Book Reviews

Why I am a Christian by John Stott

July 15, 2026May 11, 2015 by Adam Shields

I am reposting this 2010 review because the Kindle Edition is on sale for $1.99 Takeaway: Your own story of faith is often the best apologetic. In general I am not a huge fan of apologetics, but I really respect Stott and so I picked up the book it was on sale. It is a brief … Read more

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

July 15, 2026May 7, 2015 by Adam Shields

Reposting this 2014 review because it is the Audible Book of the Day and on sale for $2.95
Summary: A Classic children’s book about a water rat, a mole, a toad and a badger and their adventures.

As I have said before, I am trying an experiment of only allowing myself to buy one book a month right now so that I can force myself to read books that I already own.

I picked up a free audiobook copy of Wind in the Willows last year when Audible was giving away a number of classics (it is not currently a free audiobook, but there are several versions that are quite cheap.)

I am a bit hesitant to pick up a book that is so loved by so many (especially by Seth Simmons, one of Bookwi.se’s regular contributors who has told me that he has read it at least 3 times in the last 5 years.) I never want to dislike a book that others like, so I often have a hesitancy to even start books that others love. Maybe others feel the same, or maybe I am just weird.

Werewolf Cop: A Novel by Andrew Klavan

July 15, 2026May 7, 2015 by Adam Shields

Summary: It is actually about a cop that is turned into a werewolf. And it isn’t bad.

Anyone that reads a lot has to have sources for ideas about what to read. As I have said before, I love Goodreads (a social network for readers), and other book review blogs and magazines. John Wilson, editor of Books and Culture, is one of the people I look to for recommendations.

Not all of them work out, but there are many books that I would have never picked up on my own, but I ended up loving.

Andrew Klavan is a favorite author of John Wilson. On Wilson’s recommendation I read the Homelanders series and then I branched out and read several others of Klavan’s books. Recently, Wilson has been raving about Werewolf Cop as one of Klavan’s best.

A Good Man is Hard to Find and Other Stories by Flannery O’Connor

May 6, 2015 by Adam Shields

Summary: collection of ten short stories that established O’Connor as a Southern Gothic master.

I am not a huge fan of the short story. In general I like longer books. So I tend to stay away from short stories. But after the strong recommendation from a friend, I picked up A Good Man is Hard to Find on audiobook from my library.

These are ten short stories. It is with books like this that I wish I was back in college to discuss them in a classroom setting. I am sure I would get more out of them if I really understood their importance.

Of course these are well written. I can see that. And the moral issues that are brought up are real. They are sometimes heart breaking, almost always tragic.

Dead Beat (The Dresden Files, Book 7) by Jim Butcher

May 5, 2015 by Adam Shields

Summary: A group of necromancers come to Chicago looking to make themselves into Gods.

Dresden Files is a summer reading series for me. One of those books that I read when I just don’t have much to put into the reading. It is not complete fluff, but it is enjoyable, easy to read, with a good hero and some humor.

Scribd just added all of the audiobooks and so I will probably pick up another one or two this summer. Because I tend to only read one or two of these books a year, it did take me a bit to remembers some of the finer points of the story and what happened in the last book. (Of course once I finished I realized I accidentally skipped a book, which explains some of the missing plot points.)

Just to catch everyone up. Dresden is a wizard in Chicago. He has a private practice, a supernatural Private Eye and consults with the Chicago cops on weird stuff.

In the last couple books, things have been bad. His girl friend was changed into a vampire to punish him. Dresden was really hurt destroying a coven of vampires and is in the middle of a war between a group of vampires and the wizards (although Dresden is not particularly liked or accepted by many of the wizards.) He is also hiding his half brother, who is a vampire.

For All God’s Worth: True Worship and the Calling of the Church by NT Wright

May 4, 2015 by Adam Shields

Summary: Who we worship, and why we worship is central to the role of the church.

Last month, NT Wright’s For All God’s Worth was on sale. For All God’s Worth is another book saved by the ebook revolution. It was published nearly 20 years ago and, while it is a decent little book, there is no way it would have stayed in print if ebooks were not a reality.

Wright seems to have written this book at least in part in response to a 1994 report on the state and purpose of Anglican Cathedrals in the UK. Wright, then working at one of the Cathedrals, dedicated both the book and its profits to the restoration of music at his Cathedral.

