Book Review: A Promised Land by Barack Obama

A Promised Land by Barack Obama
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A devastating economic environment, a politically divided nation that less than a decade before was united, and then there was everything else going on in the world; what a way to start off a very different presidential administration. A Promised Land is the first volume of Barack Obama’s memoir that covers his life leading up to the presidency to the death of Osama bin Laden in May 2011.

An important thing to begin this review is that throughout the book this felt like it was from Obama’s voice and not a ghostwriter. This is important because since Obama details his life up to the presidency followed by his first two and a half years in office, the authenticity is needed especially as he explains his decision making once in office and his impressions of the individuals he interacted with. Frankly while I knew a lot of what happened during Obama’s administration because I paid attention to the news, I read this more for the “inside” details that he could provide and wasn’t disappointed. How Obama approached each major legislation or event of the first half of his first term was something I appreciated as he tackled it whole before moving out but was able to reference those events later to give context as the book progressed, the separate but interconnectedness was better than trying to blend everything together and hope the reader kept everything straight.

A Promised Land is a well-written look into a recent American presidential administration by the man who led it. Barack Obama’s voice comes across clearly throughout thus giving the reader great insight into events and background on how things went.

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Book Review: Three Cosmic Messages by Mark Finely

Three Cosmic Messages by Mark Finley
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Revelation 14: 6-12 is God’s final message to the world and is seen by Seventh-day Adventists as their mission to the world at the closing time of Earth’s history. Three Cosmic Messages, the supplement book for the Adult Sabbath School Bible Study Guide (2nd Quarter, 2023) by Mark Finley not only gives the importance of each of the messages from the three angels but also their context within the confrontation between good and evil. Through 128 pages Finley not only provides a study of the three angels messages but also intertwines a evangelistic focus to challenge the reader to take the warnings to heart.

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Book Review: Native Son by Richard Wright

Native Son by Richard Wright
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

A native of poverty and having learned to survive on the streets gets a job for a rich family, has his luck changed? Native Son by Richard Wright tells the story of Bigger Thomas, a black youth living in a poor area of 1930s Chicago South Side.

Even with an introductory warning, this novel begins in a harsh mood with unlikeable characters and doesn’t improve as the narrative continues and more characters appear. Bigger is a thug other thugs look down on, which while Wright’s intention doesn’t take away the fact the reader has to deal with this character for roughly 430 pages even with a few near misses of sympathy. Of Bigger’s two victims, his girlfriend Bessie is frankly the better character than Mary Dalton as the latter is a foolish white knight that talks in “code” believing every black person would know said code. The only character that is anyway decent is Bigger’s lawyer Boris Max that is the primary character in the third part of the book, even though he’s idealistic he’s smart enough to face reality by knowing Bigger has only 0.001% of staying alive and does everything he can against the odds to do so. Personally Max comes off as a surrogate for the author than Bigger does, which is why that particular character comes off as the best one in the book.

Native Son is a controversial yet well-known novel and is Richard Wright’s best fictional work, but as soon as I started reading it, I hated everyone in it.

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Book Review: The Bands of Mourning by Brandon Sanderson

The Bands of Mourning by Brandon Sanderson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In the Cosmere having interactions with a god is not uncommon depending on what planet you live on, but sometimes one just can’t stand meeting them and frankly don’t like them personally because of that god’s actions. The Bands of Mourning is the sixth Mistborn novel within Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere as Waxillium “Wax” Ladrian, Wayne, and Marasi travel to the south of the Elendel Basin to save a kendra as well as to save Wax’s sister from his villainous uncle.

In just over 500 pages Sanderson covers a lot of ground as the main characters travel, develop as characters, and learn about one another. Besides the long narrative of Wax versus his uncle and “the Set”, Sanderson adds nascent political intrigue outside the city of Elendel as well as expanding the world of Scadrial by showing the Sazed-Harmony is not a very good god by ignoring half the world’s population that is only surviving outside the Basin thanks to the creator of the titular Bands of Mourning that many are looking for. There are several twists throughout the novel, the main one was blatant mainly because Sanderson didn’t want to insult his readers and try misdirection however the twist at the very end has ramifications for the history of Scadrial and possibly the entire Cosmere going forward.

The Bands of Mourning sees not only Brandon Sanderson continuing the arcs of the second Misborn era and setting up a potentially fantastic conclusion, but also is a good narrative on its own.

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