Summer Beach Reads – Part 2 – More Fiction

by

Yesterday, I posted part one of my recommendations for summer beach reads.  Today is part two of great fiction beach reads.  Thursday I will post great non-fiction beach reads.  And Friday I will post about books that are not out yet that look to be good summer reads.

Be sure to leave some of your own suggestions in the comments.

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey NiffeneggerThe Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger – Bookwi.se Review

546 pages, 1797 of 2474 reviews are 4 or 5-star

The Time Traveler’s Wife is one of my favorite novels ever.  You may have seen the movie.  The movie is fine, but a great example of a movie that gets the basic story right, but misses all of what makes the book great.

The story is about a man that spontaneously time travels.  And the woman who will eventually become his wife.  When they first meet she is 6 and he is 38.  When he first meets her she is 21 and he is 26.  This is a great book.

This is a book that is only available as paperback or audiobook (the author is opposed to ebooks)

Eleanor and Park by Rainbow RowellEleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell – Bookwi.se Review

335 pages, 142 of 156 reviews are 4 or 5-star

I am a fan of good young adult novels.  A good young adult novel can encourage teens to look at things differently, can encourage adults to remember their youth and can encourage everyone to dream of what can be.

Eleanor and Park is set in the mid 1980s, when I was a teen.  Eleanor is poor and abused by her mother’s boyfriend.  Park is the only (half) Asian kid in a small Iowa town.  Neither is what you would call ‘cool’.  But together they forge an unlikely friendship and eventually a romance.  It is one of the better young adult novels I have read in a while. (Still has sex and language and is not for all young adults themselves.)

Wool Omnibus by Hugh HoweyWool Omnibus by Hugh Howey – Bookwi.se Review (part 1, part 2)

550 pages, 5107 of 5426 reviews are 4 or 5-star, Lending Enabled, Audiobook is discounted to $1.99 with purchase of Kindle Book 

Wool is an independent author’s phenomenon.  It is not at the number of sales of the 50 Shades series.  But 50 Shades really took off once it was picked up by a major publisher.

Read more

What is the Trinity? by RC Sproul

by

What is the Trinity by RC SproulSummary: Short Introduction to the Trinity.

Last week RC Sproul and his publisher (Reformation Trust) released the entire Crucial Questions series for free on kindle (list and links here.)

I have read Sproul’s Holiness of God and ,with a few reservations, thought it was good. But that has been the only of Sproul’s books I have read.

I read this introduction to the Trinity in bed after my wife had gone to sleep.  It is not long (63 pages) and even then it felt shorter.

But Sproul included a lot of content in that short book.  He looks at what the Trinity is not, by looking at some of the Christian heresies that forced the church to clarify it teaching.

Sproul made a distinction between paradox, mysteries and irrationality and concludes that the Trinity is not a paradox or irrationality but a mystery. (A more complete look at this idea is in the very good book Mystery of God.)

Read more

Beach Read Suggestions – Part 1

by

Summer is a traditional time for reading.  Vacations, beach, pool all give us time to relax, unwind and read.

I have three posts of books so far (Fiction Part 1, Fiction Part 2 and Non-fiction).

Below I have listed books that I have read, a short description, a link to my review and an Amazon link.

Ready Player OneReady Player One by Ernest Cline – Bookwi.se Review

384 pages, 1603 of 1830 reviews are 4 or 5-star

Ready Player One is a great science fiction book for people that do not normally like science fiction.  It is set in 2044 when the whole world spends most of their lives in an immersive internet, the Oasis.  The real world is falling apart, but what everyone is interested in is the finding the puzzle in the Oasis, while will give the winner ownership of the Oasis.

Wade (online name Percival) is 18, an orphan and in poverty.  The race to win the Oasis is his only chance to make something of himself.  This was recommended to me first by my sister in law (not a science fiction fan) and later my wife really enjoyed it (also not a science fiction fan).  I have read both on kindle and listened on audiobook.  I recommend both.

