I have been taking advantage of this development to read some interesting e-books from a variety of genres and authors.  And over the next few days I want to take a moment to offer my quick impressions of these shorter works.

First up is a e-book that was actually free: The Flinch by Julien Smith.

A book so important we refuse to charge for it.

Julien Smith has delivered a surprise, a confrontation, a book that will push you, scare you and possibly stick with you for years to come.

The idea is simple: your flinch mechanism can save your life. It short circuits the conscious mind and allows you to pull back and avoid danger faster than you can even imagine it’s there.

But what if danger is exactly what you need?

What if facing the flinch is the one best way to get what you want?

Here’s a chance to read the book everyone will be talking about, before they do.

What are you afraid of? Here’s how to find out.

I saw this on Twitter and decided to check it out. After all, it was free.  It turned out to be a sort of digital pep talk.  It has an interesting hook and some useful challenges even if it is somewhat repetitive.

I think your reaction depends on a lot on your worldview, perspective, place in life, etc. Reading the reviews you can see that some people thought it was BS while others found it very helpful. I think it is a bit of both. If you need a pep talk to get you out of your rut and start thinking about achieving the things you have always claimed you would, this can be a helpful book.

I think it can be a useful way to realize that success isn’t going to be easy for most people and if you are constantly hesitating and avoiding risk you are unlikely to achieve all that much.

On the other hand there is a lot of repetition and pop psychology that will turn a lot of folks off.

It is not the greatest thing I have ever read but I think it was a helpful wake up call of sorts for me heading into 2012.

But again, it doesn’t cost a thing so what it the risk?

Related articles

• Flinch Harder (chrisbrogan.com)
• The Flinch – A Dangerous Read (cc-chapman.com)

Here is a description of the book from the publisher (Zenith Press):

One of the bloodiest battles in Marine Corps history, Operation Stalemate, as Peleliu was called, was overshadowed by the Normandy landings.  It was also, in time, judged by most historians to have been unnecessary; though it had been conceived to protect MacArthur’s flank in the Philippines, the U.S. fleet’s carrier raids had eliminated Japanese airpower, rendering Peleliu irrelevant.  Nevertheless, the horrifying number of casualties sustained there (71% in one battalion) foreshadowed for the rest of the war: rather than fight to the death on the beach, the Japanese would now defend in depth and bleed the Americans white.

The book provides a good description of the 1st Marine Regiment’s actions on Peleliu.  The book is mainly narrative with many excerpts from Marines who fought in the battle.  For example, Camp describes the initial landings and how the Japanese guns knocked out many of the landing craft.  He sprinkles in amongst this text the first-hand accounts of how the men got off the landing craft as quickly as possible because many the landing craft were blown to pieces with bodies and equipment thrown high into the air.  Camp gives a good balance of the narrative and the first-hand accounts.

I think the true strength of the book is in the analysis of the Marine leadership during the battle.  Camp is particularly critical of the 1st Marine Division’s commander General William Rupertus and Marine legend Colonel Lewis “Chesty” Puller.  Camp is critical of Rupertus for putting the pride of the Marine Corps before the lives of his men – Rupertus refused to allow an Army division to come and relieve part of his division even though the Marine units were decimated.  In addition, Camp is critical of Puller of being out of touch with the battle – he continuously ordered his units to attack across open ground with horrendous consequences.  His battalions were reduced to the size of reinforced companies.  Camp quotes several of Puller’s contemporaries that Puller was a fine battalion commander, but was not a suitable regimental commander – he did not have a “grasp of the use of naval gunfire, artillery, and supporting arms in general.”

Although the book has plenty of photographs (100 black and white), many of the photographs are too dark to see the detail in them.  I don’t know if this was just the case with paperbacks or if it was for the hardback as well, but it was a little bit of an annoyance.  The maps and diagrams were very helpful.  I particularly like the diagram of the various types of caves the Japanese defenders built.  The diagram helps you to visualize why these caves were so difficult to destroy.

The concerns were thankfully unwarranted, as Jared has written a wonderfully engaging and challenging book on the gospel and its place in our lives.  With wisdom, compassion and humor he outlines what it means to be alive to the gospel in your life and have it infiltrate every area of that life.

Do you ever feel like your desire for God is waning? Are you numb to the routine of church? What does it mean to be truly awakened to the wonder of the gospel?

