Review of Same Kind Of Diffrent as me

Same Kind of different As me
• Genre: Biography story
• Author: Ron Hall & Denver Moore
• Overall rating: 7.5 of 10
• How I heard about it: Booksneeze.com
• Suggested Audience : Christians above the age of 10 that are in the mood for a motivational read about how God can work through anyone.

Wow! When I first got this book I was not thinking I was going to like it. First of all it was a story that did not involve war or missions in other countries. But rather this story was based right here in America about a homeless black man and a rich art dealer. Now I am no fan of art usually and I also usually don’t read this type of book, Most of the Biographies I read involve famous missionaries or marine war heroes. But fulfilling my commitment to read and evaluate this book I opened the cover with an open mind, and yes, I think this one might make my top 25 list after all.
Let’s get the Critiques out of the way first before we start talking about the really good parts of it. The format is a little tough to follow at first. When one opens up the cover and begins in the first chapter the reader meets Denver a young black boy in Louisiana living on a plantation and he talking like a slave. What I mean by that is proper grammar is out the window, words are intentionally spelled wrong and some slang terms are used, which is exactly how a share cropper from the 1960’s would talk but it does serve as a bit of a distraction. This is coming from the little boy that cursed the grammar rules from the time he learned them but this went a little overboard. Next the book uses the word “nigger” several times. Right or wrong it was the life that Denver Moore knew; he was a called that by “da man” from the moment he was born. The word while a bit uncomfortable for a modern well to do white man to read repeatedly dose do a number to bring one back to a time and place where that was what blacks were called and illustrates why that word has come to mean what it has. The final critique I have for this piece was more of what can be considered a formatting flaw. There are a LOT! of chapters. The book ends on page 235 at the end of chapter 67!! Do the math that’s an average of less than 4 pages a chapter and there were a lot of page breaks because of the chapter ending. Many chapters were literally a page and a half and chapter 21 is barely that. It seems like a dumb critique for a book but it really did get a little annoying the book probably could have been about 170 pages if it weren’t for all the page breaks and spacing from the numerous chapters. In comparison the Book “Against All Odds” is 216 pages and has a mere 13 chapters.
Alright now to the book…wow for being completely out of my normal genre I was thoroughly impressed. Denver grew up as previously stated on a plantation and participated in a practice known as share cropping basically a legal form of slavery that went on in the United States as late as the 1970s. Shocker right? But the details of Denver Moore’s early life are literally that horrific and the word poverty seems like an understatement. Small shacks with no windows, outhouses working all day and all night on the farm and always being in debt to “da man” they were technically paid for their work but they were often paid in store credits and were charged for their houses and it usually left them in debt to their employer. It was defiantly a tough life but from Denver’s prospective it was all he had ever known and his attitude towards life is remarkably positive throughout the whole thing.
Next we meet Ron Hall as a college student his life quickly takes off, the opposite direction Denver’s life starts heading. Ron meets a lovely wife and gets a job as an investment banker shortly after college he finds that he has a real eye for art and begins to earn a little extra money on the side consigning art works to galleries and private buyers.
So how the lives of this millionaire and homeless bum finally meet is an act of sheer provenance but after several big life decisions from both parties they eventually meet at a homeless mission in downtown Fort Worth. The ensuing story is one of persistence and prayer that God uses both men to influence his kingdom in a huge way. After the ice in Denver and Ron’s relationship is finally broken they face another major Problem Ron’s wife of nearly 30 years is diagnosed with colon cancer the rest of the book is incredible, near tear jerking account of a hard fought battle with cancer in which God is glorified in so many ways in the end.
The book was very impressive overall. First of all it did not come from career authors just 2 normal men telling their stories to anyone that will listen. Second it truly is an inspiring story, but it is not a super human story about God asking some incredibly driven individual to perform some outlandish dangerous task in a foreign country. I love those stories in their own rank. This is a much more normal story that takes place right here in the US and most people can see how God can use you no matter where you are or what situation you find yourself in.

Life Update from the last 3 months.

