June Books

Can't believe it's already July! This year is flying!

Shadowed by Grace by Cara C. Putman -- I found this novel in the new book section.  It was about a photographer who went to Italy during the final months of World War II in search of her father.  It wasn't really all that interesting to me although it made me think of my times in Europe which have been nice.  Need to visit Italy one day.

Last Train to Paris by Michele Zackheim -- another book from the new books shelf at the library, and I liked this one much better. It's about a reporter who covers news in Europe during WWII.  The reporter is Jewish, and it was interesting reading about her adventures, her family, and her friends there.

Listen to the Squawking Chicken by Elaine Lui -- a Chinese-Canadian tells her story which includes so much about her mother's influence on her life. I learned quite a bit about Chinese culture (at least her version of it) in this book. The part about filial piety (pg. 58) was quite interesting especially at how much it differs from how people raise children here.

Jesus, My Father, the CIA, and Me: a memoir ...of sorts by Ian Morgan Cron -- I found this book at Goodwill awhile back and finally read it this month.  The author recounts his years growing up with an abusive alcoholic father, and his own struggles with drinking too much, too young in an effort to earn his father's love.  My favorite part was when he recounted his childhood to an elderly black woman whom he met at a church he attended in Denver when he was in seminary.  The part about Jesus asking him for forgiveness and her reply that "love always stoops," really touched me.  (pg. 175)

The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen by Syrie James  -- I read a similar book about Louisa Mae Alcott that I really liked more than I thought I would. So when I saw this one at the library, I decided to see if it were similar.  I liked it.

In The Presence of My Enemies by Gracia Burnham -- I'm over a decade late reading this memoir, but I saw it at a local thrift store, and it drew my attention. I remember when New Tribes missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham were kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf, a terrorist group, in the Philippines in 2001.  It was interesting reading this account of how they were treated, and how they passed the time during their year-long captivity.  I especially enjoyed reminders of God's faithfulness to them even during those very low points, and found myself praying for these awful men, that God will show them their need for salvation through Christ. I prayed that the lives of the Burnhams showed them the peace and joy they can have in following Christ rather than a horrible ideology. 

Blackbird by Jennifer Lauck -- a biography my mom finished and said was good.  It was. But so sad, too. I wanted to jump into this book a few times and intervene on this child's behalf. Goodness, there are some mighty cruel people in this world.  I'm reading the sequel to this book now. Not sure if I will finish it in time for this post. (nope)

May Books

Roadside Assistance by Amy Clipston -- a girl tries to find her faith after losing her mother to cancer

Secrets Over Sweet Tea by Denise Hildreth Jones -- this book is based around a community and church family - eh, my mom read it and passed it along

The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott by Kelly O'Connor McNees  -- So this author enjoyed reading about LMA, and wondered if there was a romance in her life so she uses a summer the Alcotts went to Walpole, New Hampshire and creates a story about Louisa's "lost summer" of meeting some guy that she adores, but also her attempts at getting published. I liked this more than I thought I would!  And I got it at an area book exchange.

The Bible and the Land by Gary M. Burge - I enjoy these colorful books, and I requested this one on my Amazon Wishlist.  The author talked about the wilderness, water, bread, names and such things mentioned in the Bible from that culture.

Rainwater by Sandra Brown -- I found this at one of those book exchanges. I realized right away that I'd read it before, but decided to read it again. It was an easy read - just an ol' fiction book

Stolen Innocence by Elissa Wall -- a friend sent this to me for my birthday.  Interesting read.  "My story of growing up in a polygamous sect, becoming a teenage bride, and breaking free of Warren Jeffs"  -- I won't even bother mentioning yet again how much I detest men who "speak for God" and ruin so many lives

December 1941:   31 Days that Changed America and Saved the World by Craig Shirley -- this is quite a big book that I bought on a whim at Barnes & Noble a few months ago.  I remember it was in the bargain books, and I thought the subject was interesting. Curious what the US was like just before, during and after the bombing of Pearl Harbor?  This book shares interesting tidbits not just about what was happening militarily, but also cultural news such as:

The power of movies in 1941... "One of the biggest stars of the era, [Clark] Gable, took off his shirt in the movie 'It Happened One Night' to reveal his bare and masculine chest.  Unlike most men in America, he did not wear a T-shirt and as a result T-shirt sales dropped 40 to 50 percent in one year."  (pg. 32)

Of course I got to wondering later if perhaps the war and maybe a shortage of cotton or people using clothes more contributed to this drop.  This book was so-so.  Not terrible, but not the best either. 

