Review of Davis Bunn's new novel, Moondust Lake

Davis Bunn’s third installment in the Miramar Bay novels is a story of family struggle, redemption, and tragic consequences. It has all the marks of a great romantic novel woven in the setting of family secrets, business intrigue, and the struggle of small-town politics. In typical Bunn fashion, the characters are richly developed. The settings impeccably detailed in word pictures. There are enough twists to keep the plot interesting without leaving the reader in the dark as to what just happened.

If you grew up in a small town you will immediately identify with the characters of the Helms family. What they do for a living might be different, but you’ll recognize the power of small-town life at play. The problems that plague the family are familiar to most families. How can you develop your own life apart from the power family leader? What happens when you dare challenge that person’s authority? Can the family peacemaker keep them all together?

The issue of the place of mental health counseling in the life of people of faith is also a central theme in the book. What would happen if a church devoted some of their resources to providing quality counseling to the members of their congregation and community. Would the secrets be set free on the town or would the people be set free from the secrets that have kept them bound up? Bunn does a great job of weaving the two in a very believable situation.

Fans of Davis Bunn will not be disappointed in the latest edition of the Miramar Bay novels. If you haven’t read his works yet, I would highly recommend this book. You don’t need to have read the previous two works Miramar Bay or Firefly Cove to enjoy Moondust Lake. The stories are set in the same general area but the characters and the stories are distinct. All of them highlight the urban legend stated in the book that Miramar Bay is a town of second chances. If you believe that everyone deserves a second chance you will really enjoy the series.

I highly recommend this book to everyone who enjoys good fiction. I don’t think you will be disappointed in this relaxing read.

I was provided a free copy of this book for review by the publisher.

Review of Heart of A Champion by Steve Riach

Review of Heart of A Champion by Steve Riach

Heart of A Champion is a collection of stories about athletes from various sports. Each one is a hero in his or her sport. They are men and women who have achieved incredible success at the highest levels of their professions. They are names you will recognize even if you are not a sports junkie. You see them on your TV and their stats are splashed all over the internet for those who are fantasy sports participants.

The book would be worth reading if all it contained were their professional stories. How they got to the professional leagues or attained Olympic gold medals. It provides a glimpse into the back stories of their lives. Where they came from, who were their influences growing up, and how they got involved in the sport that has made them famous. Riach does a great job of providing the details about why we should hold these people up as successes in their sports through stats, histories, and quotes from teammates and coaches.

But that is not where the stories end. These men and women are not just champions on the fields, courts, and stadiums. There is something deeper that drives them to be the type of athlete that uses their platform to achieve a greater purpose. The author allows the reader to get to know the other side of these famous stars. The side often unseen by the average fan. Many of them are great givers to causes that have deep personal connections to their past. My guess is that everyone who reads this book will find something about someone in the book they didn’t know before they started reading. When there are so many sordid stories about entitled athletes, this book is a fresh breeze of hope for the redemption of professional sports.

In addition to supporting good causes, these athletes share a common faith in Jesus Christ. Their faith stories are interwoven in a way that makes the reader see them as real people with real faith and real struggles. After you have read each short story, you feel like you have just sat down and had coffee or tea with each athlete and they had a chance to tell you who they really are off the field or court. It’s done in such a way that it isn’t pushy or hokey. So this would be a great gift to give to any sports fan, regardless of their religious beliefs.

If you are a sports fan, you’ll love reading this book. If you are a pessimistic sports fan, you’ll be encouraged by reading this book. If you are a Christian sports fan, you’ll find your faith strengthened by reading this book. I really believe you will find value in the pages and the format allows you to skip around and read at your own pace. I highly recommend this book to everyone.

I was provided a free copy of this book by the publisher for my honest review.

A Review of Unfriended by Joe Battaglia

I can’t imagine anyone under the age of 70 that isn’t aware of the changes brought about by social media and its meteoric rise within our culture. My apologies to anyone over 70 and I know there are many who are tech savvy. The society in which we live and move and have our being has changed since the advent of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and even going all the way back to MySpace!

Joe Battaglia addresses the negative influences of social media over use in his new release, Unfriended. The book is set to be released next week. I would highly recommend anyone working with a segment of the population under 40 years of age get a copy. In the book he addresses many ways that the promised community online fails to live up the real version of community that helps create a functioning society.

He does this by pointing to the promises of the online version and pointing out the flaws of the delivery system associated with virtual community. Battaglia presents the longings of humanity that are common to all that people hope will be met via the online community via the various social media sites. It’s not a bashing of the either. It is simply an honest examination to see if they are holding up under the promised outcomes.

Each chapter is short enough to really hold your attention. Even for those of us conditioned by our media choices to move quickly from one blurb to the next. The readers will find ourselves at some point among those searching for community in our online avatars and will no doubt see our own desires pointed out in more than one of the chapters in the book.

The book seems to mirror something happening in real life in many places. Scholars and regular joes and janes are discovering that the benefits of being connected virtually all across the world are having some unintended consequences in real life. As Sherry Turkle’s book title points out, we are indeed finding ourselves increasing Alone Together.

I wish that Battaglia had included the positive contributions made from the rise of social media in a little more detail. But that wasn’t the nature of the work, so I understand why it wasn’t included. Even with that being said, I think the work is a need-to-read book for anyone who wants to understand the culture today. I highly recommend Unfriended.

