Người Thừa Kế tải xuống LIT miễn phí

Rumpus Christelle chbcrea — A friend recommended Land of Men to me. First a little background. Growing up in N.Y., the son of a Vietnamese Father and a Hawaiian Mother I was tormented with being called a gook, a jap and worse by other kids. Even after all these years that cruelty remained with me throughout my life. After reading Land of Men I learned the Marquesians and Hawaiians share a common lineage. Maybe because my mother is Hawaiian I have a special place in my heart for this book. It explained and defended a culture that was taken from these people by force. Just like in Hawaii. The author presented these people as human. In a nutshell I would say that after reading this book I felt proud to be who I am. Peter

Pauline Acalin pacalin — I dunno, dawg, this book was all over the place for me--to coin a Randy Jackson-ism. I wasn't really feelin' it toward the end, and it got a little pitchy in the middle, around the whole homosexuality part. I dunno. Paula? There! Now I am HIP and WITH IT! and MEDIA SAVVY! and CREATIVE! and TUNED IN! Maybe now "outsiders" my age will be drawn to the Christian faith as though by a magnet! Alas it's not so simple, and I would caution anyone from taking the research or conclusions in this book as definitive. Their polls found some dramatic numbers, true, but for me a big red flag was raised when they revealed just how dramatically the current numbers differ from their own 1995 numbers. Not to mention, I happened to notice that their survey results (on the attitudes of young Americans towards Christianity) were much more dire-sounding than other surveys I have seen from other news sources. To me this says "re-examine your methodology and sample for possible biases and confounds and re-do the study." Not "publish a book decrying how horrible everything has suddenly and inexplicably gotten." Dramatic changes in attitudes can happen in 10 years, sure, but they are rare and must be carefully appraised before we start running around trying to decide what to do about the putative "crisis." Kinnaman however takes the numbers at face value, and pelts them at you again and again. Young people--nicknamed as "busters" (that's me, high school class of 1998) and "mosaics" (that apparently includes everyone from my little brother to my kids)--think that Christianity is full of it. That we're hypocrites, and "boring" and "out of it" and "archaic" and "homophobic" and sin-of-all-sins in this postmodernist postethics moral relativistic world--we're "judgemental." We're just uncool, man, face it. We probably smell bad and wear coke bottle glasses and can't get anyone to take us to the prom, also! (I'm actually rather certain that the Baby Boomers who file in and make up the majority of every mainline Protestant church I have visited said the same things back in about 1971, no? And they had their fun with the guitars and flowers in the pews and suddenly now they're putting checks in the plate to fund Bach Cantata night.) To use the jargon of social research, I'm not entirely sure that Kinnaman is right in identifying these dire numbers as being a "cohort effect," that is, a true trait of an entire generation, shaped by the environment in which they were raised. I think he may be seeing a transient effect based on newly protracted adolescence and its attendant rebellion. Overprotected and coddled, today's high school graduates live out their adolescence from 18-35 in many ways. The 28 year old of today may well be more like the 18 year old of 1968. Having said that, Kinnaman is right that some of the blame can be placed on the shoulders of Christians and Christian institutions. It is right to see where we have come up short, and how we could better serve our most important missions and directives. That would be, by the way, the Gospel. I am of the opinion that if we stay true to that course, young people will eventually come to us. Kinnaman feels the same, it seems, but he's a lot more freaked out about it and offers all kinds of frantic ideas on how to polish our "brand image" as it were. Some of these are good, some of these are not so good, but the overall tone of panic and hysteria, not to mention the constant belting of statistics, makes it hard to discern. While I take seriously charges of hypocrisy and prejudice, I find it hard to take as seriously complaints about being "boring" and "too set apart." It is not the job of serious people of faith to entertain and fit in. And then on the other hand, Kinnaman charges that we are also too conformist! This is what comes of trying to stay with the trends--confusion, chaos, and loss of one's direction. I found the young "outsiders" (as he calls them) to sometimes have good points, but sometimes as well to be vapid, shallow, and judgemental and narrow-minded in their own ways. There is a case to be made that the church would do better to stay put and wait for these folks to eventually hit the shallow bottom of popular culture and come to us looking for something steadier and deeper. (Usually about the time they start either having kids or realizing they will one day pass away.) The biggest flaw with the book, however, was its neglect to mention the effects of the media. The media is all about splashy headlines, so the most outre and ridiculous specimens of any group--including both Christians and secular young people--are the ones that get reported upon. This distorts our opinions of one another considerably, and it was easy to see that many of the statistics reflected opinions based on media exposure rather than exposure to an actual church or Christians. Once again I was confirmed in my belief that one of the single most important things a parent can teach a child these days is how to debunk and disbelieve media hype and reports. Kinnaman would do well to examine this question, perhaps in another book.

Mas Sultan _ — I'm could describe Out For Blood the same way I described Hearts at Stake and Blood Feud... A series for vampire fans looking for a fun, fast and entertaining read. I'd even recommend this for non-vampire fans. This was just a feel good, make you laugh, can't stop turning the pages.... awesome book! I took it with my on vacation and it was perfect! I would have to describe these novels as my "guilty pleasure" vampire novels. And I call them guilty pleasures because they aren't exceptionally written, and that's not to say Harvey isn't a great writer because she is, and the plot is a little bit predictable...I mean we know these two people are going to get together. Yet, at the same time, these books are incredibly addicting and surprising! Out For Blood, like Harvey's other books, is told in alternating perspectives, however, this time the perspectives are that of Quinn and Hunter Wild, a highly trained vampire hunter/assassin and Kieran's best friend/"sister". I really enjoyed the alternating points of view as is Harvey's signature story telling style of both Hunter and Quinn. Hunter is a very level headed, strong and independent character who isn't one of these damsel in distress kind of gals. Not to say that she doesn't have her vulnerabilities, but it is refreshing to find a non-vampire heroine who can more than hold her own. Quinn Drake is another brother I just adore, but to be honest I think I'm bias at this point. He's your average smart-ass charmer and likes to play the field. That is till he meets his match. As always, I loved the characters the story was predominantly about, in this case Quinn and Hunter, but I still really missed Lucy. She's the comic relief of the Drake gang, even though she is only dating a Drake and isn't an actual Drake herself. While I enjoyed this installation to the series immensely, I found that I truly missed Lucy's snark and all of her witty remarks and hilarious disregard for authority! This is a fun series with great characters and engaging plot. I just can't get enough! Eagerly awaiting more! I can't wait to get my hands on the forth book. I swear I never want this series to end!

Cecilia Fernández _ecilia_dz_ontilla — It didn't change from my first impression. The book didn't get better, oh well.

Mas Sato kokkoku83b3 — Read this for Erin's mother/daughter book report for her English class. I think I read it in about 7th grade, and as I re-read it, I realize there were probably parts that completely went over my head the first time! It's still a good read.