Josh's Updates en-US Fri, 02 May 2025 06:07:47 -0700 60 Josh's Updates 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg UserStatus1055895471 Fri, 02 May 2025 06:07:47 -0700 <![CDATA[ Josh is 21% done with The Grapes of Wrath ]]> The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck Josh Berry is 21% done with <a href="/book/show/18114322-the-grapes-of-wrath">The Grapes of Wrath</a>.
Josh wrote: In the middle of chapter 10. "In the late afternoon the truck came back..." ]]> ReadStatus9188683121 Sat, 15 Mar 2025 05:13:37 -0700 <![CDATA[Josh wants to read 'Crime and Punishment']]> /review/show/7404735897 Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky Josh wants to read Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
]]> ReadStatus9181456554 Thu, 13 Mar 2025 05:46:32 -0700 <![CDATA[Josh started reading 'The Real Lincoln: A New Look at Abraham Lincoln, His Agenda, and an Unnecessary War']]> /review/show/7399691108 The Real Lincoln by Thomas J. DiLorenzo Josh started reading The Real Lincoln: A New Look at Abraham Lincoln, His Agenda, and an Unnecessary War by Thomas J. DiLorenzo
]]> ReadStatus9099424243 Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:17:15 -0800 <![CDATA[Josh started reading 'The Grapes of Wrath']]> /review/show/5247797301 The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck Josh started reading The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
]]> UserQuote92091609 Fri, 17 Jan 2025 09:07:10 -0800 <![CDATA[Josh Berry liked a quote by Timothy J. Keller]]> /quotes/740728
Josh Berry liked a quote
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� A job is a vocation only if someone else calls you to do it for them rather than for yourself. And so our work can be a calling only if it is reimagined as a mission of service to something beyond merely our own interests. Thinking of work mainly as a means of self-fulfillment and self-realization slowly crushes a person. � � Timothy J. Keller
]]> Review5889043040 Thu, 26 Dec 2024 09:43:11 -0800 <![CDATA[Josh added 'The Greatest Gift: A Christmas Tale']]> /review/show/5889043040 The Greatest Gift by Philip van Doren Stern Josh gave 3 stars to The Greatest Gift: A Christmas Tale (Hardcover) by Philip van Doren Stern
Reading this short story from the perspective of it being a blueprint for It's A Wonderful Life rather than it being the film's source material makes this a more interesting read. It's much simpler than the film it inspired, but that's okay. This story was originally meant to accompany a Christmas card the author sent to family and friends; it was never meant to spawn one of the great classics of American cinema. On its own it's just a nice little story about appreciating what you have. Being more familiar with It's A Wonderful Life, one of the things I was surprised by in this story was that the character who is supposed to be Clarence is never given a name nor is it ever mentioned that he's an angel. I'm not sure how I feel about that, but I found it interesting the author chose not to give us any explanation as to who is he or how he is able to make George cease to exist.

Anyways, there's not much else to add. While I wouldn't call this an essential read, it's an interesting one, nonetheless, especially if you love It's A Wonderful Life and want to know more about it's origins. ]]> UserChallenge54434271 Thu, 26 Dec 2024 09:42:40 -0800 <![CDATA[ Josh has challenged himself to read 3 books in 2024. ]]> /user/show/127574942-josh-berry 11634 Create your own 2024 Reading Challenge » ]]> Review5889043040 Thu, 26 Dec 2024 09:26:58 -0800 <![CDATA[Josh added 'The Greatest Gift: A Christmas Tale']]> /review/show/5889043040 The Greatest Gift by Philip van Doren Stern Josh gave 3 stars to The Greatest Gift: A Christmas Tale (Hardcover) by Philip van Doren Stern
Reading this short story from the perspective of it being a blueprint for It's A Wonderful Life rather than it being the film's source material makes this a more interesting read. It's much simpler than the film it inspired, but that's okay. This story was originally meant to accompany a Christmas card the author sent to family and friends; it was never meant to spawn one of the great classics of American cinema. On its own it's just a nice little story about appreciating what you have. Being more familiar with It's A Wonderful Life, one of the things I was surprised by in this story was that the character who is supposed to be Clarence is never given a name nor is it ever mentioned that he's an angel. I'm not sure how I feel about that, but I found it interesting the author chose not to give us any explanation as to who is he or how he is able to make George cease to exist.

Anyways, there's not much else to add. While I wouldn't call this an essential read, it's an interesting one, nonetheless, especially if you love It's A Wonderful Life and want to know more about it's origins. ]]> Rating787390890 Wed, 06 Nov 2024 08:08:20 -0800 <![CDATA[Josh Berry liked a readstatus]]> /
Josh Berry liked Julianna’s status update
Julianna Berry Julianna Berry started reading Silas Marner (Signet Classics)
]]> Review6617840677 Mon, 07 Oct 2024 10:39:20 -0700 <![CDATA[Josh added 'The Sun Also Rises']]> /review/show/6617840677 The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway Josh gave 4 stars to The Sun Also Rises (Paperback) by Ernest Hemingway
bookshelves: books-in-my-collection
Not as thrilling as "A Farewell To Arms", but still a very interesting tale about the confusion and heartbreak that can be caused when people do not adhere to traditional gender roles or traditional values regarding romantic relationships. For this reason, I believe this novel has become even more relevant now in the era of red pill masculinity vs. feminism nearly 100 years after its publication. In many ways it reads similar to The Great Gatsby in the sense of it being, essentially, a 1920s soap opera steeped in excess and debauchery. Where Hemingway differs from Fitzgerald, though, comes in the fact that, per Hemingway's style, moments of heightened emotions are downplayed and there is a sort of tragedy that is different from the more literal tragedy of Gatsby. All of the characters in this are pathetic, morally bankrupt scumbags, and their tragedy is in the fact that they have to live with themselves rather than having to experience an event in the plot that gives them a more explicit form of comeuppance. The only parts that kind of lost me were some of the character interactions in the second half. It kind of seemed like the closer it got to the end the more the character interactions seemed more focused on showcasing mundane dialogue that didn't really aid the story and its themes than to building the characters and revealing more about their relationships to each other. Apart from those minor nitpicks, it's status as a classic, I would say, is well deserved. ]]>