Quill Awards 2006

It's time again to vote for the Quill Book Awards. You have until 30 September 06 to enter your choices. In case you aren't familiar with the Quills:

The Quills celebrates the best adult and children's books of the year in 20 popular categories, including Book of the Year, plus an committee-selected award for best Book to Film.

Sometimes I've never even heard of some of the books that they are asking about, but it is fun to go through and express my preferences on the ones I do know. Give it a try.

Decisions

How do you decide which books to keep and which to pass along? I've always just preferred to keep books after I read them. I really enjoy having a lot of books around. But, I need to pare down my library quite a bit. I'm quite daunted by the prospect. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

The Fourth Bear by Jasper Fforde

Fiction: Humor/Detective. Unabridged Audiobook from Penguin Audio. Published in 2006. 10 hours, 55 minutes. Read by Simon Vance. Purchased at Audible.com.

I've probably mentioned before that Jasper Fforde was recommended to me at a Terry Pratchett book signing. It's not without good reason that the gentleman said "If you like Terry Pratchett, you might enjoy Jasper Fforde." While Pratchett's work is Fantasy/Humor, Fforde's is Fantasy/Detective/Humor, but they both share many things in common, one being that they make me laugh out loud every time I read them. Fforde is very creative. It's not classic literature, but you'll certainly understand many of the jokes better if you have read some classics. Really quite a fun read. But, for the record, Pratchett is still my favorite of the two.

Publisher's summary:
The Gingerbreadman, psychopath, sadist, genius, and killer, is on the loose. But it isn't Jack Spratt's case. He and Mary Mary have been demoted to Missing Persons following Jack's poor judgment involving the poisoning of Mr. Bun the baker. Missing Persons looks like a boring assignment until a chance encounter leads them into the hunt for missing journalist Henrietta "Goldy" Hatchett, star reporter for The Daily Mole. Last to see her alive? The Three Bears, comfortably living out a life of rural solitude in Andersen's wood.

But all is not what it seems. How could the bears' porridge be at such disparate temperatures when they were poured at the same time? Why did Mr. and Mrs. Bear sleep in separate beds? Was there a fourth bear? And if there was, who was he, and why did he try to disguise Goldy's death as a freak accident?

Jack answers all these questions and a few others besides, rescues Mary Mary from almost certain death, and finally meets the Fourth Bear and the Gingerbreadman face-to-face.

In the News:
Fforde's fantastical 'Fourth Bear' stirs a porridge of a 'nursery crime'

Online book shopping:
Powell's: The Fourth Bear
amazon.co.uk: The Fourth Bear
amazon.com: The Fourth Bear
Audible.com: The Fourth Bear

Together Again by Rick Atchley and Bob Russell

Non-Fiction: Christianity. Paperback from Leafwood Publishers and Standard Publishing. Published in 2006. 128 pages. Borrowed from my parents.

Rick Atchley has been preaching a series on unity at his church in Texas, and I've been downloading and listening to them (albeit rather slowly), so as I expected much of the material in this book is just a repeat for me. But, since it's a short book and not a difficult read I thought I'd give it a look see before my parents carted it home tomorrow. I like the book's call to unity. The thing I don't like, even though I think I understand the logic behind it, is the fact that the book is calling only for unity with the Christian Church, not with all christian churches. However, baby steps are better than nothing.

If you have a connection with the Restoration Movement, give it a read and see what you think.

Publisher's summary:
Time for a Family Reunion. 2006 is the centennial of the official separation of Churches of Christ and Christian Churches. Rick Atchley and Bob Russell mark this milestone with a resounding call to renew our unity in Christ. After a century of division, it's time for a Family Reunion. Time to put aside differences and work as one to accomplish Christ's mission to save a lost world.

Online book shopping:
Powell's: Together Again
amazon.co.uk: Together Again
amazon.com: Together Again
Audible.com: currently not available as audio

How to Win the Culture War by Peter Kreeft

Non-Fiction: Christianity. Paperback from InterVarsity Press. Published in 2002. 120 pages. On loan from the Kent District Library.

Our preacher recommended this author, so I looked at our local library to see what might be available. This is what I turned up. The idea of "winning" the culture war seems a bit odd to me, but I'm interested in how Christians interact with culture, so I thought this book might be a good choice.

There is a very strange "Screwtape-esk" letter tucked in the middle of the book, that tries to mimic C. S. Lewis' method of explaining how Satan works in the world. It didn't work well for me because it just seemed like a Lewis knock off. But, I think I would agree with the two main things Kreeft said in the book - first that the culture war is in fact a spiritual war and secondly that the way it will be "won" is for people who are Christians to actually follow Christ. Hard to argue with that.

Publisher's summary:
The battle lines have been drawn. Many Christians have fallen into the trap of proclaiming "Peace! Peace!" when there is no peace. Hiding their eyes from the pressing issues of the day, they believe that resistance to the prevailing culture is useless. At the same time, other Christians have been too quick to declare war, mistaking battlefield casualties as enemies rather than victims.

In How to Win the Culture War Peter Kreeft issues a rousing call to arms. Christians must understand the true nature of the culture war--a war between the culture of life and the culture of death. Kreeft identifies the real enemies facing the church today and maps out key battlefields. He then issues a strategy for engagement and equips Christians with the weapons needed for a successful campaign.

Above all, Kreeft assures us that the war can be won--in fact, it will be won. For those who hope in Christ, victory is assured, because good triumphs over evil and life conquers death. Love never gives up. Neither must we.

