MMM: Bible Difficulties, Fifty Books, Channel of the Apes, Long Weekend
YAMBR (Yet Another Mini-Book-Review). Maybe I should just go with MBR? Nah, that's Master Boot Record. And that'd be confusing, because everybody knows that one. It's sweeping the nation. Anyhow, I just finished the Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties, by Gleason Archer. It's truly a must-have for any apologetics library, which makes me just extra-super-glad I got it for $1 on eBay (along with another book I didn't want but read anyway).
I read through the Encyclopedia in parallel with my daily Bible reading, taking in the entries for passages I'd just read. It was a great way to go through it. Next year I think I'm going to do that with Halley's Bible Handbook, which I've heard is excellent (and purchased at a used book sale).
Of course, one needn't read straight through such a resource the way I did, but I thought it was a good idea to read all the entries, then go back and visit them again if need be. Plus, this way I get to count it on my Reading List!!! Talking of which...
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Obviously, I'm a reader. I pretty much always have a book with me. When I go someplace where I'll likely encounter a queue, I bring a book. It comes in handy. Every year I make myself the goal of reading fifty books. Actually, I should probably revise that, because I like to say I read about a book per week, which means basically fifty-two books, but who's counting? (yeah...I am)
I've just crested the fifty book level for this year. In fact, I'm virtually guaranteed (hey, the Lord could come back!) to reach fifty-two, since I'm currently at fifty-one and I'm within a few days of finishing my son's NIV Adventure Bible and Happiness is a Serious Problem. Cool. Reading makes me happy.
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This weekend, Fox Movie Channel was doing Channel of the Apes, which is awesome. I just love Planet of the Apes, and yet somehow I'd managed to never see the whole series (I'd seen the first two films). Actually, I still haven't seen them all. I caught Escape From the Planet of the Apes and DVR'd the rest of the series. Sweet. And since it was Fox Movie Channel, it was widescreen and no ads. Double sweet.
BTW, Monkey Planet, more commonly known as Planet of the Apes after it was translated into English (from French), is an awesome book. It's not perfectly like either the 60s film or the more recent Tim Burton one, which is actually a good thing, because you might as well gain something from reading the book. In all, the story is more coherent and satisfying than either film. I enjoyed it so much I may just pick up a copy for my home library.
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Can we all agree that the week after a long weekend should have a long weekend again? Of course, that would logically lead to all weekends being long. I'm fine with that, actually.