Book Review : Tattoo Machine - Tall Tales, True Stories and My Life in Ink

Before my family's Epic Road Trip, I packed up my two teens and headed to one of our fave places in the whole city of Portland: Powell's City of Books.  I turned them loose in the caverns of the mammoth bookstore  with a prime directive.  "Find two books you can enjoy on this road trip that will keep your sanity (and mine!)"

As they searched for titles in the Rose Room I prowled around the various levels waiting for a book to call out to me. If it dared. I am a bonafide bookhound with a stack of books constantly queued up on my nightstand as well as my office and other corners around the house.  I did not need to buy any books for our Epic Road Trip. I already knew which two books I was picking from the line-up.

But then, there it was. I can't even remember which room I came upon it.  The cover caught my eye. I judge books by their cover and their title and this one hooked my attention on both counts.  Tattoo Machine - Tall Tales, True Stories and My Life in Ink.

Ok. This got the book off the shelf and into my hands. But was it any good?

I scanned the backcover noting that the author, Jeff Johnson, is an owner of Portland's Seatramp Tattoo Company, a shop I've driven by many times on Grand Avenue. 

Book Review: The Outsider Interviews

The Outsider Interviews is a DVB. It's a DVD/Book.  "Watch the book, read the story," said Jim Henderson, one of the co-authors of the book. "We wrote a book in response to the stories on the DVD," he explained. "There is no other book like this on the market where you can see and hear it. You don't just read it; you watch it."

I read the book first. It's a quick read. The book is framed around panel interviews of people who are not currently involved to a Christian church, aka The Outsiders.  Jim's co-authors, Todd Hunter and Craig Spinks, traveled together to a handful of cities around the country to host small conferences on themes of Christiantiy, culture and relevance. Each gathering featured a LIVE panel discussion of people who had been recruited to come share their thoughts and views about their experiences and perspectives on Christianity. Like a woman named Rio, who in the Denver gathering, openly spoke of her struggle of reconciling her Christian spirituality with her sexual orientation as a lesbian.  '