Book Reviews

A Murder of Quality (A George Smiley Novel) by John Le Carre

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A Murder of Quality: A George Smiley Novel

Summary: The second book of the George Smiley series, Smiley works to solve a murder.

I am going back and reading the first two of the George Smiley series after having reading the more popular third to sixth books in the series.

These are not as good as the Karla trilogy (starting with Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy).  But they give some good background on Smiley.

In the middle of the first book Smiley resigns from the British intelligence service.  I believe this is the only book of the Smiley series that has nothing to do with espionage.

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Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton

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Summary: A poor New England man, his ailing wife and her orphaned cousin are trapped together. This is a short book, the paperback is around 100 pages and the audiobook was less than four hours,and about 20 or 30 minutes of that was a quick biography of Wharton. In spite of the shortness, I had … Read more

Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver

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Prodigal Summer
Prodigal Summer (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Summary: Three intertwining story lines in a rural Kentucky community

After reading Poisonwood Bible and Flight Behavior at the end of last year I still wanted more Barbara Kingsolver.  I really do think she is one of the best living novelist and I wanted more.  So I picked up Prodigal Summer because it was on sale for $2.99 on kindle. (Back down to that price)

My wife and I read it together around the time it originally came out.  Of the books I have read by Kingsolver it is the lightest.  Kingsolver likes to deal with heavy subjects.

The main themes of this book are still heavy, the evolutionary process, what it means to survive when it requires others to die to support us, finding a new place as the world changes around you, etc.  But it also is the most traditional romantic story of the Kingsolver books I have read.

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2013 Reading Goals

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Last year I posted my 2012 reading goals.  In summary, the goals were to read more old books, more fiction and more Christian history, read about the Trinity as a theological exploration and to read the book of John.  With the exception of John, I am going to keep these as the same goals for … Read more

10 Most Read Reviews of 2012

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Here are the 10 most read reviews of 2012.  Mostly this seems to tell me about the oddities of Social Media, Search Engine Optimization and chance more than anything else.  The first two books both were hit by StumbleUpon.  I really liked both books, but they far and away had more views than a usual … Read more

The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle by Arthur Conan Doyle

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The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle Summary: A short Christmas themed Sherlock Holmes mystery.

Audible.com gave away The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle as a Christmas gift to its members.  I believe it is still available whether you are a member or not. This is a classic Sherlock Homes story.  And it confirms why I am not a real fan of the great master of mystery.

Part of the problem of Sherlock Holmes is that he thinks he knows everything.  In the more modern incarnations like the new TV show Elementary, Sherlock is brilliant, but frequently wrong because he makes assumptions based on what he knows.  As the assumptions are informed by new evidence he makes new assumptions.

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The Civil War as a Theological Crisis by Mark Noll – Favorite of 2012

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I am even more convinced of the importance of this book nearly a year after I first read the book.  I am planning on re-reading this in 2013.

The Civil War as Theological Crisis by Mark NollTakeaway: A perfect example of why we need historians to help us work through modern problems.

This is a whim book.  I borrowed it on Lendle because it was by Mark Noll, not because I knew anything about it.  What a wonderful surprise!  I have been working through a project over the last year to understand what scripture is and how we should be using it as Christians.  Had I known about this book I would have read it earlier.

Noll does a masterful job walking the reader through the theological issues of the Civil War.  I grew up hearing about the brave Christians that called for an end of slavery.  In recent years there was a decent movie and book about William Wilberforce and his explicitly Christian work to abolish slavery in England.  I went to Wheaton College, which was a stop on the underground railroad and started by Jonathan Blanchard an outspoken Abolitionist. (Noll taught at Wheaton for 15 years, including while I was there.)

But the story is not so simple. Many people are aware that people on both sides of the Civil War thought that God was on their side.  Abraham Lincoln has a famous quote, “The will of God prevails. In great contests each party claims to act in accordance with the will of God. Both may be, and one must be, wrong.”

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An Abundance of Katherines by John Green – Favorite of 2012

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Similar to my pick of Agent to the Stars by John Scalzi, my pick of An Abundance of Katherines is based both on how much I enjoyed that book and John Green as a whole.  I read three John Green books this year.  All of them were very good, but I liked this one best.  John Green’s newest book A Fault in Our Stars, in on my best of 2012 book lists.  I am looking forward to reading it early next year.

An Abundance of KatherinesSummary: A child prodigy wants to find purpose and meaning in having dated, and been dumped by, 19 Katherines.

Coming of age novels hold a special place in my heart.  Maybe I have not really grown up yet.

An Abundance of Katherines was a unique, funny take on the coming of age novel.  Colin Singleton is a former child prodigy who is concerned that he is going to grow up and be average.  His best friend Hassan, who is also smart, but unmotivated, decides to take Colin on a road trip so that Colin can get over his most recent breakup.

Colin’s girlfriend Katherine, after high school graduation broke up with Colin.  That makes 19 Katherine’s that have broken up with Colin.

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