Camilla by Madeline L’Engle

by

I am on vacation this week, so this is a ‘best of’ review. Summary: Coming of age novel the way coming of age novels should be written.  All about realizing that the world does not revolve around you. The book description on Amazon does not do this book justice. It is a coming of age … Read more

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

by

Takeaway: It seem a rule of life that great people are also greatly broken people. Steve Jobs is one of the few books that I have read recently that is being widely read by a number of people in my life.  I keep asking people what they think about it and while there are a … Read more

On Vacation

by

I thought I would get a couple more posts in buy I ran out of time. I am now on vacation until April 13. I have some ‘best of’ reviews set to auto-post during the week but no deal or free kindle post because those are time sensitive. See you soon!

A Little Exercise for Young Theologians by Helmut Thielicke

by

A Little Exercise for Young TheologiansSummary: A classic book of advice for young pastors and theologians.

I have previously read A Little Book for New Theologians: Why and How to Study Theology, which is intentionally an update of Helmut Thielicke’s classic.  I saw that the original was on kindle for less than $5 and decided to read the original as well.

A Little Exercise for Young Theologians is short.  I read it in two short sittings.  Most of the chapters are only 3 or 4 pages long.  Much of it is advice of a similar sort to the updated version I had already read. (I would advice reading both, but with some time between.)

Read more

Offsite Review: Amazon Kindle Fire HD

by

I am a regular reader of the Churchm.ag blog. It is a great technology blog focused on church staff and volunteers.  I even have posted there once or twice. The owner of Churchm.ag, Eric Dye, reviewed the Amazon Kindle Fire HD that he bought for his daughters.  It is a decidedly mixed review, which I … Read more

Taking God Seriously by J. I. Packer

by

Taking God Seriously by J. I. Packer

Takeaway: What we believe and how we act is important to who we are as Christians. (Just wish the book was more about that.)

I really want to like this book more than I did. I agree with the main point, that in order to live a holy life, and to have strong church, we need to pay more attention to catechesis (the teaching of the faith.)  And I am encouraged that Packer rightly treats teaching as broader than knowledge to include teaching toward right action as well.  This right action includes a good explanation of the sacraments of baptism and eucharist.

The problem with the book isn’t the ideas (or the actual content of the teaching), the problem is that Packer spends a lot of the books sounding like a grumpy old man complaining about those kids on his lawn.

Read more

Ebooks vs. Physical Books vs. Used Books – The Changing Book Market

by

This is a guest post from Sylvia Nankivell one of the owners of http://www.usedbooksearch.net, a price comparison site for used books

Books
Books (Photo credit: henry”¦)

I have always been a good reader and I am working at becoming a good writer. I began by reading or memorizing my favorite story. Now my mind reads and stores text a lot easier. I want to find out what happens next. I don’t want to skip from the beginning to the end of a story. I want to enjoy the journey that the author has created. The curtain slowly opens and reveals the plot, characters or factual reasoning. I like the feel of a used book, with the slightly rough paper and the dog-eared pages. It holds the memory of the reader before me. The crease in the cover or the spine is part of the tale with its unique wear-and-tear. Used books are decorative and entertaining. Visitors to my cabin home will look at the books with a sideways glance to read the titles. The price of a used book is usually low and shipping can be free if you buy more books at one time. But I don’t always have room to store a used book, and over the years the pages can become yellow or worn.

Read more