Jared Wilson contends that we must be regularly engaged and engaging others with the good news of the sacrificing, dying, rising, exalted person of Jesus Christ. Wilson reminds us of the death-proof, fail-proof King of kings who is before all things and in all things and holding all things together, and of the Spirit’s power to quicken our hearts and captivate our imaginations. The message of Gospel Wakefulness will make numbness the exception (rather than the norm) and reawaken us to the multifaceted brilliance of the gospel.

But it is another one of those deep and meaty spiritual books that I am simply not going to have the time or focus to review properly.  But if you are seeking a deeper and sustained faith and looking for a book that will both inspire and challenge you, then I recommend you read this book.

A book of this sort can easily come off and as a tired combination of verses and platitudes – the same old, same old dressed up as a revolutionary way to understand orthodox theology.  Or seemingly profound spirituality that quickly wilts under sustained examination.

But Wilson avoids that for two reasons.  He has lived it and it shows; and he keeps it simple.  Not simple in terms of ease but simple because he doesn’t over think it.

Because Wilson has lived this out and struggled with his own demons and doubts his writing has an authenticity that is refreshing and encouraging.  He also has a passion that comes off the page; a powerful sense that he believes in the power of the gospel and he is not just writing to prove how clever he is.

I made dozens of notes throughout the book, but here is a section that should give you sense of the book:

One of the marks of gospel wakefulness is the failure of anything else to thrill the soul like the gospel.  When the heart treasures Christ and savours his power, sin grows bitter.  Even good gifts that God made delicious recede to their proper flavors.  Good things we have made “god things” don’t cease to be good; in fact, they continue to provide pleasures and satisfactions, but they keep their proper functions and blessings, in service to the common grace the God of Glory ascribed to them.

Gospel wakefulness doesn’t lead to asceticism.  it does not lead to a withdrawal from society and simple pleasures into a monastic religious regimen.  Rather, gospel wakefulness is foremost about orienting your spiritual system around the sun.  When the sun is at the center of the system, the planets and moon don’t cease to exist.  in fact, they exist more securely, more beautifully, in their proper positions and proportions.  With God at the center of your universe of worship, with gospel at the center of your life, all other good gifts – people and pleasures, thoughts and things – take their proper place and proportion in our lives.

After outlining and unpacking the term gospel wakefulness, Wilson then moves on to discuss the impact this has on things like worship, spirituality, depression and church and results in a new approach to sanctification and increased confidence for the believer.

Along the way Wilson adds in stories from friends about how this has played out in their lives.  Many of these are compelling and some quite powerful.  The confession of someone who dealt with depression and struggled with Easter week was one of the more powerful expressions I have read in some time.

At its most basic this book is about not taking your eyes off what is truly important; not thinking that seemingly simple things are not deep enough to sustain the deepest of faiths.

Jesus is big enough to fit into infinity. He is the true light of the world.  He is the risen King, the exalted Lord.  He is before all things and in him all things come together.  All things were made through him and for him, that he might be preeminent to them and supreme over them.  He is the radiance of God;s glory.  One day we won’t need the sun, because he will be the lamp of the new heavens and the new earth.

Why in the world do we fix our eyes on anything but him?

If you find your eyes and mind easily distracted, Gospel Wakefulness will get you back on target.

I mention this because I have been avoiding posting on The King Jesus Gospel: The Original Good News Revisited for this reason for quite some time. I am not sure I can do it justice or engage the real meaty issues it touches on. But the good folks at Net Galley and Zondervan didn’t send me a review copy so I could fret about my self-esteem … So. Some thoguhts below.

First, what is this all about anyway? Publisher synopsis:

Contemporary evangelicals have built a ‘salvation culture’ but not a ‘gospel culture.’ Evangelicals have reduced the gospel to the message of personal salvation. This book makes a plea for us to recover the old gospel as that which is still new and still fresh. The book stands on four arguments: that the gospel is defined by the apostles in 1 Corinthians 15 as the completion of the Story of Israel in the saving Story of Jesus; that the gospel is found in the Four Gospels; that the gospel was preached by Jesus; and that the sermons in the Book of Acts are the best example of gospeling in the New Testament. The King Jesus Gospel ends with practical suggestions about evangelism and about building a gospel culture.

This is a powerful examination of what it means to speak of the Gospel and how our understanding of it impacts our “Gospeling” or evangelism. McKnight argues forcefully that to present a plan of salvation, or soterian, gospel is to miss the larger picture of scripture and God’s plan for the universe.

