on here in Texas…?  Not terribly much…last night was a relaxing evening hanging out with John.  Had sushi and watched Rogue One, which is a very good Star Wars movie indeed.  Even if everyone does die(oh – spoilers much?  My apologies.  Not really, it came out over a year ago – no excuses!)  It was more emotional than I remember it being…and it has one of the best combined space/land battles in all of Star Wars.  Much explosive, laser-filled fun!  This morning had a nice breakfast at home while I continued my read through Acts.  Sadly I’m over closer to the end than the beginning of the book….am much enjoying reading about Paul and his missionary journies presently.  Today read about his trials and travails in Corinth, Ephesus and a few other places.  Was encouraged by seeing the works of the Lord in saving so many…also convicted by how the people of Ephesus responded.  They burned over 50,000 pieces of silver’s worth of “magic books”, etc. If only we all were so serious about our sin and what distracts us from loving and honouring God with all our might.  Truly – as I read last night in Edwards biography, “…the love and the pursuit of true holiness is the enduring mark of the true Christian.”  Lovely.  I definitely am most enjoying reading this biography lately – I now remember why it is one of my all-time favorites.  Oh that I might live with even a tenth of Edward’s passion and desire to know Christ more.  And…as I continue to ramble, I think ’tis too late to start a new paragraph now, so shall just leave this all messy and of one piece.  Honestly, it is probably time I end this and sip my peppermint mocha in peace as I meditate on the goodness of God and look forward to what He shall do this day.  Oh!  And speaking of mochas, while at Starbucks today, got a surprise Katie sighting…she is only working one day a week lately due to nursing school, etc – and apparently got switched to Thursdays.  So we enjoyed chatting for a couple minutes – this past Sunday she was at Bethel on a panel talking to middle-schoolers about dating and all that…they definitely need it!!!  (I probably could have used something similar back in the day, honestly…)  Anyways, we had solid people on all these panels(at least on the girls’ side – know it was Megan, Emily, Erica & Katie…can’t go wrong!).  Now I continue to type and yet there is no point.  So I shall rest my fingers and think and ponder for real.  Peace, my friends.

Super Post

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It is Monday once again!  Funny how that happens…

Just posting a few words here before work starts in earnest – (and before the week starts in earnest!) – thought I could chronicle this past weekend, but don’t really feel like writing that much.  But – I can at least say that yesterday was a lovely day.  Deacon duty at church, which meant I was running around the whole morning and didn’t really truly get to be in the worship service, but church was wonderful nonetheless and it is an honour to serve.  Following church, had some chill time at home…talking with John…reading Spiritual Depression…enjoying a somewhat lazy Sunday afternoon!  But yesterday was also a momentous Sunday(if football events can be counted as momentous!) as it was time for the Super Bowl, fifty-second of its name.  Eagles and Patriots were playing…and honestly, since I don’t care for either of those teams, it was difficult to summon up the will to root for either of them.  I decided I wanted a good game(which I got!) and a last minute Patriots comeback(which I didn’t get), since it’s always fun to watch an epic Patriots comeback(me and John have a running joke that whenever the Patriots are behind in the 4th quarter, they’re happy because “they have them just where they want them”, deepening their opponent’s eventual humiliation when the Patriots come back to win!)  But alas, Tom Brady did not Tom Brady and the Eagles won a great game, 41-33.  Go Eagles?  Ugh, let those words never leave my mouth again.  Anyways!  It was a fun night – I didn’t want to go out anywhere, but Emily and Erica came over for a bit and so it was fun to hang out with them and catch up…and watch some football(and Justin Timberlake in halftime show!) together.

Now, this entry was longer than I anticipated so I must be off.  Going to enjoy sipping on this peppermint mocha and watching the sky slowly lighten…

Chromeria

James HoganLeave a comment

So I shan’t write long now – as soon it’s time for my lunch(leftovers – nothing fancy here!).  I hope to write more laters, but for now – just wanted to chronicle my most recent book completion. 

4.  Blood Mirror by Brent Weeks.  This book didn’t take that long to read at all, did it?  Sadness now though – since no more in this series for the forseeable future.  The long wait for Book 5 commences.  This book was a good continuation of the Lightbringer series…lots of good drama and action, while the characters were still such a delight to read about!  Seeing Kip’s maturation into a strong leader was just a delight…and then the way the book ended – the romance between Kip and Tisis – was oh so beautiful.  Haven’t seen such a lovely depiction of romance in quite some time.  So I enjoyed that much.  Solid book – still not top tier –  but satisfactory in its own way.  Next…is?  I don’t know?  Need to figure that out.  Stat.

