Book Reviews – Page 134

New Bookwi.se Category – Book and Movie Reviews

July 25, 2013 by Adam Shields

A couple weeks ago Emily Flury (regular contributor at Bookwi.se) suggested a new category for Bookwi.se: Book and Movie Reviews. These reviews will review both the book and the movie adaptation. Or at least compare the way they different mediums tell a similar story. The first official post is tomorrow post about Peter Pan. But … Read more

Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell

July 25, 2013 by All Old Users

I am pleased to report that Eleanor and Park By Rainbow Rowell is another book that can be included in a list of books that is redeeming the young adult genre. No vampires. No fights to the death. No flying witches. This story is about two individuals who both have home lives that could be better (that is an understatement for one of them) and yet they find friendship, love and an escape with each other.

Westmark by Lloyd Alexander

July 22, 2013 by Adam Shields

Summary: A young adult coming of age book in a fictional 18th century setting.

Lloyd Alexander is known for his Prydain novels (The High King, Book of Three, etc.), but he has written a number of other books. Some of my favorites were the Westmark series. I read them several times as an early teen and was feeling nostalgic and decided to track them down. They are not available on kindle, so I found an old paperback copy.

Westmark is a fictional monarchy in a world that seems very much like 18th century europe. It is a relatively small kingdom. But it has seen better days. The king, since his daughter disappeared (and presumably died), has become despondent and reclusive. In the eight years she has been gone, one of the king’s advisors has slowly taken over the kingdom and turned it into a tyranny.

The Other Wind by Ursula Le Guin (Earthsea Cycle #6)

July 19, 2013 by Adam Shields

Summary: The final book of the Earthsea Cycle.

Urusula Le Guin is one of the classic authors of young adult fantasy. I read the first three books in this series as a teen, but the later books were not published until I was older. This last book was published 33 years after the first in 2001.

I re-read the first book in the series last year (The Wizard of Earthsea). The last book in the series (The Other Wind) was on sale a while ago and I decided it would be a good beach read.

An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

July 18, 2013 by All Old Users

An Abundance of Katherines is my second John Green novel. SInce I immensely enjoyed The Fault In Our Stars, this novel was recommended to me also. While I liked this novel also, I didn’t feel as strong of an emotional connection to the main characters as I did with The Fault In Our Stars. I did like the characters and I especially liked the friendship between Colin and Hasan but I guess I just didn’t relate to their plight as well.

In the novel, Colin is a child prodigy who isn’t quite reaching his potential and his best friend, Hasan, is a seemingly conservative Muslim. The unlikely friendship of these two boys makes for a fun listen.

Perhaps also I didn’t feel that the story was as believable but only slightly less so. The boys go on a post-graduation road trip and end up staying in a small town for the summer. In that small town, they meet some unique characters and end up figuring out what their lives are about and what they want to do with them.

The Fault In Our Stars by John Green

July 17, 2013 by Adam Shields

Summary: “The World is Not A Wish-Making Factory” (a frequently used line from the book that quite adequately sums up reality.)

The Fault in Our Stars is narrated by Hazel, a 16 year old with cancer. Her cancer is terminal. But she has gained a few years with the help of a (fictional) trial drug that has slowed the growth of the tumors in her lungs. It is only with her ever-present oxygen tank that she still manages to stay alive.

Dad is Fat by Jim Gaffigan

July 12, 2013 by All Old Users

As a departure from my usual fiction novel, Dad is Fat was a good book and an even funnier book to listen to. Of all the comedians, I enjoy Jim Gaffigan because he is a relatively clean comedian and his topics don’t cause me to cringe.

Since Gaffigan narrated his own book, Dad is Fat came across as a series of stand-up comedy routines or essays on various subjects related to parenting. The reason I liked the book was because there were many times where it validated what I already knew to be true about being a parent. When I heard that the next chapter was going to be “You win, McDonalds”, I knew that I was going to be agreeing with what he was about to be saying.

Free by Chris Anderson: a post about the church

July 11, 2013 by Adam Shields

This is one of the first reviews I wrote on what eventually became Bookwi.se. I am reposting it because Noisetrade is giving away the MP3 version of the audiobook. It is also available for free as an ebook or an audiobook from Audible.com (see links below)

I am a fan of Chris Anderson’s writing. I really like his first book “The Long Tail“. This second book is good as well. The central idea is that fundamentally the price point of Free is changing the way that we interact.

He believes that free is the common price on digital good, not because all digital good are free or should be free but that most digital goods will be free and the paid versions will support the free in inverse relationship to goods that have atoms. In other words, free goods in the physical world are supported by paid good in a relationship of around 5% or less free to 95% or more paid.

The Last Battle by CS Lewis (Chronicle of Narnia #7)

July 11, 2013 by Adam Shields

Summary: For many, this is an early introduction to eschatology.

It has been years since I have read the Last Battle (probably close to 25). I know it is a book that I read several times. And it definitely influenced my eschatology (theology of the end times).

Lewis was not universally loved for this book. In fact, there are probably few books that generate more frustration from Evangelical readers than the Last Battle.

Lewis always claimed he was not writing Christian Allegory, but it is pretty hard to resist that claim when Lewis clearly is writing an eschatological story. If you write about the end of the world and where the story ends up in ‘heaven’ then you cannot complain when people treat it as a theological work about eschatology.

Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman

July 9, 2013 by All Old Users

The Light Between Oceans was not a great book of fiction but it was pretty good. The reason, I believe, that it is so popular and is chosen for book clubs everywhere is because it definitely does bring up the question “What would you do?” It does not give away any of the book to say that the novel revolves around the event of a baby in a boat washing up on the shore of an isolated lighthouse island. The remainder of the book asks what would you do if this happened to you.