Adam Shields
Book Review: Goldfinger (James Bond #7) by Ian Fleming - short version, the cartoonish villains taint the otherwise okay Bond novel.
Click through for the longer review - http://bookwi.se/goldfinger/
Book Review: Looking for Alaska by John Green - another solid coming of age teen novel by John Green. A bit older in orientation and include more adult references. This is a book that really deals with finding meaning in difficulty. So again it is a slightly different take on the coming of age book. I still enjoyed this book, but it took a darker tone and was rougher than the other two I have read. I wish John Green had been writing when I was a teen.
Click through for my longer review on my blog http://bookwi.se/looking-for-alaska-by-john-green/
Book Review: Taking God Seriously: Vital Things We Need to Know by J.I. Packer - there is good content, Packer is a good theologian. But the tone is off. He seems more interested in being against those that advocate for full adoption of gays into the Anglican communion than really working through the issues of catechesis. What in on task is good, but I think he has missed his audience.
My full review is at http://bookwi.se/taking-god-seriously-by-j-i-packer/
Short Review: The concept of what it means to be a man has become confused as the world has moved beyond traditional gender roles, as there has been a pushback to embrace violence or aggression as manly and at the same time women are asking for men to be more open and intimate.
Rhett Smith, a family counselor, has a short book that would make a great discussion book for a small group or mentoring relationship. I think it leans toward teen or 20-something but I also think that it would be a great book for older men to walk through with younger men. I think the cross generational conceptions of what it means to be a man would really stand out when men of different ages talk about their own history and experience along with the book.
This is short, most chapters are 4 or 5 pages and there is just under 100 pages of main content (along with a discussion guide.)
This is a book well worth reading.
My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/what-it-means-to-be-a-man/
Short Review: End of Sexual Identity: Why Sex is Too Import To Define Who We Are by Jenell Williams Paris - a look at how our culture shapes sexual identity. Well worth reading if you are tired of the impasse around gay marriage and homosexuality. I think that Paris adequately illustrates that we cannot just place our modern conceptions of sexuality upon the bible and leave it at that. The weakness of the book is that she does a great job at showing alternative ways of looking at sexuality and bringing up questions, but none of those very good questions get adequately answered. Still it is worth reading for the questions, even if the answers are missing.
Click through for the longer review at my blog http://bookwi.se/end-of-sexual-identity/
Book Review: What is the Trinity by RC Sproul - a short (63 pages) introduction to the Trinity. This is part of the Crucial Questions series, free on Kindle (and other ebook formats). Sproul packs a good bit of content on the trinity in a short book. There were some distractions but on the whole a good place to start to discover more about the Christian theology of the Trinity.
Click through for the longer review and links to free book on my blog at http://bookwi.se/what-is-the-trinity/
Short Review: This is a long multi-generational family drama based around the Irish estate Cashelmara. It ranges from the 1850s to the 1890s. It is told in six different first person narrative stories. I mostly liked the first half or so. There was not a lot of plot, but the characters were fairly interesting. But by the time the main plot rolled around (about 60 percent of the way through the book), it was not enough (or rather the wrong plot) to keep me interested. The murder, rape and violence was disturbing. But that was not my main issue, it was that the book's hard turn into the plot did not seem to include the first 300-400 pages. If you are going to have a 700 page book, at least make it all fit together.
That being said, the writing was good and I did keep reading. But this was no where close to the masterpieces that Howatch wrote in the church of England series.
My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/cashelmara/
Short Review - Augustine: A Very Short Introduction by Henry Chadwick - worth reading, but bogs down in Neo-Platonism discussion. I have really liked some of the Very Short Introduction series and really not liked others. This is in the middle. Chadwick tried to be chronological as he discussed Augustine's views and I think he probably needed to because Augustine changed his mind about many things (or at least moderated his position). But that made it hard to feel like I was getting an overview.
I have a discussion of what I actually learned on my blog at http://bookwi.se/augustine/
Short Review - This is a very good young adult fantasy (around 9 or 10 and up) in the vein of Narnia. Has talking animals, fight against evil, and girl that turns out to be a Palidin, her best friend is a boy that finds out he can talk to rocks. Great hero story. It is the first of a series with the second book coming out later this year. I have liked the author's other books which have been oriented toward adults and fictionalized Christian teaching books. But this is a straight fantasy book. A Christian worldview, but like Narnia no actual mention of Christianity.
