As is readily apparent to all who enter, I have been unable to maintain a consistent presence on this blog.
That is likely to continue into the future, as my wife and I have begun to spend more time in ministry together and I am no longer at a university living the leisurely life of blogging from the classroom.
However, there is one joy in life I would still like to share and discuss. Books. This is the ongoing list of the books I've worked through this year, and it will be updated as the pages turn on. No particular order, there may be parenthetical notes in regards to a work.
***** Five Star: (Unmitigated recommendation from this blogger)> Richard Adams - Watership Down (A genuine classic that encourages the mind and soul. World-building on par with Tolkien, with rabbits rather then Hobbits)
> David McCullough - John Adams (Virtuoso work by a solid historical author. Worth every minute. You can all have your Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, Hamilton, and Madison. Me? I'm pining for Adams, a man exemplary in character and consequence in his own time. A lasting test of his mettle? His son John Quincy, marking John Adams as one who could straddle the line of Family and Country and succeed)
Fiction:
> Issac Asimov - The Robots of Dawn (disappointing social commentary thinly disguised as a robot whodunit, a rare Asimov miss )
> Stanislaw Lem - Solaris (A Polish work of 52 years past, translated. Excellent)
> Vox Day - A Magic Broken & Wardog's Coin & The Last Witchking (Compelling novelettes in a intricate fantasy world)
> Lars Walker - Hailstone Mountain (Off the beaten path Nordic fantasy from the perspective of a priest. Enjoyable.)
> Ray Bradbury - The Martian Chronicles (He doesn't so much write as paint with words. Compelling short form science fiction)
> Ray Bradbury - Dandelion Wine
> John Steinbeck - Cannery Row
> Alstair Reynolds - Revelation Space (Listened on Audible. Difficult to follow, not recommended)
> Richard Adams - Watership Down (A genuine classic that encourages the mind and soul)
> Vox Day - A Throne of Bones (Rome, Elves, Orcs, Dragons, intricacies to rivet the attentive reader)
> C.S. Lewis - The Screwtape Letters (Putting this on the 'Must Read to finish Homeschool' list)
> Larry Niven - Rainbow Mars (Science fiction of men and sundry martians that never left me quite enough rope with which to catch on)
> Frank Herbert - Dune Messiah (disappointing following the masterpiece that is Dune)
Non Fiction:
> David McCullough - John Adams (Virtuoso work by a solid historical author. Worth every minute.)
> George Daughn - If By Sea: The Forging of the American Navy: From the Revolution to the War of 1812 (Comprehensive and accessible. A rare and noble feat.)
> Luigi Zingales - A Capitalism for the People: Recapturing the Lost Genius of American Prosperity
> Michael Lewis - Moneyball: The art of winning an unfair game (Baseball. Economics. Personal stories.Remarkable work)
> Michael Lewis - The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game (Football. Economics. Personal stories. Remarkable work)
> Matt Chandler - The Explicit Gospel (As good as hoped for, good for thinkers)
> Andy Staley/Bill Willits - Creating Community: Five Keys to Building a Small Group Culture
> James Wesley Rawles - How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It (With no limit on the budget, apparently no problem can not be surmounted)
> James Bradley - The Imperial Cruise: A Secret History of Empire and War (This rocked my view of 1890-1910 America & Teddy Roosevelt in a sharply negative direction)
> Kevin Dedman - The Ultimate Treasure Hunt
> Amy S. Greenberg - A Wicked War: Polk, Clay, Lincoln, and the 1846 U.S. Invasion of Mexico (Executive abuse of power leading to invasion of a sovriegn land. Echos of today)
> Giles Milton - Nathaniel's Nutmeg, Or the True and Incredible Adventures of the Spice Trader Who Changed the Course of History
> Andy Staley - 7 Practices of Effective Ministry
> Cook's Illustrated - The Science of Good Cooking (Delicious and informative)
> Nathaniel Philbrick - Bunker Hill: A City, a Siege, A Revolution (High quality narrative nonfiction of Boston in the years surrounding the start of the War for Independence)
> Mike Dash - Tulipomania (Because flowers and market mania without inflationary monetary policy)
> E. F. Schumacher - Small is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered (Useful first half, not so much the second half)
> Malcolm Gladwell - David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants (Stories and lessons learned of how the quick and nimble destroy the slow and ossified)
> Rob Goodman - Rome's Last Citizen: The Life and Legacy of Cato, Mortal Enemy of Caesar
> Michael Lewis - The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine
> Jon Krakauer - Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith
That is likely to continue into the future, as my wife and I have begun to spend more time in ministry together and I am no longer at a university living the leisurely life of blogging from the classroom.