So it has been like forever since I posted anything to the Folks at Booksneez.com My dearest Apologies I am by no means ignoring you I just finished the book you sent me and a review will be soon to follow. My email address was lost this summer while I was at OCS (another Blog Post in itself) and all of my internet affairs attached to serveandvolley101@cox.net now must cease and I have to start over. I have been considering new addresses names and debating getting a g-mail account the people here at BlogSpot I’m sure would greatly appreciate that but I believe Google has enough of my internet lifw without running another e-mail account for those of you wishing to reach me now my school address would probably be best. Cdfoy3428@northgeorgia.edu . So I will be posting this blog to let everyone know the short story of the last three to four months of my life.
I will start where I left off last time. I left for United States Marine Corps Officer Candidate School the first week in July planning on graduating 6 weeks later on August 21st I was picked up in the Atlanta airport around midnight on August 15th. Yea I was kicked out, it’s hard to tell the story of the events of OCS without making any excuses. I don’t believe it was a just dismissal from a program I thought I was doing relatively well especially towards the end of the program all the physical events I passed and the academic events I did good on with the exception of one history test I failed by one question and majorly aced the remedial version I had to take before liberty started on Saturday. That being said I defiantly made some major mistakes while I was there as far as things I said and things I did. I was over confident and believed that this was what I was made to do. I also did and said some things that I outright knew better than. I knew it was a game and they were trying to play me and for some reason I let them make me feel inferior and question my integrity. Looking back it seems so obvious I gave them ammunition to use against me and didn’t realize they were taking the very things I told them bothered me and forcing it all on me at once. I made the mistake of actually confiding in the Platoon staff and letting them know what I was going through, I was thinking they were there to train me and help me learn to become a Marine Officer and would let my guard down around the Platoon Commander and actually tell him what I was thinking during said situations and then all the stuff I told him behind closed doors was being screamed back at me by Sergeant Instructors from other platoons. I for some reason didn’t catch it until I was already on my way out.
So on August 17th I showed up at north Georgia College and State University and my life took several drastic turns and fundamental differences. I took off one of the best looking uniforms to grace the face of God’s green earth the MARPAT Camies, to dawn the Velcro incrusted universal patterned Army Combat Uniform (ACU) A uniform I have been taught to make fun of my entire life and even more so over the last 5 weeks of my life. I showed up incredibly exhausted both mentally and physically as well as incredibly discouraged that I had massively failed probably one of my biggest life goals. I was (and am) also incredibly determined to fight and claw my way back in to OCS cause I still just have and incredible desire to be a commissioned officer in the United States Marine Corps.
North Georgia was an entirely different animal I still practice a somewhat military lifestyle but beside the army being different from the Marines the Corps of Cadets is different from the Military, for one everyone in the corps does not plan on commissioning and there are a lot of people in the Corps for money reasons cause its cheaper. It also is a little humbling to be a technical freshman with no rank in the Corps being told what to do by power hungry 19 year olds that often make freshman do things not for any particular purpose but just because they can! It really has not been that bad though I truly like it here and the sophomore NCO’s cool down and have some conversations with you after a few weeks. Classes are going well and I Have made several friends. I have gotten involved with the Chaplin Corps as well as joined another unit on campus North Georgia’s famous Drill team the Blue Ridge Rifles named after a rebel unit supplied to the confederacy from the city of Dahlonega in 8161. It’s a lot of work but they are one of the best Drill teams in the nation. The PT here is good I mean it keeps you active and in shape 7 AM on MWF its not super intense but it serves one of the main reasons I decided to come here was I thought the Corps would keep me in shape for the Marines and I believe it is doing that. I will have to beginning training a little harder here in the next month or two if I am to return to OCS this summer and be anywhere as good as I was last summer but, all in due time.
So life is good God is still working in me, and sometimes believe it or not through me! Crazy Spiritual things are happening on this campus I have meet such Spiritual heavyweights since I have been Here Josh Middleton, John Kishamoto, Laura Simpson, and so many others that God is doing ministry on this campus. I am so excited to see what the next 2 years encompass and wonder where I will be in 3 more semesters when I finally earn a bachelors degree.