I received a free copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review of the work.

2018 Gator Football Predictions

So an 11-1 season is not out of the realm of possibility here. But I can also see a scenario from a couple of key injuries to Callaway not being able to stay out of trouble off the field where the tide could turn and the Gators finish 7-4. Let’s stick with the positive side and hope for a great year to be a fan of Florida Football.

Thus concluded last year’s predictions about Gator football. Perhaps I was a bit dyslexic and meant to say 4-7! At least I did get the part right about injuries and Callaway! I just never thought it would come crashing down the way it did. But it’s a new day, a new coach, a new uniform combo, etc.

The new look Gators will open the season on Sept. 1 with Charleston Southern coming to the swamp. If Mullen loses this game, he’ll be on the hottest seat imaginable, but his derriere will be just as cool as the other side of the pillow after this game. Look for a strong offensive showing against an overmatched paycheck team from the Gators. Just don’t get too excited about the smoke and mirrors!

Week two and a visit from Kentucky will present a real challenge for these new baby Gators. This could be the year that the Cats end the streak. Not so fast my friends, the energy from the swamp crowd will be enough to help the Gators rally and close out the fourth quarter in the heat and humidity to extend the streak one more year!

The ghost of McElwain remains in a week three matchup against Colorado State. A four pm kick means it will either be hot or rainy or both! None of which is helpful for the Rams. I would be surprised if the Gators are not able to handle the Rams, but it will be one of those closer games than people expect.

The Vols have as many question marks as the Gators under a new coach. Playing on Rocky Top is never easy, and a new coach will be amped to get the first win over the Gators and lead the band after the game and yada, yada, yada. But it is still the Vols, so until they beat the Gators consistently, the curse of the Head Ball coach continues, and the Gators come home 4-0 and the faithful are delighted with Dan!

The trip to Starkvegas is never an easy one. It’s hard to get there from anywhere and the Gators have notoriously played poorly among the cowbells. Perhaps that is one reason the former AD lured the former Coach away knowing this date was on the schedule. Mullen’s previous players will be doing their best to remind the coach why he should have stayed. If Dan can find the right QB for the Gators in the fall, they have a chance to leave there 5-0. I’d say that’s a toss up and so is the outcome of this game. I can see the Dogs winning a close battle in the Mullen bowl.

Last year the LSU game was the hinging point and it will be again this year. If the Gators do lose in Starkvegas, this game becomes a must win to have a chance in the East. The Gators let one get away last year against the Bengals and the task isn’t any easier this year. Playing at home should give the Gators a chance and the energy of the coaching staff gets them through this game with a win and probably a top 15 ranking.

The Gators never play well at Vandy. But they more often than not find a way to win in Nashville. If the Gators still have the same starter at QB from week 1, they win this game. If the Gators had this schedule next year, they’d be in the top ten and undefeated, but with so many unknowns in year one it’s frightening to be that optimistic!

That sets up a potential top 10 matchup between two unbeatens or once beaten teams in the annual cocktail party in Jacksonville. It’s already picked as the 3:30 CBS featured game for obvious reasons. It’s always a high priority game. Last year, the Gators were embarrassed by a really good Georgia team. This year’s Dogs are equally as good. However, I don’t think the effort was there last year from the Gators and that won’t be a problem this year with Mullen at the helm. At this point, it’s just hard to pick the Gators over the Dogs but it will be a close game down the stretch. And a turnover at the right moment could mean the Gators sneak across the river with a win. Just don’t count on it!

A loss in Jax makes homecoming bittersweet. More than likely a trip to Atlanta will be off the table, so you have to wonder about the mental toughness of the team. Missouri is a good team , but they shouldn’t be able to come into the Swamp and win. I think Mullen will use last year’s thumping by the Tigers as motivation and the Gators will get a win for Homecoming.

Mullen beats Muschamp every day! Even if South Carolina wins the game, that last sentence would still be true in my mind. I think the Gators take care of the chickens and Gator fans start to regain some of that swagger that has been diminished by the lean offensive years of the past two regimes. And the Gators can’t lose on my birthday!

They get their annual get healthy but play a competitive game opponent in Idaho. I don’t think they will underestimate them, but this team isn’t good enough to do so and win. I would be surprised if Coach Mullen doesn’t have the team ready to play. They win this one going away in the fourth quarter and close out the home section of the season with a 9-2 record heading up to the annual game in Tally.

New Noles coach, Willie Taggert, is the x-factor in this game. The FSU squad should be more talented than this current crop of Gators. The game is in the tinker box stadium. But this will be the first time Taggert has been in a true big time rivalry game as the head coach. Gator fans need to hope that he blows it big time if they want to pay back their Nole friends for the last few years of crow. The Gators will need help to win this one and I don’t think they get enough.

So there you have it. My thoughts on how the season will unfold for Gator football. 8-3 and a quality bowl will be a major improvement for Gator Nation. For that matter, any bowl would be an improvement over the dumpster fire that was the 2017 season. It’s an often-used cliché in sports, but I think the 2019 season for the Gators is the one that will determine if Mullen has the Gators back in the national contention spotlight. Gator fans should just enjoy any success we have this year and if you get mad or frustrated, just pull up the films for the 2017 games. That should help you remember to stay positive as we wait for a new system to be fully in place for 2019!