This is not the typical type of book that I read, but I was contacted by the author of One of the Few Jason B. Ladd, who asked if I would review his book. I am glad that I did, this book lifted my spirits, and it helped me understand that although we struggle in life, relying on God to help us is perfectly acceptable, and that even though we may not always have that positive attitude toward God, He has our back. The book is not coming out until later this  year, but I really think that you will want to pick it up. One of the things that I like about this book, is that it is a mixture between one man’s life, as well as his connection with God, that grew through out his life. He was not born thinking that we all go to Heaven when we die, and it took him a while, and through many serious and very scary circumstances to understand that we do. If you are a person who is looking to read something that speaks about God and Christian views in the world, than this book is for you. I am a spiritual person, but I do not consider myself religious. So, reading this book was a very real eye opener for me. It explained all the different ways that people can believe, whether it is in one God (monotheism) or no God (atheism), and all of the things in between. The journey that this man took, from being a marine fighter pilot, to being a husband and father, to a man of faith is a really inspirational story that I think will open your eyes if you are willing to see. I plan on getting a copy of this when it comes out ( I hope it’s coming in paperback?) It was really nice to read a book that was surrounded by faith, and even though he went through some really scary situations (At the beginning, he talks of his unborn child who had a very serious developmental issue), he overcame them and turned toward God to help guide him through his life. I feel like there was a reason that I read this book, because I tend to struggle with the concept of Heaven, God, etc. So, this helped to solidify my beliefs. Thank you Jason for letting me read this book :) I give this one 5 out of 5, it really pulls at the heart strings, and it also teaches something valuable.

The author also answered some questions for me, which is becoming one of my favorite things to do now. I just wish I could talk to all these authors in person, that would make it even better!

Kerrie: Is this the first book that you have ever written?

Jason: Yes. It started as a “writing project” at first. I wanted to record the story of how I came to faith for my kids to read one day. But then I soon realized the story could be helpful to others as well. That’s when I stopped writing for myself, and began writing for the reader.

K: What are your ambitions for your writing career?

J: There are so many life-changing experiences out there. Those are the coolest stories. At this point, I just want to tell mine. If it develops into a career, I’m willing to embrace that.

Kerrie: If your book was to become a movie, who would you want to play the lead characters?

J: Can I play myself? No, that won’t work because my wife would have to play herself, and she’ll never go for that. We’ll have to get the second most beautiful woman in the world. For guys, I don’t know. He’s got to be able to pull off a buzz cut. I’m open to suggestions. Readers and casting directors can send suggestions here: http://www.jasonbladd.com/contact/

K: What do you do when you are not writing a book?

J: That’s an easy question when you are in the pre-launch phase of a book. You’re prepping for the launch! But I think you mean on my off-time. I have a wife I adore and five kids that want to play. So I play.

K: What does an average day in your life look like?

J: It begins waking up with 8 hours of sleep if at all possible. That gets me about 30 minutes of vivid, crazy dreams right before waking up. 7 hours, no dreams, and I’m tired. Average is hard to say. This has been a year of transition: leaving active-duty, moving, looking for a new job, writing for several blogs, and launching a book. Up at 7:00 a.m., in bed by 10:00 p.m. (nothing good ever happens after 10:00). Let’s just say there’s no down time.

K: Do you have plans to write more, and if so will it be in this genre or will you spread your wings?

J: I love how you worked in wings here. I have two more books in the works. My second book will be about handling life’s most difficult circumstances and will be written around our recent experience losing our son. He had a chromosomal anomaly called Trisomy 18, or “Edwards Syndrome.” He died on the day he was born. I also have a dystopian fiction lined up after that. All that to say, I plan on writing a lot.

K: If you could sit down and talk to one author, who would it be and why?

J: Steven Pressfield. He’s a Marine and written some amazing stuff. I’d love to pick his brain and take a look at the path he has walked. Or Malcolm Gladwell, just to watch his brain work in real time.

K: Who designed the cover of the book?

J: I blindly went with a website called 99designs.com. They have several packages, and I didn’t go with the cheapest, but it was well worth it. Artists compete against each other for a cash award. The website functionality was very easy to use. You can provide lots of feedback throughout the entire process, until the product is just right. I provided some of the images and gave overall direction. I’m very happy with the results, and found several artists I would work with again.

K: What is your favorite book? And what are you reading now?

