christianityandme

March 9, 2006

Book recommendations and more music!

Filed under: News — josh @ 7:53 pm

I apologize for the low number of updates. I’ve had computer trouble lately, thankfully I’m in the process of getting it fixed and it hopefully should be running perfectly by the end of the week. I also haven’t found the time to update with the second half of my first Bible class . . . which is now way outdated. Oh well, I’ll get around to it sometime here.

For today I’d like to recommend some good books that I’ve read recently along with some music later on. First up is the book Soul Tracker by Bill Myers. This book is totally awesome. It’s got really good character development and a very surprising ending. The concept of the storyline is interesting and I think it’d make a very cool movie. It’s got a lot of heart and it’s so easy to relate to the characters as well. I love Dr. Gita Patekar’s character. She’s one of the few book characters who have really, really stayed with me long after finishing the book. I highly recommend Soul Tracker, it’s the first book I’ve read from Bill Myers and I’m definitely going to track down his other books after reading this great piece of work. For more on the book, check out it’s Amazon page here.

I also read a book called Soon, by Jerry Jenkins, who is one of the co-authors of the Left Behind series. This book is very similar to the Left Behind series and is sort of related, but no knowledge or previous reading of any Left Behind books is required to enjoy this new book (the first in a trilogy). I found this book to be riveting and the premise is also very cool. Taking place after WWIII, where religion has been banned, creating a new “peace”. This book also comes highly recommended.

$Who\'s Looking Out for You?$ I also read Bill O’Reilly’s Who’s Looking Out For You?, and I think that’s another book that everyone should check out. He gives really good tips on life and success that I think everyone should consider, whether you like Bill O’Reilly or not. (I do personally)

Dipping into music, I did buy the deluxe Testify set from P.O.D. I have to admit that I was at first disappointed with the new album, probably because they try a lot of different musical styles, but lean in more of a rap/reggae vibe, with less emphasis on heavy songs (my favorite style). But after giving the album a few more listens, as well as listening to the commentary, I’ve come to enjoy the new album. I also stand by my belief that all Christians should buy this album, to support P.O.D. and their cause of bringing Christian music to the world in a way that will also resonate with mainstream/secular listeners. This is by far their most God-focused album since Satellite. However they bring it in a real way that I think anyone can latch onto, whether you believe in Christ or not. The commentary, which comes on a separate disc, is really interesting and funny (that also includes 5 additional songs including a remix of their last album’s #1 single Will You. The bonus disc also includes mainly heavy songs so that’s cool) and I think it actually made me enjoy the songs even more after hearing the commentary and the guys talking about how the song was created.

Matisyahu also makes a huge contribution to this album and guest stars on many songs, which is all cool buy me. He has his first studio album coming out soon, which I will definitely buy. His first album was live, and it’s been a big hit as he has grown more and more popular. He’s actually been on late shows and everything and he doesn’t even have a studio album yet! Which is quite the feat. Congrats to P.O.D. as well for reaching number one for their video Goodbye for Now on TRL. Think that makes it their fourth or fifth number one video on TRL. Others include Will You, Youth of the Nation and Boom.

I also recently bought Demon Hunter’s first album (self-titled). There are only 10 tracks (one of which is an interlude), which is pretty short but it’s of the “short but sweet” variety. The album is very cool and I’m really happy I bought it. I now own all three Demon Hunter albums (Demon Hunter, Summer of Darkness and The Triptych) and they have quickly risen to the top of my favorite bands list. I highly recommend the band to anyone who loves heavy music, particularly metal (even though Demon Hunter slows themselves down quite often) and is looking for a Christian band that is good enough to catch the eye of the mainstream (They have been heavily featured on MTV2’s Headbanger’s Ball and even had their song My Heartstrings Come Undone from their first album featured on the official soundtrack for the movie Resident Evil: Apocalypse). I totally await in high anticipation their next album. You may also be interested to know that they recently announced their newest tour in support of The Triptych, which will also feature the bands: Becoming the Archetype, August Burns Red, Spoken and Zao. (Click their names to go to their various myspace pages).