Review of The Hiding Place

The Hiding Place
• Genre: Auto Biography
• Author: Corrie Ten Boom
• Overall rating: 9 of 10
• How I heard about it: School reading requirement
• Suggested Audience : Anyone really




The Hiding place is another tearjerker. It is the account of basically the entire life of the author who just as the author of the next review I post grew up in Holland in the 1930s. Her father was a Dutch watch maker and she briefly tells the story of her childhood. Within the first few chapters the Nazis invaded Holland and then she discovers the purpose the Lord had placed her on earth for.


As the book progresses she tells the story of the underground smuggling of Jews from all over Germany, Poland and Holland to escape to freedom. The book gets its name from the Small secret room that was built in her home for the purpose of hiding Jews in the event of a Nazi raid. The book takes the reader through the process of sidestepping the evil that was the Nazi government and being the hand of Christ that the underground system was in those times. She makes many friends that give her supplies, ration coupons, forged paperwork and other contacts that she uses to help facilitate the transport of the Jews to safety.
Eventually she is captured and is put through absolutely inhuman conditions the seeming eternity she spends in the concentration camps. This is the point where her relationship with Christ is so beautifully expressed. She is forced to absolutely trust him with her entire being and during this time she shows such faithful passion and perseverance for the God she has been trusting all along. Even during this time she was used by the Lord in such a powerful way to help out so many people. She showed extreme selflessness in a place most people felt lucky to merely survive.


This book was so inspiring and motivating. Another one of those stories that makes you feel guilty any time you even consider feeling bad for yourself. This is a Biography of a complete saint and there is so much wisdom to be gleaned from reading her story and studying her life. Her attitude throughout her life was so God honoring and selfless. She made trusting God a total priority in her life and it was so inspiring to read about how she stayed faithful, humble and most importantly forgiving throughout all the unfairness she was put through.
Overall it was a very good read. The language was easy to understand and the author did an excellent job of keeping a reader’s attention. The book while inclusive and detailed was relatively short and easy to follow. Some caution might be taken in that there are a few more mature elements to the content of this book. As with Jesus Freaks the very nature of being in a concentration camp involves some things that are graphic and uncomfortable. Just as I said in

Review of Jesus Freaks

Jesus Freaks

• Genre: Short Stories
• Author: DC Talk
• Overall rating: 9 of 10
• How I heard about it: DC talk Album
• Suggested Audience: New Christians, Dead Christians, Lazy Christians anyone that has gone 10 years without reading it and people that don’t know what this whole Christ thing is about.

I first must admit that it has been years since I have read this book in its entirety. Jesus Freak is a compilation book written by compilation authors. The members of the band DC Talk Kevin Max, Toby Mac and Michael Tait, with help from publishers compiled stories of those that have given all for the cause they could not give up. These stories transcend Nations, Cultures, Centuries and generations. If you have been a Christian for a while and not read this…forgive me for saying shame on you.

From the very beginning I must warn people, there is a very good chance one will cry at least once during this book. I remember fighting back tears many times there are so many moments in which one feels hopeless and inspired at the same time full of sorrow and full of joy all in the same point of time. This book tells the stories of nearly hundreds of Christians that were killed for the faith, starting off with the very first known Martyr Stephen from the book of Acts. The book tells stories from thousands of years ago in Rome, Jerusalem and Greece, Stores from hundreds of years ago in Germany, France and England and stories from present day in Iran, Iraq and Egypt. It really causes one to think about what Christ called them to give up in order to follow him. This is hard to swallow at times in a sheltered nation like the United States but the Gospel is dangerous. It has brought entire governments to its knees and resulted in millions of deaths. I think anyone that calls themselves a Christian needs to be ready and willing to die for Christ. While in a nation like ours it is extremely unlikely one will ever be called to It is important to realize the reality and live your life accordingly. Theses stories have a way of shoving this reality in ones face and forcing people to do some soul searching to figure out what they would do in some of these situations.

