Adam Shields

Short Review: I really would like to recommend this book. I have read Miller's previous book A Praying Life twice and strongly recommend it as a practical guide to prayer. But this book seems to hit all of my problems with Christian Living books. It tries to use linguistics and ancient cultural understanding to bring insight to the modern reader about the book of Ruth. But more often it shows weak scholarship and reads modern sensibilities onto ancient culture. Miller over simplifies problems, which leads to inadequate answers. It is also full of hyperbole which leads me as a reader to question the hyperbole instead of listening to the actual statement.

The biggest problem however, is that the focus of the book is suffering in grace in order to bring people to repentance. Essentially this is taking the idea of Gary Thomas' Sacred Marriage and applying it to all relationships. But Miller does so in a way that elevates suffering and minimizes appropriate grace filled confrontation of sin. I certainly agree there are times when it is appropriate to suffer in silence, but suffering is not a grace in and of itself. Suffering may be good in one situation, but the exact wrong thing in another. In the case of sinful abusive church leadership, it is the wrong thing to suffer in silence. But there is no discussion of this, in fact there are examples of suffering in silence under abusive church leadership. We have far too many examples of where abusive systems were allowed (and encouraged) to continue to abuse ‘for the greater good'. This is not a Christian understanding of either grace or suffering.

There really are good parts of the book, but I cannot in good conscious recommend it because of the parts that are sort of on the right track, but can so easily be misconstrued.

My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/loving-life/

Book Review: The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare - winner of the 1958 Newberry Award. There are some parts where the portrayal of Puritans is not all that accurate, but as a middle grade Historical Fiction book, primarily about understanding the difference in others, it is excellent.

Click through for the longer review on my blog at http://bookwi.se/witch-blackbird-pond/

Short Review: I have heard a lot of people talk about this book since it came out in 2009. The basic point is that we need to evaluate our methods of assisting the poor and make sure that they are helping the poor and not just making us feel better. So there is an emphasis in long term, relationally based assistance and less on short term emergency assistance. On the whole I think the book is right. My main complaint is that the book is overly negative in presentation about what is currently happening and the state of global development around the world. Yes, certainly many things can be done better. And I think the book is rightly skeptical of the huge rise in short term missions trips. But I think things are much better globally than presented. We are as a percentage at the lowest global extreme poverty rate in history. Huge strides have been made in lowering infant mortality and preventable diseases. Yes there are still way too many people that are poor and yes I agree that many poverty programs do little to actually empower the poor or make long term changes. But the tone of the book is that almost no one does anything right. And that is just not true.

For a much longer (around 1500 word) review you can look at my blog at http://bookwi.se/when-helping-hurts/

I recommend the book, I just wish it wasn't as negative.

Short Review: A young adult book with the right amount of humor, seriousness and real life. It is hard mix to write a young adult book that is both worth reading and cognizant of the subject matter of World War II Germany. I was glad that the author was able to make Germans into real people without minimizing the atrocities of the war. This is a book worth reading, but I didn't love it as much as some did.


http://bookwi.se/the-book-thief-by-markus-zusak/

Short Review: I have not liked any of Mary Roach's books as much as I liked Bonk. But I do enjoy her quirky writing style (she is the science equivalent to Sarah Vowell's history writing). Gulp is everything (and more) that you wanted to know about the digestive tract. Not as over the top disgusting as Stiff (about cadavers) but there were some places that were definitely more than I wanted to know.

My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/gulp/

Short review: an interesting subject, but the biography was mediocre. Lots of repetition of events, lots of focus on petty infighting. Very little focus on what Cronkite was really about. Reading other reviews there are lots of factual problems with the book and clearly some editing problems.

My full review is in my blog at http://bookwi.se/cronkite-douglas-brinkley/

Short Review: Best short introduction to Bonhoeffer's theology I have read. I have read a fair amount by or about Bonhoeffer. But this introduction to Bonhoeffer's understanding of the Christian Life and theology is very good. While writing for an Evangelical audience, Nichols avoids Metaxes' problem of turning Bonhoeffer into a modern US evangelical. But Nichols also succeeds in writing a very readable book on a theologian that is not always readable himself.

If you have no background on Bonhoeffer, I probably would recommend a biography first, but this is a good intro to Bonhoeffer.

My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/bonhoeffer-nichols/

Short Review: This is a fabulous book. I have only read one other of Butler's book (Fledgling her last book). Kindred was her first book that really sold so they are book ends of her career. I have not really read anything quite like it. A 26 year old newlywed African American woman from 1976 gets sucked into 1815 to save the life of a young white boy in antebellum Maryland. There is a relationship between them and for a reason that is never explained Dana keeps returning to him every time his life is in danger. It is at great danger to herself that Dana has to act on his behalf.

