Sunday, December 30, 2018

Is Heaven a Place?: Making Sense of Biblical Stories in the Twenty-first Century by Richard B. Fratianne, MD ISBN: 978-1-4808-6002-5



We typically pray about how to write a proper review of any book before we start to write the review, no matter what the subject of the book.  When we read Is Heaven a Place?: Making Sense of Biblical Stories in the Twenty-first Century by Richard B. Fratianne, MD, and started to write this review, we prayed even more and harder.

It appears that when Fratianne started out to write this book, his intentions were to suggest that his church, the Catholic Church, needed to change the way they presented certain parts of the Bible to make them more relevant to our modern society.

We, David and Suzanne, are both Protestant, from Protestant backgrounds. I, David, was raised as a Southern Baptist in a Bible-believing church.  That is, every word of the Holy Bible is literally true.

Suzanne is from a Holiness background.  The holiness church is also Bible-believing.  For us, every word of the Bible is literally true.  The parables that Jesus used to teach were not based upon any particular person or event, just meant as illustrations.

We have read our Bibles all the way through several times over.  We have read different translations in order to have a better understanding.  At no point did we believe that Adam and Eve did not actually eat the fruit of the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden of Eden. It appears that whatever translation of the Bible Fratianne uses only calls it the Tree of Knowledge and leaves off the part of Good and Evil.

It just so happens that this time around in reading the Bible, I am using our oldest daughter’s Saint Joseph Edition of the New American Bible, which is a Catholic Bible.  We looked back at the account of Adam and Eve in this version and it refers to the tree as the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Bad. The author makes his case based upon the name of the tree as the Tree of Knowledge. He then bases his narrative of the fruit ingestion on this name.  

Our big problem in reviewing this book is that we are Protestant and he is Catholic speaking about things within the Catholic Church.  When he speaks of Moses, he speaks of things that we have never heard of. How can we judge him based upon things that aren’t in our Bible and we have not yet read them in the Catholic Bible, when they may be taught as part of the Catholic faith?

Our reading of all the versions of the Bible we have encountered show that Moses fled Egypt as a young man because he had killed an Egyptian who was physically mistreating a Hebrew slave.  Pharaoh found out about this killing and was going to kill Moses because of it.

When Fratianne tells us about Moses leaving Egypt, he tells the story differently from how we learned it in Sunday School and also differently from how it is in any of the Bibles we have consulted.  He tells us that Moses was kicked out of Egypt for proclaiming his Jewish heritage. He was supposedly cast out into the desert with one day’s worth of water and a walking stick.

He tells us that the Burning Bush was not an actual event, but how Moses told Sarah that when we was there,  he saw the bush “As if” it was burning and not being consumed. We have no idea who this particular Sarah is because Moses’ wife at the time was Zipporah.  Moses may or may not have married again later on, but we are not told this. The author does not say this Sarah is Moses’ wife, but then, who is she? Abraham’s wife was Sarah, but she lived over 400 years earlier.  It is not likely that this is the Sarah Moses was talking to.

If nothing else, Fratianne caused us to have some in depth discussions about the Bible and sent us back to study the scriptures even harder.

After reading the take that Fratianne has on the feeding of the 5,000, I began to see that perhaps he meant that things that did actually occur were ALSO metaphors for other things.  That things did actually happen, but the telling of the story is also meant to tell us something else.

Overall, it appears that the author paints a picture of the Catholic church that has adopted practices that would be very much like that of the Pharisees from Jesus’ time on earth.  By that I mean that the church has added things that are not in the Bible. Nowhere in our reading of the Bible do we find that sexual relations between a husband and a wife are a sin. In fact, there are a few places in the Bible where we are told not to withhold that type of intimacy from our spouse.  We are told that sex outside of wedlock is a sin.

From what I gather from reading this book, Catholics are taught that they are born as the result of a sinful act and therefore a baby must be baptised to atone for a sinful life.  Perhaps this is one of the things Dr. Fratianne believes should be adjusted in the Catholic teaching.

I learned a lot while reading Is Heaven a Place?  I don’t agree with some of the ideas of the author, but I would have to say he presents his case well for what he does believe.  The book is very readable and easy to understand what the author is trying to say. I would like to see more scripture reference with a note about what version of the Bible the author used.


Overall, we would recommend this book with the caveat that the reader should be very well grounded in their faith before reading this book.  

This author is a medical doctor. It would seem that if one were unfortunate enough to need the medical services this doctor provides (he deals in critical burn cases),one could not find a better doctor to have.  We all need to know that our medical care team leader is a Christian who has learned the true meaning of servant leadership. Our hats are off to Dr. Fratianne.



We were sent a complimentary copy of this book.  We are under no obligation to write any review, positive or negative.

We are disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255.

Notice: This post contains affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, we may financially benefit from your transaction, at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support.

Manian Debil Productions is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.


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Thursday, December 27, 2018

Kid Chef Every Day: The Easy Cookbook for Foodie Kids by Colleen Kennedy ISBN: 978-1-64152-222-9



If you are a preteen and want to learn how to impress your friends by feeding them fancy dishes, you can learn how to do that with the book Kid Chef Every Day: The Easy Cookbook for Foodie Kids by Colleen Kennedy.