Accidental Pharisees by Larry Osborne  -- "Avoiding pride, exclusivity, and the other dangers of overzealous faith."  -- I had this one on my Amazon wishlist and got it for my birthday. I think a friend recommended it to me.

Original Glory

I "liked" some Facebook page awhile back, and I read this on my news feed today.

What do you think?




"To teach a child from their earliest years that they are inherently bad and capable of all sorts of evil is to mock the divine image in which we were created, and not only provides a license for sin, but subconsciously programs people to live debased and immoral lives. Teach your children that they are the offspring of divine perfection, and that the Father, Son and Spirit smile upon them and all that they are.
Original glory trumps original sin. Original sin is Adamic mythology, but original glory is truth redeemed and revealed through Christ."

April Books

I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up For Education and Was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai -- I've been wanting to read this one, and found it at a local library.  I enjoyed reading more of Malala's story, and hope she and her family will be able to return to their home one day.  It was interesting reading her views on the Taliban, Benazir Bhutto, the Americans, and, of course, schools for girls!

Code Talker: A Novel about the Navajo Marines of World War Two by Joseph Bruchac -- an interesting way to learn more about the Navajo Indians and their work for the US during the war; my friend Joni recommended this to me a few years ago, and I finally found it at my library.

Cut Me Loose: Sin and Salvation after my Ultra-Orthodox Girlhood by Leah Vincent -- I heard a short interview with this author on NPR, and then found this book in the new section of my library; If you enjoy books about people leaving their super-strict faiths, you may enjoy this book.  It was more graphic at times than I expected. I couldn't help feel anger at her parents for how they treated her. It reminded me of fiction books I read as a teen about Amish teenagers breaking away from their faith and being shunned.  No unconditional love in these families!

The Jewish Gospels: The Story of the Jewish Christ by Daniel Boyarin -- "Throughout this book, we have been observing how ideas that have been thought to be the most distinctive innovations of Jesus himself or his followers can be found in the religious literature of the Jews of the time of Jesus or before."  (pg. 133)  We're talking things like a suffering Messiah who atones for our sins, the possibility of a divine "Son of Man" (which the author claims is more of a divine title than "Son of God") and Jesus keeping kosher.

For the Benefit of Those Who See: Dispatches from the World of the Blind by Rosemary Mahoney -- I happened upon this book in the new book section of my library. Earlier this year I read the memoir of a deaf person so I thought it would be interesting to read about blindness.  The author shares about her experiences with the blind in Tibet, and later teaching English to a group of international students at a school for the blind in India.  Through her students I learned how blind people are treated in Germany, Japan, Kenya, Liberia, and Tibet.  I heard stories of other cultures, and even how people have reacted when their eye sights have been restored and they've seen for the first time (it's not as much fun as you'd think:  can you imagine humans not being as good-looking as you'd always imagined? and that's not the real issue just a mere shallow vanity thing)  My kind of book. Very interesting once you get past the introduction which dwells on how much the author would hate to be blind and her squeamishness when her boyfriend undergoes LASIK.  I almost decided to not read any further, but I'm glad I persevered. 

The Nazi and the Psychiatrist by Jack El-Hai -- the subtitle is "Hermann Göring, Dr. Douglas M. Kelley, and a Fatal Meeting of Minds at the End of WWII" and it is about that, but it's mostly about Dr. Kelley, his family background and practice both during his time in Nuremberg and beyond.  I didn't know he'd worked in nearby Winston-Salem, NC, for a time after his stint in Germany.  He sounds like a very troubled man, but who wouldn't be hanging around a bunch of Nazis and trying to understand them!  Plus his grandfather...and mom.

Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus: A Devout Muslim Encounters Christianity by Nabeel Qureshi --  I really liked this book more than I thought I would.  I'd put it on my Amazon Wishlist a few months ago because someone had mentioned this guy to me. I tend to like conversion stories to varying degrees, and wanted to hear more about this guy.   The first many chapters conveyed how he grew up, his deep love for his faith, and how he enjoyed debating Christians in the United States.  He seemed to really love learning as he stated how often he'd visit his father's library to learn more about his faith and how to argue against Christianity.  You cannot help falling in love (um, can't think of a better way to put this) with his parents and just their sweetness and devotion.  Their family life is truly one to be envied.  Alas, he becomes best friends with a Christian who defends his faith, one who challenges him...and much of the book is about this amazing friendship, and how the two guys interact and learn more about each other's faiths.  It was quite an enjoyable read the last two days. None of the Islam bashing that one can find in many other books. 

Prototype by Jonathan Martin -- I believe this was on Rachel Held Evans' list of favorite books in 2013. I put it on my Amazon wishlist and got it for my birthday.  The author is a pastor of "liars, dreamers, and misfits" and he does a nice job of sharing his heart for people and for creation - restoring the world as Jesus would.  At one point he says we long for restoration, not escape, and he reminds us of the beauty all around us.  I read this as I was lying outside in the shade under a tree, with the bright blue sky sparkling above me. Birds were singing especially loudly and cheerfully.  It was a pretty neat moment. I like the part around page 147 about God coming down to earth, and how His doing that is "the descent of God's Kingdom peace into the chaos of the present."  Jesus brought the "comfort and delight of God's very own touch to humanity," and the other Comforter i.e., the Holy Spirit, came to do the same - and still does.   I was challenged by the chapter on community and sharing yourself and getting involved in one. I resist this to no end. I like the idea of it, but hate it at the same time.  People are messy. People take time. People want listening ears, and emotional support, and sometimes monetary support, and involvement - and, I'm often too selfish and wrapped into my introverted ways to reach out - or allow myself to be vulnerable.  "'Can't I just have a relationship with Jesus and not the church?' Actually, no.  you can't."  UGH! 

A Short Stay in Hell by Steven L. Peck -- a couple Mormon bloggers mentioned this book as something that really stuck with them so I added it to my Amazon Wishlist and a sweet friend sent it to me for my birthday. It has large print and is only 104 pages so I finished it in about an hour.  The first 80% of the book I was thinking this was so bizarre and I didn't really get it. But then it all sort of sunk in.  My first thoughts were that, hey, I would totally be fine if the Baptist version of hell were wrong, and lost people went to a huge library for a "short stay" and then they could be with God for the rest of eternity.  I have NO PROBLEM AT ALL with a more merciful God, and my views of hell being wrong.  I'd love to think of folks like Hitler and Bin Laden searching through books for the stories of their lives right now.  But then this book progressed and I was thinking hell was everyone being white, Americans, and being surrounded by SO MANY BOOKS. And, hey, I love books (note most blog posts these days are books I've read each month.)  I realized loneliness and lack of hope and even "short stays" in hell can be hellish.


The Lost Childhood by Yehuda Nir -- a rather interesting memoir of a Polish Jew and how he, his mom, and sister survived World War II. 

March Books

The Wordy Shipmates by Sarah Vowell -- I decided to get as many of her books as I could find in my local libraries. This one dealt with the Puritans and their colonies in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut.  She discusses John Winthrop a lot, Roger Williams, Anne Hutchinson, Henry Vale, and other people here and there.  It was an interesting way to learn more about this time in US history. I liked this book least of her books though. I think because it was more "wordy" (get it?)  instead of talks of her travels to various places. She did travel some, but New England's not that big so ...

Unfamiliar Fishes by Sarah Vowell -- a pretty good way to learn more about Hawaii's history; I ... didn't know much about it

Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool -- a blogger recommended this one so I found it at my library. I enjoyed reading of Abilene's summer in Manifest as she learned more about the town where her father had lived (I passed this one to my mom, and she enjoyed it as well.)

Between Sundays by Karen Kingsbury -- another book my mom read and thought I might like. These are easy reads for me. This one dealt with a few NFL players (fictitious) and the foster care system.  Really made me wish I had more of a heart for helping children especially older ones who are jaded by the system.  My heart hurts for them.

