Author: Donald Miller

Book Name: A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life

I’m Glad it Wasn’t Called: Let Story Guide You: Why some lives make sense and others don’t, which was the original title for the book when Don first conceived it. (I even have the original cover art for the book, which I’ll show you at the end of the post.) I’m also glad it wasn’t called Auteur: Why some lives make sense and others don’t, which was another title they were throwing around back in the Fall of 2007.

Book Synopsis in Twitteresque 140 characters or less: While writing a movie based on his stories, Don discovers that the same elements that make up a good story, also make a good life.

Where I Bought It: Got it at a bookstore in King of Prussia, PA. (though I should note that I didn’t end up purchasing the one I bit. So somewhere there’s a copy of this book with my dental records all over it.)

Paid for With: Visa. I’ve always been a Visa guy and not a Mastercard guy. No idea why.

How Long it Took Me to Read: Not long. I read the first 40 pages in an airplane in Microsoft Word since someone had sent me a pre-release illegal copy (shh, don’t tell anyone). After I bought the book a few weeks later I read the whole thing in about a week.

Who I WOULD NOT recommend this book to: Someone on their death bed. It’s pretty inconsiderate to ask someone who’s about to die to read a book about writing a better story with their life. It’s downright rude, actually.

Who I WOULD recommend this book to: Just about everyone. Whether you’re chasing your dreams, trying to figure out what your dreams are, or enjoying the dreams you’ve caught, there’s something in here for you.

What I used for a bookmark: A candy corn. Totally screwed up the book’s binding.

What were some interesting true stories from the book: Don’s story about finding and meeting his father was huge. As you get to the end of it, you’re like, “oh crap, my eyes are about to get watery, aren’t they?” and then it’s too late. It was also fascinating to read about Don’s failed relationship that he and his fiancee broke off. Not just because it’s Don, but because rarely do successful Christian authors write about their failed relationships.

What were some interesting true stories NOT from the book: I got to hang out with Don and Susan Isaacs on their tour bus the other day, which was a lot of fun. They’re just as kind in person as they are engaging on stage, but I’m sure you figured that. Unfortunately Don was not able to put the transcript of our riveting 20-minute conversation into the book because it happened a month after the book was released. Maybe the second printing?

What was the 1 thing I’ll take from the book: I’m gonna cheat and give you 3 things. #1 is that when a character doesn’t have a good ambition, he is not in a good story. If all I want to be is a successful writer, who cares? If I’m striving to be a good father and husband who loves those around him, now we’re getting somewhere. #2 is that this really isn’t about us. God is not a supporting character in my story. This is God’s story, and I play a part in it. Changes your perspective on things. #3 is that the climax of the Christian’s story is not when they accept Christ as savior. Because after that point there is still much conflict and heartache. No, the big scene in Act 3 when it all comes together is at the wedding feast of the Lamb in heaven. Conflict here on earth isn’t against God’s will for us. He actually uses it to shape and change us on this side of eternity.

What I learned from this book that I will apply to my next book: A good title is a good title no matter where it comes from. If you’re wondering where “A Million Miles in a Thousand Years” comes from, it’s from a line in the book that you might have not even noticed, had it not been the inspiration for the book’s name. A memorable title is HUGE (and I think I finally have one for the book I’m working on…maybe.)

Expectations Going In: It’s Don Miller, so the expectations were very high.

Cannarf Rating: Despite my high expectations, the book still was an unexpected surprise. I had heard Don speak about Story before, so I wondered if some of the material would feel old and stale. On the contrary, the stories he injected into the book really helped the material make sense in a fresh way. I truly feel that anyone who reads through this book will be better off for it. Good chance I’ll wind up calling this my favorite book of his.   The Rating: +2 cannarfs. (what’s a cannarf?)

Have any of you read A Million Miles in a Thousand Years? If so, what’s your cannarf rating?

Bonus Time…here’s an early draft of the cover art for the book when it was titled, Let Story Guide You, designed by Barak Hardley:

and here’s a potential cover that Barak Hardley designed for Million Miles that Don’s blog readers thought was a little too dark. (it references a passage in the book where Don talks about how people would mourn the loss of good stories, and not non-fiction, if a Book Mobile fell off a bridge.)

Movie: All About Steve

Where We Saw It: Rave Cinemas in Port St. Lucie, Florida. We were vacationing there last week to celebrate out 10th anniversary.

Food/Beverages Consumed: We went to the movie theater immediately after eating dinner at Chipotle, so we were the opposite of hungry. But I figured at some point I’d have the urge to eat something sweet and I had a few bucks in my pocket, so we spent $4 on a box of raisinettes. Later that night we saw the same box at Wal-Mart for 97 cents. Good times.

