Aug 31 2010

The Literary Life Podcast & Book Giveaway

Today, Penguin Group launched a new monthly radio series called The Literary Life. Completely written, produced, and hosted by Penguin employees featuring literary fiction and nonfiction from bestselling, critically acclaimed authors and fast-rising newcomers. It’s hosted by Jake Morrissey, Executive Editor at Riverhead Books. Each episode will debut on the last Tuesday of the month.

The podcast is after the jump. As part of the rollout they also have a book giveaway for one of the 4 new books featured on this month’s show – Rosanne Cash’s Composed, Maile Meloy’s Both Ways is the Only Way I Want It, Doug Dorst’s The Surf Guru or Sloane Crosley’s How Did You Get This Number.

So let’s keep this simple.  Leave a comment below and tell me why you want to read one of the four books listed. I will pick a comment using the random number generator and announce the winner. Please leave a comment by Thursday.

Keep Reading

By Kevin Holtsberry • News • 0 • Tags: , , , , , ,

Aug 31 2010

In the Mail: Fly By Wire

Fly By Wire by Ward Larsen

Publishers Weekly

A serviceable hero and plot propel this largely workmanlike thriller from Larsen (Stealing Trinity). Tough, uncompromising National Transportation Safety Board investigator Jammer Davis attempts to uncover the cause of a mysterious crash of the brand new CargoAir C-500, a flying-wing cargo plane operating under fly-by-wire technology. Meanwhile, a series of terrorist suicide attacks threatens oil facilities around the world. Jammer, aided by his semi-love interest, CIA agent Anna Sorensen, will stop at nothing as he bulls his way through bureaucratic obstruction, inept and corrupt officials, hired killers, and problems at home with his teenage daughter, Jenny. Eventually, he gets on the trail of a far larger plot involving a cabal of international businessmen out for economic gain. Larsen ties up all his loose ends nicely, and a nail-biter conclusion finally heats up the action.

By Kevin Holtsberry • In The Mail • 1 • Tags: , ,

Aug 30 2010

Tales From a Tin Can: From Pearl Harbor to Tokyo Bay by Michael Keith Olson

Many people would argue that the destroyer was the unsung hero of the Pacific Theater in World War II.  Destroyers did not have the gun power of cruisers or battleships or the public fascination of aircraft carriers.  However, destroyers were tasked with the important duty of protecting these capital ships - either as pickets against surface or air attack or as defenders against submarine attack.  With this in mind, I wanted to learn more about these pivotal ships.  Tales From a Tin Can: The USS Dale from Pearl Harbor to Tokyo Bay by Michael Keith Olson is a great resource that follows the exploits of the destroyer USS Dale from Pearl Harbor to the end of the war.
 
Olson’s father, Robert, served on the USS Dale during the war.  Through his father, Olson connected with the officers and sailors who served on the ship.  Olson writes a wonderful history of the Dale around the stories he was told and read about in letters and diaries.
 

By Jeff Grim • Reviews • 0

Aug 30 2010

In the Mail: Pretty Little things

Pretty Little Things by Jilliane Hoffman

Publishers Weekly

Some twists and turns in Hoffman’s stand-alone thriller may leave readers scratching their heads, but the suspense ratchets up to such a high pitch that most will keep flipping pages till the end. Coincidentally, the 16-year-old daughter of Bobby Dees, a Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) special agent supervisor, a leading expert on discovering the fate of missing children, has been gone without a trace for almost a year. But that doesn’t keep Bobby from being one of the best at his job. His immediate concern is the fate of 13-year-old Lainey Emerson, who’s in the hands of a sadistic serial kidnapper known as “Picasso” for his bizarre depictions of his victims delivered to TV reporter Mark Felding. While Picasso taunts Bobby, Felding turns up the media heat on the investigation. Hoffman (Plea of Insanity) paints a scary picture of sexual predators, vulnerable teens, and the shared hunting ground/playground that the Internet provides.

By Kevin Holtsberry • In The Mail • 0 • Tags: , ,

Aug 29 2010

The Barbarian Way by Erwin Raphael McManus

During the summer our church has a Sunday school class that consists of various members presenting book reviews.  It is a good way to deal with vacations and yet still present good material and engender discussion.

One of the books covered was The Barbarian Way: Unleash the Untamed Faith Within by Erwin Raphael McManus. Knowing this was the case when I saw it at Half-Price Books I grabbed a copy.

It was a quick read and an interesting perspective. But despite some good insights and a lively style the book never really delivers the punch I expected.

Here is the publisher’s blurb:

Erwin McManus wasn’t raised in a Christian home, so when he came to Christ as a college student, he didn’t know the rules of the “religious club.” He didn’t do well in Shakespeare courses, so he didn’t really understand the KJV Bible he was given either. But he did understand that prayer was a conversation, and he learned to talk to God and wait for answers. Erwin’s way was passionate and rough around the edges-a sincere, barbaric journey to Christ.

Barbaric Christians see Jesus differently than civilized Christians. They see disciples differently, and they see Christ’s mission differently. The Barbarian Way is a call to escape “civilized” Christianity and become original, powerful, untamed Christians-just as Christ intended.

The problem I had was that reading that second paragraph basically covers the book. I never felt like McManus took it deeper. He made a good case that human nature always steers toward safety, complacency, and rationalization – and that this is the opposite of what it means to be a Christian.

But what he doesn’t do very well to my mind, is flush out more deeply how this plays itself day to day in your life. The attitude and perspective is there but the insight into what that means below the surface isn’t. Granted it is a 150 page book but I was still looking for a little more.

Still, Christians and churches would do well to think about whether their faith calls them to comfort and safety or whether it calls them to a life of radical commitment that eschews comfort for sacrifice and rejects safety for dependence on God.

By Kevin Holtsberry • Reviews • 0 • Tags: , , ,

1 2 3 4