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein -- I'm trying to read a few books that people have recommended on their blogs or on Facebook.  This was one Niki liked a lot, and I found it in the YA section of my local library.  I had a tough time getting into it, and thought of not wasting more time on it, but I kept thinking that Niki really liked this book so I kept going.  And I'm glad I did.  The story got better and better the more "Verity" wrote, and then later when someone else wrote ...it came together pretty well.  This story takes place during World War II. Just never make the mistake of calling Verity an English gal. She's SCOTTISH!

The Convert: A Tale of Exile and Extremism by Deborah Baker -- this book is about a Jewish woman who converted to Islam, and moved to Pakistan where she wrote articles that spoke against the evil West.  In my opinion, she's a horribly weird woman.  Read more here if you want.

A House in the Sky by Amanda Lindhout and Sara Corbett  -- curious what it's like to be held hostage in Somalia as a female? Here is one woman's experience - wow; Bridget recommended this memoir and my library had it

Strangers at My Door: A True Story of Finding Jesus in Unexpected Guests by Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove  -- found this in the new book section at my local library; the author and his wife live in a hospitality house in a predominately black neighborhood north of Duke University's campus. Since I live about 30 minutes or so from that area, I decided this might be an interesting book. It was.  I admire the way they live among addicts, and homeless people, and those leaving for and returning from prison. How they really get involved in these lives and learn more about themselves in the process.  How we are all in this together...that sort of thing.

Where Yesterday Lives by Karen Kingsbury - another book my mom had that I decided to read before returning to the library.  A family in Michigan gathers to bury their father - and to deal with some issues they have with each other. 

February Books

In the Sanctuary of Outcasts by Neil White -- A memoir about the author's time in prison for bank fraud. Only his prison was a Louisiana leprosarium.  This story tells of his months there introducing us to his fellow prison inmates as well as those who had lived there for decades due to their having leprosy or Hansen's disease.  A pretty interesting book!

What's That Pig Outdoors? a Memoir of Deafness by Henry Kisor  -- I found this in the biography section of my local library.  It was interesting reading the perspective of a man who was deafened by an illness when he was three.

One of several things that struck me was how often he had to go for speech therapy because after awhile his ability to speak at least 90% clearly (or able to be understood) would falter. I like that he tried improving himself and that his speech therapists pushed him to do better.

I enjoyed his thoughts on being a life guard. How much of that is visual rather than listening for someone crying out for help.



Also when he talked about lipreading - who tended to be easier (women, Southerners) to read vs. those more difficult (men, nonSoutherners). 

"Deaf people share certain similarities with blind people, for each has suffered the loss of a sense. Our afflictions, however, are not the same.  The consequences are profoundly different. Blindness is a handicap of mobility, deafness one of communication. Terrible as is loss of vision, it does not distance the blind from the sighted the way loss of hearing separates the deaf from the normal.  Deafness opens up a huge social chasm between sufferers and nonsufferers. In the hearing world, deaf people tend to be solitary and ignored if they are lucky, lonely and rejected if they are not. That is why Samuel Johnson called deafness 'the most desperate of human calamities.'"  (pg. 11)

Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell - I tend to like books where people travel to various parts of the world. I even read books from time to time of people traveling the United States from east to west by mule or those who hiked the Appalachian Trail.  This book was in a local library - the one I go to least - and it seemed odd, but of some interest so I checked it out.  I figured I could always return it not finished if it didn't capture my attention in the first chapter or two.  I found I really enjoyed it!  The author takes the reader on a trip to Key West, Washington, D.C., the Adirondack mountains, New York City, rural sights in Kentucky, Virginia and Maryland all the while telling historical tidbits about the men involved in the deaths of three United States Presidents.  She also incorporates other history and current events along with her wit and humor.  A very nice way to learn more history!  

So, do you think Dr. Samuel Mudd was guilty of conspiring to kill Abraham Lincoln or was it coincidence that John Wilkes Booth happened to know exactly how to find his house when he needed treatment?

Here is one thing that took my attention, too.