Even if you don’t know how to boil water, you can learn how to make amazing food with this book.

Kid Chef Every Day is really a course in pretty much everything you need to know when it comes to cooking.  If you don’t know a saucepan from a spatula, this book will teach you.

There are some great instructions for any beginning cook.  No one wants those early failures most of us had when we were learning how to cook. The first time I tried to make gravy, even the dog wouldn’t eat it. The first time Suzanne made it, you could slice it.

But, you can avoid those problems if you follow these directions step-by-step.  There are even directions on how to follow the directions for making the perfect dish every time.

Parents, you can help your older kids take some of the work off of you when you buy your kids the Kid Chef line of books.  You can be sure your kids have the skills they need to handle themselves in the kitchen and make you a wonderful meal.

Kid Chef Every Day makes the perfect gift for any time of the year.  


We were sent a complimentary copy of this book.  We are under no obligation to write any review, positive or negative.

We are disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255.

Notice: This post contains affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, we may financially benefit from your transaction, at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support.

Manian Debil Productions is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

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Wednesday, December 26, 2018

The Family Tree Guide to DNA Testing and Genetic Genealogy by Blaine Bettinger ASIN: B01M0S7C6U



You must have heard about DNA.  We studied it back in school, way back in the dark ages of the 1970s.  Now, DNA testing has become all the rage.

The Family Tree Guide to DNA Testing and Genetic Genealogy by Blaine Bettinger is a great resource to help genealogists and wannabe genealogists make sense of a complicated subject.

I am not a genealogist and I don’t play one on TV.  However, my beautiful child-bride Suzanne is a genealogist and she has just branched out into the fascinating world of using DNA testing to assist in tracing the family tree.

Just like any new scientific area, DNA testing will develop and find more and more uses.  The Family Tree Guide to DNA Testing and Genetic Genealogy will help you understand the technology as it relates to the world today.



This book is part of our personal Kindle collection.  We are under no obligation to write any review, positive or negative.

We are disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255.

Notice: This post contains affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, we may financially benefit from your transaction, at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support.

Manian Debil Productions is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

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Career ReCharge: Five Strategies to Boost Resilience and Beat Burnout by Beth Benatti Kennedy ISBN: 978-1-945252-53-2



We are sure that by now you have read multiple books along this same line.  If you have not read anything about helping you cope in your career, then Career ReCharge: Five Strategies to Boost Resilience and Beat Burnout by Beth Benatti Kennedy might be just the thing for you.

If you have read other books on dealing with the corporate world or overcoming burnout, then you will see that this book takes you on a journey to the same place most of the others did, just along a slightly different path.

For the most part, this book is very helpful in finding new tools to help one deal with the stresses of everyday life in the corporate world.

However, the one negative in this book is that the author finds it necessary to take every opportunity to tell us that this way is unique because it is the Benatti Resiliency Model.  This is repeated so often that you begin to think the idea is to make you resilient by repeating this as a mantra of sorts.

If you have never read a book about dealing with toxic people, burnout, fatigue, loss of motivation, or related issues, then Career ReCharge: Five Strategies to Boost Resilience and Beat Burnout would be a good choice to be your first book on the subject.

If, however, you have read multiple other books on this same subject, you won’t find very much new here.  It is just told a little bit differently. This would make it an excellent text for anyone who has tried reading other books of this sort and did not find a permanent solution to their problem.  This one might just be the one that sticks.

Like stated before in this review, if you haven’t read other books on this subject, this will probably be the only one you need to read.


We were sent a complimentary copy of this book.  We are under no obligation to write any review, positive or negative.

We are disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255.

Notice: This post contains affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, we may financially benefit from your transaction, at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support.

Manian Debil Productions is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.


McClendon Villa     McClendon Villa's Reviews 
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Random Thoughts and Observations   Redneck MBA
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Franklin: The Man behind the United States Commando Dogs by Matthew Duffy




If you are a military person, you will love this book as well.  It is very hard to believe that this is the first book of this type that Matthew Duffy has written.

Duffy has written books about dog training in his career.  As a matter of fact, it appears that Duffy is one of the top dog trainers in the country.  However, he tells the story of Jeff Franklin and his dogs so well that you just can’t put the book down.

So far this year we have read over 225 books.  If we had to choose one “Best Book” we could not do that.  However, there is no doubt that Franklin would make it into the top ten along with Code Name Papa books one and two.

Duffy tells you several dog stories that are just riveting.  When we saw the name of one of the chapters, “Dog Down”, we were on the edge of our seats.  I, David, could not tell that story to our other reviewers here at Manian Debil Productions without tearing up.

Franklin is a Marine. Once a Marine, always a Marine.  Our family is strong military. Our Marine likes to tell his Navy sibling that the Marines are a department of the Navy, the MENS Department.  Once you read Franklin, you will know why that is so.