Movie Synopsis in Twitteresque 140 characters or less: An annoying Sandra Bullock has latched onto the charming Bradley Cooper. Can he ditch her without crushing her spirit? And will you care?

The Good Stuff: I’ve never been a big Sandra Bullock fan, but she did a pretty good job walking the tightrope of being over the top eccentric and likable at the same time. The chemistry between the 3 main dudes in the poster was pretty good as well, leading to some of the movies’ best moments.

The Bad Stuff: I’m not usually one to pick apart movies, but I couldn’t help but feel that some of the characters and their relationships were way too underdeveloped. For instance, when Thomas Haden Church’s character decided to mess with Bradley Cooper and reach out to Bullock, I had no idea why he was doing it. Was he a bad guy? Was he just a joker? It didn’t make sense in the story arc to the point where I noticed it. Also, the friendships that Bullock developed with the guy and girl from the “Pro-Leg” camp (I won’t ruin that for you) seemed way too contrived. I had a hard time caring for them or their whole sub-plot. It felt like there was about 20 minutes of footage that would have explained these characters better that was left on the editing room floor, and as a result the movie seemed emotionally disjointed. Or maybe there was something in my burrito from Chipotle.

The Ending: The ending was pretty strong and included some truly funny moments and a small twist. Nothing to write or call home about (though a text might be justifiable).

Should You spend $25 to go see it in the theaters: I can think of worse things to do with your money. Not exactly a ringing endorsement, I know, but yeah.

No seriously, Should I Go See it, Rent it, or Skip it? It’s a safe play for the theaters if there’s nothing else you want to see, but otherwise I think it’s a solid rental.

Expectations Going In: I was expecting a light, easy-to-watch movie with a few funny scenes here and there.

Cannarf Rating: Well, I got what I expected with this one. It was funny at times, scattered at others, and in the end turned out to be a fun way to spend an hour and a half of my life. The Rating: 0 cannarfs. (what’s a cannarf?)

Have any of you seen All About Steve? If so, what’s your cannarf rating?

Author: Rob Stennett

Book Name: The End is Now

I’m Glad it Wasn’t Called: Rapture or Crapture?

Book Synopsis in Twitteresque 140 characters or less: A town obsessed with the rapture believes a boy has prophesied the end is now. A town and a family are pushed to the brink. Chaos ensues.

Where I Bought It: What do you know…another book I didn’t have to buy! Rob Stennett was kind enough to send me a copy of the book to review on my blog. The question is, will I actually review it on my blog??? (answer: of course I will, you’re reading the review right now, genius.)

Paid for With: Selling a piece of my soul. Don’t worry though, it was a piece I wasn’t really using.

How Long it Took Me to Read: I started it in June on vacation and read about half of it. Then it got lost in the cabinet above the phone for over a month. I picked it back up a few days ago and finished strong.

Who I WOULD NOT recommend this book to: Jon and Kate Gosselin. There’s more important stuff for them to be reading right now than apocalyptic, satirical fiction. I would also not recommend this to anyone over the age of 65. Rob uses way too many pop culture references for people who were born before Truman was president.

Who I WOULD recommend this book to: People who grew up in the church and have spent more than a few minutes wondering about the rapture, the end of the world, and such. Also people who have read the Left Behind series and think it is the best treatment of the topic. (for the record, I have not read the Left Behind series, but feel confident that this book is way better. like, totally.)

What I used for a bookmark: Can you guess? Either a Honus Wagner T-206 baseball card or the Zondervan info sheet that came with the book. I’ll never tell and you’ll never know.

What did you like about the book: Two favorite things about Rob’s writing:

1 – i love all of the pop culture (and christian culture) references he throws in. Just shows he’s on the ball and made me as a reader feel like i was in good hands. Does that sound weird? Maybe. But when you get the sense that the author knows what he’s talking about, you tend to trust him to take the story where he’s taking it. At least I do.

2 – I also really enjoyed the dialogue between characters. On more than a few occasions I found myself thinking, “that’s exactly how I would have said that.” Always nice to read a novel that has normal-sounding dialogue.

What did you NOT like about the book: Compared to the second half of the book, the first half seemed a little slow at times. Not a painful “something better happen soon or I’m going to throw this book away” slow, but more of a “I can tell some cool things are going to be happening and I wish he would get to them faster” kinda slow.

Expectations Going In: I hadn’t read fiction in a while and wasn’t really looking forward to it. Especially since this is “Christian fiction” and that is usually “not as good”.