One of the things I most appreciate about Wright is his desire to be not just an academic, but also a cleric. For virtually his entire career he has either worked full or part time as a pastor or chaplain or in student ministry and eventually Bishop while also maintaining his academic career. This book is a good example of that. It is written to and for the church.

For its short length, it hits a large number (perhaps too many) points. The book is made up of two sections, God is worthy of worship and the Church as reflection of God in the world. I apologize in advance, but this is a review with a lot of quotes. It all seems good and there is not a good reason to restate it in my own words.

Old Man’s War by John Scalzi

March 29, 2026April 29, 2015 by Adam Shields

Summary: Old men (and women) make better warriors because they have something to live for, and fight for.

Old Man’s War makes five John Scalzi books in five months. I am not sure I am finished yet.

Like Little Fuzzy and Redshirts, Old Man’s War takes some currently existing story ideas and takes them in a new place.

Much of the first half of the book is roughly based on Robert Heinlein’s Starship Troopers (the book, not the absolutely horrible movie).

Starship Troopers is one of the best anti-war science fiction books written. It is cleverly written as the story of a young man going to war. In Scalzi’s world, it is old men (and women) that go to war.

After people have lived their life, they can chose to leave earth and become soldiers. But they can never return. Officially they are considered dead on earth. But everyone has the option of joining up at 65 and then leaving for war at 75. The assumption is that somehow they will be made young and after serving for 4 years (with extensions of up to six more) they can either continue to serve or become colonists on one of the worlds that they have been defending.

How the Light Gets In (Chief Inspector Gamache #9) by Louise Penny

April 28, 2015 by Adam Shields

Summary: The threat running through most of this series comes to a head.

The Inspector Gamache series is a traditional murder mystery series. Every book, Chief Homicide inspector Gamache and his team respond to a murder and attempt to solve it.

But through most of the series there is a subplot about corruption within the police force. Gamache is against the corruption, but the bureaucracy is infused with it and that corruption wants Gamache out.

Gamache’s number two, a man Gamache thinks of as friend and son more than anything else, has turned against Gamache fully. Beauvoir, addicted to pain killers, and being psychologically bullied by other officers to turn against Gamache. Those against Gamache, whoever they ultimately are, are hoping that this final straw will push Gamache out.

The central murder of the book is based on a real story. (This is based on the Wikipedia entry). In 1934 there were naturally born Quintuplets born to a poor farm family in Canada. The girls were removed from their family by the state and essentially put on display for tourists to visit. Approximately 3 million visitors came to see them between 1936 and 1943 and they were the largest tourist attraction in Ontario, including Niagara Falls. Two of the sisters are still alive.

Someone Could Get Hurt: A Memoir of Twenty-First-Century Parenthood by Drew Magary

April 27, 2015 by Adam Shields

Summary: Funny, heartfelt memoir of parenting by a normal guy that loves his kids.

The world may not need another memoir by a Dad about being a Dad, but if the genre is going to expand, this is not a bad addition.

I am a stay at home Dad. Previously I was a nanny for my nieces for 5 year until they started school. I am not particularly a fan of ‘Dumb Dad’ jokes or sitcoms or books or other media that highlight idiots with male genitalia that happen to have fathered children. I am also not a particular fan of ‘super-Dad’ books.

Either side is about a stereotype and not a real person. Real parents love their kids, make mistakes, want to do better, still screw up but are not complete idiots.

One More Thing By B. J. Novak

July 15, 2026April 24, 2015 by All Old Users

One More Thing is a collection of stories and musings by comedian, actor, producer and now writer, B.J. Novak. B.J. Novak first gained notoriety for his work as writer and actor on The Office. The only major theme throughout the stories is that they have a common overlying purpose, which is to entertain. His stories mention heaven, revenge, romance, sexbots, literature, Tony Robbins, Kellogg’s and Kate Moss. Some stories are many pages and some last only a page.

I am a fan of The Office and I have always enjoyed B.J. Novak’s approach to comedy. I would describe it as being dry without being too British. One of my favorite B.J. Novak moments is when he uncovered for America the Cadbury Conspiracy on the Conan O’Brien show. I think he is great because his jokes aren’t really jokes they seem to mainly be observations on the real life. I learned from reading more about Novak’s life that he comes from a very creative and talented family, and he is a very intelligent person as he graduated with honors from Harvard. After reading this book, I am confident that his success on The Office was not a fluke and that he will continue to humor us for years to come.