As noted, there is a lot packed in there and a lot you can, and should, debate.  But for now, a few thoughts …

I think the aspect that McKnight is absolutely right on is the plan of salvation focus on current evangelicalism.  This is exactly the environment I grew up in: one focused on making a decision about personal salvation.  Not that there wasn’t an attempt to connect the Old and New Testament, or that spiritual growth beyond salvation wasn’t discussed, but that the gospel was very much seen as personal salvation and the lens through which we saw everything else.  It felt like to me that this was the point.  McKnight calls this focus soterian from the Greek word soteria which we use for salvation.

For McKnight the Gospel is the story of Israel being completed in the story of Jesus who is the Messiah King. This is the Apostolic Gospel and the Gospel Jesus preached. If we lose our focus on this larger story and the context it provides we end up with an individualistic “get saved to avoid hell” type gospel not one focused on the larger Kingdom of God; of how God is writing our story even now.

McKnight presents this very well and uses stories from students and the perspectives of some pastors to highlight how this view has come to dominate. He then outlines how 1 Corinthians 15 is the Apostolic Gospel and the earliest form of the Gospel in the church.  From this start he outlines what this means and how we lost our way.  He then goes on to explore whether Jesus preached the Gospel. Peter’s perspective on the Gospel and how we approach evangelicalism and the Gospel today.

I really feel like I need to read this again to get a strong grasp on the argument and the deeper issues involved.  But the one thing that I absolutely agree with McKnight about and belive deserves to be highlighted is how the big story of the Gospel is so often lost today – the way the plan of salvation approach leaves out the wider lens of God’s action and plan for all of creation – and how the content and style that results from this mindset fails to develop disciples and build communities.

Scott McKnight has down us a valuable service looking at a central aspect of our faith, clearing away the cultural, theological and historical ruble and forcing us to think in a fresh way about what we mean when we talk about the Gospel.

The King Jesus Gospel is a challenging but necessary and, in many ways, refreshing book.

On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Pejman Yousefzadeh and I are joined by Peter Schweizer to discuss his book Throw Them All Out detailing how politicians get away with insider trading, sleazy land deals and more.

Related articles

• SCHWEIZER: Warren Buffett’s Also Cashing In On Congress Insider Trading (businessinsider.com)
• NightSide – Peter Schweizer Author Of “Throw Them All Out” (boston.cbslocal.com)

I normally do not like oral histories because many times they are choppy – the first-hand accounts are not normally interwoven with the narrative very well.  However, this book is the rare exception.  Springer provides an excellent framework of the ship’s history in the narrative.  He then fills in the personal details with the oral history.  Springer’s writing style is light and easy to read.

The most gripping parts of the book are the accounts of the crew’s fight for the Franklin’s survival in one instance (the ship was hit by a kamikaze on October 30, 1944 that caused enough damage to require repairs in the mainland U.S.)  and fighting to contain damage in another (it was hit again on March 18, 1945 by one bomb that caused cataclysmic damage).  The stories are interesting and engaging.  For example, many of the survivors describe  where they were when the bomb hit the ship and how they either left the ship or fought to control the fires raging below the decks.

In addition to the survivors’ stories from the March 18 attack, Springer includes the accounts of other sailors on neighboring ships.  These accounts include the heroic efforts of several ship captains (particularly that of Captain Fritz of the USS Santa Fe) to help the stricken Franklin and the hundreds of Franklin sailors that were in the water.  Fritz’s seamanship allowed hundreds of sailors to transfer from the Franklin to the Santa Fe without touching the water (thus avoiding the perils of floating in freezing water).

Springer also discusses a black episode after the March 18 disaster – Captain Gehres’ (captain of the Franklin) claims of dereliction of duty against the hundreds of officers and sailors who abandoned ship during the fire that raged in the ship.  Many of these men had no other choice but to abandon ship or be killed.  Others, in the confusion, thought they were ordered to abandon ship.  Springer describes how this accusation from Gehres scarred the consciences of hundreds of brave men who fought for their country, but were ostracized for their “supposed” cowardly act.

Finally, Springer’s descriptions and first-hand accounts of the daily operations on a World War II aircraft carrier are fascinating.  The little details of how an aircraft carrier operated are fascinating.  For example, Springer talks about how the pilots landed on the carrier.  Many times their arresting hooks did not catch a wire and a barrier net was needed to catch the aircraft.  Although this saved the pilot and the plane, it also cost a lot of aircraft engines because they were ruined when the props hit the net.

This book is an excellent oral history describing one of the U.S. Navy’s finest hours in saving one of its ships.

For most who live,
hell is never knowing
who they are.
The Singer knew and
knowing was his torment.