Cannarf Rating: Overall it was an enjoyable read, that grew stronger and stronger as the book progressed. The premise of the book is a bit crazy, but it is treated in a way that really makes you think “if this was the way things went down, I bet this is the way things would go down”. When I finished the last page, I felt satisfied with my time invested and also with the ending, which is all you can ask for with a novel. Happy I read it, and I think you would be too. The Rating: +2 cannarfs. (what’s a cannarf?)

Have any of you read The End is Now? If so, what’s your cannarf rating?

I’ve seen 3 movies in the past 2 weeks, which might not be a lot of movie watching for you, but it is for me. What better way to celebrate my theatrical binging than with 3 mini Cannarf Reviews.

(if you’re new to the blog and don’t know what my Cannarf rating system is, it’s my own rating system that gives something 0 cannarfs if it meets expectations, positive Cannarfs if it exceeds expectations, and negative Cannarfs if it doesn’t meet the hype. You can read more about it here.)

Movie: Taken

Where I saw it: In my living room

With: My girl, Erica.

Favorite Thing about it #1: The way it highlighted human trafficking as a significant problem. I have a feeling for some people this was their first real exposure to child sex slavery and the like. The more awareness, the better.

Favorite Thing about it #2: As a dad, you gotta love the notion of a father protecting his daughter and saving her from the most dire set of circumstances ever. It connects with a certain thing inside every dad that isn’t there until you have kids. I really feel like this was the whole point of the movie. That 5 years ago some guy was sitting around and said, “I need to make a movie that fathers are going to love because a dad who was every reason not to fight for his daughter will fight for her and he’ll win.”

Least Favorite Thing about it #1: Maggie Grace’s acting. She was a 24-year old playing a 17-year old, but she played the part like she was supposed to be playing a 13-year old. She wasn’t on screen that much, but when she was, the body language and whining and even the writing seemed more like 6th grade than 12th.  Mildly annoying.

Least Favorite Thing about it #2: The plot seemed a little contrived. You’ve got the overprotective father who warns his daughter about trouble, and she’s not even out of the airport when she runs into it. Really? That soon? I almost wondered at first if the father set up the incident, just so he’d have something to save his daughter from. And like I said before, the whole thing seemed to be aimed at fathers a little too much. Like I was supposed to be pumping my fist and clapping every time Liam Neeson punched a bad guy in the face.

Overall: The movie was fast-paced and riveting, despite the sketchy plot and occasionally awful acting. Definitely worth a rental.

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Movie: Slumdog Millionaire

Where I Saw it: My living room

With: My wifey Erica

What I liked: Great story and great storytelling. Like most of you who have seen it, I realized right away that they were going to use the Millionaire questions as a vehicle to move the plot, but knowing what they were doing didn’t make it any less enjoyable. I thought it was brilliant, actually.

Love stories, when done well, are probably the most powerful stories we have. I think that’s why this movie resonated with so many people. I mean, who doesn’t love a good love story, other than you, heartless reader who is raising his/her hand.

What I didn’t like: There wasn’t a whole lot to hate in this movie. If I had to pick on anything, I’d say that the ending played out pretty predictably. No real twists or turns that truly great stories throw at you when you least expect it. But even so, the ending felt very satisfying.

Overall: Believe the hype. Fantastic movie that made me want to give my wife a movie kiss and win a trivia game.

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Movie: Up

Where I Saw it: Penn Cinemas in Lititz, PA

With: My wife, my kids, and 50 other people.

Complaints: None.

Praise: Lots. Fantastic movie chock full of great moments, from the truly sad to truly funny.

Were they making onion popcorn at the theater? They must have been because I got a few tears in my eyes during the movie, and that’s the only possible explanation I can think of as to why that would have happened.

So you were bawling? No, just a tear or two. But there was a girl a few rows behind us who was literally sobbing during a few parts of the movie. Audibly weeping to the point where it made you uncomfortable. Either she just lost a loved one or she just started going on the pill and her hormones were out of whack.

Overall: No matter how high they set the bar, the Disney/Pixar combo knows how to deliver. I thought the ending was extremely well done, and the storytelling was great. The tragic elements of the story were done in a way that my 6-year old totally missed them, but my (almost) 8-year old knew what was happening, which felt about right. And like all good kids movies, there were a few laugh out loud moments too.

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Cannarf Ratings: (what’s a Cannarf?)

Taken: -1 Cannarfs (I had heard too many good things about the movie. Enjoyable, but could have been better)

Slumdog Millionaire: +2 Cannarfs (high expectations, and the movie delivered)

Up: +3 Cannarfs (I was planning on being entertained, but this movie moved and entertained me beyond what I expected.)

Have you seen any of these 3 flicks? If so, what Cannarf Rating would you give them?