I choose not to ruin the book by telling everyone the best parts but my favorite story is that of the Roman Century that has an outbreak of Christianity within the unit. This outrages the commander so he forces everyone in the unit in the middle of a shallow pond in the middle of winter and forces the non-Christians to stand guard next to bathtubs full of hot water that are open to anyone that denounces Christ. All the stories within this book are this intense and really grab the reader. This is defiantly one of those that I had trouble putting down when I was 12.
Overall this book is just great. The only possible concern I have is the book dose get a little graphic at times…..but so does the Bible and so does life. I might suggest parents maybe pick and choose what stories to read to kids under about 8 however I would just hand it to just about anyone else. Life is violent and this is probably the cleanest most forgiving way possible to introduce this reality to kids. The graphic nature of this book should not take away from any of the power and inspiring nature it is bursting at the bindings with.

Review of Defence of Duffers Drift

The Defence of Duffers Drift
• Genre: Military (Small Unit tatics)
• Author: Ernest Dunlop Swinton
• Overall rating: 9 of 10
• How I heard about it: Dr. Sean McBride M.D. USN
• Suggested Audience: Those interested in military tactics any infantry officer needs to read this.
This book is a crash course basics course in defending of a position with inferior numbers but superior firepower and positional knowledge. The story is based in modern day South Africa during the Boer War (1892-1902) between the Dutch colonists and the British army that wanted to place South Africa under British rule. The Boer’s (Dutch for farmer) as well as the local tribesman were not all on board with this Idea so a war was waged. Now I must say reading the history books I don’t agree with this war from a morale standpoint nor do I fully endorse all of the British tactics. Many believe the concept of a concentration camp was conceived by the Nazi leaders but this is not true the British actually won this war by capturing the wives and children of the Boers as they were trying to organize a fighting effort eventually the Boers lost the will to fight and continue to see their wives and kids treated horribly in these camps the British were hoarding them in.

Moral objections aside the book was great. The format of the book is interesting to start with. A young British officer has a series of dreams in which he is placed in charge of defending Duffers Drift the only river crossing for several hundred miles. His men, weapons and resources are layed out in the book. In the first dream he fails to defend the drift when he is unknowingly ambushed, not really expecting an attack in the first place. The next dream he is given the same mission and learns from his mistakes and makes a much better effort to defend the drift. After 6 dreams he has learned enough lessons from being ousted by the Boers that he succeeds in defending the drift against a superior force. After each dream notes are made about the lessons he has learned from the previous battle.

The best part about this book is the reader gets to learn right along with the young officer. In war when life and death are on the line you usually don’t get to make mistakes more than once this book allows you to see what sort of things you miss when setting up a defense on a position. It was a short and sweet book. Despite its unorthodox format it was a relatively easy story to follow. I actually found Rifleman Dodd harder to follow than this one. While the ethics of some of these tactics needs to be put through a filter, there are plenty of great military tactics to be gleaned from the pages of this great read.

Review of Rifleman Dodd

Rifleman Dodd
• Genre: Military (novel)
• Author: C.S. Forester
• Overall rating: 7 of 10
• How I heard about it: USMC Officer reading List
• Suggested Audience: Anyone, this is an enjoyable military novel that has most elements of a good adventure story.

Rifleman Dodd is an excellent novel about the French-Portages war that was started by Napoleon in 1807. It’s a Historic fictional novel about an English rifleman from the 95th rifle brigade that was unfortunately separated from his unit. The book takes the reader through the missions he finds on his way back to his unit.
His travels back to the 95th are cluttered with quick thinking tactical situations evading and killing the French as he leads portages natives in tormenting the French who eventually retreat from the war. Dodd used his English rifle which was superior to the French musket to pick off Frenchmen from over a hundred yards and was untouched by the poor marksmanship and inferior technology of the French. He leads groups of local men (who obviously were not too happy with the French either) against the Emperors army. The book is full of Good examples of leadership and battle tactics.