My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/the-sword-of-six-worlds/
Short Review: a good introductory book on spiritual growth, but it wasn't anything particularly unique or original. That is not all bad for a book on spiritual growth. Much of it should be basically the same as everyone else. But I have been reading a lot of Catholic and Anglican and others and I think that many of the other Church traditions have thought more about spiritual growth as a Christian than Evangelicals have. I think it is part of their theology that they assume people are already Christian and now need to learn how to live like a Christian.
On the negative side this is why John Paul II said that the Catholic Church now has to evangelize their own. But it is not much different from many evangelicals that get people to the point of conversion and then keep preaching the same basic gospel presentation to them without giving them the additional meat of the transforming power of the gospel.
As a good example of much more meaty discusion of spiritual growth. I will post a review of Richard Rohr's The Art of Letting Go on monday.
My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/hungry-for-god-hearing-gods-voice-in-the-ordinary-and-everyday-by-margaret-feinberg/
Short Review: The Maze Runner by James Dashner - the latest young adult dystopian series that is being made into a movie. This is a good addition to the young adult dystopian book world. It has real contributions without being just a knock off Hunger Games. In spite of the cliff hanger, there is a real conclusion to the book.
The story opens with Thomas waking up in the Glade. Other than his name, he has no memory prior to waking up. The glade is in the midst of a giant stone maze (that changes every night). The other boys (all teenage boys) have been there as long as two years. They have created their own little society and are doing fairly well. But soon after Thomas comes, everything starts changing.
Click through for the full review on my blog at http://bookwi.se/the-maze-runner/
Short Review: This is an advance reader copy, the official book is not out until October. I was a big fan of Weber's last book and I loved this one. It is more episodic and essay oriented and not as specifically oriented around a time period. The book opens and closes with discussion of the birth of her children (which as a expectant father I really identified with.)
My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/holy-is-the-day-2/
Book Review: Activist Faith: From Him and For Him by Dillon Burroughs, Daniel Darling and Dan King - a short introduction to a number of social problems and way that the church is involved in their solution. Highly focused on practical ways for the reader to move toward involvement in social ministry. Readable, basic and would be good for small group discussion. If you have been involved or done much reading on social activism in the areas of homelessness, abortion, slavery, immigration, etc, this may be too basic. But it is worth reading if to be able to recommend it to others that want to become involved but don't know how to start.
Click through for my full review on my blog at http://bookwi.se/activist-faith/
Short Review: I like Frank Schaeffer's writing, but this isn't his best work. I get the point, and this is intended to be comic satire. But it is more tragic than comic. Yes, in the end it is a conversion story. And yes it does describe a very real problem that Christians have with trying to justify to themselves using bad methods to try and follow God.
But the hyperbole and ridiculousness of the book doesn't seem to be warranted. The story could be told another way. That being said, it isn't a bad book, just not a great one. At because it is self published it is cheap on ebook ($3.99 on kindle). And it is better than many other self published books. But because I like Schaeffer's previous books I am a bit disappointed by this.
The full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/billy/
Book Review: The Awakening of Hope: Why We Practice a Common Faith by Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove - a modern narrative form of catechism teaching. This form is highly influenced by the new monastic movement and Wilson-Hartgrove's strong commitment to place. It feels more like theological reflections by Eugene Peterson or Wendell Berry more than a traditional catechism. And that is partially successful. I think it is worth reading for the ways in which he is trying to contextualize basic Christian education to his own context. But there are places where I think he goes too far and many places where I think he does not bring up essential parts of basic Christian theology. I hate complaining about what authors do not write, but it feels inevitable here.
Click through for a full review on my blog at http://bookwi.se/awakening-hope-practice-common-faith/
Short Review: a good beach read modern fantasy. The story is about a single mom that finds out her ex-boyfriend (and father of her child) that disappeared without a trace or a word 7 years ago is not dead but left for her protection. This leads to the revelation that he and his family are from another world and all of the celtic gods and lore are based on them. And her mother had known all along. Good, but not great book. Good enough to read the second when it comes out in December, but it is well trod territory and there is not a lot to make it stand out.
