Book Reflection: Sex God
I have this borderline obsessive compulsive behavior where I HAVE to finish books once I start reading them. I need closure. I need to feel like I gave the book every chance possible to enlighten/satisfy/impress me. The only other behavior I have that rivals this one would be checking my alarm clock before I go to bed. I typically will set it, but then as I lay in bed I can't let it go. I wonder if I set it to go off in the AM. I wonder if I actually slid the function button over far enough. It's enough to drive a brotha crazy, I tell you. On many occasions I have bopped out of bed and turned on the light so that I could double check my alarm setting skills. It's more than a little redonk.
You've probably guessed by now that I didn't manage to finish Sex God. Good guess. I came up two chapters short, as a matter of fact. It's the craziest thing, because I so love Rob Bell's work usually. I throw his sermons on the iPod, I thought Velvet Elvis was great and I thoroughly enjoyed the speaking tour that accompanied that book. And yet, Sex God just didn't do it for me.
At first I was a little worried that someone had cast a spell on me and I lost my joy of reading. Not so. When I traded in SG for Anne Lamott's latest book last night, I found out that still have my love for the written word. I breathe a sigh of relief. I also giggle like a little kid getting tickled by a merciless parent when I read Lamott.
I admit that I didn't do SG any favors. I read Lauren Winter's Real Sex right before SG, and that was not fair. Winner is probably my favorite author and RS is an early front-runner for my book of the year. That was not the most sporting precedent to set. And yet, SG has a lot of issues apart from it's spot in my lineup.
The most disappointing aspect was that everything about it seemed rushed. The content didn't push me, which is very unlike a Rob Bell Book. The book wasn't as long as advertised, considering that there were a lot of paragraphs that were only a few words. A convenient way to eat up space and an annoyance of professors everywhere. It was akin to the age old trick of writing a paper in size 14 font of Courier New. I wasn't impressed. In comparison, RS was about a dozen pages shorter, but I felt like it had at least double the content.
So the Sex God is going back to the shelf. Perhaps I'll pick it up again someday with a fresh set of eyes and rosy disposition and be impressed by it. I wouldn't discourage anyone from reading it, though I would definitely encourage you to check it out as opposed to buying it.
Fair Dinkum
You've probably guessed by now that I didn't manage to finish Sex God. Good guess. I came up two chapters short, as a matter of fact. It's the craziest thing, because I so love Rob Bell's work usually. I throw his sermons on the iPod, I thought Velvet Elvis was great and I thoroughly enjoyed the speaking tour that accompanied that book. And yet, Sex God just didn't do it for me.
At first I was a little worried that someone had cast a spell on me and I lost my joy of reading. Not so. When I traded in SG for Anne Lamott's latest book last night, I found out that still have my love for the written word. I breathe a sigh of relief. I also giggle like a little kid getting tickled by a merciless parent when I read Lamott.
I admit that I didn't do SG any favors. I read Lauren Winter's Real Sex right before SG, and that was not fair. Winner is probably my favorite author and RS is an early front-runner for my book of the year. That was not the most sporting precedent to set. And yet, SG has a lot of issues apart from it's spot in my lineup.
The most disappointing aspect was that everything about it seemed rushed. The content didn't push me, which is very unlike a Rob Bell Book. The book wasn't as long as advertised, considering that there were a lot of paragraphs that were only a few words. A convenient way to eat up space and an annoyance of professors everywhere. It was akin to the age old trick of writing a paper in size 14 font of Courier New. I wasn't impressed. In comparison, RS was about a dozen pages shorter, but I felt like it had at least double the content.
So the Sex God is going back to the shelf. Perhaps I'll pick it up again someday with a fresh set of eyes and rosy disposition and be impressed by it. I wouldn't discourage anyone from reading it, though I would definitely encourage you to check it out as opposed to buying it.
Fair Dinkum