Hope and Other Super Powers

Hope and Other Superpowers: A Life-Affirming, Love-Defending, Butt-Kicking, World-Saving Manifesto

Author: John Pavlovitz

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Publication Date: November 6, 2018

Length: 256 Pages








About the Author
John Pavlovitz is a writer, pastor, and activist from Wake Forest, North Carolina. In the past four years his blog Stuff That Needs To Be Said has reached a diverse worldwide audience. A 20-year veteran in the trenches of local church ministry, John is committed to equality, diversity, and justice—both inside and outside faith communities.



What Kind of Person Does the World Need Right Now?
This book is a call to action. It is a call for activism and resistance against the upside-down world we live in. Americans (in general) and Christians (specifically) no longer seem burdened to love the least, or to be agents of compassion, or to care for your Muslim, gay, African, female, or poor neighbors as yourself.

The author uses popular comic book heroes to identify ways of cultivating key traits (ordinary superpowers) that will improve our lives and our outlook on the worldwide community. 

The book warns about the weaknesses (our personal Kryptonite) that leaves us vulnerable to the adversaries and villains that we will face on the journey.

Superpowers don't work alone but in teams of other people with the ultimate goal of creating a global movement of radical goodness. This book provides guidelines for locating like-minded heroes and how to join together to achieve common goals.

Mr. Pavlovitz shares stories of some ordinary superhumans to illustrate how they triumphed against adversity, despair and opposition. These stories serve as an example to launch us into our greater purpose and destiny.

The author recently made the following plea on his blog, and this book provides guidance on how to take meaningful action.

"You and I need to pick a hill worth dying on right now, and we need to ascend it without delay. We need to speak and write and work and protest, and do all the things we’ve been waiting for someone else to do."

My Thoughts
 I read this book from cover to cover and found it quite compelling. Mr. Pavlovitz is an excellent writer and expresses his ideas, views and opinions in a very articulate and meaningful manner. He has built a huge platform of supporters on social media sites and frequently expresses his dislike for President Trump and the current political environment in our country.

However, I don't think this book is about politics, religion or liberalism. I believe Mr. Pavlovitz is sincere in his desire to make this a better world. The purpose  for this book is to inspire and motivate ordinary people to get off the sidelines and take a stand for their beliefs and convictions. He warns that there will be a price to pay for taking a bold stand on controversial social, political and religious issues. You will face the scorn and rejection of family members, co-workers, church members...your mother might think your brother/sister is better than you. 

Put on your cape and use the superpowers described in this book to turn your back on fear and pick a hill worth dying on.

I feel like our country has lowered the bar on what is morally right and wrong. I don't even like watching the news anymore. The bad news just keeps coming. This book stirs something deep inside of me. It confirms the popular quotation by Edmund Burke; "All that is necessary for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing."
Hope and Other Super Powers will be released on November 6...election day. A coincidence? No, I don't think so. 

MY RATING: 5 STARS OUT OF 5

FYI ~ I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review. Thank you to Simon and Schuster for making this advance reading copy available.

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The eBook Revolution and a Happy Book Blogger

The year 2011 is quickly coming to a close. This year has seen some dramatic changes for the book publishing and marketing industries.  I can honestly say that the Amazon Kindle has made this a fabulous year to be a reader and a wonderful year to be a book blogger.

The ebook revolution has made a huge difference in the accessibility of books, reports, articles, magazines, newspapers and essays. Amazon has reported that they are selling more ebooks than print books. I believe this trend will continue and I think this opens new doors of opportunities for both authors and readers.

I would like to share a few of my personal observations about the Kindle and the way it has changed my life for the better.

• I downloaded the free Kindle for PC Application to my laptop computer in 2009. I ordered several ebooks and was very pleased with the experience of receiving them in a matter of seconds and reading them on my computer screen. The only problem was that I could not carry my laptop computer in my purse and it was a difficult to curl up in bed with a computer.
• I began dropping hints to my husband that I would like to have a Kindle ebook reader. He didn't know what a Kindle was until he noticed a co-worker using one at his job. She showed him how it worked and he liked it. He also knew that I would like it. In October of 2010, my husband surprised with a Kindle 3.
• I had been writing book reviews on this blog for over a year, but I did not have access to the kinds of books that I really wanted to review. When I got my Kindle, a whole new world opened up to me. I was able to purchase and receive new books on their release date, receive books from authors via email and access free ebooks from Amazon.Com. I am now able to check-out ebooks from the public library and read them on my Kindle.
• My goal for 2012 is to continue to read, review and promote ebooks using this blog, social media outlets and video book trailers. I am a happy book blogger who is dreaming of writing and publishing a book for the Kindle during the next few months.

I would like to thank everyone who has taken time to read this blog during 2011. I appreciate your time and your participation. I wish you all a HAPPY NEW YEAR and hope to see you again in 2012.

Please share your thoughts in the Comments Section below.

Confessions Of A Book Blogger

I would like to share the method that I have developed to choose books to read and review. I wish I had time to read every book that attracted my attention, but that is not possible. I have developed the following method that works for me and I would like to share it.

Contacts From Authors And Publicists

Over the past several months, I have read and reviewed quite a few books from independent authors and book publicists.  Unfortunately, I feel like a kid in a candy store when I get these requests. I accept more than I can read in a reasonable amount of time. I have a terrible case of the guilties each time I look at the books that I have not read yet.  I have decided NOT to accept anymore books in the mail. I will accept books from authors if they can send them in PDF or MOBI format so that I can read them on my Kindle.

My Passions
I have identified the following subjects that I am passionate about. These are subjects that I will base my book selections on in the future.

• Christian Living
• Entrepreneurship
• Social Media Marketing
• Children's Picture Books (especially children's books for the Kindle)
• Self-Help, Psychology, Life Coaching
• Biography and Memoirs

I have never been a big fiction reader.  I remember my first trips to the public library with my family. I went straight to the biography section and searched for "real people" books.  I later majored in social studies with an emphasis in history at college. I have learned that I am a happy camper when I am reading a good non-fiction book.

Choosing Books To Read

My husband recently gave me an Amazon Kindle. I am now totally hooked. I no longer borrow books from the library or visit book stores. This is how I choose the books that I want to read and review;

• I go to Amazon.Com and seach the Kindle Store for books that have been published in the past 30 days.
• I type in the subjects that I am interested in and then notice the top ten best sellers in that category.
• I check the number of reviews that the book has received and then read both the positive and negative comments.
• Many times the Amazon page will show more books on the same subject.  I also check these books out. 
• When I decide on one book that I believe I would like to review, I download the free sample that is provided by Amazon. I also do some research on the author to see if this is really the book that I want to invest in.
• When I make the decision to buy a book, I just click the Purchase button and I am happily reading the book on my Kindle 60 seconds later.

Free Books For The Kindle From Amazon

Amazon frequently offers free Kindle books. I have downloaded many free books in the past several months. The key is to be selective and only download books that really interest you. I have read and reviewed several of these free books and they have been excellent quality. 

Remember, you do not have to have a Kindle to read these free books. You can download the FREE Kindle for PC Application and read books on your computer.

A Happy Booker

I no longer have a huge stack of unread books on my desk. I have found that it is much better to be highly selective in choosing the books that I read and review. I seldom waste my time reading a "bad" book because of the research that I do before I read it. My book reviews are positive because I make it a point to read good books.