One of my favorite aspects of this book was the big picture it gave along with the individual efforts of Rifleman Matthew Dodd in constant skirmishes with French units. The book gave the reader a perspective from both the French perspective and from the eyes of Dodd. As well as taking narrative breaks to explain what was happening with the overall French and English efforts in the war. This allows the reader to see the overall effects of Dodd’s actions as far as the major war effort and how much effect a single man can have in the will of an opposing nation. I liked the vision the book portrayed about other reasons wars are won. In the end The French retreat in part to the actions of Dodd but, in the end basically the French war machine ran out of resources, rations and the will to press on.

The book was short sweet and kept my interest. The USMC thought this book was something beneficial for young and prospective officers and I hope the lessons will help me out in a few weeks when I show up for OCS in Quantico. It was enjoyable and while a relaxing and entertaining read it was by no means an intellectually empty book. I felt entertained as well as educated both historically as well as militarily.

Review of Winning Ugly

Winning Ugly
• Genre: Other (tennis)
• Author: Brad Gilbert
• Overall rating: 7 of 10= Genre rating: 10 of 10
• How I heard about it: Tennis players
• Suggested Audience : Tennis players Obviously. But anyone that likes tactics and learning from successful people.

Brad Gilbert was never considered a great tennis player which is a shame in my mind. He was clearly one of the best minds the game of tennis has ever seen. While as a player he never won any major tournaments. The top 10 players always hated seeing him in their half of the draw. In his time players like Becker, Borge, McEnroe, Connors and Edberg would dread playing him. He would maintain a winning record against the top 10 players thorough out his career. He did not have the sheer talent of his piers however he used his brilliant strategic mind to give fits to clearly more gifted players. By using his small meager strengths to isolate and exploit his opponents little known weakness Gilbert was able to outwit the best in the world and show that often working smarter can beat talent and working harder .

Winning Ugly is required reading by many NCAA Division 1 tennis teams as well as being suggested by many pros including Andre Agassi, Pete Samprass and most coaches from any team or background highly recommend it. In all my years of tennis I have yet to hear a single negative thing about this book.

Brad did not write this book by himself he had a sports writer named Steve Jamision help him out I’m assuming Brads talent is tennis not writing (I can completely relate to such a predicament ). Whoever is responsible for the flow of this book was a genius. The content as mentioned has plenty of credibility. Unlike many books written my experts that don’t seem to be well written this is masterfully written by an absolute tennis genius.

One of my favorite parts of this book is that it contains extremely practical advice that will instantly improve any player’s game. Regardless of whether you are a brand new player or a seasoned tournament player this book has something in it for you. One of the best pieces of advice he gave that I to this day use almost every match. He suggests the unconventional notion that if you win the toss before the match one should chose not to serve first. Then he gives several extremely logical reasons as to why this is true in 95% of cases. This has worked for me. I saw my win % improve just from choosing to receive, not to serve.
Don’t be deceived though this book includes more advanced tactics as well. Things like scouting you opponent, how to pick up on less obvious weaknesses, equipment tips and tournament tips for making it further in your draw.

Overall a very well written book on the strategies of my favorite sport, A must read for tennis players and I would have enjoyed it even if I was not a tennis player. Now keep in mind Brad Gilbert is not a Christian so some of his advice as far as gamesmanship needs to be put through a bit of a filter and there are a handful of questionable moral implications within the contents, However, this is a book about tennis not spiritual life principals. Brad Gilbert is an expert in his felid and I don’t have a problem trusting his opinions in his field of specialty. He wrote this understanding that thousands of 10-16 year old tennis players would be reading it so granted the above warning there really is nothing in the book that offends me or makes me question the appropriateness of the book. I would suggest maybe parents discuss a little tennis etiquette and when sportsmanship meets gamanship. Something I might actually be discussing in one of my bloggs.

Review of The beuaty of Christ Through Brokenness

The Beauty of Christ through Brokenness

• Genre: Personal growth
• Author: K.P. Yohanan
• Overall rating: 8 of 10
• How I heard about it: Honor Academy Gauntlet week
• Suggested Audience : Any Christian wanting to grow closer to God

This is just another really good K.P. book. He has been described to me the most humble men on the face of the planet and after reading this book I can see how he receives such high praises. If you have never read any of brother K.P.’s books they are always very short most are less than 100 pages. Usually they are very small books most of them are easily pocket sized.

