HAWKEYE VOLUME 1: MY LIFE as a WEAPON (graphic novel) by Matt Fraction, David Aja, and more

Published in 2013 by
Marvel Worldwide, Inc.

This collection is the inspiration for the Disney+ series "Hawkeye." I really enjoyed this series and thought I'd read the source material. 

Just like in the series, most of Hawkeye's adventures are small time affairs. That's okay by me. Every adventure can't be (and shouldn't be) a "save the world" event.

Fans of Hawkeye in the MCU will be surprised that Hawkeye in the comics is not a family man. He's also a lot more disjointed and unorganized than he is in the movies.

That being said, this was an enjoyable read and this Hawkeye may not have an overwhelming love for his family, but he has a big heart in different ways.

I very much enjoyed the simplified art design and color scheme of most of this graphic novel. It gave it a sense of moodiness. 

I rate this graphic novel 4 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: HAWKEYE VOLUME 1: MY LIFE as a WEAPON (graphic novel) by Matt Fraction, David Aja, and more.

THE BEST of 2023

 

This is a "best of" list based on the 87 books I read and reviewed in 2023. I do not focus on new books, so there are books on this "best of" ranging from being published in 1939 to being published in December of 2023.

The titles are active links to my reviews.

*** = Best of the best in that category.

HISTORY/MEMOIR/BIOGRAPHY

This was a tough category this year. Every one of these is excellent, but it's almost unfair to compare any book to the Pulitzer Prize winning Maus. Maus practically invented the modern genre of the graphic novel and its iconic images with the Nazis as cats and the Jews as mice are unforgettable. 

***The Complete Maus (graphic novel) by Art Spiegelman

Anne Frank's Diary: The Graphic Adaptation by Anne Frank, Ari Folman, and David Polonsky.

Pathogenesis: A History of the World in Eight Plagues by Jonathan Kennedy.

Che: A Revolutionary Life (graphic novel) by Jon Lee Anderson and Jose Hernandez.

Magna Carta: The Birth of Liberty by Dan Jones.

Ten Caesars: Roman Emperors from Augustus to Constantine by Barry Strauss.

FICTION

Like the previous category, the winner in this category that stands out in any collection. The Grapes of Wrath won the Pulitzer Prize, The National Book Award and its author won The Nobel Prize. This is a strong category, though. Vonnegut is, well, Vonnegut. He's a name brand author. Not many have sold more than Michael Connelly in the 21st century. Underground Airlines was an unexpected trip into another (unpleasant) world. Nick Petrie shows up 3 times here. I discovered him this year and very much enjoyed his action novels

***The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut

Resurrection Walk by Michael Connelly

The Drifter by Nick Petrie

Tear It Down by Nick Petrie

The Wild One by Nick Petrie

Underground Airlines by Ben H. Winters

YOUNG ADULT

Every book I read in this category I read because it showed up on a banned books list created by Moms for Liberty or Purple for Parents or a similar MAGA group. I purposefully read several books this year from various banned books lists (9 in all) and these four were all excellent - and all great choices to put in school libraries.

***You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson

The Girl from the Sea (graphic novel) by Molly Knox Ostertag

Dear Martin by Nic Stone

Anne Frank's Diary: The Graphic Adaptation by Anne Frank, Ari Folman, and David Polonsky.

NON-FICTION (non-history)

This category is amazingly diverse. Sociology, religion, mental health, politics, economics, linguistics, and race. Ultimately, I decided that Of Boys and Men explained actually laid the foundation for the situations discussed in many of the other books. 

***Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male Is Struggling, Why It Matters, and What to Do About It by Richard V. Reeves

On Getting Out of Bed: The Burden and Gift of Living by Alan Noble

Oath and Honor: A Memoir and a Warning by Liz Cheney.

Poverty, By America by Matthew Desmond

The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the Subjugation of Women Became Gospel Truth by Beth Allison Barr. 

The Corruption of Lindsey Graham: A Case Study in the Rise of Authoritarianism by William Saletan

Talking Back, Talking Black: Truths About America's Lingua Franca by John McWhorter

ON GETTING OUT of BED: THE BURDEN and GIFT of LIVING (audiobook) by Alan Noble

 

Published in 2023 by ChristianAudio.con

Read by the author, Alan Noble.
Duration: 2 hours, 18 minutes.
Unabridged.

Alan Noble is a college professor and a Christian writer who writes for Christian and non-Christian publications. 

He also struggles with a mental illness that he does not identify in this short book. On Getting Out of Bed is all about dealing with the depression and struggles that come with mental illness, thus the title.