"Robert Lincoln, by the way, would continue to run the War Department for Garfield’s successor Chester Arthur.  In the 1880’s, this mostly entailed managing the dwindling Indian Wars out west, with one ghastly exception.  The same week Garfield was shot, one of Lincoln’s charges, a twenty-five-man Arctic scientific expedition was en route to Lady Franklin Bay.  Robert Todd Lincoln, writes Leonard F. Guttridge in Ghosts of Cape Sabine, "could not have cared less about the North Pole."  Underprovisioned, thanks mostly to Lincoln’s indifference toward the project, the men arrived in the North Pole to set up a base, expecting a relief ship the following year.  It never came.  After two years went by without supplies or rescue, the starving party abandoned their camp and retreated home.  Only six survived.  The survivors ate the dead men.  It was a fiasco of planning and leadership, a national embarrassment and disgrace, and as the bureaucrat in charge, Robert Lincoln had frozen blood on his hands.  When the rumors of cannibalism surfaced, Lincoln and his counterpart the secretary of the navy conspired to cover it up by announcing that the reason the bones of the dead had been mangled by knives was that the survivors cut up their comrades’ flesh to use as "shrimp bait."  That’s how ugly the scandal was - that turning human flesh into shrimp bait was a positive spin." (pg. 161)





Leaving Mother Lake: A Girlhood at the Edge of the World by Yang Erche Namu and Christine Mathieu - a memoir of a Moso girl who tells of her people's traditions and her story of how her mother defied tradition by leaving her mother's household and how Namu later did the same - except in a bigger way. The Moso believe in visiting relationships between women who live at the maternal house, and men who knock on their doors as lovers.  Marriage breaks down families and hasn't been widely-practiced.  While some people have written of the Moso as matriarchal, they are perhaps more matrilineal.





The Partly Cloudy Patriot by Sarah Vowell -- since I liked the above-mentioned Sarah Vowell book more than I thought, I decided to see what else my library had that she's written. This book was more of a collection of thoughts on touring Presidential libraries, attending the inauguration of President George W. Bush (and Sarah's bursting into tears of sorrow), thoughts on Teddy Roosevelt (as a child she envied his asthma since he was able to lie around and read all day), Tom Cruise, Tom Landry, The Wonder Twins and a few other topics. I learned more about her upbringing in Oklahoma and Montana, her parents, her twin sister, and her nephew.





I Forgot to Remember: A Memoir of Amnesia by Su Meck  -- I found this one in the new books section of a local library.  A pretty interesting story of a lady who got struck in the head by a ceiling fan and the results of that: she lost all her 22 years worth of memories and had to learn who she was again.  She tells of her frustration of not having shared memories with people who called themselves her parents, and children, and husband, and cousins and so forth.  And the thought of kissing and having sex with this strange guy. Wait! What is sex again?  How do I even write or read or find my way places or take care of my young children?  If you know someone with a traumatic brain injury or if you just like memoirs, this might interest you.



The Chance by Karen Kingsbury -- My mom finished this and said it was good. I thought it would be great for reading while traveling to and from the beach this weekend, and it was.  An easy, somewhat predictable read, but sometimes you need something light.  This was about best friends, Nolan and Ellie, who were separated when Ellie's dad moved them across country when they were both 15 years old. Eleven years later, they meet again. Stuff like that.



Love, Charleston by Beth Webb Hart - another book that mom my finished, said was good so I decided to read it rather than return it to the library for her.  Takes place in Charleston (duh), mostly about three cousins and their experiences one year just before and after one cousin gives birth.  Deals a bit with post-partum depression. Not in a really technical way, but maybe making people more aware of it in an easy-to-read fiction way.



Beneath My Mother's Feet by Amjed Qamar -- found this in the YA section in the library.  A story from Pakistan about a girl with a pretty awful father and brother, but a good mother.  This story is about their lives once the mother and daughter become house maids because of the slackness of their male relatives.  Books like these make me sooooo thankful for my culture.

January Books

Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls  - one of my favorite books last year was a memoir by this author.  This book was a "true life novel" about Jeannette's grandmother, Lily.  An interesting read especially if you are curious about how people grew up in the Southwest a hundred years ago.

Tobacco Road by Erskine Caldwell -- I pretty much hated this book from the beginning.  I really don't like books that say the same thing over and over. The first chapter was about a dirt poor family conniving to steal turnips from a passing neighbor. If I heard them say one more time about how much they love turnips, but their turnips had "damn-blasted green-gutted worms in them" so please give me yours  -- grrr.  Thankfully the next chapter dropped this subject, but it was disturbing!  Books like this feed contempt for the poor, the backward farmers, women preachers (or any perverted preachers because Bessie was perverted), the southerners who dare think like this. I guess it's for the best that people like this starve and/or burn to death with few people caring. Wouldn't want to bother any one with these lazy, perverted lowlifes, and the sooner this breed dies out, the better for all of us.