However, there is one joy in life I would still like to share and discuss. Books. This is the ongoing list of the books I've worked through this year, and it will be updated as the pages turn on. No particular order, there may be parenthetical notes in regards to a work.
***** Five Star: (Unmitigated recommendation from this blogger)> Richard Adams - Watership Down (A genuine classic that encourages the mind and soul. World-building on par with Tolkien, with rabbits rather then Hobbits)
> David McCullough - John Adams (Virtuoso work by a solid historical author. Worth every minute. You can all have your Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, Hamilton, and Madison. Me? I'm pining for Adams, a man exemplary in character and consequence in his own time. A lasting test of his mettle? His son John Quincy, marking John Adams as one who could straddle the line of Family and Country and succeed)
Fiction:
> Issac Asimov - The Robots of Dawn (disappointing social commentary thinly disguised as a robot whodunit, a rare Asimov miss )
> Stanislaw Lem - Solaris (A Polish work of 52 years past, translated. Excellent)
> Vox Day - A Magic Broken & Wardog's Coin & The Last Witchking (Compelling novelettes in a intricate fantasy world)
> Lars Walker - Hailstone Mountain (Off the beaten path Nordic fantasy from the perspective of a priest. Enjoyable.)
> Ray Bradbury - The Martian Chronicles (He doesn't so much write as paint with words. Compelling short form science fiction)
> Ray Bradbury - Dandelion Wine
> John Steinbeck - Cannery Row
> Alstair Reynolds - Revelation Space (Listened on Audible. Difficult to follow, not recommended)
> Richard Adams - Watership Down (A genuine classic that encourages the mind and soul)
> Vox Day - A Throne of Bones (Rome, Elves, Orcs, Dragons, intricacies to rivet the attentive reader)
> C.S. Lewis - The Screwtape Letters (Putting this on the 'Must Read to finish Homeschool' list)
> Larry Niven - Rainbow Mars (Science fiction of men and sundry martians that never left me quite enough rope with which to catch on)
> Frank Herbert - Dune Messiah (disappointing following the masterpiece that is Dune)
> David McCullough - John Adams (Virtuoso work by a solid historical author. Worth every minute.)
> George Daughn - If By Sea: The Forging of the American Navy: From the Revolution to the War of 1812 (Comprehensive and accessible. A rare and noble feat.)
> Luigi Zingales - A Capitalism for the People: Recapturing the Lost Genius of American Prosperity
> Michael Lewis - Moneyball: The art of winning an unfair game (Baseball. Economics. Personal stories.Remarkable work)
> Michael Lewis - The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game (Football. Economics. Personal stories. Remarkable work)
> Matt Chandler - The Explicit Gospel (As good as hoped for, good for thinkers)
> Andy Staley/Bill Willits - Creating Community: Five Keys to Building a Small Group Culture
> James Wesley Rawles - How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It (With no limit on the budget, apparently no problem can not be surmounted)
> James Bradley - The Imperial Cruise: A Secret History of Empire and War (This rocked my view of 1890-1910 America & Teddy Roosevelt in a sharply negative direction)
> Kevin Dedman - The Ultimate Treasure Hunt
> Amy S. Greenberg - A Wicked War: Polk, Clay, Lincoln, and the 1846 U.S. Invasion of Mexico (Executive abuse of power leading to invasion of a sovriegn land. Echos of today)
> Giles Milton - Nathaniel's Nutmeg, Or the True and Incredible Adventures of the Spice Trader Who Changed the Course of History
> Andy Staley - 7 Practices of Effective Ministry
> Cook's Illustrated - The Science of Good Cooking (Delicious and informative)
> Nathaniel Philbrick - Bunker Hill: A City, a Siege, A Revolution (High quality narrative nonfiction of Boston in the years surrounding the start of the War for Independence)
> Mike Dash - Tulipomania (Because flowers and market mania without inflationary monetary policy)
> E. F. Schumacher - Small is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered (Useful first half, not so much the second half)
> Malcolm Gladwell - David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants (Stories and lessons learned of how the quick and nimble destroy the slow and ossified)
> Rob Goodman - Rome's Last Citizen: The Life and Legacy of Cato, Mortal Enemy of Caesar
> Michael Lewis - The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine
> Jon Krakauer - Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith
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