Adam Shields

Challies on the Ethics of Book Reviews

October 4, 2026January 9, 2013 by Adam Shields

Challies posted an article about how and why he gives good and bad reviews on his blog and more importantly how he evaluates a work on context of the larger ministry. He is directly responding to criticism of his two recent reviews of books by James McDonald and Mark Driscoll. I often disagree with the … Read more

Offsite Review: Was America Founded As a Christian Nation by John Fea

July 15, 2026January 9, 2013 by Adam Shields

There are far too many good books to read them all. That is the main point for reviews. It is also important to pay attention to experts in a field when reading specialized books, like sciences or history. Too often popular authors cherry pick data to prove a point, and while more academic scholars may … Read more

Offsite Review: The Oxford Handbook of the Trinity

January 8, 2013 by Adam Shields

The Oxford Handbook of The Trinity is not available for kindle and the hardcover version is $131 used ($145 new, $150 suggested retail). So I probably will not pick it up any time soon. But the review is very positive and I will pay attention to used book stores and look around at my library … Read more

Another Best Books of 2012 List

January 8, 2013 by Adam Shields

I have one more Best Books of 2012 list that I forgot to share. EmilyReads is a great blog. All of her reviews (usually 3 a week) are in haiku. She used to work in the children’s book publishing world and so many of the reviewed books are children’s or young adult. But since she … Read more

Offsite Review: A Killer in the Wind by Andrew Klavan

July 15, 2026January 8, 2013 by Adam Shields

John Wilson, the editor of Books and Culture Magazine is the one that originally introduced me to Andrew Klavan. Klavan has written a number of thriller and mystery books but has concentrated on the Christian book world, especially young adult over the past few years. Bookwi.se has reviewed his Homelanders Series, and two of his … Read more

Old Man’s War is the January Sword and Laser Book Club Pick

October 4, 2026January 7, 2013 by Adam Shields

In a previous iteration of my life I spend a lot of time listening to podcasts and one of my favorite was the CNet’s Buzz Out Loud. When I was listening to it Tom, Molly and Veronica were the main hosts. Since then Tom Merritt has spun off his own show on the TWiT network, Tech News Today and Veronica Belmont is the co-host of Tekzilla on Revision3 network.

For the past several years Tom and Veronica have co-hosted a Science Fiction and Fantasy book club podcast, Sword and Laser.

This month they are discussing The Old Man’s War by John Scalzi. Bookwi.se reviewed the Old Man’s War last fall and I know a few people have read it since then. You might find the book club discussion interesting.

Offsite Review: The Best Question Ever by Andy Stanley

October 4, 2026January 6, 2013 by Adam Shields

Seems like a good book to read at the beginning of the year when people are making resolutions.

We all face difficult decisions. We also carry regrets from bad choices (i.e. buyer’s regret, relationships gone sour, a poor business decision or watching the Spice Girls movie). Most of these poor choices could have been avoided if we asked ourselves the right question.

When facing important decisions, Andy Stanley, author and pastor of the second biggest church in America (when you’re second you try harder), contends that he has the best question ever for you to ask yourself. Taking Paul’s warning in Ephesians 5:15-17 to not be foolish, Stanley posits that when we are faced with difficult circumstances, we should ask ourselves, “œWhat is the wise thing to do?” This is the Best. Question. Ever.

continue reading the rest of the review

Andrew Toy Thinks You Need to Read More Fiction

October 4, 2026January 4, 2013 by Adam Shields

Andrew Toy, blogger at AdoptingJames and author of the recent book The Man in the Box has made a commitment to read more fiction. I fully agree with this commitment and I have been increasing my amount of fiction the last couple years. I think it is particularly important for Evangelicals that tend to be too … Read more

Offsite Review: The Quest for the Trinity

October 4, 2026January 3, 2013 by Adam Shields

I am interested in The Quest for the Trinity: The Doctrine of God in Scripture, History and Modernity as a corrective to some other modern theology movements around the trinity. It is finally available for kindle and so I will probably pick it up soon. Nick Norelli’s review is mixed, but positive enough in the areas … Read more

2013 Reading Goals

January 2, 2013 by Adam Shields

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