Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

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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

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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

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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.)

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Offsite Review: Amazon Kindle Fire HD

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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

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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.

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

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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.

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Creating With God: The Holy Confusing Blessedness of Pregnancy

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Creating With God: The Holy Confusing Blessedness of PregnancyTakeaway: Pregnancy, as spiritual discipline and holy work, is often not as valued in the Evangelical world as it should be.  This book does much to rectify that.

A couple week ago, while Paraclete Press was having a $2.99 sale on all of their kindle books I picked this up.

Regular reading of this blog should know by now that I read in large part to process.  I read fiction both to relax, but also get different perspectives on how the world works.  I read theology and biblical studies to work through issues of faith, believe and understanding.  I read history to process how the world has come to be and how we have and have not learned from our mistakes as a society.  I read economics and social sciences to process how human behave, interact and work.

So it is only natural that I start reading about pregnancy as an expectant Dad.

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