Recalling the popularity of  The Singer: A Classic Retelling of Cosmic Conflict by Calvin Miller when I was younger, and having a vaguely positive recollection of reading and enjoying it as a teenager, when I saw it for a dollar at a library sale I snatched it up.  Seeing it as a quick and potentially inspirational read, I read it read it that same week

It is a rather unique book (the first of a trilogy), a sort of poetic narrative – some poetry, prose – that re-imagines the Gospel in the form of a classical myth or fairy tale of a troubadour compelled to sing the song that points man back to their creator.  His opponent is the World Hater who seeks to keep mankind enslaved and unaware of the song.

And even after all these years, it stands up very well. A little forced in places and certainly “artsy” in a sense but with beautiful and evocative language that re-imagines this timeless story in a way that knocks the dust off and allows us to see it fresh.

What struck me most was the way the story could help explore both the universal and simple nature of the Gospel in terms of love and redemption but also how the aphorisms at the start of each chapter were thought provoking and somehow fragile – if you thought about them too much or for too long they fell apart, but if you glanced at them they seemed quite profound.

I also really enjoyed the way the relationships played out.  The emotions involved in how the Singer interacted with God, his mother and the people he encountered really seemed to capture the Christ of the Gospels in a fresh and insightful way. This simple prose poem somehow cleared away the clutter and allows you to see the arc of history and Christ’s sacrificial love as the touchstone of that arc.

To give you a taste, here is an aphorism or poem that introduces a chapter:

Oftentimes Love is
so poorly packaged
that when we have
sold everything to
buy it, we cry in
finding all our
substance gone and
nothing in the tin-
sel and the ribbon.

Hate dresses well
to please a buyer

As noted above, I find this introductions very interesting. There is a sense of the profound about many of them and yet they are hard to nail down and unpack. They sort of hit you on an almost subconscious level.  They give the larger story a philosophical and spiritual weight.

I am sure there are many who might find the poetry to heavy handed or the allegory too thin; a work such as this has a lot to do with taste and style.  I am no expert on poetry or poetic narratives but I found it thought provoking and at times powerful.  Something different and daring even if it doesn’t always succeed.

If you enjoy poetic language and storytelling this is a Christian Classic worth revisiting.

Many people in their late thirties or older know of Omar Bradley from Karl Malden’s portrayal of him in the movie Patton.  He was portrayed as a bland, risk-averse character who was overshadowed by the flamboyant Patton (played by George C. Scott).  Jim DeFelice tries to dispel this image of Bradley in Omar Bradley: General at War.

DeFelice discusses Bradley’s rise in rank before World War II.  Although never serving in combat, he gained valuable leadership experience in various postings, such as two stints at West Point and one at the Infantry School.  According to DeFelice, this leadership experience served him well when Bradley did first see combat in North Africa in World War II.

I have read more than a few books on the European Theater in World War II and most of them either ignore Bradley (focusing more on the common soldier or Patton) or paint him in a less than flattering light.  For instance, many of the books blame Bradley for ignoring the warning signs prior to the German attack in the Ardennes.  The arguments supporting this viewpoint are quite convincing and DeFelice does begrudgingly admit that Bradley was slow on the uptake in discerning Germany’s actions in the Ardennes.

However, DeFelice convincingly argues that once the initial shock wore off, Bradley quickly adapted to the new reality and ordered Patton to shift the direction of his attack.  He ordered Patton to slice into the base of the German bulge.  This action helped to put pressure on the German rear, which slowed the advance on the front lines.

DeFelice’s description and analysis of Bradley’s experiences in North Africa and Sicily are good, but I think his writing on Bradley in Normandyis excellent.  Particularly, I like DeFelice’s analysis of Operation Cobra.  Rightfully so, DeFelice claims that Bradley has never been given enough credit for the innovative use of bombers on a tactical level.  The use of the bombers blew a hole in the German lines and Bradley’s aggressiveness pushed more than five divisions into the gap to start the break out of Normandy and the race across France.

I have one point of criticism – DeFelice puts all of the maps at the back of the book.  There are plenty of them, but they should have been put in amongst the text so that the reader can better understand the context of the situation that is being discussed.

This book is well-written and a great tribute to one of America’s unsung heroes in World War II.

Young Adult Fiction

A large chunk of my reading this year was YA (30 of 79 books were roughly in this category) so I had a lot of books to chose from in 2011. So here are ten of my favorites in no particular order:

1. 

   Cover of The Wednesday Wars

   I am going to cheat a little and put two books by Gary D. Schmidt on the list, Okay or Now and The Wednesday Wars.  ”Great stories, great characters, imaginative settings and clear writing make these two books great reads. I highly recommend them.”

