Following Jesus, The Servant King: A Biblical Theology of Convenintal Discipleship by Jonathan Lunde

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Following Jesus, the Servant King: A Biblical Theology of Covenantal Discipleship (Biblical Theology for Life)Takeaway: God is a Covenant God

Up front I want to say, I only read about half of this book.  Part of the issue is that I had several other books that were drawing me away either because they were really interesting or I needed to finish them because they were review books.

But part of the other problem with this book it that I had a hard time understanding it.  Not because it was badly written (although it was a bit dry), but because it talked about God’s covenant relationship in a way that I just did not have context for.  I guess once against I am showing my lack of reformed-ness.  Theoretically, I have always understood God as a covenant God and I thought I understood what that meant when others were using that term.  But Lunde was using that category in a way I just do not understand.

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The Demigod Files by Rick Riordan

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I gave up on this book.  I checked it out of the library as an audiobook through the Overdrive system.  I really enjoyed the rest of the Percy Jackson series, but this book is clearly filler.  Evidentially it was released between books four and five to keep readers happy and interested in the series until the … Read more

I read to be changed

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http://tentblogger.com/steve-jobs-book/ One of the people that has most encouraged me to blog is John Saddington.  He has created a whole community of people that encourage one another on various blogging projects.  This morning John posted a blog post about how he has been changed by reading the new Steve Jobs bio.  This is why I … Read more

Most Read Reviews in October

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A few days late, but these are the most read Book Reviews in October. Against Calvinism by Roger Olson The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo Luke’s Gospel From Scratch by Donald Griggs and Paul Walaskay Protestantism: A Very Short Introduction by Mark Noll The Night of the Living Dead Christian by Matt Mikalatos

Kindle Owner’s Lending Library: New Service for Prime Members

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Last night, Amazon introduced their Kindle Owner’s Lending Library. This morning there is an announcement about it on Amazon’s front page. The Kindle Owner’s Lending Library is a new Kindle feature only for Amazon Prime Members. It is initially launching with about 5000 books (according to the Wall Street Journal article). Kindle owners (with Prime) can borrow one book a month for free, keep it as long as you like (all users one the account can read the book) and then return the book and get another one.

I have not looked deeply into the list of books, but there are mixed reviews about what is available.  There are some new books and some popular books, but many of the books are backlist, previously free titles and Amazon Encore (Amazon’s own publishing arm) books.  This is not surprising, they are going to be free books and publishers are not often fond of giving away books.  But since you can only borrow 12 books a year, there will likely be enough books for most people to find a book a month.  You will also be able to access your notes and highlights after you finish borrowing the book and if you later purchase the book the highlights and notes will be available in the book.

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Aquinas for Armchair Theologians by Timothy Renick

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Aquinas for Armchair Theologians (Armchair Series)Takeaway: Aquinas is important, an understatement I know.

This is the second book in the Armchair Theologians series that I have read.  I like the idea of a series of short books on theologians or important periods.  It is a mix between Oxford’s Very Short Introduction series and a Dummies handbook.  It actually is pretty intellectually rigorous (or at least Aquinas is) but they are written with the lightness and humor of a dummies book.

christianaudio.com had a sale on the series last week, each book only $5.  So I picked up Aquinas.  I have also read John Calvin.  I liked the Aquinas more than the Calvin book.  Aquinas is a bigger philosophical figure, so it it feels more like a intro to philosophy book than a theology book, although it is clear that Aquinas was doing theology and was concerned with issues of understanding and seeking after God.

Renick clearly enjoyed his task of writing a Dummies style book for Aquinas.  He makes all kinds of jokes (mostly funny) but probably too many dated pop culture references.  This book was written almost 10 years ago, and even then the references were probably a bit dated.  (He has two different references to the dog in the show Fraiser.)  And glancing around at other reviews, it seems that people either liked or hated the humor.

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Little Brother by Cory Doctorow

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Little BrotherTakeaway: Protection from terrorism means protection of freedoms

Little Brother is classic Cory Doctorow.  Doctorow is a science fiction writer/free speech advocate/teacher/activist.  He has has worked for the Electronic Freedom Foundation, is one of the founders of Boing Boing.  I have read several of his science fiction books and short stories.  Doctorow is known for his advocacy of free.  He has all of his books available for free download if you want to read it electronically.  I see now that he allows donations for the free books.  I disagreed with his earlier stance of not accepting donation because he wanted people to buy paper copies.  I, and many others, don’t want paper copies, we want digital copies and he had no way to accept income from people that wanted to support his writing.  He also protested against Amazon’s DRM scheme and refused to allow his books on Amazon, but has relented now that Amazon allows for DRM free versions of books if the authors choose.

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Kindle Software Upgrades

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Cover of "Kindle Wireless Reading Device,...
Cover via Amazon

Over the past two weeks Amazon has been distributing the latest firmware upgrade (3.3) for the Kindle 3 (now called the Kindle with Keyboard).  There are several upgrades to the software.  According to the Amazon Press Release on their message boards these are the main features:

  • Download your archived Personal Documents on Kindle Keyboard: You can now view and download your archived personal documents to your Kindle Keyboard conveniently anywhere at any time. Your personal documents will be stored in your Kindle library until you delete them from Manage Your Kindle.
  • Whispersync for Personal Documents on Kindle Keyboard: Just as with Kindle books, Whispersync automatically synchronizes your last page read, bookmarks and annotations for personal documents (with the exception of PDFs) across the Kindle devices. Learn more about Kindle Personal Document Service on www.amazon.com/kindlepersonaldocumen
  • AmazonLocal deals on Kindle Keyboard with Special Offers: Kindle Keyboard with Special Offers users in many regions can now view,purchase, and redeem AmazonLocal deals directly from Kindle Keyboard — no computer, no printer, no hassle. AmazonLocal offers savings up to 75% off products and services from businesses in your city, national chains and online merchants. Learn more about AmazonLocal on www.amazonlocal.com.
  • Voice Guide Shortcut: Kindle Keyboard users can now quickly turn the Voice Guide feature on and off by holding the Shift key and pressing Spacebar.  Voice Guide reads aloud menu options, content listings and item descriptions. To learn more about using Voice Guide on Kindle Keyboard, visit Customize Your Reading on Kindle.

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Short Break

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I have been kind of fried lately.  I have kept up a 4 or 5 book a week posting schedule much of the year and posted 141 book reviews so far this year personally.  I am out of reviews.  So I am going to take the week off from book reviews and only post free kindle … Read more