The Silver Star by Jeannette Walls  - since I read her memoir and her true-live novel, I decided I should read this novel since my library had it.  Pretty interesting book.  I didn't really love the ending, but the story itself was pretty good up until the last bit. It just ended a bit "happily ever after" which is good, but was too abrupt perhaps.

A Jewish Understanding of the New Testament by Rabbi Samuel Sandmel - I saw this book recommended to Rachel Evans sometime last year and put it on my wishlist. I got it for Christmas and decided it would be the first book I began in 2014.  It took me nearly the whole month (some days I read more than others), but I finished it earlier today (the 27th). 

I enjoyed reading how the New Testament comes across to a rabbi.  He wrote it for Jews, and many things that were familiar and innocuous to me in the NT, came across differently when I considered them from his perspective.  I enjoyed how he concluded the book (see below.)

 Here are a few notes I took.

One example of why Paul is difficult for many Jews to understand:

"Rabbinic Jews and modern Jews believe that man is by nature good; Paul, that he is by nature bad.  Jews hold that a man may commit sins and by repentance re-establish himself in God's grace; Paul, that man, in possessing a physical body, is gripped by inherited sinfulness from which he himself cannot extricate himself.  Jews believe that each person, through repentance and good deeds, works out his own personal atonement; Paul, that helpless man requires atonement to be made for him, and that the death of Jesus was this atonement."  (pg. 38)

Page 41 dealt with Jewish missionaries and how missionary activity was "by no means unsuccessful" in the Greek Diaspora.

The Jewish view of sin vs. Paul's view was interesting.  "In the Jewish tradition, man atones and, it is believed, God graciously pardons him. In Paul's view, man cannot atone, but needs to have his nature changed from the bodily to the spiritual."  (pg. 59)

When the author talks about the gospels, he speaks of Matthew and Luke borrowing heavily from Mark yet recasting the stories to suit the emerging needs of the church.  Since Paul seems to abolish the use of the Law, the gospels were written due to "the urgent need for some regulation."  This is why Matthew introduces Jesus' version of the Law in the Sermon on the Mount. 

"The differences between Mark, on the one hand, and Matthew and Luke, on the other, show us  with unmistakable clarity how the problems, doctrines, and needs of the church developed and reached a crystallized expression."  (pg. 143)

"The Gospels do not in reality tell us about Jesus; they tell us about the faith, the problems, and the interests of the church which created them."  (pg. 195)

"In the Jewish tradition there have been many men who have inspired in modern Jews ideals such as self-effacement, nobility, and exaltation, yet neither the Old Testament nor rabbinic literature depicts the ancient worthies - Abraham, Moses, David - as perfect. Not perfection, but goodness, has been the Jewish demand from the individual, a goodness which we Jews have urged upon ourselves as a personal responsibility to be nearly as perfect as possible.  But we Jews have not equated strict perfection and goodness as interchangeable.  If this standard seems deceptively to be lower than Christian perfectionism, we Jews would reply that the standard is not less exacting, but only more humanly tolerable.  In the Jewish view, there have been many great men, but not any perfect man to be exalted above all others."  (pg. 209)

And the conclusion:

"For Jews, the New Testament is not and cannot be a literature sacred to us.  But the sacred literature of others can be enlightening and broadening to us, even giving us fresh perspectives on our own beliefs, if we try to understand sympathetically the profound perplexities and deep aspirations which human beings have been inspired to express, and how the lives of our contemporaries are moved by those ideals and institutions which embody them.

The New Testament, although it is not ours, is closer to us than any other sacred literature which is not our own.  It shares in a legacy which is eternally precious to us. For American Jews it is the Scripture of our neighbors - and, happily, of fellow citizens and friends."  (pg. 321)

The Butler: A Witness to History by Wil Haygood -- This short book (fewer than 100 pages) was pretty good. I wish it had been more about 'the butler' and his time in the White House, serving 8 Presidents. The first part is, but much of the end is about the making of the movie by the same title.  That part was just OK.