Adam Shields – Page 166

Four More Best of 2012 Book Lists

January 1, 2013 by Adam Shields

I really do like to read what other people think about book and find new books to read. So I keep reading best of book lists. Here are four lists from blogs I read regularly. John Chandler is a pastor in Austin, TX and an online friend. We have similar tastes in books and similar … Read more

Bookwi.se Stats for 2012

December 31, 2012 by Adam Shields

In 2012 Bookwi.se posted 1009 posts (so far) from seven different contributors. Today’s review was the 600th overall book review. There were about 110,000 page views at the blog. And another 120,000 views in the full post RSS or Email. Also there were about 105,000 spam comments. As of right now there are 33 people … Read more

10 Most Read Reviews of 2012

December 31, 2012 by Adam Shields

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

History News Network Best History Books of 2012

December 30, 2012 by Adam Shields

George Mason University’s History News Network has the best history books of 2012. These are all US history, but have a pretty wide range. The fourth volume of Robert Caro’s series on Lyndon Johnson is the book of the year, which I have seen on several other best books of the year list. h/t Challies

Near Emmaus Top Ten Books of 2012

December 29, 2012 by Adam Shields

I was referred to NearEmmaus by a friend earlier this year and I have been consistently impressed with the quality of blogging the whole team, but particularly Brian LePort the main blogger. NearEmmaus is a serious biblioblog that is still accessible by an academic wannabe like myself. Many of the books the Brian and other … Read more

New York Times Article About Libraries Filling Bookstore Niche

December 29, 2012 by Adam Shields

This is a pretty good article in the New York Times about how Libraries are filling a niche of books stores as the large bookstores are closing. Lots of libraries are trying to reinvent themselves as meeting spots, including coffee shops and large comfy chairs, study rooms, etc. The article also talks about the need … Read more

Workaround or Solutions to the top 10 Problems with the Kindle Fire

December 29, 2012 by Adam Shields

Ireaderreview.com has some genuinely helpful blog posts and reviews as well as good daily lists of free books. Today he posted a list of the top 10 problems that Kindle Fire owners have and how to fix them. I don’t have a kindle fire, so I don’t know how common these problems are. But the … Read more

Christianity Today’s 2013 Book Awards

December 28, 2012 by Adam Shields

Christianity Today’s Book Awards are always a list that I pay attention to. It tends to be a bit on the academic side but is often a quite good look at where there Christian book world has been the previous year. This year the article says that there were 455 submission from 68 publishers that … Read more

Offsite Review: Listening to Madeleine by Leonard Marcus

December 27, 2012 by Adam Shields

I was talking to a friend last night. He was talking about he new found love of comic books since he started reading them on his iPad. I have read a lot of comic books. I just was not a part of a community that read them, I didn’t have the money to buy a … Read more

The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle by Arthur Conan Doyle

December 27, 2012 by Adam Shields

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.