What really stands out about this book is that for all of the very real descriptions of slavery, this is not a book that unfairly looks at pre-Civil War whites. They are real people, tainted by the culture that allows for slavery, but still real people. And the slaves are real people as well. They are stuck in their situations, but still are real.

This is a book that you need to read. The narration of the audiobook is also excellent but I don't want to describe the book as much as strongly encourage you to read it. Slavery is a part of American history that we need to explore and understand and this is a book that looks at in in a different way than any thing else I have read.

My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/kindred-octavia-butler/

Short review: Richard Beck (a theologian/psychologist) explores how the Eastern Orthodox understand the Christus Victor model of the atonement to reverse the traditional Western understanding of sin bringing death into the world. Instead the Orthodox understanding of Genesis 3 is that the fear of death (if you eat this tree you will live forever) is what brought sin into the world. So Gen 3 is about the introduction of death, not the introduction of sin. So Beck re-tells the Christian narrative from this Eastern perspective to bring new light on how sin and death have power over us. The second part of the book is about how we can use the sacraments to break the power of sin in our lives.

This is a short book, but is a great example of how bringing in an alternative explanation from a different tradition can bring insight.

My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/slavery-death-richard-beck/

Short Review: I think this is a helpful book for pastors to read and think about how to be a better parent for their kids. It is also useful for lay leadership to read to think about how churches can minimize unhealthy expectations put on pastoral families (although I think that a lot of the expectations are self imposed.) I think that some pastor's kids are also good readers. But by the time you are really old enough to read it and get something out of it, all of the preventative things in the book are really too late.

I think there is a tone problem. It feels like Piper is wagging his finger at everyone telling them to do better. The last chapter is about how there are real benefits to being a pastor's kid. And that was a good conclusion, but some of the tone of that last chapter needed to seep through the rest of the book. I still think it is worth reading, but I think it could have been better.

My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/the-pastors-kid/

Book Review: Philosophy: A Student's Guide by David Naugle - short introduction to Christian Philosophy, marred by organizational issues, but still useful. In a short 130 pages, Naugle walks through ‘the question ‘in light of canonical Trinitarian Theism, how do we approach...'. There is a chapter on Metaphysics, Anthropology, Ethics, Epistemology and Aesthetics. These chapters were fairly helpful at looking at a particular way to approach Philosophy as a Christian. The problem is that the book opens with three different introductions. And together these are just over a quarter of the total length of the book. The content of the introductions, especially the critical introduction (the Prolegomena), is useful, but technical. So it seems odd that in a book designed to be an introduction, you would start with some of the more technical and less immediately introductory material.

The problem is that this is an introduction to Christian Philosophy, not a Christian introduction to Philosophy. So I think the book is also mistitled.

click through for the full review on my blog at http://bookwi.se/philosophy/

Short Review: I am a fan of Keith Thomson because of his Once/Twice a Spy novels. Seven Grams of Lead is less funny, more traditional spy thriller and has more action. In fact the action is basically non-stop from start to finish. Part of what I like about many spy novels is the slow build and relatively slowness. It is not that this is a bad book, I enjoyed it mostly. But I think it depended too much on action.

My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/seven-grams-of-lead/

Short Review: This was a free audiobook from christianaudio.com. It was originally published in 1957 in English but based on a series of lectures from 1938-39. Mostly it is a commentary on Romans. And there is a lot of good stuff about how we live as Christians. But also there is some odd stuff here. Nee does not fit nicely into theological categories. So he sounds like a calvinist when he talks about grace, he sounds like an arminian when talking about dying to Christ, and he clearly has pentecostal leanings. The first section was primarily biblical discussion about the relationship of grace and law. The second section was mostly about dying to Christ (although fairly vague). And the last section was mostly about how to live now that we have been freed by Christ's death and resurrection. This was the most useful section. The book was a bit repetitive. But I am glad so many have found it helpful.

My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/normal-christian-life/

Short Review: A book of basic discipleship. Not apologetics or evangelism as much as teaching. It is interesting to compare this to Radical Discipleship that was written 50 years later. This is a much more traditional presentation of basic discipleship. It was good, but it does feel dated. I think Radical Disciple is better.

My longer review on my blog of Basic Christianity is at http://bookwi.se/basic-christianity-john-stott/

And my review of Radical Disciple is at http://bookwi.se/radical-disciple-stott/

Short Review: Book Review: The Fall of Interpretation: Philosophical Foundations for a Creational Hermeneutic by James KA Smith - an interesting book about what it means to be created as finite creatures and how that affects the way we consider interpretation. Primarily Smith is thinking about interpretation of scripture, but also interpretation of all other communication as well. This is a second edition of what was originally Smith's PhD dissertation, so it leans academic (for Smith that means continental philosophy), but still understandable if you are not a philosopher (as I am not.)