Bel Canto by Ann PatchettBel Canto by Ann Patchett – Bookwi.se Review

352 pages, 544 of 826 reviews are 4 or 5-star

I love beautiful lyrical writing.  Patchett knows how to do that.  This is a story that from the beginning you know is going to end badly.  A number of dignitaries are taken hostage by revolutionaries in a fictional South American country.  The story progresses as one woman and 57 men are held for a long time.  People on both sides begin to see one another as human.  But they are stuck in a situation where there is no good way out.  It is a tradegy (and reading by the beach can help offset the sadness).  But there is also several love stories and wonderful insights into the human condition.  (I originally listened to this on audiobook and the narration is excellent.)

The Fault in Our Stars by John GreenThe Fault in Our Stars by John Green – Bookwi.se Review

337 pages, 3114 of 3319 reviews are 4 or 5-star

This book was on a number best books of 2012 lists.  It is a young adult novel.  It is about two teens with cancer that fall in love.  I have finished almost 90 books so far this year and it is the best fiction book I have read this year.  I am planning on re-reading it this summer. (I originally listened to this on audiobook and the narration is excellent.)

Read more

The Genius of Ancient Man: Evolution’s Nightmare! by Don Landis

by

The authors of this book are very straightforward about the assumptions underlying their approach to science: they believe the Bible is true and authoritative, that it should be interpreted literally, and that it should inform every aspect of one’s life, including forming your paradigm for approaching science. Even if you disagree with their starting points … Read more

The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova

by

Summary: I gave up after 40 percent because I just didn’t care any more. I borrowed Swan Thieves from the library because I loved Kostova’s first book, The Historian. The Swan Thieves is not the Historian.  The Historian was a wide ranging (and too long) look at the idea of Dracula.  It came out just … Read more

Sony 13.3 inch Ereader

by

This week is SID Display week, a trade show for display makers.  The guys at Goodereader are at the show looking at the new displays for ereaders. Sony has a new 13.3 inch prototype reader using a new Eink screen.  The device itself is only 12.6 oz (only 4 ozs more than a Kindle Paperwhite, … Read more

Mystical Paths by Susan Howatch (Church of England #5)

by

Mystical Paths by Susan HowatchSummary: The son of Jon Darrow, Nicholas, has to come to his own faith and purpose.  

I am continuing to really enjoy the Church of England Series.  Mystical Paths is the fifth of the Church of England series and is the start of a spinoff series about Nicholas that starts with High Fliers.  There is one more in the Church of England Series, Absolute Truths.  But that book goes back to the 1960s again and revisits the original protagonist that started the series, Charles Ashworth.

Mystical Paths broke the series format again.  This book is mostly a mystery/thriller.  Christian Aysgarth, the oldest son of Neville (subject of books 3 and 4) died in 1965.  But Katie, his wife is still troubled with the thought that it was not an accident, but a suicide (and she is to blame).

Read more

Jesus is Lord, Ceasar is Not: Evaluating Empire in the New Testament

by

Jesus is Lord, Ceasar is NotSummary: Jesus is Lord does not necessarily mean that early Christians were also saying Caesar is not.

Jesus is Lord, Caesar is Not sounded like a great book that I desperately wanted to read.  In the end I found it was a good book that I probably could have read a review of instead.  That is not to say it isn’t worth reading.  Just to say it was not worth reading for me.

You see I have previously thought that thinking about Christianity in terms of Empire or Anti-Empire could be useful, but either way often put more emphasis on the writer’s political views than on the actual biblical evidence.

Read more

Overdrive Launches Big Library Read

by

Overdrive is the system that most libraries uses to distribute ebooks and downloadable audiobook via the web to its patrons.  Starting last week (May 15th) until June 1st, Overdrive is trying a new pilot project, Big Library Read. In more than 3000 library systems across the US, The Four Corners of the Sky by Michael Malone … Read more