Noble's powerful description of overwhelming depression demonstrates that he understands the issue and how it effects people well. This is important because it shows that he is coming from a place of understanding and that is vitally important.

His advice is not easy advice, but it is realistic advice. One of my relatives was advised by well-meaning church members that the best way to deal with depression and suicidal ideation was prayer for God to help with these thoughts. I cannot stress enough that this was sincerely intended to be helpful advice, it was taken as, "If you only had enough faith, God would lift this burden from you. But, he has not lifted this burden so you are not worthy."

He acknowledges the struggle and he goes on to offer realistic advice that is not easy.

The author, Alan Noble

The acknowledgement: 

"Each morning you must choose to get out of bed or not. All the medication and cognitive therapy and latest research and self-care in the world can't replace your choice. This decision can be aided by these resources but never replaced by them. Which means that you have to have an answer to a fundamental question: Why get out of bed? Or, more bluntly, why live?"

The advice:

"This is precisely why we must see that each choice to do the next thing is an act of worship, and therefore fundamentally good. Feeding your pets is an act of worship. Brushing your teeth is. Doing the dishes. Getting dressed. Going to work. Insofar as each of these actions assumes that life in this fallen world is good and worth living despite suffering, they are acts of faith in God. Choose to do the next thing before and unto God, take a step toward the block. That is all you must ever do and all you can do. It is your spiritual act of worship."

There is no "fix" for most people, although Noble doesn't discount the possibility of such a thing happening. But, for almost everyone else that suffers from depression, it has to be enough to get out of bed as an act of worship and of faith.

Another quote I really liked:

"We almost never take the witness of our actions seriously enough. I suspect that's because if we did, it would frighten us. It's scary to realize that my every decision communicates to people around me something about the nature of God, the goodness of His creation and laws."

I rate this book 5 stars out of 5 stars. It can be found on Amazon.com here: ON GETTING OUT of BED: THE BURDEN and GIFT of LIVING by Alan Noble.

FINDING GRACE by Alyssa Brugman

Published in 2001 by Delacorte Press

Synopsis: 

Rachel lives in Australia and is a brand new graduate of high school. She is ready to head off to college but she needs a job and a place to live that is close to the university.

She finds both when the enigmatic Mr. Preston offers her a place to live just a few blocks from campus in exchange for watching over a woman named Grace. 

Rachel knows that Grace was brain damaged in some sort of accident, but not much more than that. Grace can walk and feed herself - but that's about all she can do. She cannot talk, she cannot bathe herself, she cannot communicate in any way.

Rachel spends the night with Grace, feeds Grace and watches over her much like a nanny watches a small child. She gets time off for classes, when the nurses come for physical therapy, and when Mr. Preston comes over to spend time with Grace.

My Review:

The author

I expected nothing from this book. Several year ago, I picked it up from a pile of books that were being shipped out of my school building because they weren't part of the curriculum any longer. The book sat in my to-be-read while for so long that I thought (because of the title) I was picking up one of the religious titles I had bought a couple of years ago. 

This wasn't the book that I was expecting, but it was a good book. Not much goes on, but it is a good coming of age book about transitions, love, rivalry, and dedication. 

I rate this book 4 start out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: FINDING GRACE by Alyssa Brugman.

MOTHER NIGHT by Kurt Vonnegut

Originally published in 1962

Mother Night is one of Kurt Vonnegut's (1922-2007) early novels (his third) and the first that is not a work of science fiction. 

The book features Howard W. Campbell, a defendant awaiting trial in Israel for war crimes in Israel. He is wanted for being a well-known voice for the Nazis on broadcasts that he made during World War II. 

Campbell freely admits that he did what they say he did, but he does have a defense - he was working as a double agent for the Americans and was passing secret messages during those broadcasts. 

The book sets itself up to be a legal thriller - will the hero of the book be saved? Can he prove what he says is true?

But, there's none of that in this book. Campbell probably would have been the voice of the Nazis in the broadcasts no matter if he was recruited as a spy or not? He is just a self-absorbed author of plays that was way more concerned about bedding his German wife than politics or any "trivial" things like a World War or the mass murder of millions of people. 

Most of the book is about the last few months of Campbell's life and how he was found hiding in plain sight in New York City where he had been living in a tiny apartment. We get to meet a cast of freaks and creeps that loathe or worship Campbell for his part in the war while Vonnegut demonstrates that patriotism, duty, and racism/race loyalty are all illusory constructs at best. 