2. I am also going to put N.D. Wilson here because I can’t choose just one of his wonderful books I read this year: The Dragon’s Tooth (start of the new Ashtown Burials series) and the entire 100 Cupboards series)  ”… if you like large, complex and imaginative fantasy series this one is a must read.”
3. Icefall by Matthew J. Kirby “Kirby weaves a great tale. There is historical detail, psychological insight, mystery, intrigue and more.”
4. Skellig by David Almond “It is a simple and yet powerful story of friendship, family, compassion and faith.”
5. The Search for Wondla by Tony DiTerlizzi “The world DiTerlizzi has created is captivating and mysterious enough that you want to keep reading; not just to see the next illustration but to dig a little deeper into the mystery.”

Non-Fiction

I also read more non-fiction in 2011 (25 books) so this a large list to choose from as well.

1. Love Wins by Rob Bell – The most controversial book of 2011 – and of recent years – in the evangelical world. I have avoided reviewing it because of the difficulty of covering all of the various issues and debates but it is a powerful book (I read it three times).  ”… the overwhelming reaction I had to the book was one of inspiration and deeper thought. Few people I have read challenge you to rethink your ideas and reshape your perspective better than Bell.”
2. Three and Out: Rich Rodriguez and the Michigan Wolverines in the Crucible of College Football by John U. Bacon  “… if you are simply a fan of college football, or interested in big-time college athletics more generally, it is a fascinating read. “
3. God Is Red by Liao Yiwu.  ”If you feel sorry for yourself, read this book. If you think American politics are bad, read this book. If you need some inspiration for your faith, read this book.”
4. James Madison by Richard Brookhiser  ”Brookhiser writes popular history as it should be: learned and insightful but not exhausting; with sharp writing not afraid to offer an opinion but not polemical for the sake of scoring points; with prose that is clear and a joy to read.”
5. American Grace by Robert Putnam, David E. Campbell  ”… a fascinating and informative look at religious life in America.”

Adult Fiction

I read very little “adult” fiction this year and so don’t have much to recommend. One of my goals for 2012 is to read more and better fiction.

1. The Magician King by Lev Grossman “Even if you don’t think he quite pulls it off I think he will keep you entertained and intrigued about the process; make you think about your expectations and conceptions of genre and story.”
2. The Break by Pietro Grossi “… further proof that you don’t need a thousand pages to create evocative and beautiful prose – or to create a compelling story.”
3. Little Elvises by Timothy Hallinan “… another enjoyable romp through Los Angeles with a memorable cast of characters, Hallinan’s dry and wry sense of humor, and a twisting plot that leaves you rushing to figure out the mystery at the heart of the story.”

What books were your favorites from 2011?

Children’s Literature review:

This is a reissue of the book that originally was published in 1987. It is a version of the beloved tale of “Little Red Riding Hood.” Once again, children become acquainted with the charming little girl who always wears the red cap that was given to her by her grandmother. One day while on her way to visit her ailing grandmother, she meets the sly and cunning wolf in the forest. He persuades her to wander off the path and gather some flowers for her grandmother, while he rushes to grandmother’s house and gobbles her up. He then pretends to be grandmother and also devours Little Red Cap. Of course, the brave and clever hunter saves both the old lady and Little Red Cap. Zwerger’s beautiful illustrations are an ideal accompaniment to the text as they portray the characters (especially the wolf) with depth and emotion. All libraries should add this to their fairy tale collection.

Unlike some of the other volumes I have covered, this one is perfect for reading out loud. The pages alternate between text – without any unique fonts – and illustrations.  Zwerger offers her reliably evocative and playful illustrations that compliment this classic so well.

As noted above, the wolf  is particularly charming with a variety of facial expressions to match his deviousness as he tricks the innocent, and naive, Red Cap.

Sometimes Zwerger’s illustrations are more abstract and mysterious – symbolic and thought-provoking. In this case the illustrations are more closely tied to the story. But they are still subtle and soft – they don’t overwhelm the text but set the mood and give a glimpse of the characters. There is still white space and room for imagination.

I will confess that in reading the story I was struck by the implausibility of the hunter cutting open the wolf and pulling out both grandma and Red.  But these tales are not realism after all …

If you love the classic tales of Brothers Grimm and are looking for an edition to read out loud this would be a great choice.  While many of Zwerger’s books seems more like coffee table art books this one is great for young and old; to read to yourself our out loud