Tagged: book recommendations

Book Review / Books and Reading

Rumpole and the Golden Thread by John Mortimer

I first heard of the TV series Rumpole of the Bailey about twenty years ago when my friend Mike and I were talking about one of my favorite 1980s movies, Ladyhawke. Mike told me that the cantankerous monk in Ladyhawke was played by one of his favorite actors, Leo McKern, who also played the cantankerous barrister Horace Rumpole. To this day, Mike is still a big fan of Rumpole of the Bailey, having watched all the episodes on VHS multiple times, and having read all the stories in print. I, on the...

Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson

Book Review / Books and Reading

Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson

Each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done. I first heard of Bryan Stevenson’s Just Mercy during Nonfiction November 2016, and then again during Nonfiction November 2017. Both JoAnn at Lakeside Musing and Lory at The Emerald City Book Review were so enthusiastic in their recommendations that the book quickly rose to the top of my “want-to-read” list. Now, after reading Just Mercy myself, I have to say it most definitely was as good as they said it would be. Not only is it a compelling story well...

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Book Review / Books and Reading

Classics Club #19: The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett is a gem of a book. It’s one of those magical stories that book lovers appreciate in a special way. Not that it’s about books or reading, but it’s the kind of story that reveals itself and its characters slowly and gently, as only a book can. It’s about growing up and discovering the healing power of life. It’s a book for children of all ages, like The Wind in the Willows or The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The story centers...

The Drifter by William W. Johnstone

Book Review / Books and Reading

The Drifter (The Last Gunfighter Book 1) by William W. Johnstone

The Drifter by William W. Johnstone is exactly what I look for in a western, which made it a perfect book to begin the 2018 Wild Wild West Reading Challenge. There was plenty of gun-fighting action, a fair share of humor, and even a bit of romance. I had picked up the Kindle edition of The Drifter at a bargain price without knowing much about the story or the author, so I had moderate expectations about how good it was going to be. After finishing it, though, I’d have...

Tripwire (Jack Reacher 3) by Lee Child

Book Review / Books and Reading

Tripwire (Jack Reacher #3) by Lee Child

A Jack Reacher book is a lot like a popcorn movie: if you just go with it and don’t think about it too much, then it can be pretty entertaining. Tripwire is the third book in the series and the fourth Reacher book I’ve read, and while it was entertaining, it’s my least favorite. Not that it’s bad, it’s just not the Jack Reacher story I was anticipating. The book is more of an investigative mystery than an adrenaline-pumping action thriller. Tripwire features a more introspective Jack Reacher, a man...

Book Review / Books and Reading

Pope Francis and the Joy of the Gospel by Edward Sri

This past December our pastor gave each member of the parish staff a copy of Pope Francis and the Joy of the Gospel: Rediscovering the Heart of a Disciple by Edward Sri. He asked us to read it because his focus for the parish in 2018 is on our baptismal call to share the Good News. Sri’s book fits this focus because it’s is a distillation and explanation of The Joy of the Gospel, an apostolic exhortation published by Pope Francis in 2013. A pope writes an apostolic exhortation in order to...

Musketeer detail

Book Review / Books and Reading

Classics Club #18: Twenty Years After by Alexandre Dumas

The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas is one of my favorite all-time books. I might even put it up there with the likes of The Lord of the Rings, Master and Commander, and Don Quixote. And like the characters in those other books, the characters in The Three Musketeers are old friends of mine. I love hanging out not only with D’Artagnan, Athos, Aramis, and Porthos, but also with their servants Planchet, Mousqueton, Grimaud, and Bazin. I’ve read the book maybe three of four times in my life, most recently in...

My Year in Books

Books and Reading

My Favorite Reads of 2017 Plus My Favorite Reads of the Last Decade

2017 was a wonderful year in reading for me. Not only was it my most productive reading year ever, but it was also my first year participating in reading challenges. I don’t think that’s a coincidence. This is also the tenth year in a row that I’ll be posting my favorite reads of the year. To mark the occasion I’m going to end this post with my favorite reads of the last decade. But first, a few statistics about my reading in 2017, courtesy of Goodreads: I read...

Book Review / Books and Reading / Spirituality

A Spring Within Us: A Book of Daily Meditations by Richard Rohr

“Remember, always remember, that the heartfelt desire to do the will of God is, in fact, the truest will of God. At that point God has won, the ego has lost, and your prayer has already been answered.” My constant companion each morning this past year was A Spring Within Us: A Book of Daily Meditations by Richard Rohr. Like water dripping onto a stalagmite, this book slowly dripped onto my soul, building it up each day. Rohr writes with great spiritual maturity, and his words always challenge...

The Apothecary Rose by Candace Robb

Book Review / Books and Reading

The Apothecary Rose by Candace Robb

The Apothecary Rose by Candace Robb is a historical murder mystery set in England in 1363. The book opens with two suspicious deaths in the infirmary at St. Mary’s Abbey. The Lord Chancellor of England then sends his former captain of archers, Owen, to try and find out what happened. The mystery centers on an apothecary shop run by Master Nicholas Wilton and his wife/apprentice Lucie. Owen has orders to go under cover and insinuate himself into the lives of the people of York in order to discover why and...

The Ultimate Gift by Jim Stovall

Book Review / Books and Reading

The Ultimate Gift by Jim Stovall

The Ultimate Gift by Jim Stovall is a contrived, preachy story where most of the action takes place off stage. Despite all of that it’s still worth reading. The plot revolves around Jason Stevens, a spoiled young man who stands to inherit a life-changing amount of money if he fulfills certain tasks set out in the will of his rich great-uncle Red Stevens. Red is an old-school Texas oil-man who upon his death leaves behind twelve video messages to teach Jason the important life lessons that he failed...

The Ballad of the White Horse by G. K. Chesterton

Book Review / Books and Reading

The Ballad of the White Horse by G. K. Chesterton

“When our last bow is broken, Queen, And our last javelin cast, Under some sad, green evening sky, Holding a ruined cross on high, Under warm westland grass to lie, Shall we come home at last?” Chesterton’s The Ballad of the White Horse is wonderful epic poetry, but I found myself rushing through it. Part of the reason was my lack of knowledge about English history, and part of it was that I just wasn’t in the mood for poetry. But I think anyone who loves Dante, Homer, or...