Souvenirs

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It is a peppermint mocha Friday!!  I am oh so happy that Friday is finally here and rest is almost at hand…been a long and busy week(full of fun things and work things, just lots of things all around) and so not much sleep has been had.  I’m very much looking forward to a quiet night tonight!  Planning on making up a big batch of burritos, enjoying that for dinner…and then reading in peace.  It shall be glorious.  I so declare.  As for the main reason I decided to post today, trying to continue to keep records of my reading…latest completion is as follows:

3.  The Broken Eye by Brent Weeks.  This is book 3 in a series known as Lightbringer.  Received book 1 from Maryanne for Christmas and consequently devoured(along with Caisson – as we both got this, so it was fun to read in parallel when we were home for Christmas break!)…bought book 2 at the airport as I went to Calgary for Robbie’s wedding.  Now I have also obtained books 3 & 4 via the Amazon and so now have completed this one and one more to go before the long wait for book 5(tentative 2019 release date?).  Anyways!  This is your typical fantasy novel set in a new world with a very colourful magic system and super rounded, real-feeling characters.  Because of some crudity of language and content here and there, it’s hard to unreservedly recommend these, but I must confess I have much enjoyed reading – the plot and storylines are gripping and keep you reading and again…the characters are such a delight – even the minor ones I’ve fallen in love with!  I also wonder if the author is Jewish and/or Christian…it’s hard not to when his characters have names such as Ben-Hadad and there are evil characters named Abaddon!!  There are numerous quotes that convince me of his at least familiarity with the Bible – “You shall be repaid for the years the locusts have eaten…”  Anyway, finished this last night so on to Book 4.  And again – while I can’t wholeheartedly recommend these, I can say this book was a most enjoyable read, and has me thinking deeper thoughts than with most fantasy I read.  Quality writing, indeed.

Apples and Cinnamon

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So today will be an interesting day.  The weather conditions are advertised as being a “wintry mix”, which when hearing that – sounds delightfully pleasant right?  Wintry mix sounds to me like maybe a peppermint tea or exotic hot cocoa or something delicious that can be sipped while cosy at home during the depths of winter.  But no – this wintry mix is much more annoying – namely, very cold(probably sub-freezing) temperatures and various forms of precipitation.  Yay?  Driving here this morning, all the signs proclaimed: “ICE PREVENTION OPERATIONS AHEAD”.  At least Houston is trying, am I right!?  My one shoutout of the day goes to the woman I saw on her morning run as I drove to work.  5:45AM, 37 degrees and slight rain.  And she still went on her run.  I shake my head in admiration and shame – never am I that dedicated!!

But apart from the weather forecast, right now I’m enjoying my coffee here at work as I continue to wake up.  Thankfully I’m less sleepy than I was yesterday!  Totally slept through my alarm so had no time for breakfast or coffee…and why did I sleep in yesterday?  Well, the night before that was Julian and Kelsey’s wedding – and oh what a gorgeous wedding it was!!  I shan’t describe it all here…but their wedding was God glorifying – a simply beautiful ceremony of them affirming their marriage covenant to one another before God Himself.    And I must briefly mention the beauty of the venue itself – outdoors surrounded by the mid-winter Texas countryside.  As I stood by Julian’s side and gazed out at the setting sun, brisk air enlivening(and slightly shiver-inducing!) and fading light spirit invigorating…I had no thoughts but to thank God for blessing Julian and Kelsey so – for giving each of them to the other as partners in this beautiful, crazy, wonderful life.  All praises to the One from whom all blessings flow.  Amen.

What else can I write before it is work time?  Well I suppose I should start on my pledge for this year.  I typically enjoy reading very much(as you should know, if you know me at all), but I am very poor in recording what I’ve read.  So I’ve decided this year to keep track of each book I read.  Even re-reads(because yes, I do re-read quite a bit – and I don’t want to miss the chance to highlight good books, just because they’re not first reads).  This is a slightly perilous resolution, for several reasons.  Firstly, because I’m typically terrible at keeping on something like this, so I must be diligent at recording these, even if I have no time to write any fancy reviews.  Secondly, because…this means my reading tastes will be exposed for the whole world to see – will be a good impetus to (try to) read quality books!  For now though..here goes.  I will record the books as I finish them, so here’s my first two, which coincidentally or not I completed last night.

1. Authority by D.M. Lloyd-Jones.  This was a remarkably short book, less than 100 pages!  But I much enjoyed this adaptation of several of Lloyd-Jones sermons he gave on the subject of authority, namely – the authority of Christ, the authority of the Scripture and the authority of the Holy Spirit.  I much enjoyed this book(as I enjoy almost all of Lloyd-Jones’ writings!) and it encouraged my soul.  Oh how we should more often remember that our faith does not come from within us and is not founded on the shifting sands of our moods or the ever changing tides of the wisdom of this world…but our faith is in Christ Himself, as revealed through the external witness of the Holy Scriptures and the internal witness of the Holy Spirit.  Oh might we rejoice in this thought and take heart.  Too easily do I get discouraged by my circumstances and by the trials and tribulations I find myself in.  Let me more oft consider the God whose son I am.

2. Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson.  This is the complete antithesis of the previous book.  Definitely not a short book – I don’t know the exact page count, but easily over 800 pages I would think.  A classic high fantasy novel.  Sanderson is truly one of my favorite authors and I think I own a higher percentage of his books than almost any other author.  I’ve also met him a few times, which adds to my liking for him.  His writing style is definitely not quite as beautiful as a Tolkien or a Rothfuss, but his world-building and action sequences are almost unparalleled.  This book is the third book in his magnum opus Stormlight Archive series and so I shan’t attempt to summarize the plot here, but I much enjoyed this book and will be definitely revisiting it in later re-reads.  I’m just sad I’ll have to wait a couple more years for the next book to come out…alas!

So there you have it – the first two books completed for 2018.  Already begun another one, will record when finished!

Have a most lovely day, dear friends – may it be a day of joy and peace.