Don’t be deceived though, while his books are often small they are best described as literary steak. Not a single word in this book is misused or unnecessary. Every one of these 90 pages forces you to search and analyze your heart for pride and forces one to face the reality of Biblical humility and brokenness. He tells personal stories from his youth when he began to realize his giftedness for preaching and sharing the gospel and as a teenager it took him really being slapped in the face with his pride to realize how hard it is for God to use a prideful man. He spoke of God’s blessings often being reserved for those who learned to ask from a humble heart. He spoke of the importance of humility with examples from his ministry and that they were careful to only hire broken men and women making a point not to hire those that have pride in their lives.

Overall I really didn’t like the book the first time I read this one. I made me feel way too convicted about pride in my life. Reading this for the first time during my first week at the Honor Academy caused a lot of thought provoking growth in my life. It was truly a book that reminds me why reading is so important. I recommend this book to any Christian that is serious about their faith and wants to take things to a new level.

Rewiew of Winning With People

Winning With People
• Genre: Personal Growth and Motivation
• Author: John C. Maxwell
• Overall rating: 10 of 10
• How I heard about it: Honor Academy I.E.T. program
• Suggested Audience : Anyone wanting successful people skills

Wow this is the #1 book on my list when I am writing this. Maxwell seriously outdid himself here. One of the most accurate comprehensive self development books I have ever read. The book is written in what Maxwell calls “principals” each chapter covers a separate principal of how to relate to different types of people. Everything from dealing with overly defensive problematic people, to making it through life by establishing meaningful friendships is covered in this masterpiece.

This book takes a typical Maxwell style of writing. If you have never read any of his books I would best describe it as reading a power point presentation in book form. Almost like an elaborate extensive outline of all his points. This makes it extremely easy to follow. While one might think this style of writing is dry, Maxwell gets away with it beautifully here.
This book is so insightful as well as entertaining. He had a way of keeping your attention so well. I can hardly express how impressed I was with this book an absolute must read.

Review of how to ruin you life by 40

How to Ruin Your Life by 40
• Genre: Personal Growth and Motivation
• Author: Steve Farrar
• Overall rating: 6 of 10
• How I heard about it: Colleen McBride
• Suggested Audience : Relatively new Christians between the ages of 16 and 20

In this book Steve Farrar takes a sort of crash course in what not to do with your life to be successful by time you are 40. He brings up some really good points about actions having consequences and every decision that you make when you are 20 will have an exponential effect on your life when you are 40. The overall thesis of the book is along the lines of. No one wakes up when they’re 40 with a dead end job paying child support on multiple kids from multiple marriages by chance. There are very clear decisions that play into ones life ending up in such a manor.

Farrar brings this full circle with the Christian life talking about how on average one of ten people that start the Christian faith in a way to impact the kingdom are still going strong by time they are 40 and even brings up big name evangelist from the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s that got involved with excessive drinking and extra-marital relationships, in turn dropping out of the race.

While all of the points he makes are good ones I personally felt as if the book as a whole was written to a less mature audience. Every major concept he had spoke of I had defiantly heard of before. Many of the points he made I read and thought “well yea DUAH!!!!!!!” For example when he was talking about dating and relationships he said “”girls sometimes guys might tell you “I need to know if we are sexually compatible” if any of you have taken a Biology class everyone is sexually compatible.”” To any of my female Christian friends out there if any of your boyfriends even elude to the above argument something has gone horribly wrong in your choice of boyfriends and judgement of character. Just the fact that the author even made that point told me he was clearly writing to a less spritually mature audience.

So overall I would suggest this as a book for relatively new Christians between the ages of 16 and 20 that have not had much worldview training or teaching on practical Christian lifestyle choices. As I said it was good just a little less mature than most of my audience expects in a personal growth book such as this. Most of his points almost seemed derived from Wild at Heart and How Now shall we live but watered down and written in more understandable English with less christianeese.

