Ion: The Torchbearer. By: Ron Marz

Just after Hal Jordan came back from being parallax, and was reinstated as a green lantern, that kind of left Kyle Rayner with not much to do.  But the Guardians have other plans for Kyle.  He is the new host for Ion, the embodiment of will power.  If parallax is the embodiment of fear (mascot like), Ion is the same for will power. But with the embodiment of will power in him, he no longer needs a ring or a battery.  But he is as confused as ever.  With all this new power, how is he to control it? Ion is a short run series, it's just OK.  Unless you love all things green lantern, this is probably just a pass.

Green Lantern, Volume 1 : Sinestro By Geoff Johns (The New 52)

Now this was more like it.  This is where things should have directly picked up after war of the green lantern.  I am really excited to see where this story line is heading.  At the of the ware of the green lanterns Sinestro has a green lantern ring put back on him and it isn't by choice either.  Hal Jordan has been striped of his ring and is stuck on earth.  So now what happens to a green lantern corp with Sinestro and no Hal Jordan?  That is what is making this story really interesting.  The Green Lantern Universe did not get a reboot after the New 52.  But like many things with the New 52, this would also be a good book to pickup for someone who wants to get into the green lantern. This is a must read for any comic book fan.

War of the Green Lanterns: Aftermath By: Tony Bedard

With some of the questions that where left unanswered at the end of the war of the green lanterns, I was looking forward to finding out some of those answers.  Well unfortunately the main questions I had never got answered.  I was really disappointed to find out that it didn't answer any of them.  This book was more of a compilation of the final issues of the green lantern, green lantern corps and emerald warrior.  These were the last of the stories before DC's New 52.  They were more one off stories than anything that could be plugged into a larger story arch. Unless you want to have a minor question answered in only the first two issues, this is definetely a pass.  Instead, head straight for the New 52.

Winter Soldier: The Longest Winter. By Ed Brubaker

After reading The Winter Soldier story arch in the Captain America Omnibus's and Bucky Barnes becoming Captain America while Steve Rogers was dead?, I really liked the idea of a Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier book, and I got it.  I really liked the fact that Bucky got his own book and is now trying to go back and secretly clean up his mess while he was under control of the soviets.  The writing is good, but I don't care for the art style.  It's just a little to messy for my taste.  I like that we are getting to see more of what Bucky's life was like while he was the Soviet Winter Soldier.  If you liked Bucky's time as Captain America, you make like this book.  Its not the greatest, but I stilled enjoyed it.

Justice League, Volume 1: Origins By Geoff Johns

This was one of the very first book publish for the new 52.  What is the new 52?  Well basically DC decided to reboot its entire universe.  No more past story lines you needed to know about, no more conflicting stories.  The new 52 is a continuity all its own, and Justice League: Origins is just that, the origin of the Justice League.  This is where Batman, Superman, The Flash, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Aquaman and Cyborg come together to defeat a common enemy.  Though they don't officially form a team... yet, they do realized by the end they are going to be working together again in the future. I just loved the dialog in this book.  It doesn't take itself too seriously.  For example:
Green Lantern: "What are your powers anyway? Can you fly?"
Batman: "No."
Green Lantern: "Super-strength?"
Batman: "No."
Green Lantern: "Hold on a second...You're not just some guy in a bat costume, are you?  Are you freaking kidding me?!"

Got to love that.  I know this hasn't gotten fantastic reviews by others on Amazon, but I really enjoyed it.  If you are a DC fan like I am, and like DC's major characters, I think you'll enjoy this book like I did.

ReFOCUS. By Jim Daly

This was the first book I picked up after the family vacation.  It was given to me by a member our neighborhood group.  (neighborhood group = people from our church that live in very close proximity to one another, that meet together to study Gods word, build meaningful relationships with one another, pray for one another, serve our neighbors, to be and make disciples of Jesus Christ.)  This was a very quick read for me.  I just ate it up.  I felt that Jim was writing my attitude towards people exactly.  As Jim writes, "This isn't a book about what's going badly in the culture, but rather about how Christians should respond to it."  This book isn't about politics, but how to stand firm on principles while we make sure our hearts are in the right places.  He reminds us the God doesn't call us to "win" but to obey him and be faithful, and letting God handle the rest.  He doesn't tell us to remove ourselves from the world or those who disagree with us, but to engage those who we disagree with in a loving way and find common ground with them.  I would recommend this to any Christian.

Freakonomics. By: Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner

Another book I read over vacation was Freakonomics.  Now I know what you are probably thinking, "why in the world would you read a book on economics for fun?".  Well because it was.  This isn't your typical economics book, this is freakonomics.  What is more dangerous, a gun or a swimming pool?  What do schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers have in common? How much to parents really matter?  These are not your standard economic questions.  But these are the types of questions that the authors try to answers.  Some of their conclusions may surprise you.  The data may surprise you.  They cover controversial topics like abortion, crime, the KKK, and why drug dealers still live with their mothers.  Not only are many of the topics entertaining and interesting, but some may even be uncomfortable and shatter "common knowledge".  Now, morality plays no barring on their findings and definetly do not have any influence on their conclusions.  Just the facts, and only the facts. (per the data they use)  If you are easily offended by opinions that do not line up with your own, don't read this book.  If you do not like having "common knowledge" challenged with facts, don't read this book.  If you want an entertaining book that will challenge the way you though things worked and don't take everything at face value and want to have some fun with economics, you will greatly enjoy this book.

