Author Archives: hemilykim

Book Review: The Mysterious Island

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Awhile ago, Johnny, one of the Element youth guys asked me during our Bibliopolis time if I had a copy of The Mysterious Island. I had never heard of the book (gasp!), and when I asked him where he heard about it, he told me his small group leader Denny (class of 2013 from Gracepoint Berkeley church) told him that he had to read it. Always on the hunt for new voices to feature on the blog, I shamelessly asked him to write a review. And he did!

mysterious_island-coverIn 8th grade, I read a book called The Mysterious Island, by Jules Verne. I wanted to read it because I had also read Around the World in 80 days, Journey to the Center of the Earth and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by that same author and thought it was good stuff. I actually don’t remember too much of the content now, but the book did have a partial influence on my college major and career path.
The book is set during the American Civil War and has five dudes and a dog from the Union army who escaped, as war prisoners, if I recall correctly, in a hot air balloon. They land on the eponymous island and now they have to find a way to get back to society somehow.
The main character is the balleringest civil engineer and through his ingenuity, he’s able to find systematic ways to find and cook food, create nitroglycerin to blow up granite and use it to create space in a granite cliff behind a waterfall so that they can have a fortress to protect themselves from wild animals. He somehow makes a telegraph on this deserted island and is able to determine where they landed as well. On the island, they also encounter an orangutan which they adopt as their pet. And all the while, of course, mysterious things keep happening on the island, where the stranded characters suspect there is someone else on the island.

So, in a nutshell, in just one book, you get a cool civil engineer, a pet monkey and five guys trying to survive on a deserted island in their manly, engineered waterfall-guarded granite fortress. Too good. So come college applications, what does a 17-year-old who did OK in math and physics and knows nothing about what engineering really is about end up doing? Apply for civil engineering programs and aspire to be just as ballering. BOOM. Books change lives, folks. Read on!

I don’t know about you, but that was pretty much the balleringest book review and plug for reading I’ve read this year! 🙂

Have you read The Mysterious Island? Or any other Jules Verne book? I confess I haven’t, but this review bumped The Mysterious Island up my To-Be-Read List.

Recommended Reads: The “Christian Heroes: Then & Now” Series

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They’re everywhere, but you might have written them off as kids books. I’m talking about the Christian Heroes: Then & Now series from YWAM publishing. There are 44 books thus far. What many people find so great about these books is that they are short and very readable. The books say they are for ages 10-100! So if you’re getting back into reading (or never did much of it before), they are a great way to ease into say, the Winter Reading Challenge. They’re also good to read with your children during your reading times. You can inspire them by reading a Christian biography and spend time reading together – a win-win!

51nod2zql7l-_sx324_bo1204203200_It’s so challenging to distill an entire life into a couple hundred pages, but I love the way the author creates a thematic narrative thread to present the life of a Christian hero in one cohesive story. While it might leave out details, these books are a great starting point to learning about missionaries and other Christian workers, many of whom I had never heard of.

My favorite I’ve read so far is the one about George Muller. It starts with a bang (literally), and you meet young George Muller and his money-loving ways. In fact, he’s a “with friends like him…” kind of guy who only cares about himself. So it is all the more powerful a testament to the power of the gospel when you see how God transforms him into a man who gives his life to care for orphans, solely dependent upon God to provide for every single need, and in such a radical way.

I’ve taken an extremely informal poll of some people (this is *not* the way to collect or present data!), and here are their top 10 biographies:

  1. George Muller
  2. Gladys Aylward
  3. Sundar Singh
  4. Isobel Kuhn
  5. Amy Carmichael
  6. Lottie Moon
  7. Adoniram Judson
  8. D.L. Moody
  9. Hudson Taylor
  10. Ida Scudder

We’ll be getting a whole shipment of many of the biographies, so be sure to stop by the Book Fair to pick up one or two or seven. 🙂

Which ones are your favorites? 

Reading Snapshots:Spiritual Toddlers

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We haven’t had a Reading Snapshot in a while. This one comes from the youngest Sammy at Gracepoint Berkeley church, who happens to be reading one of my favorite Christian books.

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Sammy intently reflecting on the purpose of life: to see God in the face of Jesus Christ.

We Would See Jesus is a Christian classic, and in my opinion, a MUST READ. (It is written by the same authors of The Calvary Road — another must read.) It is a simple yet profound book that has ministered to me at different points throughout the years. So many times we lose sight of Jesus even in the midst of our service of Him. This book simplifies and clarifies what we muddle when we stray from focusing on seeing Jesus alone.

It is currently available at our book fair, and a great choice to read over winter break if you’ve never read it. Or even if you’ve read it before! I read it every few years, and like all good books, I’ve found that it speaks to me in new ways. And if notice in the picture above, the book is rather short, if that motivates you. But don’t be fooled by how short it is; it packs a spiritual punch!

Have you read We Would See Jesus?  Which part is your favorite? I love the chapter about Jesus as the Way.