J: Hard to say, but I’ll answer a few that are genre specific. Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield was an amazing piece of historical fiction. Marines love it because of the similarities we have to the Spartans as far as our function as part of the culture. In the Christian non-fiction genre I Don’t Have Enough Faith To Be An Atheist by Normal Geisler and Frank Turek really challenged a lot of assumptions I had about Christianity, which turned out to be false.

K: How can readers discover more about you and your work?

J: Readers can find out about my book and my blog at http://www.jasonbladd.com

A few months ago I was lucky enough to be approached by Jason Ladd to read an advance copy of his book, One of the Few, and write an honest review. (The book is now available for purchase on Amazon.) I felt very privileged to be selected to read and review this novel. I knew that reading this book would be something different for me, because it is both a non-fiction (which I read occasionally) and a Christian perspective (which I have hardly ever read).

Jason Ladd has a unique story to tell in his novel. Ladd is a Marine fighter pilot, but he also has a strong Christian faith that has guided him through his adult life. Ladd is very honest in his approach to his faith, and also how he became such a strong believer in God. While Ladd does describe his journey to find God and his relationship in Christ, I believe that there are lessons to be learned from Ladd’s book for both non-believers and believers alike.

One of the Few is set up into 3 parts with smaller chapters in each part. Ladd uses these parts to take the readers on his life journey. As Ladd describes different parts of his life, he also relates lessons from the Bible to these specific situations and the general situations that we face as well. Many of these examples can be applied directly to the situations and lessons that Ladd was facing through different phases of his life and his career, but on occasion I sometimes felt that the relations were a bit of a stretch. I feel that there were points in the book where Ladd didn’t need to draw in specific passages from the Bible, but could have let faith speak for itself.

Ladd has written a very inspirational novel that speaks directly from his perspective and his life experiences and views. Ladd has also incorporated great information about what it is like and what it takes to train as a Marine fighter pilot. Below is one of my favorite passages from the novel:

Living with an insufficient worldview is like flying under the bag. While it is easy to move forward, it is difficult to stay pointing in the right direction…However, there is something you can do about it — you can take down the bag. By developing a truth-based worldview which corresponds to human experience, you can unmask the canopy to reveal a glorious horizon. When you can see the horizon, you can always find which way is up, and with a bit of good weather, the sun will help you find true north.
To read more about the novel and about Jason Ladd, please visit his website at: http://www.oneofthefewbook.com/

I was lucky enough to be approached by the author of this book to receive an ARC e-book copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Description: Stand-alone, non-fiction Christian book for adults (but content-wise, suitable for all ages in my opinion)

Release Date: November 10, 2015

First Line: The navy pilot looked down toward the fast approaching earth speckled with desert brush.​​

PROS & CONS

I wasn’t too sure what to expect going into this book. I love reading and learning more about Christianity but non-fiction is never my strong suit. I have a hard time keeping track of all the dates and events, and honestly reading about things that aren’t real and serious is just usually more fun for me. Not only that, but since this book largely tells stories from the author’s time as a Marine, I was worried that all of the military vocabulary and phrasing would be way over my head, making it hard for me to enjoy it.

However, I was very pleasantly surprised. Ladd does an awesome job of explaining the military terms he uses and using very relatable examples to make it easier to understand. It was fun to see how he used his own story and references to things like The Simpsons, The Sounds of Music, and Harry Potter to strengthen and add details to the points he was making.
One thing I found interesting about this book is that it didn’t exactly read like one continuous story. The book is broken up into three parts. Within those parts you have chapters and within those chapters there were broken up little sections that told a little story and then usually connected back to the Bible, showing what we could learn from it. In this way, I thought the book was really nice because it almost read like a devotional if you chose to read it over time, bit by bit, instead of in huge chunks at once.
My favorite thing about the book was the quotes at the beginning of each section. There would be one quote from a non-believer, and then a quote from the Bible or from a Christian that completely contradicts the first quote. It was cool to see the misconceptions disproved. I also loved the fact that I read this on my Kindle because it was so easy to highlight and make notes on my favorite quotes.

My only issues with this book is that sometimes it seemed like the connections from the short story bits back to the life lessons and Bible were a bit of a stretch. There were a bunch of really interesting ones, but some seemed unnecessary and forced. There were also some cases where Ladd seemed to do too good of a job explaining certain military things, when it wasn’t too important to the story. I know some people would probably really enjoy getting all of the details, but personally it seemed like a little too much.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and learned a lot from reading it. While it was serious and non-fiction, a couple of the stories had me laughing out loud. It’s definitely not a light and fluffy read, but it is incredibly interesting and didn’t bore me. I would highly recommend Christians who are looking to gain more perspective on their faith and further their knowledge of Christianity to give this book a chance – I really liked it.