Green Lantern: War of the Green Lanterns By: Geoff Johns

I just finished this, and man did I enjoy it.  Not quite at much is i liked the Sinestro Corps wars, but I think I liked it better then the Blackest Night.  This book isn't just a green lantern collection, but green lantern, green lantern corps, and emerald warrior issues in a single bound issue.  It is the only way to make sense of the war of the green lanterns.  Though I have ready everything leading up to this book, starting back as far are Green Lantern: Rebirth, you don't have to have read the earlier stuff to enjoy this.  I just think it makes the story that much richer.  After the events of the Sinestro Corps wars, Blackest Night,  and Brightest Day we have the war of the green lanterns where one of the corps oldest enemies returns with a vengeance.  There are so many little details that tie in other stories to this book that makes following the green lantern universe so much more enjoyable.  An interesting note is with the new 52 reboot, batman and green lantern never had their universes rebooted, so the new 52 is supposed to flow on with the green lantern events here.  As you can see from the heavy green lantern reviews, Hal Jordan is my favorite comic book character by far and this story doesn't disappoint.  For green lantern fans, this is a must read.

All Star Superman. By Grant Morrison

All Star Superman is a one off story that really helps define the icon of Superman. In this story Superman is not like any human. Though he may have the emotions, he is portrayed as a god-like figure and that his purpose in life is to help and protect humanity. All Star Superman is basically the story of, if you knew you only had X amount of days to live, what would you do with those remaining days.  This story answers that for Superman.  It touches on his relationships with Lois Lane, Lex Luther, and Jimmy Olson.  I really liked this story.  It really gives you a great understanding on why Superman isn't just an iconic comic book character, but an icon in and of itself.  The art is very good.  I would recommend this book to anyone starting out it comics.  There is no need to have any background to know whats going on.

Crisis on Infinite Earths. By: Marv Wolfman

This is one of the very first "EVENT" story lines that started it all.  The book was a very ambitions project back in 1985. The purpose of this event was to take all the different DC universes and merge them in to a single universe. No more earth 1, 2, 3, 4, Prime....etc.  It would now make the DC universe more accessible for new readers to get on board.  I personally think they accomplished it.  Having read alot of the main DC characters, this was really a fun read to get some more specific background on why some of the characters are they way they are, and it was cool to actually see how Barry Allen (The Flash) dies. This book was very good for an almost 30 year old story. Though I would recommend it, I would not give it to a new reader.  There are a lot of characters there you have to have some type of working knowledge to be able to truly enjoy this story.

Making Love Last Forever By: Gary Smalley

Last week the family and I drove down to Myrtle Beach, SC for a little rest and relaxation over Easter break. Over that break I was able to get a lot of reading done.  One of those books that was I able to finish was Gary Smalley's book Making Love Last Forever.  In my never ending quest to be a better husband, father, and person in general, I picked this book up.  This is a book to help improve not just your marriage but yourself as a person.  He starts this book off by laying a foundation of emotional health that needs to be present in every person to build and be apart of healthy relationships.  Then he builds on that with practical ideas on how we can make your marriage relationship more intimate and enduring.  Although this book is specifically written for married coupled, there are a number of insights that can be applied to many other types of relationships as well.  I would certainly recommend this book for anyone looking to build better relationships in general.

Ultimates 3, Who Killed the Scarlet Witch? By: Jeph Loeb

Having enjoyed the first 2 Ultimate stories, I was hoping this would be just as good. Well is wasn't. This greatly departs from what was put together with the first two books and made them entertaining.  It also poorly introduces x-men and mutants in to the ultimate's world.  Though the art was very good in its own right, it was a drastic departure from the first two. If you really like the Ultimate universe and want to know more about stuff leading up to Ultimatum, you can read this.  Otherwise I would put this on the pass list.

Thor Omnibus. By J. Michael Straczynski

This was my first time reading of any standalone Thor story.  The only thing I knew about Thor is from the movies and other comic’s that he has been a part of.  So when I started this book it was a little confusing.  But after a couple of issues, I was able to piece together a working knowledge of what had happened in the past to be able to enjoy the rest of the book.   This is a very Asgardian focused story.  Being introduced to all the different characters like Lady Sif and the warriors three, Odin, Odin’s father and even Dr. Doom was really kind of cool.  The book starts out a little slow but once it establishes all the main characters, it start to get really good.  My only complaint is that the ending established more questions and started more storylines then it finished.  But all in all, it was very entertaining.  I don’t know if I would recommend it as a must buy because of the price, but if you have an opportunity to read it, do it.

The Warren Family, Mental Illness, and the Church.

I just read a blog post today that hit very, very close to home. With what has happened this past weekend in the lives of the Warren Family (Pastor Rick Warren, author of The Purpose Driven Life), I thought this was a very appropriate blog post. One of the most frustrating things about the Church is that we can be more judgmental then the world, and even worse to one another. Panic Attacks, depression, mental illness is not a faith thing, or a not being in the word thing, or bad prayer life thing, (fill in the blank with stereotypical Christian rhetoric) sometimes it just happens.  Heck, look at what Job went through.  He didn't do or not do anything.  God let it happen. Just because we are Christians, doesn't mean life will always be sunshine and roses. God allows us to have thorns.  He allows us to go through difficult times and to be tested. The verses that have helped me through tough times are 1 Corinthians 10:13, Matthew 11:30, and James 1:3. Though my issues haven't been temptations per se, I still find comfort in the fact that God will not allow us to go through something that we cannot bare. Please take a minute and read the following blog post.

My Panic Attacks, My Mental Illness, and The Church's Dirty Little Secret.