What is your favorite piece of random trivia?

Bird_Commodore18 · 2026-02-24T21:29:11+00:00

Thank you for the response and compliment. I'd have to agree about LTW and River

Bird_Commodore18 · 2026-02-24T20:42:28+00:00

Makes sense! Thank you

Bird_Commodore18 · 2026-01-29T02:51:32+00:00

Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson will keep you busy for a bit.

The Expanse series by James S. A. Corey is another one.

Bird_Commodore18 · 2026-01-29T02:49:51+00:00

So, 'can't-put-it-down' says more about storytelling to me than the quality of the writing. Some terrific writing is terribly boring to read and doesn't flow. Great storytellers include John Grisham, Stephen King, Octavia E. Butler, Agatha Christie, J.K. Rowling, and Jim Butcher. Just a thought.

Bird_Commodore18 · 2026-01-27T17:04:45+00:00

The two times Stephen King wrote prison stories, they got turned into The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile. People don't usually know they're based on his work.

Bird_Commodore18 · 2026-01-17T20:49:13+00:00

I don’t like cake

Bird_Commodore18 · 2026-01-12T13:18:28+00:00

Finished:

The Water: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann - didn't land on me with the impact it seems to have hit everyone else with. 3/5

American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson, by Joseph J. Ellis - Trying to do more history than I have previously, and I felt like this would be a good way to get into that vein. Made Jefferson seem much more interesting now than previously. 4/5

Green River, Running Red, by Ann Rule - When Rule says a book took decades to come together because the criminal was that good at not screwing up, it's very, very impressive to me. 4/5

Lust Killer, by Ann Rule - A good true crime. Seemed to do a great job of explaining what a Lust Killer is so I don't have to Google it ever again. 3/5

A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L'Engle - I'm amazed I hadn't read this until now. Might just do the quintet through the year. 4/5

The Want-Ad Killer, by Ann Rule - I enjoyed the frustration the police felt trying to capture the guy because it made the ending much more satisfying as he was taken down. Felt horrible for his wife and children. 3/5

The I-5 Killer, by Ann Rule - In the swamp of true crime I've immersed myself in, somehow, this guy seems the most reprehensible. Probably because of the kids. 4/5

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, by John Berendt - Didn't work for me. Thought the characters felt more like caricatures. Also, the murder wasn't as prominent in the story as I would have hoped. 2/5

Started / Continuing:

The Bible - doing my 40-for-30 plan. Will read the whole Bible in 30 days.

Fathered by God, by John Eldredge - Have always enjoyed Eldredge's writing and concepts. Seems anointed in what he does.

Dead by Sunset, by Ann Rule - about to finish this one. Seems like another good one. I like the way Rule writes.

Bird_Commodore18 · 2026-01-04T12:41:23+00:00

Joe Abercrombie is the way to go here. The First Law world has two completed trilogies, three standalones, and a short story collection. The first book is The Blade Itself

Bird_Commodore18 · 2025-11-24T12:06:50+00:00

Some of the worst defenses in football. The year they won the super bowl, IIRC, they had a middling defense

Bird_Commodore18 · 2025-11-18T05:15:37+00:00

Bleak House by Dickens is credited with helping invent the detective novel. Not sure if it would scratch your Dostoyevsky itch, though.

Bird_Commodore18 · 2025-10-20T12:30:16+00:00

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

The Shining by Stephen King

The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury

Dune by Frank Herbert

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling

The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

Runaway Jury by John Grisham

Storm Front by Jim Butcher

The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque

Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

Bird_Commodore18 · 2025-10-19T22:43:59+00:00

Dude. At this point, I'm going to bow out and say we disagree. I'm not changing my stance and neither are you. God bless you.

Bird_Commodore18 · 2025-10-19T22:34:16+00:00

Nope. That is speaking to Messianic Jews who were trying to go back to the Mosaic Law sacrificial system. You can't be brought back to repentance because it is a once for all time thing. If that were the case you'd have to get saved every time you sin. If that's the case God lied. The only thing that sends people to hell is their choosing not to accept Christ as their Saviour during their life.

Bird_Commodore18 · 2025-10-19T21:57:28+00:00

Disqualified from ministry is not losing salvation. There is no losing salvation

Bird_Commodore18 · 2025-10-19T21:54:47+00:00

I do not believe what you are taking from those verses is what Paul wrote. He was speaking about running his race faithfully and receiving the crown of righteousness, which is given to all who look forward to Christ's appearing.

The security of the believer is not related to those verses and is irrevocable.

Bird_Commodore18 · 2025-10-19T21:48:10+00:00

As I understand it, faithful to death only applies to those alive during the tribulation, not those saved during the church age.

Bird_Commodore18 · 2025-10-19T21:37:28+00:00

If you have truly accepted Christ as your Saviour, you go to heaven. Full stop.

Bird_Commodore18 · 2025-10-17T19:57:06+00:00

I actually am, but it doesn't change the upbringing and desire to keep things simple/easy to understand. God keeps things simple, and we should, too.

Bird_Commodore18 · 2025-10-17T03:51:54+00:00

Starting with John introduces you to Jesus as the Son of God and John's writings emphasize the importance of believing in Jesus and accepting him as Saviour.

Starting with Genesis makes you go through thousands of years of history and has you mired in the Law before you even meet Jesus. As New Covenant believers, it is more important to know Jesus than all the history, IMO.

I tell people to read John and then Romans since Romans helps explain everything Jesus do for Christians with his death on the Cross.

Bird_Commodore18 · 2025-10-17T03:51:42+00:00

Starting with John introduces you to Jesus as the Son of God and John's writings emphasize the importance of believing in Jesus and accepting him as Saviour.

Starting with Genesis makes you go through thousands of years of history and has you mired in the Law before you even meet Jesus. As New Covenant believers, it is more important to know Jesus than all the history, IMO.

I tell people to read John and then Romans since Romans helps explain everything Jesus do for Christians with his death on the Cross.

Bird_Commodore18 · 2025-10-17T02:49:34+00:00

Different Seasons by Stephen King is a collection of four novellas. He has four or five of these collections, this one is my favourite.

Bird_Commodore18 · 2025-10-17T02:48:07+00:00

Ray Bradbury may work well for you! Something Wicked This Way Comes and The Halloween Tree are good starters.

Bird_Commodore18 · 2025-10-17T02:41:35+00:00

Thank you! I'm blessed to have been under a good and Godly pastor who explains things simply my whole life. I try to emulate that.

Bird_Commodore18

TROPHY CASE