Have yourself a potty break, grab yourself a comfortable chair, make a pot of coffee, and prepare to sit in place for a while because you won’t be able to put Franklin down. Go on, we dare you.  Just try to put it down for long. You will pick it right back up.

If you can only read one book this year, you should make it Franklin.  It is hands down one of the best.


We were sent a complimentary copy of this book.  We are under no obligation to write any review, positive or negative.

We are disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255.

Notice: This post contains affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, we may financially benefit from your transaction, at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support.

Manian Debil Productions is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.


McClendon Villa     McClendon Villa's Reviews 
From the Kitchen of McClendon Villa   McClendon Villa at Blogger
P. S. Annie  P S Annie at WordPress
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Random Thoughts and Observations   Redneck MBA
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Wednesday, December 19, 2018

Annie Russo: Proposals & Proclivities by J L Baumann ISBN: 978-1-941880-47-0



J. L. Baumann does it again with his new book Annie Russo: Proposals & Proclivities.

Surely by now you have read Annie Russo: Tenacity Born.
When you read it, you learned what real writing is like.  Baumann doesn’t write “Mind Play-Doh”. Instead, readers are treated to literature the way it was always intended to be.

Baumann paints a word picture so vividly that the reader can actually see the images the author is describing.  In the original book, the author described a fine dining experience so vividly that the reader could actually taste the shrimp cocktail.

There are no torrid intimate scenes.  The author does use God’s Holy Name in vain.  Other than that, the book is Christian-friendly, which is important to our audience.

If you are a reader who wants to actually read instead of joining the TLDR (Too Long, Didn’t Read) crowd, you will want to read Annie Russo: Proposals & Proclivities. It is a refreshing book and well worth taking the time to read and savor it.  You will enjoy your copy.

We were sent a complimentary copy of this book.  We are under no obligation to write any review, positive or negative.

We are disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255.

Notice: This post contains affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, we may financially benefit from your transaction, at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support.

Manian Debil Productions is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.



McClendon Villa     McClendon Villa's Reviews 
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Sunday, December 16, 2018

Trump and the Jews by David Rubin ISBN: 978-0-9829067-7-4



I thought that by now we had read and reviewed just about every type of book there is here at McClendon Villa.  

Then, we are sent a book like Trump and the Jews by David Rubin that is so different in nature, I don’t even know how to categorize it.

Author David Rubin tells us so many things that I never knew that I never knew.  I had heard of the Six Days War. I did not know how amazing it actually was.

This is not your typical “Pro-Trump” book.  And it isn’t anti-Trump by a long shot. What we learn is about many Presidents of the United States and how they opposed Israel.  Any real Christian knows that any enemy of Israel is an enemy of God. No questions asked. Just read your Bible.

Trump and the Jews taught me so many things I did not know about Trump, Jews, former presidents, and Islam.  The writing is engaging and very well presented. The story told about the history of the United States and the history of Israel is an education in and of itself.

For instance, I knew Carter was our worst President without any question.  I knew that Obama was a failed President who had nothing but contempt for the United States of America.  I didn’t know anything about where the other presidents fit in with Israel, but I do now.

No matter what your religion is, you need to read Trump and the Jews.  No matter which side of the political spectrum you are on, you need to read this book.  You will be well rewarded with knowledge for the time spent.



We were sent a complimentary copy of this book.  We are under no obligation to write any review, positive or negative.

We are disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255.

Notice: This post contains affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, we may financially benefit from your transaction, at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support.

Manian Debil Productions is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
 

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Code Name: Papa: My Extraordinary Life While Hiding in Plain Sight by John Murray And Sharon Murray ISBN: 978-1-4808-1946-7



I live my entire life just a little “messed up.”  I actually read book two first. I think no matter what order you read the two books that are out so far, Code Name: Papa: My Extraordinary Life While Hiding in Plain Sight by John Murray And Sharon Murray is the kind of book you just can’t put down.

 I actually read it straight through with a few pauses for the required potty breaks and, “Didn’t I eat yesterday?”

All while I was reading this real life thriller and reading about how with just one phone call the original Papa could make problems just go away, things like AWOL charges and those nasty customs checks just went away.

Wouldn’t it be nice if we had real life Papas who could take care of those civilian problems like trying to get Social Security Disability started and being denied every time? Or, things like trying to make sense of that DNA match that indicates the man you grew up thinking was your father, was not.  But, I digress.

If you love a good spy novel, this is it, but this is the real deal. This stuff really happened.

In Code Name: Papa we learn about an elite group of heros who usually won, but sometimes lost.  This makes the story even more exciting and more believable.

By now, you must know we love the Code Name: Papa series and understand there will soon be at least one more. How wonderful.  This is the first book in the series and definitely the place to start. But, I warn you, once you do you won’t put it down until you are done.

A word of warning: This book does contain the Lord’s Name in Vain multiple times. Our readers want to know this.  


We were sent a complimentary copy of this book.  We are under no obligation to write any review, positive or negative.

We are disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255.

Notice: This post contains affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, we may financially benefit from your transaction, at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support.
Manian Debil Productions is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

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