May 21
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Reamde | Neal Stephenson

Reamde: A Novel © 2011 William Morrow: HarperCollinsPublishers 1044 pages There’s a curious juxtaposition here. Thrillers are, by nature, fast-pace adventure stories. Neal Stephenson’s latest thriller is a 1000+ page behemoth! Stephenson managed to insert deep characterization into his thrill ride in such a way that a 5 minute gun-fight can span 100 gripping pages. [...]

Author: Stephen Barkley
May 14
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The Politics of Jesus | John Howard Yoder

The Politics of Jesus © 1994 Eerdmans 257 pages If you’ve been following this blog, you’ll know that I’ve summarized and reflected on each of the 12 chapters that make up The Politics of Jesus. Since all the details have been covered, I’ll offer a few final thoughts here. The Politics of Jesus was a [...]

Author: Stephen Barkley
May 07
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Life Is Mostly Edges | Calvin Miller

Life Is Mostly Edges: A Memoir © 2008 Thomas Nelson xvi+318 pages I judged this book by its cover and it paid off. Before picking up this memoir all I had was a recommendation from a colleague and the beautiful cover to go by. I knew that Miller had written a famous Christian fantasy trilogy, [...]

Author: Stephen Barkley
Apr 30
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An Introduction to the Old Testament | Raymond B. Dillard & Tremper Longman III

An Introduction to the Old Testament © 1994 (Note: I read and reviewed the first edition. The link above connects to the second.) Zondervan 473 pages While I don’t often read reference books cover-to-cover, I made an exception with this volume. I treated this book as a supplement to my regular Bible reading. Every time [...]

Author: Stephen Barkley
Apr 24
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As One Devil to Another | Richard Platt

As One Devil to Another: A Fiendish Correspondence in the Tradition of C. S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters © 2012 Tyndale House Publishers xi+192 pages [At the end of this review, you'll have an opportunity to win a copy of the book.] In 1941, The Guardian magazine published a series of letters from Senior Devil [...]

Author: Stephen Barkley
Apr 16
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Killarney Provincial Park La Cloche Silhouette Trail Guide | Melissa McCulloch

Killarney Provincial Park La Cloche Silhouette Trail Guide © 2006 Friends of Killarney Park x+150 pages This spring I’ll complete my third circuit of the 73 km hiking trail through Killarney Provincial Park. I already know the trail well. I was hoping that this guide might provide a little extra inspiration for late-winter training. I [...]

Author: Stephen Barkley
Apr 09
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The Light Princess and Other Fantasy Stories | George MacDonald

The Light Princess and Other Stories © 1980 Eerdmans 171 pages This is the third of four volumes Eerdmans put together in 1980 to collect all the short fantasy works of George MacDonald. I have been pleasantly surprised to discover that MacDonald, whose Victorian novels span six to eight hundred pages, is able to develop [...]

Author: Stephen Barkley
Apr 02
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The Golden Key and Other Fantasy Stories | George MacDonald

The Golden Key and Other Stories © 1980 Eerdmans 165 pages Eerdmans has done the modern world a fine service by collecting the short fantasy stories of George MacDonald into four volumes. The Golden Key and Other Fantasy Stories is the second of the four I’ve read (Here’s my review of The Wise Woman and [...]

Author: Stephen Barkley
Mar 26
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Secrets in the Dark | Frederick Buechner

Secrets in the Dark: A Life in Sermons © 2006 Harper Collins: HarperOne xvi+303 pages Buechner’s writing is just plan beautiful. At times it has the potential to take your breath away. He combines deep spiritual insight—something only acquired through years of living with God—with a poet’s flair for prose. Secrets in the Dark is [...]

Author: Stephen Barkley
Mar 19
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The Drunkard’s Walk | Leonard Mlodinow

The Drunkard’s Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives © 2008 Vintage (Random House) xi+252 The Drunkard’s Walk is science writing at its best. You start with someone who knows what their talking about. Mlodinow has a PhD in physics from the Berkeley and teaches at Caltech. If that’s not enough for you, he co-wrote A [...]

Author: Stephen Barkley