My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/the-fall-of-interpretation/

Short Review: This is too short to really write a full review on. It was a paper that Packiam presented.

The basic thesis is that modern Evangelical worship has adopted cultural values through its worship method without thinking of what that really means. He draws heavily on James KA Smith's work. What I did find useful was his description of how the church site he leads (which is part of a larger non-denominational church) is adopting many anglican forms of worship without becoming anglican. (Although he announced publicly today that he is being ordained as an Anglican priest.)

I really do resonate with a number of points he raises. But when I actually hear Packiam say them, I tend to react against them because as much as I am moving toward an anglican theology, I am not prepared to condemn the non-denominational methods and inherently wrong. I think there are some problems with many of them, and am glad to admit that.

So I am still at the point where I think that James KA Smith and others have a point, I just can't wholeheartedly agree either.

Short Review: I was not a fan of the first book of the series and I skipped to the fourth book because that was what was available at the library. But this was a great book. The first book was very middle grade, but this was a very good young adult book. The main theme was death and the meaning and purpose of life, but not overly serious. There is a light romance with Vicky as the main character and three different young men that are interested in her.

What is really good is the language and ideas of the book. The romance is carries the ideas, but the ideas and language is where it really shines.

My full review is on my blog http://bookwi.se/ring-endless-light-madeleine-lengle-austin-family-4/

Short Review: A fun light romantic comedy. Lincoln is a new IT guy in 1999. He works nights enforcing a strict company email policy and eventually falls for a girl just through reading her emails. Like the other Rainbow Rowell in large part this is a coming of age story. The characters are a bit older than Rowell's later books (Eleanor and Park and Fangirl), but still somewhat similar. This was just as good, if not better than the later two books.

My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/the-attachements/

Short Review: variety of articles bundled together in a new book. On the whole, these are mostly issues that Wright has dealt with more fully in his full length books. But there are a couple of issues that are either new or better dealt with here, particularly his chapter on Women in Ministry and his take on Epicureanism. Because of Wright's style (long narrative to explain why many traditional readings are missing the actual point of the issues because of a lack of understanding of the original writer(s), readers or culture) these shorter (15-20 page) chapters means that he spends a lot of time referring the reader to his books for a fuller picture.

It is not that this is a bad book, just that if you have read a lot of Wright (as I have) then you will be disappointed that these shorter takes are less helpful than his longer works. (If I had the option, I would give it a 3.5 stars)

Click through for the full review on my blog http://bookwi.se/surprised-by-scripture/

Short review: This was ok. But there are may others that I think are better that were written about this time and theological inclination. I would suggest EM Bounds or RA Torey first. Maybe it is because I have read a number of books on prayer from the era. But this just did not seem to add anything to the discussion.

My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/the-hidden-life-of-prayer-the-life-blood-of-the-christian-by-david-mcintyre/

Short review: A mediocre bio of St Francis with a light mixing in of Pope Francis. There are so many biographies of Francis that are good there is no reason to buy and read a mediocre one.

My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/reclaiming-francis/

Full Review - http://bookwi.se/the-biography-of-robert-murray-mcheyne-by-andrew-a-bonar/

Short Review - This is the biography of a 19th century Scottish pastor. About 1/3 of the book is direct quotes of his journal. It is ok, but not great.

Short Review: While the World Watched is a first person account of the 1963 16th Street Church Bombing where four young teenage girls died, and her life after that bombing. This is a book well worth reading to get a sense of the civil rights movement for someone that was a young teen. She was probably the last person to see the four girls before they died (she left the bathroom just before the bomb went off). The book does a good job not lionizing the civil rights movement, while at the same time showing how normal people were both scared and pissed off by the system.

It also spends time talking about pain, depression, eventual decent into alcoholism and what would probably be described as PTSD today. That is a side that most other books don't seem to mention and I think is important to telling the whole story of the civil rights movement.

Other reviews complain about the long extended quotes of speeches, sermons, songs and other documents of the era. I think that these other documents (especially in the audiobook) give greater context.

I expected that much of the book would be about the particular day, but really the book is mostly about her life after the day. Today she is the head of the foundation that oversees the 16th Street church and she has gone to seminary and works for reconciliation. That story is as important as remembering the bombing.

My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/while-the-world-watched/

short review: A collection of 16 essays. There is some good stuff here, but nothing earth shattering. A good introduction to the writing style of the heath brothers.

My slightly longer review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/heath/

Short Review: a scriptural defense of the life of the mind. As with pretty much all books I read by Piper, I appreciate his scriptural focus, his desire to edify the church while at the same time being frustrated by his lack of ability to understand how others can think differently than he does. I will say I am not really sure who to recommend this book to. Writing a book about the importance of thinking is like writing a book on the importance of reading. It may be a great book, but anyone that will pick it up probably already agrees with the premise.

My full (nearly 1200 word) review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/think/