Self-portrait by the author

The book starts out with these themes by having Campbell introduce his prison guards. One of them is too young to really remember the war, one doesn't care and one worked in a death camp - he helped lead his fellow Jews to the gas chambers by telling them it was just a de-lousing. Then, he would help loot their bodies and bury them. He did this to save his own life - but he still gets to guard a man who literally didn't do anything to hurt anyone in the war except talk.

Vonnegut revels in pointing out that life is contradictory and complicated and no one is who they act like they are.

Good quotes:

"We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful what we pretend to be." 

"Say what you will about the sweet miracle of unquestioning faith, I consider a capacity for it terrifying and absolutely vile."

I rate this audiobook 5 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: MOTHER NIGHT by Kurt Vonnegut.

OATH and HONOR: A MEMOIR and a WARNING (audiobook) by Liz Cheney

 

Published in 2023 by Little, Brown and Company in December of 2023.
Read by the author, Liz Cheney.
Duration: 12 hours, 14 minutes.
Unabridged.

Liz Cheney is most famous for two things. Pre-January 6, 2021 she was famous for being Dick Cheney's daughter and a leader of the House Republicans. 

Post-January 6, 2021 Cheney is most famous for being one of the leaders of the United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack. Cheney was one of the few Republicans willing to incur the wrath of Donald Trump and actually look into the role he played in the January 6 Attack.

Cheney calls the book a memoir, but this is not really true. The book offers next to nothing about her childhood or her personal life. You know that she has a husband because she mentions that he helped her proofread various papers she had prepared for the committee. 

Cheney starts with former President Donald Trump's election denialism immediately following the 2020 election date rather than her own life. This is a very Liz Cheney thing to do - the purpose of the book is to talk about how Donald Trump's Election Denialism and how it led directly to the January 6 Attack. There is not much else to the book because, in her mind, this movement is a direct threat to the American Republic itself. 

I am not going to detail all of her arguments that she laid out in the televised presentations that the committee prepared for the country in 2022. Those are easily available on YouTube and anyone can watch and see the arguments she makes in this book.

The book is almost always clear, concise, and to the point. That is very much Cheney's plainspoken style.

I rate this audiobook 5 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: OATH and HONOR: A MEMOIR and a WARNING (audiobook) by Liz Cheney.

THE GREAT DECHURCHING: WHO'S LEAVING, WHY ARE THEY GOING, and WHAT WILL IT TAKE to BRING THEM BACK? (audiobook) by Jim Davis and Michael Graham with Ryan P. Burge.

Published by Zondervan in August of 2013.
Read by Jim Davis, Michael Graham, and Ryan P. Burge.
Duration: 7 hours, 3 minutes.
Unabridged.

America's church members are dropping out of church at a record pace - millions upon millions over the last 2 decades and, according to the stats, the only thing that will slow the pace is the fact that Christianity in America will be so much smaller that it will statistically impossible to lose so many people without completely emptying the pews.

The authors started out to identify a number of things such as:
a) Who is leaving - is it the old, the young, the middle-aged?

b) Who is staying?
c) Why are they leaving? Is it toxic politics? Sex scandals? Abuse? Lost interest? No connection?
d) Will they be willing to come back? What would it take?

This book draws heavily from a religious attitude survey administered by Baylor University from time to time. I recently read another book on Christian Nationalism that used the same surveys and these books dovetail nicely together in a concerning way for anyone that is interested in a healthy Christianity surviving in America.

One data point leaped out to the researchers. It is a common piece of conventional wisdom that "going to college" makes people drop out of church. Kids go away, get an education and are convinced that Christianity is bad.

But, it turns out that the most likely to stay in church group is college educated Christians. They discuss various theories to explain this, but the most compelling to me is the argument that church is extremely friendly to families that have success in America and buy into America's definition of success. Having a degree is a sign that you have also bought into that definition of success. The other side of that coin is the idea that the church is not friendly to people who can't (or won't) buy into that definition of success. Single moms, divorced people, and people that work for hourly wages with irregular hours just can't participate as well and feel left out. If you feel left out enough, you drop out.

To answer all of the questions at the beginning:

a) the old, the youngish (18-30), and the middle-aged are leaving.

b) the same ages are also staying.
c) People are leaving for all of those reasons. One of the biggest reasons is that people move and never get started at a new church.

d) Most are open to coming back so long as they feel like they will actually be connected. People who were abused are not likely to come back - ever.

A topic that was never covered is if this "dropping out" is occurring in other religions. For example, are American Muslims experiencing this?   

This book was full of good information but not particularly riveting in its presentation. I rate it 3 stars out of 5.