Adam Shields

Saltation by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller

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Saltation (Liaden Universe Novels)Several years ago I was reading a book review; I don’t remember where or what book was being reviewed. I  just remember that the reviewer said that she (I do remember it was a she) rarely reads series fiction.  I thought that was odd, but because I had never thought of books that were written as a series being a category and the fact that you would exclude a type of books because there were more than one.

The longer I thought about it the more I understood.  Series require a lot of investment.  You both have to read a number of books to get to the end.  And quite often the series is drawn out over years if not decades.  (I still have refused to read the fifth book in the Game of Throne series because I am pissed that it took so long for George RR Martin to get around to writing it.)

At the same time, Series fiction has its own benefit.  The reader is able to connect with characters over thousands of pages instead of hundreds.  Usually that means a more well rounded character and a longer character arc to the story.  It may mean a more fleshed out setting than would be possible in a stand alone novel.

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Disability and the Gospel by Michael Beates

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Disability and the Gospel

Summary: “…The world is divided into two groups after all….the line is drawn between those that are aware of their disabilities and those that are blind to them.”

Disability and the Gospel, fortunately, is not another attempt at defining the gospel as an adjective like so many books lately. It is a real, and somewhat dense, look at how Christianity understands both the people that are commonly labeled as disabled and how we as humans are labeled disabled by the gospel. (The gospel here is used as a general summary of Grace, Salvation and the Power of God. And not my preferred definition which is simply ‘Jesus is Lord, Savior and Messiah. See my review of the King Jesus Gospel for a longer discussion of this.)

The clearest summary of this book is about 3/4 of the way through the book where the author says, “…The world is divided into two groups after all. Not however, the normal and the abnormal, or the able and the disabled. Rather the line is drawn between those that are aware of their disabilities and those that are blind to them.”

So throughout the book, the author is using these two lenses to think about disability. On the one hand the traditionally understood disabled (blind, paraplegic, Down’s Syndrome, etc.) On the other hand, all of us as humans are disabled by sin and need to realize that we need God and that God works in us best though our weakness. Relatively early in the book the authors says that the body’s purpose is to show weakness and point toward a future in Heaven. Overall, I like the split focus, but I found the discussion on traditionally disabled far more challenging and helpful.

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The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

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The Picture of Dorian Gray | [Oscar Wilde]Summary: A Faustian bargain to keep beauty and youth in exchange for your soul.

One of my reading priorities this year was to read more classics.  I have not done very well on my other reading goals, so when Amazon and Audible released a ton of free classics to promote their new Whispersync for Voice I decided to pick up most of them and try to start reading more classics.

Honestly, other than the reference in the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, I had never heard of Dorian Gray (and I did not even know there is a Dorian Gray movie until I started looking around for this review.)  I knew that his portrait aged instead of his body.  I assumed it was some sort of faustian bargain with the devil.

The actual book leaves a lot to the reader.  There is a sort of prayer that Dorian Gray says when he is first shown the portrait where he says that he would give anything to keep his beauty and youth as the painting shows.  But there is no explanation, supernatural or otherwise, for why Dorian stops aging and his portrait starts aging.  Similarly, we are not really told whether it is Dorian’s own nature that he becomes evil and depraved or whether there is some connection to his soul being lost in the bargain that causes him to become depraved.  I assume that Wilde just was allowing his reader to make the faustian connection.

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Apology to Email Subscribers

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I am currently using built in WordPress email system to allow people to subscribe to Bookwi.se post via email.  Lately there have been several problems. 1) The ‘continue reading’ links do not work.  This is a problem with the email system and not my formatting unfortunately.  If you click the post title at the top of … Read more

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest by Stieg Larsson

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The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest: Book 3 of the Millennium Trilogy (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard)

This is really the second half of the second book.  There is no real separation other than the fact that it is too long for a single book.

Larsson split the two books in a good place.  There was a nice cliff hanger and it made sense.  But this third book picks up immediately after the conclusion of the second.

Again, this book is fairly focused on Lisbeth (my preferred main character) but because of the result of the second book her actions are restricted.  In many ways, this book is about Lisbeth allowing people into her life and understanding her need to depend on others.

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Conquests and Cultures: An International History by Thomas Sowell

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Conquests And Cultures: An International HistoryTakeaway: Culture is the result of a wide variety of influences.

Thomas Sowell is an economist.  I have read three of his economics book (Basic Economics, Applied Economics and Economics Facts and Fallacies). These books, while clearly from a conservative approach to economics were focused on education and not propaganda.  I would recommend any of the three books to help you understand how economics works.  (Basic Economics is an intro to economics, Applied Economics focuses on national level and Facts and Fallacies is more focused on countering bad economic thinking at many levels).

Conquests and Cultures is the third book in a series of historical exploration of culture.  (Race and Culture and Migration and Culture are the first two). These are historical looks at culture using Sowell’s common tools of economic and broad level research.

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Advertising on Bookwi.se

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Blogging is not a lucrative project.  Since starting this blog my return has been less than $0.50 per post, and that is before expenses.  My blogging is not primarily to make money, but I also do want to pay attention to both costs and my time.  Last fall I added advertising spots onto the blog. … Read more

The Dip: When to Quit (And When to Stick) by Seth Godin

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The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick)“The difference between a mediocre club player and a regional champion isn’t inborn talent. It’s the ability to push through in the moments when it is easier to quit.”

Those words so struck me that I stopped and copied them down while I was listening to this short (free) audiobook.  Seth Godin likes provocative phrases.  And after listening to the whole book, I know that what Godin means is that it is inborn talent and the ability to push through in hard times.  But that is not what he was actually saying here.

The story of Rudy isn’t that he worked really hard and his hard work paid off and he became a great football legend. He worked really hard and after years, and a lot of points where most people said he should quit, he got a chance, not because of his performance, but because of his heart and other people’s willingness to step aside to help him out.

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