Online book shopping:
Powell's: How to Win the Culture War
amazon.co.uk: How to Win the Culture War
amazon.com: How to Win the Culture War
Audible.com: not available as audio from Audible

Christian Audio Free Download - August 06

I was browsing on the Christian Audio web site this morning noticed that the free download for August is The Imitation of Christ!

I also found that they have some other free audio available as well. I've just downloaded Dallas Willard on Prayer, Meditation and Fasting gratis. So far I've seen a couple of others that are free. The ones I've seen have been in the complete listings of the Spiritual Formation catagory, but a quick glance shows me that each category has a couple of items being offered free. So, free audio is good, right? Enjoy!

Book Catalog

The other day in the course of my web browsing, I came across World Invisible's Catalog of Books. They've got the texts of quite a few Christian classics available. They cover many topics including apologetics, theology, new Christians, and devotional. Certainly worth a look if you enjoy the classics. If you are not in the habit of reading older works on Christianity, you may find the language in some of the works available a bit hard to decipher at times. If you hang in there I think you'll be glad you did.

I'm rather fond of the last work available on the page, The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis, if you want someplace to start. It's short daily readings.

Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell

Non-Fiction: Christianity. Audio from Zondervan. Published in 2005. Recorded in 2005. Four hours. Read by Rob Bell. Purchased from Audible.com.

At four hours, this is not a long book. I listened to it over just a couple of days of housework. Rob Bell has got some good things to say. After hearing him preach a while back, then listening to his book, I can see why people are drawn to him. He's got a fantastic way of bringing to light the historical context of the scripture and how it ties to what is being said in the Bible. I'm looking forward to hearing more from him.

Publisher's summary:
We have to test everything.

I thank God for anybody anywhere who is pointing people to the mysteries of God.

But those people would all tell you to think long and hard about what they are saying and doing and creating.

Test it. Probe it. Do that to this book.

Don’t swallow it uncritically. Think about it. Wrestle with it.

Just because I’m a Christian and I’m trying to articulate a Christian worldview doesn’t mean I’ve got it nailed. I’m contributing to the discussion.

God has spoken, and the rest is commentary, right?

Online book shopping:
Powell's: Velvet Elvis
amazon.co.uk:Velvet Elvis
amazon.com: Velvet Elvis
Audible.com: Velvet Elvis

Words About Books: Bibliomancy

From AWAD:

bibliomancy (BIB-lee-o-man-see) noun

Divination by interpreting a passage picked at random from a book, especially from a religious book such as the Bible.

[From Greek biblio- (book) + -mancy (divination).]

If you are having a hard time deciding between turning groupie and following your favorite band around or to stay put in your accounting job, help is at hand. Try bibliomancy. Here's the step-by-step method:

1. Pick a book you trust a lot.
2. Put it on its spine, and let it fall open.
3. With your eyes closed, trace your finger to a passage.
4. Interpret the passage as your lifemap to the future.

You could even add more randomness to the process. To do that at the macro level, visit a library and pick a book at random from the shelves. At the micro level, instead of interpreting a passage, pick a single word and let it point you to your path.

Now, I love books. I don't even mind changing things in my life based on things I've read in books. But, this bibliomancy goes a bit far, even for me. I have known Christians who practice something similar to this with their Bibles, but did not realize there was an actual word to describe the process.

Hart's Hope by Orson Scott Card

Fiction:Fantasy. Unabridged Audio from Blackstone Audio. Published in 1983, recorded 2005. 10 hours, 59 minutes. Read by Stefan Rudnicki and Carrington MacDuffie. Purchased at Audible.com.

I'm not really sure what to say about this book. I'm pretty sure there was a bunch of stuff in there that I didn't really "get". Sometimes at the end of a book, though I've enjoyed it, I have the feeling that there were layers of things under there that I missed. Perhaps reading it rather than listening to it might have helped.

Oh, and this is another case where I question some of the accuracy of the publisher's summary.

Publisher's summary:
Enter the city of Hart's Hope, ruled by gods both powerful and indifferent, riddled with sorcery and revenge. The city was captured by a rebellious lord, Palicrovol, who overthrew the cruel king, Nasilee, hated by his people.

Palicrovol, too, was cruel, as befitted a king. He took the true mantle of kinghood by forcing Asineth, now Queen by her father's death, to marry him, raping her to consummate the marriage. (But he was not cruel enough to rule.) He let her live after her humiliation; live to bear a daughter; live to return from exile and retake the throne of Hart's Hope.

But she, in turn, sent Palicrovol into exile to breed a son who would, in the name of the God, take back the kingdom from its cruel Queen.

Online book shopping:
Powell's: Hart's Hope
amazon.co.uk:Hart's Hope
amazon.com: Hart's Hope
Audible.com: Hart's Hope

Summer Reading

Ah, for the lazy days of summer. Time to relax, putter in the garden, enjoy a good book (or two or three).

Ha! July almost killed me. It certainly killed my usual reading time, much less any extra reading time. I'm glad for the chances I've had to be out and about in the world this summer, but sure am mourning the loss of my reading time. Things are shaping up to be fairly busy for the next several months as we prepare to make a move, so I don't know how often I'll have a new read to post about. Although preparing to move is fairly mindless work, so I may end up with a plethora of audiobooks posted here. Time will tell. In the meantime, happy reading to you all. As always, if you read a good one and want to share, leave a comment.