My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/through-the-door-by-jodi-mcisaac/
Very short, but worth reading for a Christological look at the Psalms.
My full review is at http://bookwi.se/psalms-the-prayer-books-of-the-bible-by-dietrich-bonhoeffer/
Short Review: The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory by Brian Greene - I think that this is a good book for people with a science background. My science back ground is poor and while the writing is good it is still over my head. I got through about 60 percent and by that time I was understanding less and less because I hadn't understood the earlier parts well enough. It seems well written.
My slightly longer review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/the-elegant-universe/
Short Review: I admit I gave up on this one. I probably should not have. There wasn't anything wrong with it. But I am the wrong audience (and/or picked it up at the wrong time.) The basic point of the book, that there is some value in looking at the role of Empire in the writing of the New Testament and the early church, but that it is easy to over play the role of empire, is good. The chapter on the background of the Emperror Cult was useful. The look at how empire influenced the writing of the individual books of the New Testament were worthwhile (but definately more than what I was looking for). So eventually I just got bored and I have moved onto other things.
If you really are interested in the role of Empire in the New Testament, this is a good place to start.
My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/jesus-is-lord/
A very good review of the book (by someone that actually read the whole thing and was interested in the book) is at http://thoughtsprayersandsongs.com/2013/05/03/king-jesus-v-the-emperor-a-book-review/
Short Review: To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy, and Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World by James Davidson Hunter - a very important book looking at how and why Christians want to change the world. Hunter is a sociologist but uses tools from Theology and History as well to think about world changing. It is dense with ideas, but very readable. It is set up as three long, but interrelated essays. Well worth checking out if you think about Christian culture and the church.
Click through for the full review on my blog at http://bookwi.se/to-change-the-world/
This is a short edition of the full book Radical. I reviewed Radical at http://www.mrshields.com/?p=1373
I think you should read the full book because there are nuances that do not get communicated in the short book. The short book could be an introduction, but because most of the book is cut from Radical I don't think many people will read both. They will read one or the other.
I read about half of this. And it wasn't bad writing or a bad book, but I was not the intended audience. I picked it up because I thought I might get something out of it. I am an armchair theologian, I went to seminary and work with churches but have never served as a pastor.
I am also a new stay at home dad after having been the full time nanny for my two nieces for five years. So even though I am male, I thought my interest in theology and my stay at home parent status would do more to draw me in. But I am not a complimentarian female, I am an egalitarian male and therefore I disagreed with a lot of the basis of the book.
I am also not reformed and while I appreciate knowing the perspectives of the author, this book as well as several others really have put me off by putting all of their theological biases up front without giving me any of the reasons why I want to sift through them. (My same problem with Lit! by Tony Reinke.)
Short Review: Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton - another 20th century classic - One that I hated. And it is really short and I still had to force myself to finish it.
Click through for the longer review at my blog http://bookwi.se/ethan-frome-by-edith-wharton/
Short Review: I waver between 3 and 4 stars. In the end I am going to four because of the thoroughness of the initial two parts of the book. The first part is an explanation of the cultural or the Roman world, focusing on the honor system and the fixed nature of status. Then with that understanding Hellerman tackles the book of Philippians and especially Paul's famous chapter 2 description of Jesus. The book ends with pastoral case studies and illustration of a positive leadership model (and some pastoral advice for young seminarians or new pastors.)
I have to say, that while I agree with the point, and appreciate the cultural background and explication of Philippians, I still wanted more from the book. I wanted a couple more positive examples of shared ministry (there was only Hellerman's positive and several negative examples.) I also think that Hellerman could have cut some of the first two sections and still made a convincing case.
Worth reading if you are in church leadership however.
My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/shared-ministry/
Book Review: Meet the Austins by Madeleine L'Engle - a mid 20th century children's book. Very wholesome and a bit boring. There is just not much that happens in the book. An orphaned girl comes to live with them but that is the main story arc.
Click through for the full review on my blog at http://bookwi.se/meet-the-austins/