Book Reviews

The Truth About Organic Foods by Alex Avery

January 15, 2013 by All Old Users

According to Alex Avery, it is scientifically proven that organic foods are not safer than non-organic. Organic food is not more nutritious, overall. Non-organic milk has almost zero chance of containing hormones and is by far the safest food item on the market today. Even if hormones made it into the milk supply, the are the exact same hormones that humans have, and the levels in milk would be so low as to pose no risk whatsoever. The pesticides that organic farmers use (yes, they do use them–and often shield that fact with euphemisms) are less powerful and less efficient than modern non-organic pesticides, which means that they are applied much more frequently and crop yields are often lower.

These are just a few of the claims Avery makes. I am an equal opportunity skeptic, which is why this book appealed to me. I like things that challenge the conventional wisdom. I recognize that I have no easy way to confirm much of what Avery writes; he cites a LOT of studies from a variety of research bodies (collegiate science departments, the FDA, European research bodies, etc), but I don’t have the expertise to know if (or how much) he’s spinning. Sometimes the biased tone gets a bit obnoxious, but that doesn’t (necessarily) mean he’s not telling the truth.

Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton

July 15, 2026January 14, 2013 by Adam Shields

Summary: A poor New England man, his ailing wife and her orphaned cousin are trapped together. This is a short book, the paperback is around 100 pages and the audiobook was less than four hours,and about 20 or 30 minutes of that was a quick biography of Wharton. In spite of the shortness, I had … Read more

Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver

July 15, 2026January 11, 2013 by Adam Shields

Summary: Three intertwining story lines in a rural Kentucky community

After reading Poisonwood Bible and Flight Behavior at the end of last year I still wanted more Barbara Kingsolver. I really do think she is one of the best living novelist and I wanted more. So I picked up Prodigal Summer because it was on sale for $2.99 on kindle. (Back down to that price)

My wife and I read it together around the time it originally came out. Of the books I have read by Kingsolver it is the lightest. Kingsolver likes to deal with heavy subjects.

The main themes of this book are still heavy, the evolutionary process, what it means to survive when it requires others to die to support us, finding a new place as the world changes around you, etc. But it also is the most traditional romantic story of the Kingsolver books I have read.

Planet Narnia: The Seven heavens in the Imagination of CS Lewis

January 8, 2013 by All Old Users

Despite being modern classics beloved by children, laymen adults, and critics alike, the Chronicles of Narnia are admittedly somewhat of a literary hodge-podge. Or so most believed. Many have attempted to build a comprehensive interpretive framework for them, but none have received wide acceptance. Michael Ward, Oxford scholar and C.S. Lewis aficionado, presents his own framework, arguing that the classic Ptolemaic solar system (not the modern Copernican) holds the key to understanding the series. Ward’s research of the Chronicles and its author is impressively extensive. He shows how Lewis was steeped in the cosmological mythology of medieval literature, and he illustrates the heavy influence wielded by a particular planet throughout each book.

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

Complete Favorites of 2012 Book List

January 1, 2013 by Adam Shields

I spread out the favorites of 2012 posts over nearly two weeks. If you are interested here is the complete list in a single post. I am going to split them into fiction and non-fiction lists and put them in order with most favorite at the top. I read 180 book this year these are … 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

The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle by Arthur Conan Doyle

July 15, 2026December 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.

Thin Blue Smoke by Doug Worgul – Favorite of 2012

July 26, 2026December 27, 2012 by Adam Shields

Summary: An engaging story of the staff and customers of a Kansas City BBQ joint. Feels like Wendell Berry but modern and urban. I always find it hard to write reviews of fiction books I really like. I never want to give away too much of the plot. And I usually fall back to talking … Read more

The Civil War as a Theological Crisis by Mark Noll – Favorite of 2012

December 26, 2012 by Adam Shields

I am even more convinced of the importance of this book nearly a year after I first read the book. I am planning on re-reading this in 2013.

Takeaway: A perfect example of why we need historians to help us work through modern problems.

This is a whim book. I borrowed it on Lendle because it was by Mark Noll, not because I knew anything about it. What a wonderful surprise! I have been working through a project over the last year to understand what scripture is and how we should be using it as Christians. Had I known about this book I would have read it earlier.

Noll does a masterful job walking the reader through the theological issues of the Civil War. I grew up hearing about the brave Christians that called for an end of slavery. In recent years there was a decent movie and book about William Wilberforce and his explicitly Christian work to abolish slavery in England. I went to Wheaton College, which was a stop on the underground railroad and started by Jonathan Blanchard an outspoken Abolitionist. (Noll taught at Wheaton for 15 years, including while I was there.)

But the story is not so simple. Many people are aware that people on both sides of the Civil War thought that God was on their side. Abraham Lincoln has a famous quote, “The will of God prevails. In great contests each party claims to act in accordance with the will of God. Both may be, and one must be, wrong.”