Introduction to book reviews

Ok my plan is to write reviews on all the books I have read and give my opinion on the overall quality of the book. I will be reviewing books in separate genres of writing styles as follows: N.B.H.F (Novels, Biography and Historical fiction), personal growth and Motivation (secular and Christian), short stories, theological and political/opinion, Military books and Other books that don’t fit in any particular category.

My first post is to be a reading list of all the books I care to mention (and a few I regret to). The book titles are ordered from most suggested to least suggested with #1 being my highest regarded title I will try and post detailed reviews on all the books in the top 25 as soon as I can get them all written and edited. I have not included “fun” Novels such as the Harry Potter series or any of the many Hardy Boys books I read growing up but trying to stick with more fruitful titles that are for more than just entertainment. I would like to eventually have a top 25 list for every genre and as I read more I am sure the list will get re arranged.

Introduction Blogg

I have wanted to have a serious blog for a while now. I tried to start one a few years ago on my myspace page while I was at the Honor Academy but then I realized that as an intern to keep from asphyxiating you have to schedule time to breathe. If you don’t scheduled breathing life will be too cluttered and something as mediocre as oxygen can easily slip your mind. So needless to say after about 8 weeks my will to continue an unnecessary activity competing for my little available time ran out and so did my blogging.
Since then I have written a few notes on facebook that seemed to have peaked some interest of a few of my friends. I also realized that I have done quite a bit of reading in my lifetime and I figured I could write some reviews and share some thoughts of some of the books I have read. Making recommendations as far as what books I would suggest for what readers. I of course want to do more than just book reviews. I plan on posting life stories, College experiences maybe even a few of my online games of chess or funny Instant message conversations. Also of course my upcoming Marine Corps adventures will find their way on my post.

Now I’m not at the most ideal point in my life to be starting a blog. I’m in a military family and this is a move summer for us. My father is finally retiring from the Marine Corps after over 30 years of having the title of United States Marine he is finally going back to where he grew up in Georgia. However, this time I will not be joining them. I have been accepted to North Georgia College and State University’s Corps of Cadets. To which it looks like I will be showing up to classes in late August. I am awaiting my official phone call from the Marines letting me know whether or not I was accepted into USMC Officer Candidate School. I am so excited and nervous about this next adventure God has planned for me.

I am 21 years old. I am a Christian and serious about my faith. I believe it actually means something and that Christians should act like Christ not like everyone else. I believe the Bible is the definition of Absolute truth and the only thing on this planet that can be unconditionally trusted without question.

I like Braves Baseball, Falcons Football and Roush Fenway NASCAR racing (Carl Edwards in particular). I love to play and watch tennis Reebok shoes, Pro Kennex tennis racquets. I love guns hunting, archery and shooting. Pretty much anything that involves throwing very fast projectiles down range at a target. Remington, Mossberg, PSE and Ruger are some of my favorite brands. I like strategy games that require wit and creative logical thinking so yes Chess is one of my favorite past times. I collect boards and enjoy playing on pogo.com though I win a lot against people on actual boards my online win rate is only about 20%. I occasionally play Starcraft online but I’m just not that good at it. I have worked as a lifeguard and swim teacher since I was 17 I love my job and enjoy knowing I am saving lives by teaching kids how to swim. Of course I like exercise, swimming, running and the weight room. I also enjoy the outdoors I am an Eagle Scout and like camping especially when we camp by the lake. I like cooking a lot of meals in Dutch ovens over charcoal.

I read a lot because I have come to believe in life that readers are leaders. Every major Military and political leader in modern history has always been a book worm. So I believe in order to get the most out of the blessing God has given me I need to be reading and reading a lot. I like many kinds of books, I like religious and theological books. Self help books from pastors and good Christian writers. And because I plan on being a Marine Officer I also enjoy military novels and strategy books. I also read lots of other different genres of books I will discuss in a later post.

So that’s basically all I can think of as relevant for anyone to know as of right now. I will be posting a bunch in the next few weeks but I am hopefully planning on Shipping out to OCS on July 9th and starting School August 23rd so we shall see how much Time I have after OCS to write besides the writing I will be required of me from my school studies.