4/5 stars

One of a Few by Jason B. Ladd. The author of this book actually asked me to read this and review this book. This book was nothing like I’ve ever read before, but that’s not a bad thing. First I will give you a brief summary of the book, and then I will tell you my opinions. 

Summary: This book is kind of hard to describe. It was basically about a soldier and his life story. But as you read the soldier’s story, you learn more about God, Christianity, and defending your worldview. 

Opinions: So I really enjoyed the first part of this book. I learned a lot about my faith, and about defending it. The ending was also very nice. I liked the way it ended. However, I thought the book was a little long. I usually don’t mind long books, but I felt like this book could’ve been shortened a little bit. I also felt like some parts read more like a textbook then a story. Overall though, I do recommend this book, because it definitely helped me look at the world in a different and better way. :) FYI, this book comes out Novemeber 10th, so make sure you go get it!

3 3/4 out of 5 stars (I didn’t want to give this book 4 stars, but I did feel like it deserved more than 3, so I gave it 3 3/4 :)

To me it is humbling any and every time God finds ways to use such a  flawed follower of Christ as myself.  Back near the end of summer in 2014, a fellow WordPress-er whose blog I follow, posted a request for anyone interested in helping him bring his book project through some of the final phases of finishing for publication, to please get in contact.  That is how I came to have the privilege and blessing of playing a small role in a very special project.  Jason B. Ladd is the author.  His blog is Fighter Faith. The project is his latest book entitled “One of the Fe.w“

In my own words; I like this book for its honest directness that doesn’t ask you to check your analytical mind at the door, but also doesn’t shrink from putting the principles of the Bible and being a follower of Christ to the “real-world” test.

I have read hundreds, maybe a couple of thousand books in my fifty years, (biographical, theological, historical, educational, fiction and non-fiction), and this is one of the best works I have ever read, bar none.

It is compelling in a very dynamic “storytelling” style.  (Who doesn’t like a peek into the life of someone else?)  Jason Ladd incorporates his life saga as a kid growing up in the military and his own career as a Marine, alongside his search for spiritual understanding through those years, and onward into marriage and fatherhood.

The questions the book puts forth are those of a fairly young man with some pretty impressive accomplishments already under his belt,  a father of six (my apologies for getting that number wrong in an e-mail that went out to some personal friends/family and acquaintances), raised without specific spiritual guidance, per se, but with definite strong moral convictions and standards of conduct in regard to integrity, service to others, honor, citizenship, and family.

Starting out with the belief that he was doing fine at being an upstanding citizen without religion, along life’s way, Jason meets a girl raised in a Christian home, who challenges him to look even deeper.  Never one to back down from a challenge, he comes to realize, despite his conscientious, examined, and purposeful approach to life, his own failure to search out answers to the very most critical  life-questions of all, as he is faced squarely with the task of how to impart a solid foundation of wisdom and world-view for his own kids to eventually build their lives upon.

It is one of those book that many would dub “a real page-turner” and keeps you engaged from beginning to end, with humor and suspense, and all written with a self-deprecating humility.  Normally the “you won’t want to put it down until it is finished” remark is a description reserved for action-packed fiction novels, and I guess that is one of the reasons why I found the book so exciting to read, because it is all real-life truth.

It will challenge the Christian, and immediately engage the “seeker” regardless of their level of skepticism.  It will encourage those of middle-age and above, who despair for the younger generations and the state of “Christianity” today. Young people, if you’re finding it hard to tune in to the message of Faith in Christ, you won’t get the “same-old” from “One of the Few”.  Finally, for those who have concerns of whether genuine faith is still alive and well within our U.S. military, this book is a testimony you definitely won’t want to miss.

In the ever-expanding world of options for publication, this book makes it’s debut in the age of the clever concept of crowd-funding. That means you can take a role, as the Lord leads, in facilitating the impact that I personally believe this book will have. Whether it’s pre-ordering the e-book at a very affordable twelve dollars,  going in for a couple of signed copies, plus the e-book for $29, or maybe if  blessed with the financial resources and on the lookout for ways to lay up treasures in heaven, I encourage folks to check out the Patron Packages.

The book is a great evangelism tool, so making an investment by pre-ordering at any amount, will help move this project into that next phase of getting it the hands of readers. For those sickeningly organized folks who actually get their shopping done for Christmas in advance throughout the year, there is even a clever “Christmas is Covered” package.  (Those Marines! They think of everything!)

Release Date is in NOVEMBER of 2015!